Today’s guest post comes from Jim in Clark’s Grove
It’s hard to imagine a modern American childhood that does not include a steady diet of pizza, but once upon a time, pizza was an exotic food in the United States.
I don’t remember going out to eat pizza with my parents. I became familiar with the food in the sixties as Pizza Hut and other pizza parlors spread across the country. Some time in the late sixties we discovered a recipe for pizza in our old reliable Fannie Farmer cookbook and made our first attempts at making our own pizzas at home.
With the increased interest in cooking in recent years, I am sure there are many people who produce excellent pizza in their own kitchens. When we started we didn’t know other people who cooked pizza at home -it was an unusual thing to do. We weren’t sure that we would be able to make a top quality product, but we have kept at it and it is now a family specialty and a Christmas Eve tradition.
Although there have been modifications, we are still using the same basic plan from the Fannie Farmer cookbook. I can tell you the recipe from memory. The ingredients for the crust are:
- a cup of water
- a package of yeast
- one teaspoon each of salt and sugar
- a tablespoon of cooking oil
- up to 3 cups of flour
Mix the ingredients, knead the dough, and let it rise, spread it on the pan, and let it rise again. Then all you need to do is add the toppings and bake it.
Over the years I learned that it is best to add the minimum amount of flour required to get dough that can be kneaded. Too much flour gives stiff dough that is hard to work with and makes a crust that resembles cardboard which is what we produced when we started. The cardboard like crusts are edible, but not as good as they should be.
Our daughter learned about another technique – precooking the crust before adding the toppings.
Put the spread out dough in the oven until it is very slightly brown, then take it out and add the toppings before putting it back in to finish cooking.
The basic toppings, of course, are pizza sauce, and cheese with other optional additions known to all pizza lovers. When it comes to toppings, we found that a thin layer is better than a thick layer. You get a soggy pizza when you overdo it. Finish with fresh grated good quality mozzarella over everything.
Perfection!
What have you perfected over the years?
Trail Baboon 
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perfect!!
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oh yum, Jim!
After over 10 years of Friday night being pizza night in our family, we have pretty much perfected it using pretty much the strategy you have outlined. We’ve let it go since braces came into our household, but are thinking that maybe things have settled down enough to start up again.
There for awhile, we had a perpetual pizza bucket in the fridge that gave us a nice sourdough crust, just leave a bit of dough behind and add more flour and water, from time to time working in a bit of olive oil.
The other culinary achievement we have that you all know about already are the Friday morning cream scones. Recipe is in the Kitchen Congress already, IIRC.
I’d like to be able to whip out a pair of socks on my knitting needles without having to think about it too much-I’m working on that one.
Now if I could just get to the point of the seemingly effortless well-kept house…..
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MIG, I found your scone recipe in Kitchen Congress. My wife has a very similar recipe for scones which is favorite of ours. I have made them a few times. We like them because they are so good and can be made without much effort. We also add various things to ours, dried fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips are what we usually add. I haven’t tried to make sour dough pizza. I think it would be very good.
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I think the key to a good scone recipe is that they be made with very little effort. That way, they are done and ready to eat by the time you are fully awake :).
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I’m not good enough at cooking any dish that I could claim to have “perfected” it.
Instead, I like to think I have perfected the art of writing entertaining email letters to friends. About 1987 I engaged in a remarkable correspondence with a fascinating couple living in New Mexico. Because Steve and Betsy were so literate and bright, I worked hard learning to write letters that were creative, unpredictable and fun to read. Then, as I’ve noted before, every day for about 14 years I have written a long morning letter to a friend who lived in the coulee country of SE Minnesota. My correspondence with an artist friend in New Jersey has been one of the joys of my life in recent years.
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the art of writing good
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well
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jack benny said that too
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“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”
– Aristotle
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deep,. very deep
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Nice
And true too
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perfection is
that lifelong biz
that drives us all insane
try your best
and fail the test
and then you blame your brain
truth be known
its surely shown
perfections an illusion
its just a tease
youre on your knees
theres no correct conclusion
you think its reached
the lord beseeched
it felt like you had done it
life fooled again
you knew it when
you thought you’d finally won it
the gods have fun
with everyone
down here that keep on trying
human kind
youve lost your mind
except for perfect tears when crying
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Nice pome, tim.
