Tradition

Every time I think about the word "tradition," I hear the cast of Fiddler on the Roof singing in the background.

My first New Year's Day in Illinois was spent with The Man and two loaves of pizza bread, with which we used to make, well, pizza bread. He'd watch football and I would either read or crochet.


We did the same for the next three years. We kind of got away from it for some unknown reason but I decided at 5:00 this morning that it was time to bring this tradition back. The Man is playing in a euchre tournament this afternoon, but I am following through on the pizza bread, reading and crocheting (no football, thank you very much) until he gets home, when he will have his pizza bread.

This is one of the recipes from The Vault that I have no idea where it came from. All I can tell you is that it was damn good back when and it's nearly as good in this gluten-free form.



Pizza Bread
Adapted from The Vault

1 1/2 cups warm milk
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 1/2 tsps xanthan gum
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Combine the yesat, milk and sugar is the bottom of a mixer bowl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes so the yeast activates.

Add the flours, xanthan gum, and spices. Mix with a paddle attachment until well blended. Add the olive oil. Cover and place in a warm area to rise for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour the dough into a greased loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Slice into 1/2" thick slices and top with your favorite pizza toppings, bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees for serving.

This moment brought to you by the miracle of technology

Or by the people who make XD-picture cards that fail after 6 months so you have to buy a new one.

Whichever. I am currently leaning toward the second one.

Anyway, I stopped by Staples to pick up a new one since my camera stopped reading the old one, which naturally had the pictures of the fresh-out-of-the-oven pizza from last night. So these pictures are of day-old pizza, which tastes just as great but isn't so hot in the visual department anymore.

I'd like to mention that I believe that places like PetCo and PetSmart must pipe some drug through their ventilation systems. I went in for a rawhide bone and a can of Kong Stuffn. I came out with $100 worth of dog clothes, dog toys, and cat stuff too.

It's gotta be in the air.

Chicago-style pizza - oh, my goodness...

It's been...well, a dang long time since I have eaten my absolute favorite style of pizza - Chicago-style. I have no idea what brought it to the front of my mind the other day, but once it was there, the thought of this thick pizza would not go away.


You know how it is - once you start craving something, nothing else could possibly take it's place and it's all you think about until you get it.


So this was the case here. I looked at blogs, picked through cookbooks, flipped through the recipes in The Vault...and found no crust recipe that appealed. In the process, though, I found that my copy of The Joy of Cooking has a small gluten-free breads section! I should look at my current cookbooks a little more closely, hm?


Finally, I went back the crust recipe that I used to make all the time and made an attempt at converting it. While the results aren't bad, it certainly isn't the worst gluten-free pizza crust I have ever eaten, and there have been a few.


I used a springform pan for this recipe. Instead of cutting my finger while trying to cut through the side crust, I figured it would be easier to be able to pop off the sides, cut my slices, and then put the sides back on for storage. And I was right.

My camera's on the blink, so I will hopefully post pictures soon.


Chicago-Style Pizza
Adapted from The Vault


For the crust:

1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp yeast
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp cornmeal
1 cup warm water (112 degrees or so)
2 tsp olive oil + extra for the bowl and pan
2 tbsp cider vinegar
A sprinkle of dried basil
A sprinkle of garlic powder


For the sauce:

1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt


For the filling:

1 medium-sized ball mozzarella, sliced into 1/2" slices
Favorite pizza toppings of choice (I used Italian sausage, mushrooms, green pepper, and red onion)


Additional stuff:

1 tbsp grated parmesan

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and allow to sit for 5 minutes so the yeast can bloom. Add thesalt olive oil, sorghum flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, cornstarch, xanthan gum and cider vinegar. Mix with a mixer until well blended. Place into a clean, oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rise for an hour in a warm place.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Lighly oil the bottom and sides of a springform pan or any round pan with at least 2" sides. Sprinkle the bottom and sides with the cornmeal. Break off pieces of the dough and pat them into the pan until they are mushed together and the crust is about 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Make sure you pat the dough up the sides of the pan - when doing thing, think about the volume of topping you are planning on using (the more toppings, the taller the sides need to be).

