Wednesday 29 October 2008

I'm Not a Tosser!



Welcome to the October, 2008 Edition of the Daring Baker's Challenge of the month. It should come as no surprise to you that as well as being a "Dorie-ite," I am a "Daring Baker." A great many of us are one and the same. As a Daring Baker I am challenged each month to bake a glorious creation and stretch and hone my skills as a baker. It's a group that I love belonging to and have been able to bake thus far, several things I had not attempted before in my lifetime . . . luscious Yule Logs, Monster looking Potato Bread, Chocolate Coated Eclairs to name but a few.



This month's Daring Baker challenge comes to us today, via Rosa of Rosa's Yum Yum's. For this challenge she chose an easy to follow recipe for “Pizza Napoletana” from Peter Reinhart's “The Bread Baker's Apprentice” which yields a beautifully tasty, thin, crispy, yet chewy pizza crust.



One of the things she most wanted us to do was to learn how to toss a pizza. Oh, how I have always loved the sight of those wonderful Italian Pizza Chef's tossing their pizza's up into the air, and catching them . . . each toss of the dough yielding a larger, silkier creation, resulting in a perfectly round and flat piece of dough, just waiting to be baked into a delicious pizza, all stogged full of wonderful toppings and tasty Italian delights . . .



I am so not a Tosser, but I did try, I promise. No picture of me tossing I'm afraid. It was not a pretty sight! But there is a lovely picture of what I ended up with . . . it was not round . . . it was not flat . . . it was dough.

I ended up rolling it out in my normal way, with a rolling pin. It was a lovely dough though and went together quite well following the instructions for the recipe which may be found on Rosa's PAGE. Be warned though, you have to start the dough the day before you want the pizza.



I decided at the outset that I was going to make something quite different with my dough. I wanted something that would wow me and also my Todd.

Now, my Todd . . . he's got odd tastes, and he is soooo very British. He does not like foreign food and he's absolutely not a fan of anything Italian, and most especially not Pizza. (I know!!! He's nuts, hates chocolate and Italian food! Saints preserve us!!!)



Mine I decided was going to be a *Pierogi Pizza.* I first got turned on to Pierogi's when I moved out to Winnipeg as a young Bride in the mid 1970's. Tasty little noodle like dumplings filled with a variety of fillings, but usually cheese and potato. Once boiled and drained, they are then fried . . . either deep fried in hot fat, or crisply browned in a pan full of melted and sizzling butter(my preference) and served up hot and garnished with lovely buttery fried onions and oodles sour cream. Diet food, NOT . . . Delicious . . . YES!

I spread out my dough and then pre-baked it for about 10 minutes. I always pre-bake my pizza doughs. I think it makes the bottoms crisper.



After the initial baking I topped the first one with 1/2 cup of well drained sauerkraut, and then about 2 cups of cheesy mashed potatoes. (Mashed potatoes that I had stirred a cup of grated strong cheddar cheese in until it melted and highly seasoned with salt and cracked black pepper) I patted the potatoes well down onto the sauerkraut to make sure it would all adhere. I then topped it with a mixture of mozzarella and gruyere cheeses, some crisply fried bacon bits and one whole onion that had been thinly sliced and fried in butter.



Ohh, can't you just feel the pounds piling on!!! This was soooo not diet food. This went into the oven and was baked for a further 20 minutes until the crust was golden brown and nicely crisp on the bottom.



Todd's was an *All Day Breakfast Pizza.* I made his in a smaller pan so that I could make a nice deep edge on it to hold in all the filling. I also pre-baked it for several minutes. I then topped it with some grated cheddar cheese and grilled tomatoes, one for each corner. Then I added several rashers of cooked bacon, a couple of grilled sausages, some hash brown patties and two eggs, cracked in between all of that, with a final dusting of some gruyere cheese and some salt and cracked black pepper. I would have tried to get some baked beans in there, but there just wasn't any room!!!




This I baked for about 15 minutes or so until the crust was also nicely browned at the edges and the eggs were set. The eggs were actually a bit more done than I had anticipated so if I did it again I would bake it with everything else on it for a time, and only then crack on the eggs and bake it for only about 10 minutes to set them.



The verdict??? I thought my pizza was delicious, if rather heavy, and could only manage one tasty piece. Todd rather liked his, tucking in with great relish and eating the whole thing!

Would I make it again? Well, I think I'd rather stick to real pierogi's myself and leave Pizza to the Italians, topping it with loads of cheese, tomato sauce and pepperoni. As for Todd . . . well, he'd just rather leave pizza altogether . . . and does prefer his breakfast in the normal way, on a plate, not a disk of dough, although he said it wasn't bad as far as pizza's go . . .



I did however redeem myself by cooking him a lovely Treacle Sponge, which you can find on my other Page, Marie Cooks Britain. (I know! I don't update that page near often enough!!!) Hop on over there for the recipe and another tale.

In the meantime, don't forget if you want to see the recipe for the pizza dough, to check out Rosa's page and if you want to check out what some of the other Daring Baker's have produced you can check out the Daring Baker's Blog Roll. I bet there are some really delicious creations to drool over!

