If you've been to our house on a Friday night you know what we have for dinner - pizza. NOT Domino's or Pizza Hut or even Papa Johns. At the Moodys it's homemade all the way. We always have at least one cheese pizza, which is usually placed on lock-down by Aidan. Ian likes sausage so that's a stand-by. For the third I like to experiment. Sometimes it's chicken barbecue, Mexican, or Sloppy Joe. On occasion I've done potato-bacon with cheddar - very rich!.
You may recall I entered the Pillsbury $1,000,000 cook-off with a Pad Thai Chicken Pizza. That inspired me to think ethnically with my pizzas. I have a Mexican and now Thai...where else could I go? Germany!
Our local butcher sells some really nice flavored-brats. That inspired me. So here's my recipe for German pizza:
Dough:
1 C lukewarm water
2 1/4 t. yeast
2 T. brown sugar
Combine these and set for 10 minutes to proof. Once the mix has bubbled add:
3 C. flour
1 T. salt
Mix well till smooth, you may need to add more flour. I do this in my Kitchen Aid mixer so it comes together quite nicely.
Oil bowl and place dough inside. Oil top of dough and cover. Set aside for one hour, till doubled.
3 Garlic Brats
2 Large onions
Dijon Mustard
2 C. Mozzarella or Gruyere
Preheat oven to 425. Cook brats. I usually do this in a skillet with water. Set aside and let cool. Slice onions and cook till nicely browned. Set aside and cool. When brats are cooled slice into 1/4 inch slices.
Once the dough is doubled, punch down and wait 5-8 minutes then spread out on oiled pizza pan. On pizza spread thin layer of Dijon mustard. This is your "sauce". Then layer the brats, much like you would pepperoni. Then add your onions evenly over the pizza. Top with mozzarella or Gruyere. Bake until golden - about 10-12 minutes.
Now, I've thought of adding sauerkraut, just a sprinkling to give it a little "bite." Haven't tempted it yet. Maybe you can and tell me how it tastes.
Bon Apetit!
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8 comments:
okay here's my confession, and maybe you can help me. I cannot get dough to rise. Period. If the recipe calls for it, I pass it by. I've tried a handful of times, a long time ago now, and never got the dough to rise even the slightest bit. I wonder if some of it is the temp that it requires to rise... how do you make sure it's in a warm enough area? I read about a lady putting dough in her car in the summer to ensure that it would rise quickly before guests arrived... sounds wacky but maybe I could handle that. help?
Make sure your yeast is active by proofing it. Sprinkle your yeast over lukewarm water - between 105 to 120 degrees and feed it with a tablespoon of sugar. If it isn't bubbling within 5-10 minutes the yeast is dead and nothing will rise. If it does bubble proceed with the salt and flour. After kneading I just place in a bowl on the kitchen counter and it'll rise. Don't know what else to recommend.
P.S. I don't have a strawberry rhubarb pie recipe. My family isn't big on rhubarb - I little too mushy for their taste. But I'm sure anything you find on foodnetwork.com or epicurious.com or epicurean.com would work fine. I'd love to be there to try a piece! Probably great with vanilla ice cream!
The German pizza sounds great Barbie....true to your family's (at least part of them)heritage. I think the sourkrout would be a good added touch.
Remember if you have to travel anywhere to do a cookoff I'm free!!
orrange,
One of my favorite websites is www.baking911.com There should be help for you there.
The temperature of the room, should be pretty much a mute point in todays society, it's not going to get cold enough to stop the dough from rising at all, it will even rise in the fridge, though it takes a day as opposed to a few hours.
It could however be the temperature of your water. If the water isn't warm when you get started, it will take a very long time to rise. And the opposite is true, if the water is too hot, then it will kill the yeast. Most recipes call for the water to be about the temperature of most hot tap water.
I hope that helps :)
We make pizza in our home as well. We do everything from deep dish to thin crust. I think our favorite is crushed tomatoes, fresh basil and good mozerella. YUM!
Alright then, let's talk pizza:
Your crust? Whole wheat, regular, thin or thick?
The sauce: Out of a jar or your own, if bought, what kind?
The cheese: Only mozzerella or have you played with other ideas--goat cheese, provelone, queso blanco?
And what about jalenos for the topping or other peppers of note?
Okay Toby, Yes to all.
I've tried whole wheat and heard unless I grind my own wheat berries it doesn't turn out as well as plain unbleached white. We tend to go thin crust. I've done a stuff crust (with mozz) but it's a lot of work.
Sauce -usually jarred and I prefer bertolli 4 cheese.
I've done jalapenos on my chicken pizza with a white sauce. Really like that one. Usually buy a rotesserie chicken and use that but sometimes grill chicken breasts marinated in olive oil an garlic.
Provolone is really good on a sloppy joe pizza (ground beef with tomato paste, bell peppers) and a philly cheese steak (marinade steak and green peppers). Used goat cheese on a roasted vegetable pizza (my mil's favorite) Queso Blano?Never tried this cheese. How do you recommend using it?
We use bread flour. It's got more gluten than plain AP flour, so it comes out more chewy.
We normally make our own sauce, but mentioning queso blanco makes me think of something tex mex, like black beans, corn, cilantro, some fresh salsa, and queso. That might be tasty.
That sounds good Christina. I think I'll try that this Friday with some chorizo.
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