Pizza Heaven

1/31/10: Le Hog Pizza and Peach and Blueberry Crumble

Meal details: For the main course I made a pizza using homemade pizza dough that was topped with a white sauce, bacon, ham, etc. For dessert, I made a crumble consisting of two of my favorite fruits: peaches and blueberries.

Defining moments: First time making a white sauce (aka cream sauce). I've seen this done many a time on tv and I was very excited to try this one out.

Recipe sources: Both recipes came via the Food Network channel. The pizza recipe is from Guy Fieri, the host of Guy's Big Bite and the crumble is from Ina Garten, the host of Barefoot Contessa--Back to Basics. I chose to do these two recipes in honor of the FNCCC (Food Network Chef Cooking Challenge) that is being hosted by the I Blame My Mother blog. Ina Garten is one of my favorite chefs so I have been looking forward to doing one of her recipes since the beginning of the challenge. The pizza dough recipe came from the basic recipe section of the 2500 Recipes from Everyday to Extraordinary cookbook. I received this cookbook as a birthday gift and it has many delicious sounding recipes in it.

What I learned: I learned a very unique way of baking pizza in the oven. The 2500 Recipe cookbook told me to place my pizza dough on a lightly oiled sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and stretch it to my desired diameter. I then add the pizza toppings and move the whole pizza--foil and all--to the oven. (I used a cookie sheet to transfer it.) The book says to leave the pizza on the foil for the whole baking time but when it was in the oven for 15 minutes I didn't see any browning action happening on the bottom. So as soon as the pizza was sturdy enough, I moved it to our pizza pans that have large holes on the bottom and I gave them another 15 minutes to bake. The bottom crust was then able to brown. I didn't want to put the pizza on the pizza pan at the beginning of baking because I thought it would seep through the holes. I think the foil and pan technique worked out well.
I also learned how to make a cream sauce which was unexpectedly easy. I was thinking about this sauce all week long and when it was time to make it, I was finished in a matter of 10 minutes. For some reason I was wishing the process took longer!
I didn't learn anything new from doing the crumble. I've done similar preparations in the past.

Any modifications? Yes, I made major modifications to the pizza recipe and a couple to the crumble. The pizza recipe found on the Food Network website is the scaled-down version of a recipe used in a restaurant. The recipe was scaled down drastically and, in my opinion, suffered dramatically. Proportions were way off in some places. This is my revised recipe for two 14" pizzas:

Le Hog, Revised Edition:

• Pizza dough (I used the pizza dough recipe found in this cookbook and doubled it)
• 6 meatballs, broken up
• 1 lb. chopped cooked bacon
• 10 slices of honey ham cold cut slices
• White Sauce (see recipe below)

Roll out pizza dough to 14 inches and top with white sauce, bacon, and meatballs. Bake in a 425F oven for 25 minutes. Top with ham slices and bake for another 5 minutes.

White Sauce recipe:

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 large onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 3/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 12 oz. whipping cream
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp. black pepper

In large pot, over medium heat, add the butter, onion and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent. Stir in the flour and when flour starts to bubble, whisk in the chicken stock, cream, cheese, and pepper. Remove from the stove and cool. Yield: 3 cups.

For the peach and blueberry crumble: The original recipe had ramekins in mind and since we don't have those I used a 4 quart casserole dish and tweaked the recipe. This is my ingredient list:

For the fruits:

• 1 1/2 quarts of canned peaches, drained (I used the peaches I canned last year, see here to learn more)
• 2 teaspoons dried lemon peel (didn't have any lemons on hand)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 quart frozen blueberries
  

For the crumble:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/8 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 sticks cold butter

How it tasted? Both dishes were wonderful. The pizza was crispy and slightly chewy and the white sauce was very rich and flavorful. The crumble was warm, tart, and sweet. Everyone liked the meal!
How about a 2nd time? For sure!

Note: There was enough white sauce to cover both pizzas. I just wanted to make sure half of one pizza was done in the ''traditional'' way just in case someone didn't want to give the new sauce a go.