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Very funny, Lisa.
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Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in.
– Leonard Cohen
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Love leonard
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Right, tim. We are still working improving our pizza making techniques. I should say that we have been attempting to perfect pizza making. With years of practice and trying different things we are hoping to more or less get close to perfection.
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“It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward it, though we know it can never be reached.”
– Samuel Johnson
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3 in a row
If you need two days for perfect quotes go ahead and take it.
It sure adds something
Thanks
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Great post, Jim, and I can see I’m going to have to try this recipe in the NEAR future. Do you use a pizza stone, or just a regular pan?
I can remember the first time I had pizza, in a little cafe in downtown Storm Lake, IA, must have been around 1958. The menu called it Pizza Pie, and I remember I didn’t like it that time – I was no doubt expecting something sweet. Changed my mind soon after – pizza is one of my food cravings, but I don’t let myself indulge very often.
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Ah, and to answer the question:
I can’t think of anything I’ve perfected. I tried to perfect “Anitra’s Dance” for a piano recital when in high school – came close. I occasionally sing a song in choir, or dance at Tapestry withough a mistake. I keep rearranging the furniture to find the perfect setting to live in.
I guess if something got to the point of being “perfect”, there’d be no point in doing it anymore, so I’d rather not do that – I like all the things I do. May have to think on that some more…
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“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”
– Salvador Dalí
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“Perfection is a trifle dull. It is not the least of life’s ironies that this, which we all aim at, is better not quite achieved.”
– W. Somerset Maugham
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4-5
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BiR, we usually use a round pan that has a lot of small holes in it that I think are intended to let the pizza bake more evenly. Sometimes we just use a cookie sheet. We have a pizza stone that we have used for certain kinds of bread. We tried the Pizza stone for pizza and found out that we should have sprinkled some corn flour on the stone to keep the pizza from sticking to the stone.
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we’ve got a stone and fairly recently were given a peel.
I’m still working at perfecting that nifty motion the pros use to just slide the pizza from the peel right on to the stone. When it works, it is grand, when it doesn’t, well, you can still eat it……..
and yes, Jim, corn flour or meal is your friend.
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What’s a peel?
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A peel is a big, flat wooden paddle that you can use to transfer the pizza into the oven. It takes a sharp backward motion to pull it back and leave the pizza where you want it. As MiG says, if it doesn’t work, you can still eat it but you might be scraping toppings off your oven wall.
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that big wooden paddle thing you see the pros use to shove the pie straight onto the floor of the pizza oven. Also used for bread making-haven’t tried that yet.
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treat it nice. i kept havin mine break into two pieces and then when regluesd it didnt line up quite right so after a bunch of glue joints it didnt function any more. darn cool tool though
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I’ve had a pizza stone for years. The first one I got at a white elephant gift exchange if you can believe that. It didn’t take too long before it cracked and broke into pieces.The second one was a handmade one, very thick. This one lasted for years, with near weekly use, but alas it finally started to break. At first I could piece it together, but it just kept breaking into smaller and smaller pieces so it was not useable. This Christmas youngest daughter gave me a cast iron pizza “stone” and it is great and should never break.
The pizza peel I have is metal with a wood handle. I got it at a restaurant supply store after the wood one I had split. For years, I used cornmeal under the pizza to help it slide off the pizza peel easier, but lately I’ve been cheating and placing the pizzas on parchment paper (it can go right in the oven, but it’s not good for reusing after 10 minutes at 500 degrees).
I wouldn’t say
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please ignore that sentence fragment at the end of my comment…
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What am I doing wrong? I’ve had my pizza stone 15 years or more, and it has never cracked or otherwise deteriorated. Of course, I don’t handle it much; it’s taken out of the oven only to be cleaned once in a blue moon. Normally a quick swipe with a damp cloth after each use suffices.
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PJ – it’s more likely that I was doing something wrong. You obviously are doing things right!
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oops, that ABD is me.