Hmmm . . . I wonder what we'll be baking next month . . .

30 comments:

  1. Wow Marie!! An all day breakfast pizza!! Looks amazing. I'm off to work in a bit and I could eat that right now!

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  2. One of my favourites Pizza marie Mmmmmmm As for an all day breakfasy one this is new to me.Must try that sometime even though I am not likigng cooking for one nowadays.Stay warm Take Care God Bless Kath xx
    http://kath-mysimplerhymes2.blogspot.com/

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  3. I am Canadian also and how could we live without perogies.You have created heaven in a pan, food form.Is there anything better.Maybe fries with gravy?Cheese whiz and saltine crackers.Dairy Queen's banana splits on a hot summer night.Be still my heart.Your photos are wonderful.They really take one there.One being me.Ha ha.I'm hungry now.As is the case everytime I leave your site.

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  4. oh my, Marie! What a title!! LOL
    I almost spit out my coffee! LOL

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  5. Tossed or not, the finished products look terrific! Particularly liking the look of that breakfast pizza...

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  6. Lovely entry Marie but way too many calories for me just now. Have a nice day. Love Joan.

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  7. Yummy food…. It made me hungry.

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  8. i wish i was your neighbor and that i could come over and steal tastes of all of your delicious food. i totally would:)

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  9. wow! everything looks amazing! Your breakfast pizza is so creative and delicious looking :)

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  10. Pizza Heaven, Marie!! hehehe...Your pizzas are stunningly beautiful, I must say..Both are splendid taste sensation ideas. That all-day breakfast pizza is genial! Not surprising Todd ate it up. But does he really hate chocolate??!! I don't think I've ever come across anyone who dislikes chocolate. Met some that can't eat it, but actively dislike it--never--LOL! I could go for a piping hot slice of pizza now...it's sooo cold here today. And we had our first snow over night! I posted frosty pictures at my place just now! Will you be around for a chat later today?? Missed getting to talk to you over the past weekend :o7 Hope you're having a lovely day, dear friend. Love you heaps!! ((BIG HUGS))

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  11. My husband would love your pizzas. (So would I!) The idea of an all day breakfast pizza would be right up his alley. Excellent!

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  12. I need pizza so bad now. I love the breakfast pizza!

    Going to Shreveport today. I sent an e-mail!

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  13. i love love love your ideas. your poor Todd is missing out on the good stuff but I understand, I dont eat seafood and feel I am probably missing the good life!!

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  14. Your pizzas look so good, they have such creative topping combinations. Great job on the challenge.
    http://amberskitchen.blogspot.com

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  15. Where does Todd stand on Black Pudding? Keith really fancied the "all Day Brekky" pizza but thought a bit of Black Pudding on it would be perfect. He's disgusting!
    love, Angie, xx

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  16. Those pizzas look very creative! I've been making pizza crust using a foccia recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cusines for years. I'd like to try a different recipe too.

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  17. You are the most creative person I know! YUM!

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  18. Great job on this month's challenge, Marie! I love how you made it into something Todd would enjoy. My husband's family is Italian, so no problems eating lots of pizza around here! =)

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  19. Yum, that first pizza is my pick. I wasnt a tosser either - my dough was too sticky

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  20. Marie I love peirogies!! This is spectacular..nice job...

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  21. Wow you give new meaning to making a pizza. I have to admit that I too would not be a very good Pizza Tosser, I'd probably end up wearing it you know or like Lucille Ball and it would just keep getting bigger and bigger. I love the different variations of it all. You are one great chef and my hats' are off to you.

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  22. i cannot believe that he hates pizza--what?!? how funny that you did a fry-up pizza for him! and i love pierogi like nobody's business--delicious idea! and i will take note of your trick to pre-bake the crust a bit.

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  23. Pierogi sounds fabulous! Your pizzas look absolutely phenomenal. Cheers.

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  24. Oh yum. Yum and yum and Yum. I'd start with the pierogi pizza and eat my way through them all! Delicious!

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  25. Marie -- that pizza looks wonderful! I love the breakfast pizza too! I've never heard of that before. My son would love that! Hope you are having a great day and making more of your cute cards!!!

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  26. Oh Marie-you made me both giggle and drool at the same time! Pierogi Pizza! Now, as a 1st generation/1st born US Citizen in my family from Poland, I grew up on a hearty dose of pierogies of all kinds. My mom makes a "Lazy Man's Pierogies" as well (aka Polish Lasagne) but I have to tell her about Pierogi Pizza!

    ...and I think that a pierogi making session is in order here soon. In pizza and dumpling form! Maybe when my mom comes for our Thanksgiving holidays.

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  27. FAntastic. Breakfast pizza. Works for me.

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  28. Oh those pizza's look divine, Marie! I've got to try the breakfast one!

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  29. Marie.... OH MY!!! my poor hubby... he was like drooling... :-) We have to try this one day!! It looks so yummy!!! I would have to work out extra on my elliptical to eat this!!! but SO worth it!!! Lisa

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