Basic Pizza Dough

There are as many different "best ways" to make pizza dough as their are pizzerias in the world. I don't proclaim this as the one, true way to make dough, but it is a pretty simple one and ends in a good result. Try your hand at it and then start messing around with the ratios and ingredients to get to a crust you like. Also, remember that you can vary the thickness of the dough to your liking. 

Basic Dough (yield 2 12-14 in. pizza crusts)

• 1 Cup water (lukewarm to help yeast activate)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 packet (or 2 1/4 teaspoons) dry, active yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 Tbsp olive oil (optional)
• 2 1/2 to 3 Cups of flour 

Note: bread flour has increased gluten and will yield a crust with a more chewy texture than plain ol' all purpose flour - you can also sub in whole wheat flour; I've found that up to half the flour can be whole wheat with good results. Any more than that and you might find it too dry and cracker-ish.

1. Dissolve the sugar, yeast and salt in lukewarm water (and olive oil, if using)
2. Allow mixture to sit until yeast begins to bloom and mixture gets foamy (about 5-7 minutes)
3. Add flour starting with 2 cups and adding more as needed to make a soft, smooth dough.
4. Knead the dough (either with your hands on a floured surface, or in your mixer or bread machine) until it is smooth and elastic (about 7-10 minutes).
5. Place the kneaded dough in a lightly greased bowl or other container and cover it so the bread dough doesn't form a skin and begin to dry out. Let it rise for 1-2 hours (until the dough doubles in size)
6. Gently deflate the dough, and divide into 2 pieces. Roll each piece, on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, into approximately a 12 -14 in circle (depending on your preference for crust thickness) If dough seems to want to spring back to a smaller size, let rest for a few minutes so that it will relax. Then, continue with rolling.
7. Place the rounds on pizza pans; or baking sheets; or if you have a pizza stone in your oven, on parchment. (For pizza on the grill see notes below.)
8. Preheat your oven to 450F. While it is heating, top your pizza dough rounds.
9. Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove when crust is golden and toppings are to your liking.

To Grill pizza: Rather than cooking pizza indoors, they can be cooked on your grill which provides a smoky flavor to your crust and toppings & in the summer is a great way to keep you from heating up the whole kitchen.

1. Prepare grill to about 450 F.
2. Prepare dough rounds as described above sprinkling one side liberally with corn meal to prevent it from sticking to your pan or pizza peel 
3. Place pizza dough rounds (untopped) on grill and allow to cook partially. Bring rounds into the house and flip so that the ungrilled side is now the bottom. 
4. Brush grilled top with some olive oil and then top with your selected toppings.
5. Return pizzas to grill and remove when done to your liking.

Happy Cooking!

sld

Pork & Chicken Dumplings

On occasion, I get these urges - a wild hare, if you will - to make something that I've never, ever endeavored to do before. Usually, when these strike, I am able to squelch them until the weekend or some other time when it would be more "appropriate" to jump into a possibly big project.But not yesterday. It was a very lovely weather day here in Texas. The sun was bright, the air was breezy and I launched into cleaning my kitchen. (No, that's not the urge.) I moved things from my counters that I hadn't moved in a very long time. Evidently, unbeknownst to me, I have become a dust bunny rancher as I discovered herds of them behind the knife block and my cookbook stand which stand watch in the corners of my counters. I even cleaned the oven. It was long overdue. 
Once everything was clean and tidy, and I opened a window to keep me and Freckles (my daughter's bionic parakeet) from being overcome by the mélange of fumes, I sat down at my computer, only to find the most delicious looking photo and recipe in my inbox. Take a look at these beauties:  Chao Shou (Sichuan Pork Wontons). I was a goner. That had to happen and it had to happen right then and there. Trouble was, I didn't have any wonton wrappers. Why, oh, why, hadn't I had wonton wrappers on my freezer essentials inventory?! There were a few other ingredients that I didn't have, but I knew, from my pantry list, that I had enough items that I could substitute and make as close of an approximation to the original as possible without leaving the house. So, I searched around my cookbooks and the internet and found some commonalities in recipes/ratios of ingredients for making your own wrappers at home. Turns out, it is easier than you might imagine.