Once the inside of the pan has been covered by pizza dough, place into the oven and bake for 1o to 15 minutes (the thicker the crust, the longer you will need to bake it) without toppings to ensure the crust gets cooked most of the way through.

To make the sauce, pour the olive oil into a saucepan and saute the garlic for 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, basil, oregano, onion powder, and salt. Stir well and simmer until cooked through.

To prepare the pizza, layer in the following manner (from the bottom):

1. Mozzarella cheese
2. Italian sausage (or other meat you may be using)
3. Any veggies you're using
4. Lotsa sauce (cover the veggies completely)
5. Parmesan

Place into the oven on a jelly roll pan to catch any juices. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the overall thickness of the pizza. At the end of the baking time, allow to sit for at least 5 minutes.

To serve, remove the sides of the springform pan and cut into wedges.

Nothing fancy but sure is good

Happy Friday the 13th!

As promised, I made my pizza for Catherine's round-up last night instead of today...just in case. I don't like to tempt the whammies LOL

On a side note, Gidget's caretaker is going to allow me to bring her home for a few hours whenever I want until we bring her home for good. I really want to get the cats used to her as much as possible before G-day.

Over the last couple of weeks, I thought about the different kinds of pizza that I haven't had since going gluten free. One day, I will attempt a deep-dish Chicago style, but that isn't what I wanted for dinner last night, especially since I wanted to eat before 8:00. So I stopped at the store on the way home, grabbing some scallions and chicken.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 GF pizza crust (I used an Arrowhead Mills mix)
1/2 cup GF barbecue sauce
1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1 large ball of mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare your pizza crust as directed; if you make a crust instead of using prepared, make sure to prebake it since it doesn't take long to bake once you get the toppings on. Spread the barbecue sauce over the top of the crust, arrange the chicken over the sauce, and sprinkle the scallions over the top of the chicken. Place the cheese on top and place into the oven. Bake until the cheese is melted and begins to brown, about 10 minutes.

Tacos...sort of!

The Man loves tacos. Granted, he's never tried a gluten-free taco...but he loves tacos.

I do too. I haven't had a good one since going gluten free since I didn't want to take a chance on the taco seasoning packets. The few times I made them, I just used Mexican spices and created something similar, but it's not quite the same, you know?

I hit that store I found, which is called For the Good of It, located in Joliet. It's fairly small and has a pretty teeny GF section. They had The Gluten Free Pantry's taco seasoning, so that's what started this recipe brewing in my head. I found the Kinnicknick items (not very many) but was in a rush; I plan to go back and take a good look at everything they have on a weekend, maybe this one, to see what I can see at my leisure.

Anyway. Catherine over at Gluten Free Guide is having a GF pizza round-up next Friday, April 13th. Since I am about the klutiziest person on earth, I don't take chances on any Friday the 13th. So here's my pizza now. Of course, in keeping with the "rules," I am technically supposed to post a pizza on the 13th, so I will probably come up with something new and just make it on Thursday instead.

Remember, we are big on Halloween, have 2 black cats, and I am a major klutz. No sense in pushing it on such an auspicious day.

But this pizza flippin' rocks. I ate it with a fork because...well, I happen to like this shirt.

Taco Pizza

1 GF pizza crust (I used 1/2 the recipe for the Arrowhead Mills box mix)
1/2 cup salsa
1 cup refried beans
2 cups cheese of your choice (cheddar, monterey jack, cojita, etc.)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup GF taco seasoning
1 pound ground sirloin
Any other toppings you'd like

Make your pizza crust about 1/4 inch thick so it holds the weight of the toppings to come. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brown the ground sirloin in a skillet over medium heat. Once browned, add the taco seasoning (add water if directed), mix well, and continue to cook until thickened slightly.