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roma cheese pizza is the single craving that called out to me way back when in the 60’s when i turned vegetarian and didnt know what to eat.i used to special order them by the case at the little pick quik convienience store by my house they are still around and and now cub and rainbow fight it out with 5 for 10 dollars almost every day. we eat them like crackers at our house. last night we had 4. they are like peanut butter sandwiches at my house.
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Well, you’ve done it, Jim. When I saw today’s post, complete with the picture, I knew I was in trouble. As I write this, my breakfast pizza is baking in the oven.
I had never had pizza before I came to the US in 1965, not necessarily because it wasn’t served in Denmark or some of the other places I had lived until then, but I wasn’t aware of it. Now I love good pizza.
I don’t know that there’s any one dish (or anything else for that matter) that I have perfected, but if I do say so myself, Hans and I make pretty darn good Huevos Rancheros. The first 15 years of our marriage we made it every single Sunday morning for brunch. It’s a fun dish to make and it’s one of those meals that can both contribute to. While I attend to the sauce and the eggs, Hans chops, dices and shreds the various toppings. Yum, perhaps we should indulge in that tomorrow morning. A good way to kick off a leisurely Sunday.
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I should try making Huevos Rancheros at home. That dish is one of my favorites if it is well prepared in a restaurant. There are some mexican restaurants around here that don’t put much effort in doing good cooking and I wouldn’t order Huevos Rancheros at those places.
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What is on your breakfast pizza?
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For the crust I use freshly baked naan brushed with olive oil. On top I layer very thin slices of fresh tomato, onion, and green and yellow pepper, a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes. A little salt and pepper, and finally, a shredded mixture of Mozzarella, Provolone, Romano, Asiago and Parmesan chesses. Bake in 400º F preheated oven for about 14 minutes. Sometimes I’ll add a sunny side up fried egg before serving, today I skipped the egg.
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hmm, I have everything but the naan (you make that???) I do, however, have burrito sized tortillas, this sounds like something we may have to have tonight….
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Tortillas work well, I have used them in the past. There’s a small store, The Flatbread Company, not far from where I live. They make the most amazing flatbreads. I have found that their naan (they call it jazz bread) is perfect for individual sized pizzas. I bought a package of 5 jazz breads yesterday. They also have a similar bread topped with zaatar; delicious. (For those may not be familiar with zaatar, it’s a tasty and very versatile middle eastern spice blend. Here’s a basic recipe:
Zaatar
1/4 cup sumac
2 tablespoons thyme
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons marjoram
2 tablespoons oregano
1 teaspoon coarse salt
It can be used to season meat, and vegetables. Sprinkled on freshly baked flatbread and drizzled with olive oil; it makes for a terrific appetizer when served with assorted olives.)
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oooo, we have a 4 day weekend and that is close. Going to have to check that out. Thanks!!!!
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mig, it’s a small ma and pa kind of place. Call them first and ask if they have some on hand before you venture out. Yesterday they had plenty, it may be all gone by now.
651-291-8700
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On my trip to Azerbaijan to do volunteer work I ate naan for the first time. After taking that trip I found out that naan is available in some Indian restaurants here and can even be bought in a few stores. I didn’t know about that bakery you mentioned, JP. I would like to try the naan from that place some time.
The naan I ate in Azerbaijan came from small road side stands. It was cooked in clay tandoori ovens. The ovens looked like tall pots. They were heated by a wood fire in the bottom of the pot and the bread dough was put into the pot by sticking it to the inside of the pot above the fire. Then the pot was covered. The bread was cooked until it puffed up and was slightly brown and had a good crust. It was absolutely delicious.
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As a teacher I perfected classroom planning and time-management.
As an artist I have perfected drawing old wood.
When it comes to making food, I had perfected the following:
waffles
pancakes
several kinds of biscuits
Irish soda bread
three kinds of bagels
(See my problem?)
And pizza dough, With the secret ingredient Jim leaves out, though no doubt his is good.
Stone, always a stone.
Pre-bake slightly.
Lots of sauce and cheese.
Or: no sauce, light cheese, fresh spinach, fresh tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, thyme, basil.
(See my problem?)
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So what’s the secret ingredient, Clyde. Your secret’s safe with us. And, yes, I do see your problem!
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White corn meal.
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Thanks, Clyde. 🙂
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i think we need to get you to work on hot dish and casseroles clyde. rice, broccoli, onions potato soy sauce and magic stuff to top it off. ill bet there are some suuces you could master to make veggies satisfying. get on it.
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I make many dishes such as that, but my wife has grown sick of rice. So we are sort of fumbling at the moment for a common table. I make spaghetti and she has it over pasta and I have it over rice. Every so often I just have a gluten-glut. Jim talked me into it. We are having pizza for supper, the thing she misses the most.
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enjoy
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“The imperfections of a man, his frailties, his faults, are just as important as his virtues. You can’t separate them. They’re wedded.”
– Henry Miller
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6
I really like this one
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I got six on each arm and two more round my feet.
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Heh heh – With that photo, Jim, I wonder how manyof us are going to have some form of pizza either today or tomorrow. Here for one.
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our house too!
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My wife took the photo. I still haven’t master using a digital camera and then sending the picture to someone by email. The picture was emailed from the computer my wife uses to my computer and I forwarded it to Dale. Also, I think Dale did an extra good job of putting what I wrote in a nice lay out, shortening it, and adding a little bit to it.
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came out great
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I’m impressed with the way your wife handled light in the photo. Well done, Mrs. Jim.
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I developed a pretty good spaghetti sauce over the years, similar to Jim and his pizza.
Wish I’d perfected more than that in fifty-six measly years. Not too impressive compared with the great inventors, artists, etc.
Chris in Owatonna
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“Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being.”
– John Updike
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Touche, Linda. Should’ve said “Wish I could have been really, really good at something that was personally AND monetarily rewarding.” (I’m a decent golfer, but could never parley that into a steady paycheck … excuse me, “any paycheck.” 🙂
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Greetings! That pizza looks way good, Jim! I’m not sure I’ve perfected anything, but I’m finally in the habit of planning and making a real dinner most nights. I was not a cook when we first got married. I was a vegetarian and all I made were omelets and lentil soup or just re-heated frozen stuff. I was pathetic. I’m still not a good cook, but I know my way around a kitchen and can follow recipes quite well. Finally resurrected my crockpot from the back cupboard a couple years ago and it gets good use now.
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I think your Southwest Salad recipe with Quinoa is perfection.
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“Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”
– Michaelangelo
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Is this what you had in mind, Linda?
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/red-berry-trifle-recipe/index.html
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Mmmmmmmmmm. Yes.
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I’m pretty sure that I have not perfected anything in my life so far and even surer that I never will. Some things I do “pretty good” but most are pretty bad.
One of the things I do pretty good is pizza. My crust recipe uses semolina flour, which makes for a lovely, crisp thin crust. I love it.
I’ve been experimenting recently with no pizza sauce on my pizzas and a lighter touch with the cheese. For tomatoes, I either use fresh ones (in tomato season), blotted dry, or sun-dried. Or I don’t use any tomatoes at all. And my preference is to steer away from the meat-heavy pizzas and go for things like Spinach-Kalamata Olive-Feta, Mushroom-fresh Garlic-fresh Rosemary, and Roasted Veggie. In asparagus season, an asparagus pizza with fresh chives is amazing.
I’m going to make pizza tomorrow. I’m going to try a Mashed Potato-Broccoli-Bacon. I can’t decide if I should use fresh sage or fresh rosemary with that. I’m also going to make a roasted vegetable pizza with peppers and mushrooms.
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I too prefer pizza without a tomato sauce, although technically, I think, it’s not really a pizza without it. At least that’s what I’ve read somewhere. Some of your combinations sound inspired, Edith. Mashed potato, broccoli and bacon! Have tried that combo before? Sounds intriguing.
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Pizza Luce has a pizza like that.
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oops, that was me.
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We put some cut up left over baked potato on a pizza recently which was good. We usually have mushrooms, sweet fresh pepper, and onion. Small pieces of left over meat such as chicken are often included. Fresh chopped up garlic is another favorite.
