Of Pizza,Things and a Canceled Trip to Palm Springs

Well, I hate to disappoint everyone, but I didn't get to go to Palm Springs. My radiator had an issue about 2 freeway exits away from my apartment. It's in the shop now, until Monday afternoon. Thus the only pizza that was made Saturday night was mine. (sigh) Oh well, it was still tasty, even if I was a little depressed about not going... (stupid car).

I also ended up having Pizza for breakfast Sunday morning. My very first "Sweet" Pizza. Then, luckily, one of my friends came to my rescue and helped me eat Pizza this evening. So now, that is 4 down, only 4 more to go... Whew!

Saturday night, I had decided that I would console myself by wandering through my container garden again. There's not really a whole lot to harvest yet, it's still pretty early, but I did manage some more squash blossoms. This made me think of a garden pizza, so a jar of Roasted Red Peppers, and a can (not marinated) of Artichoke Hearts came out of the pantry. Then I grabbed a Leek and some Crimini mushrooms from the refrigerator. Voile!

Garden Pizza
(although not necessarily from my garden)

As with most pizza, there really is not a recipe, past the dough. I always wing it, and just try to keep everything a little on the light side, to make sure it cooks properly, and the crust does not become soggy. This is part of the appeal of pizza, it is complete free flowing creativity. The dough is simply your canvas. So allow me to paint you a pizza.

Roll or press out the dough, and move to a corn floured peel. (mine are never actually round)
I chose olive oil for a base this time...

Layer with a little Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano or Grana Padano (your choice of grating cheese) but just a little.
Sprinkle with Leeks

Add mushrooms and Roasted Red Peppers

Add Artichoke hearts and your first layer of Mozzarella.

Lay out squash blossoms.

Add a final sprinkle of Mozzarella cheese and just a little more of your chosen grating cheese...

Toss it onto your cornmeal covered stone at 500 degrees and bake for 8-10 minutes.
Let rest on the counter for 3-5 minutes before cutting.

I cut mine on the peel now, because I have a wooden pizza cutter, if you have a metal one, remove the pizza from the peel first or you will scar it.

Now the best part... Eat the Pizza... !!!!


I was originally going to do this in 2 separate posts, but time was an issue, and since it is Sunday night, and I have not published the first post yet, I am simply combining them.

After the Garden Pizza of Saturday night, I decided to try my first actual "sweet" pizza. I already had figs, since that was what I had originally went to Whole Foods to find when I came across the Morel mushrooms. I also had Rossini, a blue cheese from the Lombardy area of Italy. The difference between Rossini and oh, say Gorgonzola is that there is an unexpected "sweet" aftertaste. I will admit, that while I find the cheese extremely intriguing, Gorgonzola may have been a better choice here since, for me, the pizza was just a little too sweet. Again, not so much a recipe as a creative process.

Fig and Rossini Pizza with Honey and Mascarpone

It was actually a very simple thing to prepare.
"Sauce" the dough with a light coating of honey.
Place alternating dollops of Mascarpone and quartered figs.
Simply place small pieces of Rossini (or Gorgonzola) on each fig.
Drizzle with a little more honey and bake for 7 minute.

Breakfast of champions!


Then I had pizza again for dinner after walking around downtown today. I called one of my friends in SD, who is a pizza fanatic, and invited him over for a pie. These were more the quintessential meat lovers pizza... A little much for me, but still tasty.

Dry Salami, Pepperoni, Mushroom and Black Olive

Spread Tomato Sauce, sprinkle lightly with Parmigiano-Reggiano for a base coat.
Add Salami and Pepperoni, then sprinkle with dry mozzarella.
Add sliced black olive and mushrooms.
Top with More mozzarella and a little more Parmigiano-Reggiano.
I like to sprinkle mine with a little more Cracked Black pepper.
Bake 8 Minutes.


Mangia!!
~~

P.S. Oh yes, there will be at least 3 more pizza posts.... It's not over yet... Stay tuned....

Not Quite Figgy Pudding - Fig Mousse on Truffled Crackers

I have been wanting to combine these flavors in this format for awhile now. This whole thing has been rolling around inside my head for about 9 months, bumping into the occasional neuron and annoying the glial cells to no end, I am sure.

It's always been one thing or another.... Waiting for fresh figs... Then when Figs were in season, I was out of Truffle oil (and so was everyone else) or Meyer Lemons were out of season (cause they are not "in season" at the same time as figs).

Then there is the cheese fiasco... I wanted Humbolt Fog for this recipe, and I can't seem to find the small wheels anywhere... So with a little help from a Cheese monger at Whole Foods I decided to substitute the Humbolt with Brunet from Piemonte (just like the hair color 'broo-NET'). The cheese was fantastic, but not with the mousse. So, I finally decided to simply use Gorgonzola, since it goes so well with figs.

With that being said, neither Meyer Lemons nor Figs are in season, so I opted for Preserves...

cause I can't take it anymore... This recipe HAS to come out....
If it bumps against my optic nerve or Hippocampus one more time, I am gonna go crazy. Thank God, I save the Meyer lemon juice from the Limoncello Experiment... So without further ramblings from the depths of my Cerebral Cortex...

Meyer Fig Mousse with Bleu Truffle

1 TB Water
1 tsp unflavored Gelatin
1/2 cup Fig preserves
1 TB Meyer Lemon Juice
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp White Truffle oil
1 tsp Lemon Infused Olive oil
2/3 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, chilled
1/3 cup Crème Fraîche, chilled
Gorgonzola slices & Crackers to serve

Place gelatin in a small ramekin, add water and allow to bloom.

Melt Fig preserves with 1 TB of Meyer Lemon juice in a small sauce pan.

Run through a strainer while still warm to catch the seeds. (mousse should be smooth not crunchy)

Add yolks and whisk until smooth.
Heat gelatin in a water bath until clear, remove from heat and set aside.
Place Fig/Yolk mixture over simmering water and heat to 155 degrees, whisking constantly (the color will lighten to a pale yellow)


Remove from heat and continue whisking until cooled to about 115 degrees.

Add Gelatin and whisk to incorporate, then run the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove any possible lumps.

Cover on the surface with plastic wrap and set aside.

Place Stainless bowl in Freezer along with the electric mixer attachments you will be using (I use the whisks)

Meanwhile, mix Truffle oil and Olive oil together,

Apply to the crackers with a small pastry brush. (This will keep the mousse from making your crackers soggy.) - You can save this step for the end if you are going to store the mousse overnight

Once bowl and miser attachments are well chilled, whisk the Crème Fraîche and Heavy cream together

until they form stiff peaks.

Add the fig mixture.

And fold until incorporated.

Cover and refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

To serve, remove Gorgonzola from the refrigerator and slice thin wedges.

Place mousse in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe mousse onto or into prepared crackers.

Top with a slice of Gorgonzola and and Serve as above.

Mangia!!!