When the oven is hot, place the crust into the oven to bake for about 10 minutes to take the rawness off. Remove from the oven and then layer as follows:

Refried beans - spread evenly across the crust
1/2 the taco meat - you'll have the other half left for another day
Onions
Tomatoes
Other toppings
Salsa - "sprinkle" with a spoon
Cheese

Place back into the oven for an addition 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is beginning to brown.

Eat hearty.

Unbutton your pants. Pretend to be Al Bundy (you know, stick the hand in the waistband of your pants and stare at the tube, making snarky comments to anyone and everyone).

Flatbread? Or Pizza? You be the judge

I saw this recipe while dinking around on the internet the other day. I really wanted to try it last night, but...well, you know.

And it was..... The cheese and veggies are a good idea and I will definitely attempt this again on a pizza crust, but the Madwoman Flatbreads are already in the garbage can. Win some, lose some.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe. Minus the Madwoman Whatever Flatbread, plus pizza dough.

Zucchini & Red Onion Pizza
Based on a recipe on www.epicurious.com

1 recipe GF pizza dough of your choice
3/4 cup Alouette Garlic & Herb cheese spread (according to their site, it's gluten free, but it's processed in a plant...yada, yada, yada. I haven't had any problems.)
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
1/2 a red onion, sliced thin
1 zucchini, sliced into thin coins
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare your pizza dough. Quickly saute the zucchini coins in a skillet with the olive oil, no more than a minute or two to start removing the stiffness.

Spread a thin layer of cheese over the crust. Then layer the onion, zucchini and tomato. Sprinkle the top with parmesan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until crust is browned.

Now I will go and donate the rest of that flatbread to the raccoons in the yard.

Bagels...bagels....!

I must have whined prettily enough over on Mike's blog because Enjoy Life got in touch with me and sent 2 goodie boxes to me, too. One of the things I got is something I miss mightily - bagels. Well, I don't miss bagels themselves, actually...I miss Bagel Bites. You know, those pizza-bagel things in the freezer section?

I told you before that I love pizza.

So tonight, even though I made myself a pizza last night (yes, pizza 2 days in a row - leave me alone LOL - blame it on PMS, k?), I used one of those precious, adorable, cute as all get-out bagels from Enjoy Life and made me some bagel bites.

I guess I should start this off by saying that when slathering pizza sauce and other pizza goodness over the top of something you want to truly taste-test, it doesn't work out so well. I was more interested in satisfying the pizza-taste craving to pay attention to the vehicle conveying that spiced yumminess to my mouth. However, I can tell you that that chewy texture that I associate with bagels is there.

The taste? I will let you know tomorrow, when I plan on eating one for breakfast with some homemade blueberry jam. And maybe some peanut butter.

Thank god I only buy natural peanut butter.

If it's not one thing lately with the food poisoning, it's another. Makes you wonder what the heck is going on in the plants that make our food, doesn't it?

More taste testings

I am a pizza fanatic. Back in my gluten days, I ate pizza at least 5 meals a week. Sick, I know, but I really, really like pizza. Just veggies, sauce and cheese. Yum.

Since going gluten free, I have been disappointed in the crust mixes available to me in my local stores. I love to make crust from scratch, but during the work week, it's just too much. So I rely on mixes for my pizza fix.

I finally found one that I like. Enough to eat half the pizza. In one sitting. Which is saying a lot, as I packed some veggie punch onto one pizza: a whole tomato, half a package of mushrooms, half a green pepper, half an onion, a good-sized handful of baby spinach leaves, lots of fresh basil, and half a ball of fresh mozzarella.

Who makes the crust mix? Arrowhead mills. If you haven't tried it yet, try it. You'll like it! (Mikey) Get it?

********

I have been snacking on something else for several weeks now that I hadn't gotten around to mentioning.

I got a box of these a LOOOOOOONG time ago through Natural Farms, I want to say November. The first one I had, I took 2 small bites out of and pitched the rest, chalking it up to experience. I was very surprised that I didn't like it because I absolutely love coconut. That's why I got them in the first place.

