Pizza Dough

Keely sure does spoil me. For Mother's Day this year, she gave me a Big Green Egg! Ever since, I knew I wanted to learn how to make a great pizza on it. I began this journey by taking a "Bread, Butter, and Jam" cooking class in our community a few weeks ago, taught by my friend Sadira who is a wonderful cook. (Thanks, Sadira, for a wonderful lesson!) Most people who know me already know I make bread, but not this kind. This is artisan bread, which I thought would make a better pizza dough than my sourdough bread.

When Scott and Tina came down for a visit last weekend, I knew it would be the perfect time to experiment. Since I had never done this before, I didn't know how large each pizza would be. So just in case, I doubled the batch of dough. We ended up with a variety of six large pizzas for only three people. What the heck. We had a great time making them and an even better time sampling each one!

Prepare dough 1-5 days in advance.

Like my sourdough bread, it's best to know in advance and plan accordingly because the pizza dough is best when allowed to set for at least 1-5 days. I made my two batches of dough on a Tuesday given that we were going to make pizza on a Friday night. I placed each batch of dough in a gallon ziplock bag and then stored each in the refrigerator. By the fourth day, the dough had doubled in size.

Each batch of dough makes 3 large pizzas approximately 12-14" in diameter. Once the dough is divided, you basically just stretch and fold the dough 4 times, then allow the dough to rest for approximately 20 minutes. While resting, cover the dough with a thin wet dish towel to prevent the dough from drying out. Repeat the stretch-fold-rest cycle five times. For the last cycle though, let the dough rest for approximately an hour so that the dough will rise about 1.5 times in size.

"Stretch and Fold" 4 times for each loaf.

Rest for 20 minutes for each of the first four Stretch-Fold-Rest cycles.

Let dough rest about an hour for the final cycle so that it rises 1.5 times in size.

Now you're ready to make the crust. Place each round of dough onto a floured surface to remove some of the stickiness. Next, shape each round of dough into a thin pizza crust. I tried using a rolling pin, but letting it rotate in the air seemed to work better. (I'm definitely going to need more practice with this step. But seriously, who cares what the shape is?) Place on a pizza peel that has been generously coated with cornmeal so that it will easily slide off onto the Big Green Egg. Now for the fun part: choose your favorite toppings.

This isn't enough cornmeal. Use about twice this amount.

I'm working on the BBQ chicken pizza.

Tina and Scott are experimenting with their own toppings.

We went ahead and topped all of the pizzas. Next, slide one at a time onto the pizza peeler that has been generously coated with cornmeal. Bake each pizza for only 5 minutes in the Big Green Egg that has reached 500 degrees.

Scott's favorite: Olive oil, pesto, pizza blend cheese, sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh oregano

Another favorite: Pesto, mozzarella, Roma tomatoes, bacon, fresh basil

Tina's invention: Olive oil, pimento cheese, pizza sauce, chicken, bacon, spinach, avocado, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers. So good!

White BBQ sauce, mozzarella, pulled chicken, cilantro, Rudy's BBQ sauce. Meh. Won't do this one again. 

Meat Lovers: Pizza sauce, pizza cheese blend, sausage, pepperoni, bacon, fresh oregano. Always a winner.

Another favorite: Olive oil, fig jam, mozzarella. Bake and top with prosciutto and arugula. 

The last one was my favorite as well as Tina's. In fact, now I'm on a mission to make a batch of fig jam! Stay tuned . . .


Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 cups water at room temperature
• 4-1/2 cups bread flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• Cornmeal

Directions:

1. Mix yeast and water. Set for 2 minutes. Add bread flour to yeast mixture. Place salt on top of bread flour. Mix together for approximately 2 minutes with either a stand mixer or by hand. The dough will be soft and sticky. Place in a gallon ziplock bag and refrigerate for 1-5 days so that the dough will double in size.
2. Preheat Big Green Egg (or oven) to 500 degrees.
3. Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Stretch and fold each round of dough 4 times, then allow the dough to rest for approximately 20 minutes. While resting, cover the dough with a thin wet dish towel to prevent the dough from drying out. Repeat the stretch-fold-rest cycle five times. For the last cycle though, let the dough rest for approximately an hour so that the dough will rise about 1.5 times in size. 
4. Now you're ready to make the crust. Place each round of dough onto a floured surface to remove some of the stickiness. Next, shape each round of dough into a thin pizza crust. Place on a pizza peeler that has been generously coated with cornmeal so that it will easily slide off onto the Big Green Egg. 
5. Top each crust with your favorite toppings. 
6. Bake each pizza for only 5 minutes in the Big Green Egg that has reached 500 degrees.

