blue_dolphin

Two recipes based on favorites from Bar in New Haven, CT: Mashed Potato and Bacon Pizza made with the Thin-Crust Pizza Dough, served with Bar’s Mixed Green Salad with Candied Pecans, Blue Cheese, and Pear with the Red Wine Vinaigrette. I loved the contrast of the thin, crisp crust with dollops of soft mashed potatoes (made with Yukon golds and buttermilk) crunchy, salty bacon and chewy mozzarella. The salad also offers lots of texture and flavor contrasts. I made this a while ago and it’s really a perfect fall salad with the juicy, ripe pear, tangy vinaigrette and funky blue cheese with lots of fresh greens and would complement almost any meal. This was the first recipe I made with frozen dough. Per the instructions in the book (hidden in the appendix on p 248) I moved it to the fridge the night before and then proceeded as usual, letting it sit out at room temp before shaping.

I just shared this review of Pizza Night: Deliciously Doable Recipes for Pizza and Salad (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Alexandra Stafford over in the Cookbooks forum and thought I’d start a topic here to share actual cooking from the book. The first pizza I made from the book was this Sicilian-Style Veggie-Loaded Pizza made with the Pan Pizza Dough. I mixed up a half batch of the dough and used a quarter-sheet pan instead of a half-sheet. I used whole grain bread flour from Cairnspring Mills. This is a very wet, 90% hydration dough and I need to use flour my hands and the counter to shape it into a ball before going into the fridge overnight but after that, it’s just shaped in the pan. I don’t love a lot of tomato sauce on this style of veg pizza so I opened a can of cherry tomatoes and spooned some on. Otherwise, I used the recipe toppings of mushrooms, bell pepper, red onion, pepperoncini and Kalamata olives. Baked in my regular indoor electric oven with a pizza steel.

I’ve cooked quite a bit from Pizza Night: Deliciously Doable Recipes for Pizza and Salad (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Alexandra Stafford and thought I’d give it a bit of a review here. The book contains recipes for 52 pizzas and 52 salads, so you can conceivably have a pizza night each week of the year with no repeats. The recipes are arranged seasonally to take advantage of fresh produce. I think this would be an excellent book for anyone wanting to make pizza at home but not ready for a Modernist Pizza-level investment. I also like Marc Vetri's Mastering Pizza. He spends a lot more time on flour types, dough structure, chemistry annd niche Italian pizza styles. And Ken Forkish's YouTube vids that go with his Elements of Pizza are priceless but I think Pizza Night might be a more approachable option. Plus, the salads are great and often encouraged me to have a big salad and small slice of pizza instead of a pizza pig out 🙃 I started a “Cooking from Pizza Nights” topic over in the Cooking forum to share actual cooking but here's a bit more about the book. There are three basic dough recipes with variations for using a sourdough starter and instructions for both regular and dedicated pizza ovens. Most dough recipes make enough for several pizzas with instructions for freezing and thawing tucked (buried?) in the back of the book. All are no-knead and there are step-by-step photos for shaping each type. The Neopolitan-ish dough has the classic thin crust with a puffy rim. The thin-crust dough is rolled out quite thin, resulting in an almost cracker-thin crust. The pan pizza dough is for the thick, airy pizzas: Sicilian, Grandma, Detroit and cast iron skillet style pizzas. There's also a gluten-free dough that uses Antimo Caputo Fioreglut Gluten-free Pizza Flour which is FDA-approved for those with celiac disease but not safe for those with a wheat allergy. When it comes to salads, there are a few dressing recipes up front that are used in multiple salads. The lemon vinaigrette and apple cider vinaigrette are quite nice and versatile. Some salads follow a pattern: there's a wedge, a chopped salad and a Caesar variation in each season, dressed with Italian vinaigrette, blue cheese, and Caesar dressings respectively. Others are one-off combos. Not sure if this will be readable (maybe click to enlarge) but it should give an idea of the recipes included. I highlighted the listing to mark the different dough types. There’s certainly no requirement to stick with them but I find it handy when I’m skimming for ideas. Anyone else have this book?

Over in the appetizer topic, I mentioned making the Ricotta dip with hot sauce butter pine nuts from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage. The header notes suggest using it as a base for grilled asparagus so that was today’s breakfast, topped with a poached egg. The asparagus were quite huge so I was pleasantly surprised that they cooked up so nicely on my little Philips grill. I used one of Andy Baraghani’s flatbreads to wipe the plate clean.