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OT – Tonight’s Danish book club meeting has just been cancelled. I have two tickets to tonight’s Dakota Dave Hull’s concert at the Celtic Junction to give away. Jack Klatt opens. Doors open at 7:30 PM, concert at 8 PM. Free for the asking. email or call me at “six, five, one, 22 five-4578.
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I’ve pretty much perfected my cookie press technique. I’ve been making spritz for about 40 years and I find it very satisfying to produce the first cookie on the sheet and get just the right twist. If you twist too little, the dough is not substantial enough to stick to the pan and comes away with the press. If you twist too far, you get an unrecognizable blob when you were trying for a tree or a wreath or something. Some days you just have that Goldilocks moment and all is right with the world.
I thought about pizza for breakfast. I went with Grape Nuts instead, though.
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Did you consider a Grape Nuts pizza?
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Oooo, I bet a Grape Nuts pizza with fresh pears, strawberries and blueberries, drizzled after it comes out of the oven with a little Greek yogurt would be good.
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That does sound good.
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I’ll have to work on that. 😉
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i smile thinking of your artistically arranged cupboard
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That’s a nice way of thinking about what we all dream of, Linda: a “Goldilocks moment.”
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The lovely pizza picture and all this pizza talk have been enticing. I rarely eat pizza so it’s a treat when I have it.
Tonight #2son was having racing thoughts (he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder 4 years ago after a couple of psychotic breaks). We had planned to get together tomorrow but I decided I should see him tonight. Of course (happily) he was fine by the time we got together.
I will be giving blood a week from Monday and I always eat beef the week before to build up my iron. I decided I could have a burger and he could have something he liked if we went to a nearby Perkins. I haven’t been to Perkins for almost 10 years and never liked it (not a single, remotely good-for-you or quality thing available) but he has no such prejudice.
My burger was OK but I ate too many fries and had cookies for dessert. #2son had a seafood platter. Why did I picture anything that wasn’t deep-fried when he told me his choice (I guess that the butter, the roll, the lemon and the tartar sauce weren’t deep-fried)? My dislike of Perkins was reinforced.
Coming back to read more pizza ideas, I wish I had spent my calories differently.
Back to the original question, I would LIKE to say that I have perfected being there for #2son but I’ll probably never quite feel that way.
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Lisa, I’m absolutely sure you’re doing as good a job as anyone could of being a mother, and not just to #2son. Parenting is a tough job in the best of circumstances, and being a parent to a child with any kind of mental or physical challenge has to be daunting. Give yourself plenty of credit and the allowance to squander the occasional calories on something frivolous.
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It is too much to ask of anyone, Lisa, to perfect “being there” for a child. I think being a father was maybe the best thing I ever did, but I screwed that up almost daily. I give myself credit for perfecting the art of putting my little girl down for the night. I’ll bet you have perfected some of the specific arts of being a mother, plus anyone who cares as much as you obviously do has perfected that crucial element of commitment of love.
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“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.”
– Michael J. Fox
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🙂
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Evening–
Nice writing Jim, Thanks.
We have pizza every Friday night. Since daughter is on a gluten free diet there’s two pizza places we frequent here in Rochester. Valentinos and BB’s. Although last night was Godfathers.
Pizza is the perfect meal for me. Supper, breakfast, hot, cold, you name it.
When I was growing up Mom always bought the make it yourself pizza. Maybe Jenos? Was it a green box? I’m picturing a tall green box. I had to add water and mix up the dough and spread it out on a cookie sheet, then open the can of sauce and if we were lucky I had pepperoni slices to spread on it but usually just the cheese and spices in the box. Ate a lot of those on Sunday nights.
What have I perfected? Breathing? Eating?
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So far so good, Ben. You may not be perfect, but I have every reason to believe that your kids think you come close.
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what pj said.
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Chef boyardee pizza in the tall green box
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I remember those!!
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Rise and Shine Baboons!
Today I will be perfecting my cold weather hunch. BRRR. I may also perfect my DVD insertion technique while avoiding a cold day.
Otherwise, I lead a terribly imperfect life, and I cannot think of much I have perfected. Meanwhile, Jim, this post is Practically Perfect In Every Way, like Mary Poppins.