A few weeks ago, I needed to take something along with me somewhere, just in case. The only thing I had in the house was the box of Oskri bars. I tossed one in my purse and out the door I went.

The second time around, I chewed more slowly and allowed my taste buds to get past the texture. Not bad, I thought.

That was 8 bars ago and now I am hooked.

A word (well, a few words) to the wise: you really, really gotta like coconut to eat these. That's all they are - coconut, brown rice syrup and cherry flavor. They have a bunch of other flavors, too. Once this box is gone, I am going to try a different kind.

Today's other craving

Calzones! The Man mentioned it yesterday, so I debated how I was going to accomplish a GF one with minimal effort. I think I succeeded.

Gluten-Free Calzone

1 recipe GF no-knead bread
Pizza sauce (either from scratch or a GF commercial version)
Fresh ball of mozzarella
Pizza toppings of choice
Parmesan cheese
Dried basil
White rice flour

Make the no-knead bread recipe about an hour before you want to make your calzone. Let it rise on the counter.

When you're ready to start, pull out the white rice flour. Take HALF of the dough and put it into a separate bowl. Cover it and use to make bread later. Mix enough rice flour into the calzone dough to get it stiff enough to pat onto a pan. Now split it into 2 again.

Rub a thin coating of olive oil over your hands. Take half of the calzone dough and pat it onto an oiled pizza pan (make it pretty thin but not so thin that it tears or your filling will fall out the bottom of the calzone). Let it rest while you prepare your toppings. I used fresh mushrooms, green pepper, onion, and tomato, all diced.

Once you have everything chopped up, spoon a layer of pizza sauce onto the dough, leaving about a half-inch clear of sauce around the outside edge. Add your toppings; don't go nuts or you will have a hard time covering it with the other half of the dough. Ask me how I know that. Don't forget to top with slices of fresh mozzarella.

Take the remaining piece of dough and add even more rice flour (I think I used a total of 1/8 cup for everything) so that it will pat out and allow you to fold it over, pick it up, and drape it over the top of the filling. Do exactly that, then press the edges together to seal. If you have enough "overhang," you can turn the edges under and pinch to make it look pretty.

Brush a light coat of olive oil on the top crust; grate some Parmesan cheese on top, then sprinkle a little basil.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until browned.

Not bad. Next time, I will add some dried herbs like basil and oregano, and maybe even some garlic, into the bread to give it some more flavor.

GF pizza....yum!

I made GF pizza tonight. This was the third time I did this, but I wasn't really happy with the crust I used the 1st two times. This time, I used Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread and Pizza Mix. It made way too much for 1 person, so I took the other half of the dough and made French bread.

Gluten Free Pizza

1 package Gluten Free Pantry's French Bread and Pizza mix

Pizza toppings of your choice (all veggies for me)

1 small can tomato sauce

Dried oregano

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Dried basil

Good mozzarella

Parmesan Reggiano

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Make the entire package of French bread and Pizza mix. Split it in half; grease a loaf pan and put half in it to rise for 40 minutes (follow the oven directions on the box). Grease a cookie sheet and dump the other half of the dough on it.

Rub your hands with olive oil and press out the dough on the cookie sheet until it is at the thickness you prefer for pizza crust. Pop it in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes so that it is just starting to brown. Remove from the oven.

Pour the tomato sauce in a saucepan and add the oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder to taste. Heat through and then turn the burner off.

Grate enough mozzarella to cover your pizza dough. Spread the pizza sauce over your dough and then add your toppings (I used onion, green pepper, and tomato). Sprinkle the mozzarella on top. Grate some parmesan on top of the mozzarella and then sprinkle a little basil on top of all the cheese.

Bake until cheese begins to brown (about 10 minutes).

Serves way more than one, depending on how thin you make your crust.

On a somewhat side note, Baby loves pizza and we can't leave it laying around anywhere or he will go to town on what he finds (i.e. getting up to get a drink, you set your plate on the end table by the couch where you were sitting. You come back and there is a black and white beast licking the plate).