Ricotta dip with hot sauce butter pine nuts from Mezcla by Ixta Belfrage. I started out with chips but switched to flatbreads. I thought this was OK, quick and easy with ingredients I usually have on hand. It would be prettier spread on a plate with the pine nut mixture swirled over the top. I’ll keep it in mind but probably won’t make it again. I was intrigued by this because the header notes suggest using it in various ways: as a dip for chips, crisp veg or chicken wings, tossed with pasta or tomatoes for a salad or as a base for various meats or grilled asparagus (see here in the breakfast topic for that.) The dip is kind of a ricotta-enriched raita with ricotta, yogurt, cucumber, garlic, lemon zest, green onion and chives. The hot sauce butter pine nuts is a flavorful, oily mix of toasted pine nuts, ghee, olive oil, hot sauce and smoked paprika.

Yesterday’s brunch was the asparagus pizza with crème fraîche and whipped ricotta from Pizza Night. The crust gets a schmear of créme fraîche and sprinkle of Parmesan before the shaved asparagus is piled on. Here it is, fresh out of the oven: The whipped ricotta is dolloped on after baking Today's breakfast was a reheated slice, topped with a poached egg: This obviously required a knife and fork but that was just as well because the strands of shaved asparagus, while very tender, tended to pull everything off the crust with the first bite.

I bought a big bag at a local Indian grocery and it's labeled “Product of India.” I didn’t realize there was Chinese black cardamom so I’ll be on the lookout!

Recently, I made the Black Cardamom Whiskey from A Whisper of Cardamom by Eleanor Ford. I love black cardamom in cocktails so I was interested to try this as all the previous cocktails I’ve made have used the pods to infuse a sugar syrup while this one infuses the whiskey itself. Here’s the “recipe”: “Fill a jar with whiskey, add a few black cardamom pods and leave to infuse somewhere dark.” Easy peasy. As instructed, I tasted after 24 hrs and found the flavor very subtle. At 2 days, it was noticeable, very flavorful at 3 days and starting to get a touch bitter after 4 days. The infused whiskey was nice in the recommended maple syrup-sweetened smoked cardamom Old Fashioned the book suggests. Serendipitously, I happened on a cocktail called Cabin in the Woods on a menu from Paragary's, a restaurant in Sacramento. It listed cardamom-infused bourbon, amaro Nonino, sweet vermouth and orange bitters as the ingredients. I mixed myself one of those, garnished with an orange twist and one of the black cardamom pods. It was lovely. Cabin in the Woods (with apologies to the creator as this was just my best guess) 2 oz black cardamom-infused bourbon 0.5 oz Amaro Nonino 0.5 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino 2 dashes orange bitters Garnished with a black cardamom pod and orange peel The smoky flavor of black cardamom makes this more appealing for fall and winter sipping but I’ll make this again when cooler weather comes around.

Ooops. There was plenty in the sauce but I forgot to type it in. Just imagine it’s parsley or spinach!

Charred squid with pan-roasted fennel, ginger, and lime from Sunlight and Breadcrumbs by Renee Erickson A little fussy (my judgement perhaps colored by the tedious first step of cleaning a bunch of small squid - some of those rings wouldn’t fit on my pinky!) but quite good. The fennel is sliced, steamed to tenderness, then browned. The squid are quickly seared, then tossed with a sauce of ginger, garlic, (Edited to add cilantro) lime zest & juice, diced Serrano chile, fish sauce and a pinch of sugar and chile flakes. Served over Massa Organics brown rice with more sauce on the side.

My first meal of the day was later than usual, could be called lunch, but it follows along from yesterday’s breakfast so I’m putting it here. It’s another from Pizza Night:Asparagus and Prosciutto Slab Pizza, and like yesterday’s, it’s baked nekkid and topped post-bake. Is this even a pizza? I dunno but I figure breakfast people are less likely to at me for it 🙃 Same pan pizza crust, brushed with olive oil and baked. Topped with “thinly sliced” Camembert (Really? Can a liquid be thinly sliced 😮?), shaved asparagus dressed with olive oil and salt and prosciutto, also thinly sliced, of course. I dunno if it was pizza or breakfast but it was very tasty!

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Pizza from Pizza Nights by Alexandra Stafford. This recipe is written for a half-sheet pan and is listed in the book as Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Pizza for a Crowd. It’s a pan pizza crust, topped with Everything But The Bagel seasoning and baked, with the toppings (chive cream cheese, smoked salmon, capers, red onion and dill) added post-bake. No crowd here, but I had a ball of pan pizza dough that needed to be used so this was a good option. I only topped this piece and will use the rest of the focaccia-like pan for sandwiches.

