Homemade Pizza - Pizza Crust Video #VideoRecipes

Alison Anton, a Certified Nutritional Chef, food writer and culinary instructor through Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts in Northern California. I teach cooking and nutrition classes through the Whole Foods Market Salud Cooking School and write a monthly eLetter, also entitled Whole Gourmet Natural Cooking, to a wide audience. Go Articles




Homemade Pizza - Pizza Crust Video

When we think of pizza, most Americans think cheese and pepperoni. Of course there are many popular toppings that branch out from these staples, but in general, we tend not to stray too far from the occasional artichoke heart or sundried tomato.

But think about it... pizza crust is just a simple flatbread. Flatbreads are a staple food all over the world and are eaten with all kinds of traditional ethnic foods, such as Indian curries, peppery African stews, Moroccan harissas, and even with a simple South American breakfast. For these folks, flatbreads are used in the same way that Westerners use forks. So why not make a pizza out of it?

Since the vast majority of Western kids have a positive association with pizza, "making a pizza out of it" is a fabulous way to introduce young children to new and exotic flavors. Not only will the pizza LOOK appealing, the bread will act to soften strong, ethnic spices that may be foreign to the uninitiated palatte. Cheese, of course, can also help soften the blow.

A pizza doesn't have to have cheese on it to make it a "real" pizza, though. Cheese-less pizzas aren't just for vegans and lactose intolerant. My personal favorite is a simple cheese-less pizza loaded instead with pesto, caramelized onions and walnuts (see recipe below). It can be topped with just a dot of feta for the occasional burst of flavor, but cheese is not the highlight of the pizza, as it would be for nearly all American-style pizzas.

Here are just a few creative examples of what can be done for healthier, ethnic or cheese-less pizzas:

Thai Pizza

Base: Thai peanut sauce
Toppings: shredded Napa cabbage and carrots, marinated baked tofu, splash of soy sauce and lime juice, chopped peanuts
Herbs: minced garlic and ginger, fresh cilantro and Thai basil

Fajita Pizza

Base: refried beans, olive oil
Toppings: fajita-style vegetables or meats, quacamole, sour cream, splash of lime juice
Herbs: minced garlic, fresh cilantro

Polish Pizza

Base: saurkraut
Toppings: Polish sausage (or veggie sausage), onion, green pepper, olive oil
Herbs: minced garlic, caraway seeds

Curry Pizza

Base: saag paneer (pureed spinach with cheese)
Toppings: chicken or vegetable curry, cashews
Herbs: minced garlic and ginger, fresh cilantro

MAKING PIZZA AT HOME

Isn't pizza dough hard to make, though?

Actually, no; quite the contrary. Making good crust isn't nearly as much of an art as making good bread. Many people see 'yeast' in the ingredients list and get scared. They think, "Uh oh! I'll have to knead it, and rise it, and shape it and bake it." Yes, but it needs only a few minutes of kneading, and the rising happens by itself. Shaping takes all of a minute and most pizzas only need 12-15 minutes in the oven. The only time-consuming part is waiting for the dough to rise, which happens in about an hour.

It's also cost efficient to make a homemade crust; all that is needed is some flour and water, a packet of yeast, salt, sugar and a touch of olive oil.

,a href="http://wholegourmet.blogspot.com/2007/05/homemade-pizza-pizza-crust-video.html/" target="new">Homemade Pizza Crust Video

3-In-1 Homemade Pizza Crust Recipe

With the right equipment, making pizza at home is fun, fast and friendly. Here are two inexpensive items recommended for homemade crusts that brown evenly and stay light and airy on the inside:

Pizza Stone - A pizza stone is a slab of stone used for baking pizzas and other flatbreads. A pizza stone is the next best thing to a wood-fired brick oven. It helps distribute heat evenly to the bottom and top of the crust, ensuring a perfectly crispy crust that's soft on the inside.

Since it is made of stone, it should be placed in a cool oven and preheated with the oven so that it doesn't crack from the rapid change of temperature. Once preheated, the stone will evenly transfer the heat to the crust. The raw pizza crust is then placed directly onto the stone, without having to remove the stone from the oven.

If you don't have a stone, you can use a pizza pan or the back of a sheet pan for baking pizza. The crust can be shaped right on top of either of these, as these pans do not need to be preheated.

Pizza Peel - This baking shovel has a long handle to keep your hands safe while transporting your pizza to and from the oven. It is a large, thin, wooden or metal spatula that slides the pizza quickly and easily to the pizza stone in the hot oven. The crust can be made directly on top of the pizza peel and then transported to the hot stone.

To help with ease of transport, cornmeal is usually sprinkled on the surface of the shovel before preparing the crust. But wait... move over Mama Mia, a piece of parchment paper on top of the peel works even better! Shape the crust on top of the parchment, then slide the pizza, along with the parchment, onto the pizza stone in the hot oven. The parchment goes right into the oven and easily slides from the pizza peel to the stone. No more smooshed pizzas!