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I think in a recent blog we more or less reached the conclusion that life is not fair. I suppose you could also say that nothing is completely perfect. Thanks for the compliment, Jacque. I like to write guest blogs because they give me an opportunity to work on my writing skills. However, I don’t think I have come close to perfecting these skills.
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“If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.”
– Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
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“Done is better than perfect.”
– Scott Allen
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OT – missed the second episode of Downton Abbey (both viewings) this week, and here comes #3 – I think we missed the wedding of (is it?) daughter Edith – anything else? If I have time I’ll look it up on the web… but I thought this might be quicker, Steve. 🙂
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do you want to know about Edith’s wedding? Like so many weddings, it was . . . umm . . . not perfect.
If you go to Amazon.com you’ll find that the whole season’s shows are available for sale now. You can get the PBS version, if you choose, but you can also get the original UK version without all that crappy editing. 🙂 I think these disks officially go on sale near the end of the month.
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you can watch episodes 1 & 2 online at pbs.org
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Well done, Jim! That’s a great picture of a pizza. It makes me want to make one!
I haven’t perfected very much. I think my vegetarian chili is darn good and some others have praised it as well. Die-hard carnivores even like it. It vanishes by the gallon at Rock Bend, so it can’t be too bad.
I guess I’ve learned to look at my life as a work in progress and will likely never be perfect – or even close. I know what I like and I work to improve what I can. I think I have almost perfected the art of solitude. I need to work harder on being more outgoing. That is a great challenge for me.
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“Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.”
– Author unknown
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Linda, you are a well of wisdom and kindness. Thanks.
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And though it is slightly OT, I am reminded of this one:
“You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair.”
– Chinese Proverb
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“There are two kinds of perfect: The one you can never achieve, and the other, by just being yourself.”
– Lauren King
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That’s the right spirit, PJ. We should help others in little ways when we can.
My mysterious online girlfriend, Kannookenowi, just passed away from some obscure disease having to do with bedbugs. I’m feeling so blue. Pecan pie might raise my spirits a lot, hint, hint!
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There’s a “Pie for Peace” campaign going on tomorrow to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Here’s your’ chance to indulge without guilt, Steve.
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I saw Steve Goodman live five times – this song kept evolving as the years went by.
The imperfection in this perfect performance is the ad at the beginning. Sorry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsa5IiNjIkQ
As for the pecan pie, I’m afraid you’re on your own, Steve.
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Now, if that doesn’t bring a smile to your lips you’re either dead or have some serious problem. God how I miss that man. Thanks, Linda. (And, no commercial! Yeay!)
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Very good. Perfectly wonderful!
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That was fun. I wish I’d seen him perform. Thanks Linda!
Was that Tip O’Neil in the audience at the end??
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Geez, I think that was Tip O’Neill. Or his twin brother, maybe.
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I have perfected French Bread and pie crusts. I submitted a recipe to the Kitchen Congress for the bread. The bread calls for a lot of yeast. That is correct. You need home rendered lard for the pie crust.
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And where does one buy home-rendered lard?
I gained 10 pounds reading this blog today.
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find a real butcher shop and ask for leaf lard or fat back. It is easy to render in a slow cooker.
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I like that quote Linda posted earlier:
“I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.”
– Michael J. Fox
Yep. Right there is truth I’d say.
I think I have finally got the Amish Friendship bread starter working. Just put the second batch in the oven. It still isn’t bubbling like I expect but it smells right and is making a gas because the lid bulges. I won’t claim perfection on that but I’m good at making it. And it sure tastes good.
OT: my sister from Pennsylvania, the food scientist, was back this weekend bringing chocolate bars w/ sea salt in them. The salt added a nice little crunch; sort of a sparkle in your mouth I thought.
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Lucky you, Ben – I do love the sweet/salty ones like that.
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Steve goodman made 14 the number of perfect contributions on perfection and also served to remind that perfection is transitional and today’s progress makes tomorrow’s perfection possible. Thanks steve for working til you’re done and not being done til they put you in the ground. Steve’s perfection and his thoughts on that in the Chicago cubs fans remorse if I can figure out how to post it with this damned phone I’m using for this entry
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Steve Goodman: A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request – YouTube
► 6:14► 6:14
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
Oct 3, 2007
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