Homemade Wonton Wrappers

• 2 C All-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 - 1/2 C water (like with all pasta/noodle dough,  this amount is going to vary depending up the amount of moisture in your flour and the environment when you make your dough)

1. Sift flour into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Whisk together egg, salt and 1/4 cup water. Pour into flour well. Mix together (using a fork or your hands) adding additional water until the mixture will stay together in a ball. (You may need more or less than 1/2 cup, use your discretion. Keep in mind that you do not want it to be sticky.) 
2. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and pliable. If you have pasta rollers/attachments, you can use them to fully knead. If not, you'll need to knead it by hand until it becomes quite smooth. Don't worry, it will happen.
3. Let rest for 30-60 min. (This is so the gluten can relax. The longer it sits the easier it will be to roll out)
4. Divide dough in half. Keep one half in the bowl covered (a damp towel works well) while you roll out the other one on a surface lightly coated with cornstarch (if you use flour the dough may toughen up). Roll out as thin as you possibly can using a rolling pin. If you are using pasta machine/attachments, roll dough on several passes starting at setting 1 and continue until you reach setting 5 or 6. You want these things as thin as you can get them while still allowing them to stay together since you will be filling them.
5. Cut into 3.5 inch squares (You should be able to get approx. 18 wonton wrappers out of each half). At this point, you can stack them as long as they are well dusted with corn starch between each one. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place into the fridge while you prepare the filling

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Chicken and Pork Filling (inspired by Saveur)

• ½ lb ground chicken
• ½ lb ground pork
• 3 tbsp. cornstarch
• 3 tbsp. rice wine (I used Light Gekkeikan Sake from the pantry)
• 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• ~40 3½"-square wonton wrappers
• 1 egg, beaten
• Kosher salt, to taste
• ½ cup Sichuan red chile oil, recipe to follow, or use store-bought) 
• 2 tbsp. dark soy (or light soy)

1. Mix pork, cornstarch, rice wine, soy, garlic, and ginger in a bowl. Lay out 3 or four wrappers and place about ½ tablespoon of filling in the center. Brush edges with beaten egg to act as a glue to seal the wrappers. Fold wrapper into a triangle, press edges closed. Overlap opposite points into a little bag/purse shape; set aside. (At this point, the filled dumplings can be stored on a parchment paper lined tray, covered with plastic wrap in the fridge for a few hours until you’re ready to cook them.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat; working in batches of about 12 (depending on the size of your pot) cook wontons until firm and cooked through, approximately 5-7min.. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the dumplings to paper towels to drain, then place in a bowl; season with salt and toss with red chile oil and soy. Serve additional red chile oil and vinegar on the side, if you like.

Note: if you'd like these to be pan-fried, boil first, then heat some oil in a skillet and saute the cooked dumplings until their wrappers begin to bubble and crisp up. Another great way to  serve these, for sure.

Red Chili Oil

• 2 Tbsp red pepper flakes
• ½ c canola oil
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)

1. Place pepper flakes in glass jar. Heat oil over medium high heat until it reaches about 225F. (Use candy thermometer to measure temp.) 
2. Carefully pour hot oil over flakes. You will hear sizzling and immediate peppery fragrance as the flakes get flash fried in the oil. (I put my jar in the kitchen sink for safety while pouring.)
3. When cool, cap and keep in the fridge.

Believe me, even if you forego making your own wrappers (which I hope you won’t), these are fabulous. The chili oil is a taste sensation. It is the perfect addition to the tender wrappers and the garlicky pork and chicken filling. Topped with a splash of soy for a salty note, these are just so outstanding! So tasty!

Happy Cooking!
sld