If you don't have a pizza peel, use the back side of a sheet pan with the parchment. The crust will slide right off.

How to Cook Arroz a la Valenciana #VideoRecipes

Resource: Panlasang Pinoy

Panlasang Pinoy Arroz a la Valenciana

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cup glutinous rice (malagkit)
1-1/2 cup white rice
1-1/2 tsp. salt
5 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup oil
1 young chicken cut into serving pieces
1/4 kg. pork, cut into serving pieces
2 tbsp. garlic, macerated
1 large onion, sliced
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
6 potatoes, quartered and fried
1 small can sweet peas
1 red-sweet pepper, sliced
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
parsley

Procedures:

1) Boil the malagkit-rice mixture, salt, and coconut milk in a saucepan. Stir once in a while to prevent burning.

2) Fry the chicken-pork pieces in hot oil; set aside.

3)In the same fat, render off color from athlete seeds; discard seeds.

4)Saute garlic, onion, and add tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

5) Add the fried meat and simmer until tender.

6) Add the rice mixture; blend well. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine lightly.

7) Arrange on a platter and garnish with hard-boiled eggs and strips of parsley.

8) Good for 12 persons.

Homemade Bagels Bread #VideoRecipes

Resource: Susan's Cooking School


Homemade Bagels

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups (1 pound) unbleached flour (see note below)
3 teaspoons coarse kosher salt, divided
3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon honey (see note below)
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons room temperature or slightly warm water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg white, optional
Sesame Seeds

Procedures:

(1) Mix the flour, 2 teaspoons of the salt, the yeast, honey, and the water until everything begins to form into dough. You can use a mixer if you like, but it's simpler by hand. It'll be a stiff dough, as there's not much water, but this makes it sturdy enough to withstand a dunk in boiling water later. Feel free to add a bit more water if necessary, but you shouldn't need much.

(2) Let the dough rest for 5 minutes while you find a place in your tiny apartment on which to knead.

(3) Knead on a floured surface for about 3 minutes -- the dough will get smooth, a little tacky.

(4) Now put your lovely little dough ball into an oiled boil, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it hang in the fridge for a few hours, or at least an hour. (I've left it for both 45 minutes and 4 hours, and both batches turned out fine.)

(5) When you're ready to shape the bagels, line a baking sheet with lightly greased parchment paper. Then remove the dough from the fridge, and cut it into 6 or 8 pieces, depending on how large or small you'd like your bagels to be. (I find that 6 pieces yields my kind of bagel: not puny.) Form each piece into a ball, and then each ball into a 10-inch log, with tapered ends. (Don't use any flour on your surface! You'll need the dough to stick just slightly in order for it to change shape.)

(6) To shape the bagels, place one end of one dough log in between your thumb and forefinger, and then wrap it around the rest of your fingers -- the dough ends should overlap by an inch or two -- and squeeze it slightly to bind it together. Once you do this, you can also roll the ends together on a surface to enhance the seal. Extra security is never a bad thing.

(7) Repeat for all of the bagels, then lightly oil them and cover with plastic wrap. Put them in the fridge to proof overnight. Invite guests over for brunch.

(8) About an hour an a half before you want to bake them, pull the bagels out of the fridge to come to room temperature, and fill a large pot (I use a Dutch oven) with at least 4 inches of water. Cover and bring it to a boil. When it boils, add 1 teaspoon of salt and the baking soda, then turn it down to a simmer.

(9) Crank the oven to 500° F.

(10) Now test the bagels by using the float test: fill a bowl with cold water, and place one bagel in it. If it floats, they're all ready to go. If not, you haven't failed: just return it to the baking sheet and let proof for 15 to 20 minutes more, then do the test again.

(11) Onto the boil. If you do not do this, in the opinion of many, what you're making is not a bagel -- it's a round roll with an unexplained hole. So never skip this step.

(12) Working in batches that will fit in your pot, carefully drop each bagel into the simmering water, let poach for 1 minute, and flip with a slotted spoon or a spider. Poach 30 seconds more, and then return each bagel to the baking sheet.

(13) Sprinkle your bagels with whatever topping you want. To help your toppings stick, use an egg white wash, but the residual water from the poach should do the trick, too. Seeds are great, as is big flake or rock salt. Give every bagel a different topping if you want, just don't leave them plain.

(14) Slip them in the oven and reduce the heat to 450° F. Bake for 8 minutes, rotate the sheet, and bake 8 to 12 minutes more, until the bagels are golden brown. Feel free to check the bottom of the bagels as they cook -- if they're getting too brown, just stick another baking sheet underneath them (a baking stone works, too).

(15) Pull them from the oven, and wait an excruciating 30 minutes before you eat them.

(16) Makes 6 to 8 bagels