Adventures in Food: Brick-Oven Pizza

Hello all!

So I don't have a recipe or anything for you today. Or rather, I would, if I thought everyone out there had brick ovens in their backyards. Since I'm guessing most of you don't, I'm just going to be sharing a little of my experience today, and you can all be jealous of the fun I had. Aren't I the greatest?

A little background: one of my roommates, the one with more siblings than I can count (four hundred and thirty six I reckon), has a brother who recently completed construction of a full-sized brick oven in his backyard. And, even cooler than having a working forno, he regularly invites friends and family over to make use of the thing. So the other day we trekked over to his house and made brick-oven pizza, just because we could! Ok, it was one of the other sibling's birthday as well, but who's keeping track, right?

By the time we arrived, the fire was already blazing hot and near ready to go. Impressively, the forno regularly hits temperatures in the latter few hundreds, going so high as a thousand degrees if you let it. Yeah, you read that right: a thousand degrees. He also had the pizza dough waiting, so the first thing we had to do was divide it up into individual balls and they were ready to go.

Next, we worked on our toppings. We sliced up some fresh mozzarella and a few more non-traditional cheeses (like Gouda). We made a simple tomato sauce out of a can of crushed tomatoes, some fresh green basil, and a few garlic cloves. We chopped onions and peppers and a few different deli meats even, pulling everything out that could possibly go on a pizza. Oh, and a bag of sliced pepperoni, too. Because sometimes you have to go with the classics.

Then it was time to stretch out the dough. He has a few different peels, wide wooden paddles with long handles for moving the food around. The idea was to flour the peel and gently stretch the dough across it to create the crust. You had to constantly check that the dough would easily slide around on the peel, because if it stuck when you tried to slide it into the oven, you'd be left with a mess. Once that was done, you could top the crust with the sauce and meats and veggies and cheeses of your choice, to create whatever pizza your little heart so desired.

After that came the actual baking. First, we checked the fire with a laser thermometer. For those who don't know, it's exactly what it sounds like: a laser pointer that reads the temperature of whatever or wherever you direct it. I want one. Not 'cause, y'know, I really need it per se, but just because I want it. Then we simply slid the pizza inside. Picture it this way: a big dome where there's a blazing hot fire pushed to one side, with a spot left in the middle for the food. All in all, the whole process takes about, oh, two to three minutes per pizza. Don't believe me? Let's go to the video:

Ok, so my camerawork still needs a little, uh, work. But yeah, that fast.

Trust me, this pizza was delicious. I'll need to get his pizza dough recipe, because I want to find out if I can actually attempt to duplicate the magic in my plain old boring regular oven. I doubt it, though. The live fire adds a smokiness and an earthiness to the crust, but it bakes so fast that the dough doesn't have time to get dry and tough. The result: a warm velvety interior with a crunchy exterior. And the cheese melts so perfectly, it's practically a solid and a liquid at the same time. Even the toppings manage to crisp up, including the veggies. Since I don't care for raw veggies on my pizza, this is a big plus for me. All and all, as I said: delicious.

In the end, this was a very fun experience. I look forward to going back in the future to repeat the process. Sure, it takes a little more work than simply ordering delivery, but the process really is half the fun, and the results are more than worth the effort.

Join me next time when I'll have something I came up with from scratch! As always, I welcome comments and suggestions. Especially the suggestions; I need some new wacky ideas.

Until then, go forth and eat well.

+3 Flaming Chili

Hey everyone!

Today I have for you one of my all-time favorite things (and yes, I admit there are a lot of them) to make: chili.

The cool thing about chili is that it's actually really easy to make, and there's a ton of space left open for interpretation. Don't mistake easy for simple, though. The easiest things to make are often times the easiest to screw up, so you have to pay attention to what you're about. But, once you know what you're doing, you're golden.

Now, my chili recipe is the way I like it. I know that there are true chili aficionados out there, especially here in the Great State of Texas, who will tell you that chili should be meat, sauce and spices. That's it. No beans. No tomatoes. No nothing. But dammit, I like that stuff in my chili. To me it helps to round out the dish and turn it into more of a complete meal. So, if you want to be picky about having "authentic" chili, you'll have to look elsewhere. Me, I'm going to stick with what I like!

WHAT I USED!!!
1 onion, diced
A few tsp minced garlic
3lbs ground beef
1 7oz can chopped green chiles
1 6oz can tomato paste
2 14.5oz cans Rotel (diced tomatoes with chiles)
1 16oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed well
1 16oz can kidney beans, ditto
3 Shiner Bock beers (or other good dark beer)
1 can chipotles in adobo sauce (optional, for a little extra kick)
about 3tbs Worcestershire sauce (optional, but I think it adds a nice smokiness)
1/2cup masa harina (corn flour) mixed with 1cup H20
3tbs Chili Powder
     (To make Chili Powder, combine the following and mix well:
     - 3tbs ancho chile powder
     - 2tbs cayenne powder
     - 2tsp cumin powder
     - 2tsp ground oregano
     - 1tsp garlic powder
     - 1tso onion powder)

WHAT I DID!!!
First, dig out your biggest skillet and saute your onion and garlic over medium heat with a little salt until soft and translucent. Add the beef, brown thoroughly, and drain the fat.

Meanwhile, in a large pot, dutch oven, or slow cooker, combine the chiles, tomato paste, Rotel, both beans, and the beer. If you're using the chiptoles, and they aren't already chopped, pull them out of the sauce. Cut them open and scrape out the seeds, then dice fine. Add them and the adobo sauce from the can into the pot. Add the Worcestershire sauce, if using, the 3tbs of Chili Powder, and the masa harina slurry. Set the whole thing over medium-low heat, then add the meat and onions. Bring to a simmer.

Simmer for at least 1 hour, though more is fine, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat if it gets too hot; you don't want the bottom to burn, right?

When at least an hour has passed, check your seasonings and adjust to taste. If the mixture is too liquidy for your preference, add more masa in a 1:2 masa to water ratio (such as 1tbs masa mixed with 2tbs water).

Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, and corn bread on the side.

So delicious. And like I said, it is fairly easy to make. You just have to pay attention to the heat and your meat and your seasonings to get it right. This chili is wonderfully savory, with just enough spice and heat to make you pay attention. But you can always adjust the heat by adding or subtraction Chili Powder to the mix.

Even better, it's chili, so you can play around with it! Add more peppers if you want more of a kick. Use ground turkey or pork or buffalo if you want to change up the meat a bit. I tried using chorizo once, but it didn't really work. Of course, I'd never worked with chorizo before, so I probably messed it up in the initial execution. Regardless, it was worth trying!

I hope that some of you will give this a try and tell me what you think of it. I've developed this recipe over several attempts, using multiple sources for inspiration. The Chili Powder recipe comes from the internet, I admit, but I really like it and so have used it constantly. But the rest has come from my own trial and error, and I'm quite proud of it.

Meanwhile, if anyone out there has suggestions for something crazy to try, I look forward to getting some new ideas!

Until next time, go forth and eat well!