Cooking: February 2007 Archives

Mmm... a simpler pizza this time: chili topped with cheddar cheese. I was a little worried about the chili escaping and overflowing the sides onto the pizza stone. So when I stretched out the dough I made an effort to keep a 1/2 inch margin that I left alone. This puffed up enough to make a dam and kept the lake of chili and molten cheese at bay.

I was curious on how the whipped pizza dough would turn out. But I was not in the mood for pizza. So I just threw the dough on the pizza stone with nothing else on top. And when I returned after 4 minutes, I was surprised! The thing had puffed up like a ball. I took it off, let it cool down, and cut it open.

I had made pita bread! The steam was intense enough to split the dough in half. I just had to butter it up and try it out. And it was pretty good. I bet I could make a Texas-sized pita pocket sandwich.

It seemed that there was no difference between using the dough attachment and the whisk attachment for the wet kneading. So on the next day I tried a pizza out. A Philly Cheese Steak Pizza. Which was not bad at all. Hrm. I think I will stick with the dough attachment in the future though. A whisk is just too strange.

I did buy the Magic Mill DLX 2000. And I used it to make the next batch of dough. It is quite different from the Kitchen-aid. And will take some getting used to. It is essentially a big bowl that spins around. On one side of the bowl is a loosely pressed scraper. And on the other side is a rolling pin like device which is secured by an adjustable swinging arm. This is what the wet knead dough looks like after an initial mixing of the flour and water.

After waiting for twenty minutes, the next step is to mix for five minutes. Which turns out like this. A little more mixed but not perfectly smooth.

You then add the flour in small spoonfuls waiting for it to incorporate before adding the next. Which turns out like this. We shall see how it turns out.

This weekend I tried wet kneading with my whisk attachment. We shall see if there is any difference. I am guessing that it will be worse. I am really tempted to buy a Magic Mill DLX 2000.

My pizza loving readers have called out for more. And who am I to deny them? I have a friend, Norbet, that says over a good beer: "I like to think with my stomach." Well, my stomach gave me a burst of inspiration. Or was it acid-reflux? Anyways, I decided that the next pizza would be Swedish meatballs! So I diced up some new potatoes and browned them in the oven. I made the Gräddsås sauce with some extra cornstarch to thicken it up.

Of course, I had to try some Lingonberry jelly on top! Mmm... not bad at all. I am telling you that the pizza is a food delivery system.

The next pizza that I cooked was a dessert pizza. Cooked Granny Smith apples with home-made caramel sauce. Next time, I should put a strudel topping on it.