Note: For artisan bread, only use 1.5 cups of water. Follow steps 1-3 above. Score the loaves and place on a floured cookie sheet. Lightly spray with water. Bake at 500 degrees for 5 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes or until done. 

Recipe adapted from the class, "Bread, Butter, and Jam" taught by Sadira Ebert at Southern 71, a wonderful place to "gather, shop, and share" in our Westhaven community.

J Alexander's Copycat Carrot Cake

One of Steve's favorite desserts is J Alexander's carrot cake. It's amazing. For years, I had been trying to get the recipe. No luck. . . that is, until we moved to Franklin. When we were having dinner one night several years ago at a local seafood restaurant, Steve and I shared a piece of its carrot cake. We were surprised and delighted that it tasted very much like J Alexander's. I was hoping to get the recipe. No harm in asking, right? Surprisingly, the chef came out to our table after I made my request. I was shocked! (At the time, I couldn't find a copycat recipe online. Today, you can find many variations.)

The chef said, "Are you ready?"
I quickly grabbed a random piece of paper in my handbag, and he started reciting the recipe from memory. The list of ingredients kept getting longer and longer.
"You're pulling my leg, aren't you? Surely you don't have this recipe memorized. Or, maybe it's sabotage!?! Seriously. I promise to buy your carrot cake every time we have dinner here."
"Trust me. I've been making this for years. Yes, I have it memorized."

I've only made it twice because it is so decadent. The first time was several years ago when I first got the recipe. I didn't realize it at the time that the chef was giving me the restaurant variation, so it made a huge batch. The second time I made it was last night. I thought it would be the perfect cake to make for Scott's birthday since I knew carrot cake was a favorite of his, too. I was right. And in Scott's case, he didn't even have to worry about the calories. :)

I love this sign we found at The Factory in Franklin.

 J Alexander's Copycat Carrot Cake

Ingredients for Cake:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 2-1/2 cups grated carrots
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Ingredients for Cake Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 sticks butter, room temperature
• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 box powdered sugar (about 4 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together first five dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the next seven ingredients. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, mixing well. Pour into a greased 9x13 cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

While cake is baking, begin making cake syrup. Combine ingredients in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

When cake is finished baking, poke holes all over hot cake with a fork. Pour the cake syrup over the top. Refrigerate until cool.

Make cream cheese frosting by combining ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth. Top completely cooled cake with cream cheese frosting. Garnish with chopped pecans (optional).

Third Annual Westhaven Cookie Exchange

Today marked our neighborhood's Third Annual Cookie Exchange. The invite promised it would "build community, one cookie at a time." I couldn't agree more!

"I live on Jewel Street, too! We're neighbors!"
"My dad is also Swedish. Thank you for bringing a cookie that reminds me of my childhood!"
"These cookies taste like my favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream. I renamed them Grinch cookies."
"My parents' Amish neighbors made these."
"The instructions said to make sure we didn't bring burnt cookies to the exchange. To be safe, I made these no bake cookies."

This year, we had 19 participants who each brought at least 6 dozen cookies of one kind. As a result, we each left with around 4 cookies of the different varieties. It always amazes me that there are no duplicates.

I made red velvet cookies - my "go-to" recipe for a cookie exchange. My family thinks they're delicious. As the baker, I like the fact that they're easy, fast, and festive looking, too.

Red Velvet Cookies - KK Moore

Here are the other wonderful varieties (in no particular order).

Cinnamon Cookies - Sadira Ebert

Holiday Candy Fudge Bars - Terri Stilwell

Chocolate Peppermint Sandwiches - Mandy Genovese

Amish Sugar Cookies - Genie Thompson

Sand Tarts - Ann Biron

Texas Chocolate Chip - Danette Peltier

Pepparkako Swedish Ginger Cookies - Barbara Wetzell

Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies - Mary Grindstaff

Congo Squares - Bonnie Cockrill

Coconut Chocolate Blossoms - Heather Brousseau

Peanut Butter Sensations - Shari Lacy

Toffee Bites - Andrea Joki

Grinch Cookies - Lara Travis

Double Chocolate Chip Peppermint - Holly Picciurro

Vanilla Nut Cookies - Leila Sanders

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip - Jessica Schneller

Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies - Jennifer Scoggins

Cowboy Cookies - Cindy Poe

 Thanks to Sadira Ebert for spearheading this event!