Glorious Homemade "Wood-Fired" Pizza (from your own HOME OVEN!) à la Jim Lahey

(yesssss... yes... perhaps Too Many Photos of homemade pizza... but OH.MY.GOODNESS... You Want This Pizza!!)

Suffice to say that when we go to NYC, it's mostly for the FOOD.  And while I have SO many favorite restaurants (my NYC Faves pinboard will attest to that), the ONLY restaurant's food I actually CRAVE when I am not in the city is Co. pizza.  Yes, Bread God, Jim Lahey's pizza place is THAT fabulous that I CRAVE it.

And wow ~ I was so sweetly satisfied and overJoyed when I got his book, My Pizza, and I got fanTAStic results at home.  I'd say it is 90% as good as the stuff they make at the restaurant in Chelsea.

Jim explains not only how to make the dough (and duplicate the phenomenal toppings they have at Co.), but he CLEARLY explains how to make this wood-fired pizza at home, using your OVEN.

And the following photos will show you that yes, it looks like my pizzas came from a wood-fired oven.

So, yeah.  Go to the restaurant, buy the book, eat the pizza, and you will be eternally grateful that I shared this post with you.


 First, the dough. GOODNESS (again!)... this dough is just GORGEOUS to work with. I had everyone in my family touch it, it's so satisfying!



(And a peek out the back door reveals Monty and his confusion as to why he's not very comfortable in my outdoor chaise.)

. . .

Now to the pizzas:

my always go-to fave, margherita pie ~

Sam's request ~ leek and sausage pie.  Uh.Muh.Guh. ~ SO fabulous with the béchamel.

Look at that CRUST!!  I MADE THIS AT HOME!!!

This one is our favorite at company (well, except for the margherita pie and the stracciatella pie... ;)...

Shiitake with Walnut Puree Pie (yes, it IS as fabulous as it sounds...) ~

I made a total of EIGHT pies that night (doubled his dough recipe), and it was a LOT of work, but mostly because I had knee surgery a month ago and I have a leg brace and am using crutches!!  I would do all the work again in a heartbeat... It Is Worth The Deliciousness.

another margherita pie...

another leek and sausage pie...

another shiitake with walnut puree pie...

The End.

EnJOY.
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Sam's Edible Birthday Weekend, Entry #1: Chocolate Stout Cupcakes

My aspiring chef Sam turned 18, and, of course, we celebrated with Good Food and Loads of Love, Joy and Presents.

Because Sam and I had fantastic plans to make the Momofuku Milk Bar Birthday-Cake Cake, I didn't even think about making anything else cake-like (that post to follow... when I have more time in my life!). But when my friend, Lanie, posted on facebook that she was making Guinness Cake, I knew I had to make these cupcakes for Sam.  He has wanted to make them for so long, and, for as much as we are in the kitchen cooking and creating and coordinating, we just never seemed to get to making them.

So Sam's 18th birthday celebration was the perfect reason to OVER-indulge in deliciousness.  And thankfully, there were a couple of bottles of Guinness in our pantry, reserved especially for these cupcakes!

And Oh.My.GOODNESS ~ they are so delightfully DEEEEeeeeelicious.  Not too sweet, not too savory.  You definitely taste more stout than you do chocolate... and this gorgeous, fluffy, cream cheese frosting is absolutely perfect for them ~ perfect for their aesthetic value and their deliciousness value.

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes ~ David Lieberman

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch fine salt
• 1 bottle stout beer (recommended:  Guinness)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temperature
• 3/4 to 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 (1-pound) box confectioners' sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking soda and salt.

In another medium mixing bowl, combine the stout, melted butter and vanilla.  Beat in eggs, 1 at a time.  Mix in sour cream until thoroughly combined and smooth.  Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mixutre.

Lightly grease 24 muffin tins (or use muffin papers).  Divide the batter equally between muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full.  Bake for about 12 minutes and then rotate the pans.  Bake another 12 - 13 minutes until risen, nicely domed and set in the middle, but still soft and tender.  Cool before turning out.

Icing

In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in the heavy cream. On low speed, slowly mix in the confectioners' sugar until incorporated and smooth.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.  Icing can be made several hours ahead and kept covered and chilled.

Top each cupcake with a heap of frosting.

EnJoy.



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Sour Cream Ebelskiver Doughnuts

What's an ebelskiver, you may ask?  Good question.  We'll get there.

But first, an alternative title to this blog post:

No One Got Me a Babycakes Doughnut Maker For My Birthday.




(isn't it CUTE???)

But that actually turned out to be good news... because, COME ON!! ME with a doughnut maker in the house? Yes, they are better for you than store-bought doughnuts because you're making them with your own fantastic ingredients and they are not deep fried, but COME ON!! It would be as bad as unlimited potato chips in my house. There are some things I just Can't Stop Eating.

ANYhoo... where was I??

Oh, yeah... my birthday. I do have to tell you now that I received THE most phenomenal presents EV-ER!! Really and TRULY!!  And it was the Best Birthday Ever!!  So don't cry for me because I didn't get a doughnut maker. I didn't (cry, that is...).

Instead, I Got Creative.

I found the doughnut recipe which I had I printed out back when I thought someone was getting me a doughnut maker for my birthday (hmmm... I DO keep bringing it up, don't I?! ;)... and, as I was when I first saw the ads for the gadget, I was CRAVING THEM from looking at the photo.

And then I realized: I can make pseudo-doughnut HOLES with my ebelskiver pan.

NOW you can ask: What is an ebelskiver? It's this pan:




I got mine from Williams-Sonoma and, like many of my foodie gadgets, they get put away after the excitement dies down, not to be brought out again into the light of day for many many moons (yes, this WOULD have happened to my doughnut maker... you know, the one I didn't get for my birthday...).

In fact, I bet if YOU have an ebelskiver pan, you're feeling a little bit guilty about making that investment and then ignoring it for so long. I Hear You.  I, personally, was tired of the pancake batter ebelskivers... and yet OH SO EXCITED when I thought of DOUGHNUT EBELSKIVERS!!

And so, I took the print-out of the Babycakes Doughnut Maker Recipe and I proceeded to make these DELICIOUS DOUGHNUTS.

{[(erf ~ I have made a commitment to not spell doughnuts as donuts, but I must say, my fingers do NOT want to put that g before the h for some reason and I have to keep correcting it and it would have been easier if I had just given in and called them DONUTS from the very beginning... BUT NOW I'VE COME TOO FAR TO TURN BACK!!)]}.

Oh, are you still waiting for the recipe?  Well, if you have stuck with me for this long, here it is:

Babycakes Sour Cream Doughnut Recipe, 

Adapted for Ebelskiver Use

Ingredients:

1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
(I used less vanilla and added a large-ish dash of nutmeg to the ingredients and IT IS SO YUMMY!!)

Directions:

Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.

In separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Whisk vigorously until smooth.

Fill each ebelskiver reservoir with enough batter to fill it up. Proceed as you would with the pancake-batter ebelskivers, but continually turn them around and around, as the filling of this batter is much thicker and takes longer to cook through thoroughly (I turned the heat down and let them cook, rotating them to get all the sides covered).

Coat with powdered sugar or cinnamon-sugar, as desired (or better yet, dredge them in that melted butter that you're using to butter the ebelskiver reservoirs and THEN coat them with cinnamon sugar!!).

Note added 11/29/2011:  I just made these and forgot the sugar AND the oil.  The no-sugar doughnuts were still edible and delicious, as I just dipped them in a little more cinnamon sugar ~ then I added sugar to the rest of the batter.  But I honestly do not notice the absence of the oil at ALL ~ in fact, they seem to hold together better without any oil in them.  So, yeah ~ mine will be made sans oil from now on! 

Yes.  Please. More. Please.

And yes, this is when I put them in a margarita glass and took them out on our deck for their photo shoot.  They cooperated so nicely.

As always, EnJOY!
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Noodles. Momofuku Noodles. Momofuku Noodle Bar.

I can not begin writing about Momofuku Noodle Bar without first stating how much I love this life of walking the path of my sons' passions with them. MY world has been expanded exponentially BECAUSE of being a partner in my children's unschooling lives, and working with them joyfully to fulfill their needs/desires.

Going to David Chang's Momofuku Noodle Bar was TRULY one of the highlights of Sam's culinary-rich and food-passionate life (right up there with the time we ate at Martin Picard's Au Pied de Cochon in Montréal). Along with Anthony Bourdain, these are the chefs that inspire Sam and influence his cooking (and for whom he has great respect).

And our time there was nothing less than divinely-blessed! Every time we hear something about Momofuku, it goes along with comments about how difficult it is to get a table, how long the lines are to get into the place, and how crowded it is. These are not things we desire to bring into our lives, and so we AVOIDED going for a very long time. But one day, because I was going to the city to pick up Jake from F.I.T. anyway, Sam joined me and we decided to just DO THIS. Yes ~ the excitement was palpable because finally ~ we were going to experience Momofuku Noodle Bar.

It was Pouring Rain. Yes, this is the summer of Pouring Rain. And this was even BEFORE Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee and all of the devastation and flooding that they brought to our area. And so our plan of parking at F.I.T. and taking the subway to Momofuku didn't feel very fun in the Pouring Rain. We decided to park and take a cab... but as I took a left off of the West End Highway, I Just Kept Driving East. I didn't stop at F.I.T. I said to Sam, "Looks like we're driving to Momofuku!"

