Herbes de Provence and Garlic Pizza Dough

This is my go-to pizza dough, rich with garlic and herbs. At times I have bought a brand of herbes de Provence from Williams Sonoma that  comes in a decorative ceramic jar with a loose fitting lid. It's a pricey decision, but I will attest that the quality of the mixture is quite good.

I just checked out WS. A 1 ounce jar is $18. Whoa, I can't believe I ever rationalized that purchase (they've carried this product for years - and admittedly I always liked the rustic container).

BUT, there's a 2 ounce refill for $12.  That's actually a pretty good price.

Herb and Garlic Pizza Dough

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
Fresh ground black pepper
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon yeast (if using a packet, reduce water to 1 1/4 cups and flour to 3 cups)
3 1/4 cups bread flour (all purpose is an acceptable substitute)
1/3 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon salt

1. Heat oil, garlic, herbes and pepper in a small pan until flavors are released. Immediately remove from heat and let cool. This can be done well ahead of making the dough. 
2. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over the warm water and let sit for about 5 minutes. 
3. Separately, combine the flour, cornmeal and salt. 
4. Add the flavored oil to the water, then add the flour mixture about a cup at a time, mixing thoroughly until all ingredients are combined. Steps 3 and 4 can be done in a food processor, for speed. 
5. Remove from bowl and knead dough for a few minutes until smooth. 

The dough can be refrigerated, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out. It also can simply be stretched out by hand without a rolling pin, creating an even more rustic look and feel.

Divided into several pieces, the dough also survives well in the freezer for a few weeks or months.

Pizza with Carmelized Onions and Sausage

My kids like an occasional pizza night. Unlike some enthusiastic pizza lovers, I've never tried to achieve perfection in pizza making. Instead, I've got one really reliable and flavorful dough recipe that works for hand formed pizzas that can be grilled or oven cooked.

There are some fundamental techniques that are almost mandatory - such as oven tiles and a pizza peel if cooking in an oven. Cornmeal is needed for transfer to / from the oven.

There's one exception to my approach, which a recipe for Chicago-style deep dish pizza, which is summarized in this article snippet I shared last year. The dough technique was adapted from pastry making and published in Cook's Illustrated. But that's a whole 'nuther story.

What I like about this free-form pizza making:

• You don't necessarily need tomato sauce 
• Choices for toppings are endless (past posts: Carmelized Onions, Figs and Blue Cheese, Potato, Bacon and Rosemary, Alligator Sausage, Roasted Garlic, Roasted Shallots and Spinach.)
• Even leftovers are fair game for potential toppings. 
• Kids of any age can get involved in assembling pizzas or shredding cheese(s)Dough recipes? Frankly, if you use a good source - such as Cook's Illustrated Magazine or The Essential York Times Cookbook or How to Cook Everything - you can't go wrong. 

All right, I'll publish my dough recipe with garlic, olive oil and herbs de Provence. Tomorrow. 

Pizza Night

Unseasonably cold in Houston for the longish MLK holiday weekend. So we decided on Saturday Pizza Night with the kids, and two pots of chili on Sunday in order to have leftover for lunches during the week. That plan morphed into inviting family friends over late Sunday afternoon to watch the football games. None of which changed the menu, but I did replenish the excellent grape tomato dish.

Pizza Night

• Jicama and Cucumber with chili and lime, Gourmet Cookbook
  
• Marinated Grape Tomatoes, Gourmet Cookbook
• Veggies & Dip for kids
• Seasoned Pizza dough from Cooks Illustrated (garlic, pepper, herbs de Provence)
  
• Toppings: pepperoni, crumbled bacon, ground pork, potato, garlic chicken, Sichuan flavored pork, chopped rosemary, tomato mushroom quick sauce, mozzarella, asiago, gruyere
  

The marinated tomato recipe required peeling grape tomatoes. At first I had no inclination for this tedious task, but looked out the window at the raw sky, back toward the family room at golf coverage from Palm Springs, and decided to pull up a stool and peel tomatoes (after a 3-4 second plunge in boiling water, then to an ice bath of course). A pint of tomatoes were tossed with 1-2 T vodka, 1 t rice wine vinegar, 2 T sugar, a little salt and the grated zest of a lemon. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. Doesn't keep well overnight - but if attempting, drain the marinate before storing.

As it turns out, the peeling step is the secret to this dish. The outer surface of the peeled tomato soaked up the marinade, which is sublime. Would also make a stellar garnish for martinis or bloody mary's, but the short shelf life makes this a special occasion treatment.

Pizzas made:

• Alex & Amy: Meat lovers with pepperoni, bacon and pork
• Potato, bacon and rosemary - thin slices, a little Asiago cheese sprinkled on top, S&P
• Mulch Pizza: Sichuan pork (Chinese hamburger mixture), light mozzarella base, light sprinkle asiago

The Chinese hamburger pizza arose out of a post-sleepover breakfast discussion among Nora and another Girl Scout, who were extolling the edible virtues of Girl Scout cookies in favor of the mulch sold by Boy Scouts. On the spot I pictured "Mulch Pizza" with a topping of ya cai (pickled mustard greens), ground pork, onion, garlic, Sichuan pepper oil, black vinegar, Zioa Zing rice wine and lots of dark soy sauce - to create a tasty, but dark and crumbly topping.

Mulch pizza was good, but the pizza of potato slices with bacon and rosemary was the clear cut winner.