If you happen to be in the LA area, Epicurus Gourmet has these 10 flavors of Bordier butter for 30% off thru Thurs 6/26: The algues (seaweed), yuzu and piment d’espelette are particularly nice. Unfortunately, the basic demi sel and doux aren’t included. I know this is useless to most but I couldn’t resist!

Pineapple kimchi fried rice with salmon

Yes on the too much icing. Not too difficult to remove. Yes on pumpkin in the fall. Yes on pecan!

Copying @Duvel’s pizza and movie night with this puttanesca pan pizza with tomatoes, onions, anchovies, and olives from Pizza Night by Alexandra Stafford. On the relatively small screen will be the recent Marcella documentary. It will air on PBS on JULY 11, 2025 as part of the "American Masters" series and will be available in their streaming services as well.

Broccolini with Sweet Tahini from Ottolenghi’s Plenty More with sockeye salmon brushed with yuzu mayo and lemon juice then oven roasted. The broccolini recipe includes green beans and snap peas. The salmon was a riff on a recipe in Renee Erickson's Sunlight & Breadcrumbs called 1970’s Mom's Mayo-Slathered Salmon which uses regular mayo, a trick my mom also utilized in the 1970’s to keep salmon moist when broiling. Still works:

I suspect everyone who bakes is aware of these little flour duster gadgets but they were new to me. I ordered this one (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) from Amazon recently and have been finding it quite handy. Can be used for powdered sugar or cocoa but mine has been living in my AP flour canister. Does a better job than I do at tossing an even dusting on the counter when shaping dough. It was $6.99 and came in a nice little box so would make a good stocking stuffer or an added gift if you’re giving someone a baking book.

No, not really. The Khao Soi served at the restaurant is a Chiang Mai-style coconut curry with beef and noodles. The curry paste used to flavor it would not be used in Grapow chicken but since they use something they’re calling “khao soi queso” in their crunchwrap, I figured that curry paste used would be a good start for my dupe. The khao soi curry paste is the cookbook made with fresh turmeric, garlic, ginger, shallots, chiles, Roasted Chile Powder, cardamom, salt and a little vegetable oil. The grapow chicken in the book is more simply flavored with prik tum (jalapeños, bird’s eye chilies and garlic, simmered in oil) Thai seasoning sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce. It also includes green beans.

The NYT recently ran an article about chefs riffing on the now-classic Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme: The Fast-Food Gimmick That Became an Unlikely Muse for Chefs. They include a recipe for a dupe for those interested: Crunchy Queso Wrap as well as descriptions of the variations created by a number of chefs for their own restaurants. Han Ly Hwang's Munchwrap Extreme with beef bulgogi and pickled banchan sounds pretty good to me. Anyone ever tried putting your own spin on these? I’ve never been to Taco Bell nor sampled the original but ever since I heard of Kris Yenbamroong’s Grapow Crunchwrap Supreme at Night + Market, I’ve wanted to try making one. It’s described thusly on the restaurant menu: I have his cookbook and have made the grapow chicken, which is crave-worthy on its own. The book has a recipe for a khao soi paste I could use to flavor a queso and I learned from the Times article that he uses a fried wonton wrapper instead of a tostada shell for the crunch part. If I make the grapow chicken and his khao soi, I’ll have 2 nice meals and leftovers to play around with. Seems like an excellent vehicle for repurposing leftovers. Anyone else want to play?

Yes. I’m lucky that there are quite a few growers who bring multiple varieties of apricots to our local farmers markets. The grocery store varieties don’t compare.

Yes, Blenheims were the most commonly grown apricot in @rotuts area. Here's an article from Saveur by David Karp that discusses them: Looking for the Last Great Apricot

Rather an oxymoron, isn’t it? I recall this stuff being quite popular among gluten-phobic* influencers craving the sugary cereals they grew up with. * I’m not referring to anyone dealing with celiac disease or other serious gluten-sensitivity issues.

They came out around here in February. Not sure if they’re still around.

My Mouli-julienne was one of my first kitchen purchases for my college apartment. I still have it, still use it regularly and it still works fine. Quite a sturdy little thing. My only repair has been to the plastic knob on the end of the crank which developed a hole that the crank poked through. I patched it up with a little Sugru. My mom had the all metal version with a wooden knob like this one: