Not just damp, but wonderfully damp!
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Ooops!
Not Auntie!
Owner is Feigang Fei:
Fei explained that after opening his restaurant seven years ago, he was disappointed when customers sent food back uneaten. “Some customers who hadn’t tried certain dishes were surprised by the level of spice or texture,” he said.
So he set about writing descriptions which were a little more forthright.
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last night, for the first time since i nearly died of sepsis in december of 2019, i made homemade pizza.
the making of the pizza has been a tradition in my family for 66 years now and i proved to myself that i was still able to do it.
my father grew up, the youngest of five children, in a small town in north-central texas. in 1953 he joined the air force and was stationed in hawaii. he returned on leave in early 1955 with tales of a fabulous delicacy called pizza that he had encountered in honolulu. because his mother was the best cook he knew who had taught him to cook, he sat down with her and devised a recipe between them to recreate this dish. dad had learned three key ingredients before he left hawaii–oregano and garlic to season the tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese to go on top. garlic was a common seasoning in the czech community in his hometown but sourcing the other two was trickier.
my grandfather was a senior train engineer who frequently did runs between dallas and houston as well as dallas to san antonio. by the time my father got out of the air force and returned home, my grandfather had found a source for oregano and mozzarella, as well as for parmesan cheese which was recommended as a condiment for pizza. this was the beginning of the family pizza recipe. my father taught my mother how to make it after they married. my sister and i learned to make pizza growing up and we have passed it on to our children.
my tomato sauce is more complex than the family standard. i make enough sauce for 9-10 pizzas. the base is 2 cans of tomato paste, two cans of petite diced tomatoes, three cans of tomato sauce, and two sauce cans of water. i mix that up thoroughly and begin heating it on a low-medium heat. to this i add 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of sugar. once the sauce has barely reached a simmer, i add one cup of finely diced shallots and 3-4 finely minced garlic cloves.
the remaining seasonings are:
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground white pepper
2 bay leaves
allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the shallots appear translucent. because the tomato sauce and canned tomatoes usually come salted i don’t add salt but you can definitely add some to taste. once the sauce has cooked sufficiently, remove from heat and allow to cool. it will easily keep on the stove-top for a few hours while you work up the dough but it will also keep in the refrigerator for several days if you wish to make it ahead.
for my dough i use unbleached, all-purpose flour. for 9-10 pizzas start with 750g of flour, add 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp sugar and mix. then, cut in 225g (2 sticks) of cold margarine. mix in 25g of active dry yeast, then add 250ml olive oi and enough water to make a damp sponge. turn out on a floured surface and incorporate another 50-100g of flour as you mix and knead. when you have arrived at a smooth elastic dough, form into a ball and place in a large bowl, cover with a tea towel, and allow to double in size. punch down and turn out onto a floured surface. i generally incorporate anothe 25-50g of flour with this kneading, cover and set aside until it doubles again, turn out and knead once more. once the dough doubles a third time it is ready to use.
because we have ten pans in 4 different sizes, i generally estimate how much dough to use for each pan. i realize my approach to the crust is somewhat heretical but my family has always rolled the dough out, trimmed it to more or less fit the pan, and then stretch the dough to conform to the pan. at this point we put sauce on the dough, add toppings and put our cheese mixture on the pizza. our standard cheese blend consists of 5 parts mozzarella, 2 parts swiss cheese, 1 part each parmesan, romano, and asiago. i prefer to make scant coverage with cheese but i am overruled by my wife, sons, and grandsons who prefer extra-extra-cheese.
i bake the pizzas in a 375 fahrenheit oven. because i have four different sized pans i generally have a small and medium on one shelf with a large on the other shelf. i allow them to cook in the original configuration for 10 minutes and then i take the pizza on one shelf, turn it around, and then place it on the other shelf so if it started on the bottom i put it on the top and vice-versa. i then allow to cook for 10 minutes and then i check the bottom of the crust, if it is suitably brown i will remove it from the oven and if not i will turn it around and cook another 2-3 minutes. if you see that the cheese is browning faster than the base you can place a loose sheet of foil on top.
i allow each pizza to stand for at least 2 minutes before i slice them but i try to get them sliced within 5 minutes of removing from the oven, otherwise the crust can get soggy and, really, who wants a soggy bottom?
after the immediate meal is finished i condense down the pizzas to the minimum number of pans needed to put them away. i also make sure that ever piece is free of the pan before i store it. because of the reaction between foil and tomato sauce i place plastic wrap over the pizza before i cover them in foil. the pizza will stay good in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. generally, we have two nights of pizza and then we freeze the remainder. it tends to work out best if the slices are frozen flat on the pans and then transferred to gallon bags because it prevents slices from sticking together as they freeze. in tightly sealed bags, the pizza will remain palatable for 8-9 months in a deep freeze.
edited for spelling
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Made a butternut squash and ham risotto last night, and this morning answered the question “will it waffle?” with a resounding yes!
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Thanks! You are so kind 
I was prepared for someone possibly adding eyes to my photo, but this is more than I ever could have hoped for 
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May I send this googly to a friend?
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I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve had a hankering for savory pancakes this past week (probably something to do with my urge to carbo-load and hibernate instead of do school work). So, gosh darn it, I made pancakes for dinner.
Using my normal pancake recipe as the base, I added a few cranks of pepper, bacon (cooked, crumbled, and cooled), thinly sliced green onions, and shredded cheddar.
SO. GOOD. I ate two alongside a big old salad.
They also freeze really well (froze the leftovers last night and had one for breakfast this morning). I’ve been having fun coming up with other combinations to try next time. I’m already planning a slight variation on the above with chard, cheddar, corn, and bacon.
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It’s like the Cousin Itt of the Potatohead family.
Thanks, I hate it!
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Pulled beef tacos with a salsa of grilled pineapple. My second attempt at making blue corn tortillas and they were great. It took a little bit of fiddling to get the water content just right but it was well worth the effort.
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Their logo says Ötzi but the copy says Otzi. And they’re from California? Do they even know how to pronounce the word?
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If you don’t want to bother with the thangzong method (which I love but sometimes am too lazy to do the calculations for) here’s a trick I learned from a cinnamon roll recipe in Swedish:
do the second proving, once they are cut into shape and on a sheet tray, in a steam atmosphere. I’ve never had fluffier cinnamon rolls than when doing it that way.
The method to achieve this is to put your sheet tray into the oven while it is turned off, bring a pot of water to a boil and place it into the closed (and still turned off) oven with the rolls. After they have risen you take out the rolls and let them chill while waiting for the oven to preheat. Then just bake as normal.
God, I really want a galette bretonne complète now! I wonder if they sell buckwheat flour in this godforsaken country
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The blue corn tortillas are beautiful!
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Don’t start me. Gluten free buckwheat flour is a victim of Brexit.
It’s a staple in this house.
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