Drive we did and that's where we encountered Divine Intervention #1: a parking spot. A parking spot ON the STREET!! A parking spot on the street just around the corner from Momofuku. A parking spot on the street just around the corner from Momofuku that cost me TWO DOLLARS!!! A parking spot on the street just around the corner from Momofuku that cost me TWO DOLLARS in NEW YORK CITY!!

Divine Intervention #2: no line out the door. At prime lunch time.

Divine Intervention #3: LOADS of available tables inside!!

Divine Intervention #4: We were seated at the counter in front of the cooking stations. Yes, aspiring Chef Sam was at his Dream-Come-True restaurant and he had a front row seat to the culinary ACTION. This was better than either of us had imagined.

UNTIL...until we tasted the food. Oh.My. Oh my my my. Yes. Yes. That pork bun IS as fantastic as we imagined. It is 1,000X BETTER than we imagined. Un-Be-Lievable!!

One word of caution: as excited as you may be about taking that first bite, LET IT COOL!! Sam and I burned the roofs of our mouths BADLY. (worth it, though)

The heat of the pork, the luscious richness of the pork fat, the coolness of the cucumbers, the *Feels-Like-I-Am-Loved* nurturing of those steamed buns. This is something that needs to be experienced, especially if you are a pork fan, as Sam and I are.

And THEN.  Well, yes, we ordered way more food than we really needed.  But we had been waiting for this experience for a LONG time!  And THEN came the ramen.

In David Chang's new magazine, Lucky Peach, he has an egg chart that shows how long to cook an egg and what it looks like when cooked that long.  On the chart at the 60°mark, he says, "This is my favorite egg here. Almost raw. Perfect in soup - it's what we put in our ramen..."  It also says, "It breaks as soon as it's touched."

I tested that and yes. Yes it does.

We love ramen for the fantastic separate components of it, and how they come together to make one delectable taste sensation.  Sam STILL craves David Chang's ramen, weeks later.

One of the specials they were having on the day we were there was pork and kimchi tamales.  Sam was intrigued and outraged and impressed ~ combining Chang's Asian influence with a Mexican tamale!!  The audacity!!  The brilliance!!  Oh yeah.  This was going to be good.


When they arrived looking so darn cute, I said, "Look, Sam! Little presents for us from David Chang!"

And oh yeah ~ They.Were.Good.

It will not be too soon when we are able to venture back to Momofuku Noodle Bar...  Even though the amount of food we ordered was enough for an entire family of six, Sam did a good job of finishing it all up...

Not only his ramen, but mine as well.

Thank you, David Chang, for your deliciousness AND for feeding the flames of my boy's culinary passion.

EnJoy.
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(Photo at top and recipe for Momofuku pork buns found here.)
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Baked Tortilla Stack with Grilled Tomato and 3-Colored Pepper Salsa

A funny thing happened on Sam's way to finding some MEAT for dinner...

He did not find any.

Instead, he tapped into his passion for cooking and creating and took a look at what we DID have and came up with a FABULOUS dinner.

He started out asking, "If I grill some tomatoes and peppers for salsa, would you want to have some nachos with me?"

Umm...yes, please.

And then, while he was grilling, I saw that we had LOADS of corn and flour tortillas.  I knew that I wanted whatever he was making for dinner, not just an appetizer... and so I asked him if he was interested in trying out a baked tortilla stack... a nacho pie of sorts...

He was!  And so we began creating.

It's quite simple, and perhaps you've even made one before.  But we had not, as Chef Sam usually leans toward the more gourmet end of the cooking spectrum.  But lately, his culinary preferences have been shifting toward loving simplicity.

So we layered the bottom of a casserole dish with corn tortillas (tore them up to make them fit).  Spread some refried beans on those.  The next layer was flour tortillas.  On top of those went Sam's AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL salsa!! 

And we also added some shredded cheese.  Another layer of corn tortillas, topped with more refried beans.  And then flour tortillas topped with more shredded cheese was the final layer.

Into the 400 degree oven for 1/2 hour, then under the broiler to give that top layer of cheese a nice finish, and we were eating this deliciousness.

We saved Sam's salsa to top off the finished product, and also found some guacamole!  If we had sour cream, that would have been a lovely addition, as well. 

After Sam grilled the tomatoes and mashed them for the salsa, he noted that it was too watery. So we strained them. And we were left with some BEAUTIFUL and DEEEELICIOUS tomato juice...to which I added some sea salt, hot sauce and a splash of tequila. It was truly delicious and refreshing and oh so pretty.

EnJoy.