Perfecting Homemade Pizza

Who doesn't love pizza? I certainly do. In fact, I've written 8 times on my blog about pizza! Besides soap, that's got to be the next hottest topic.

So how is this post, the 9th one, going to be different than all the others? The simple answer is I've had 6 years to improve on my technique and I'm pretty sure I'm close to perfection.

I'm still making my own pizza dough then I freeze it as I described in this post. The recipe I use for the dough can be found here and I usually double it and substitute a cup of whole wheat flour in place of a cup of white flour. This gives me 6 balls of dough for 6 pizzas to feed two people.

When I want pizza, I take a ball of dough out of the freezer in the morning and let it sit on the counter to thaw and rise. To shape the dough, never roll it with a rolling pin because that pushes all the gas out of the dough which can result in a flat, tough dough. Instead, hand stretch it as described here.

Now here's the best and new part...the toppings! This combination of toppings you won't find at your favorite pizza parlor but they create a sweet, savory pizza that combined with the nutty dough (from the whole wheat) will surprise your taste buds.

Start with dusting the top of your stretched dough with some red peppers and Italian seasoning. 

Then add grated Drunken Goat Cheese, the one with the purple rind. It's purple because it's been developed in a red wine bath which gives a fruity flavor to the cheese. 

Next thinly slice a ripe bartlett pear and layer on the cheese leaving no empty spaces. I like the texture of the bartlett once baked. Finally, slice a sweet onion and layer it on the pear. 

The next topping is optional, if you can call bacon optional.... The pizza is great without it but adding a few slices of cooked and cut bacon takes it to the next level, a level I never would have thought of until I smelled bacon the other morning when out for a walk.

Bake the pizza at 425 degrees on a stone on the top rack of your oven. Trust me, don't google this because everywhere tells you to bake it on the bottom rack (except this article). Baking it on the top, especially if it's thin crust, allows for the cheese and toppings to get all bubbly and done without burning the crust. My pizza is usually done in about 22-24 minutes. 

Another tip, never put a cold pizza stone into a hot oven. Heat the stone up while the oven is pre-heating and transfer your pizza to the stone using a pizza peel. I usually just leave my stone in the oven on the top rack all the time. I only use the top rack for pizzas and the stone helps evenly heat the oven when I'm cooking other things.

If you can wait, I never can, it's best to let the pizza sit for at least 5 minutes after removing it from the oven and before cutting it.

Enjoy and let me know in the comments if you try this recipe and what you think! I'd also love to hear your favorite pizza toppings, particularly if they're unusual!

5 Things Lately

Hello, yeah it's been a while. Not much, how 'bout you? Can't get that song out of your head now, huh?

Anyway, just a brief check in to share what's going on at Lora's Beauty. As some of you know who follow me on Instagram (click here to follow me), I made a quick trip to Alaska last month. I went to see my son and take in the beauty that is Seward, Alaska.

Wow! Is it ever beautiful! 

Surrounded by the Kenai Mountains, Seward sits on Resurrection Bay in the Gulf of Alaska. I'm adding these photos unfiltered and unedited.

I went with my mom and we saw Alec's ship!

Someone told me that Alaska was a lot like Oregon only everything is just bigger. I couldn't agree more, I mean look at those mushrooms!

Unfortunately, on our next to the last day there, Alec went underway. However, this afforded me the opportunity to get a photo of the ship leaving the bay. Doesn't it look so tiny?

I'm headed back to Seward in July and this time I'll bring a new camera lens so I can zoom in better on the wildlife and the ships.

Meanwhile, back in Portland, we've got the garden planted and have even harvested a little from it such as the romaine lettuce I used to make this smoked salmon (from Alaska of course) salad.

Because of the garden and the fact that the lettuce is ready, we've been eating our fair share of salads and to make them more of a meal I'm all about the extras, like salmon (or tuna), eggs, avocados, and wasabi peas! The wasabi peas tossed on top provide a nice kick and crunch to the salads, seriously, try it!

Another nice summer (or any season) meal I've been doing is shredded chicken in the pressure cooker; it's so simple. I cook 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts with some pre-packaged taco/fajita spice mix and a couple cups of water for about 30 minutes. I then shred them by pulling them apart using forks. We get about 4 meals out of this by using the chicken in burritos, soup, on salads, or whatever! 

I made some last week and we had burritos which is how I discovered squeezable sour cream at the grocery store! How have I missed this before!? Sour cream is just meant to be squeezed! Perfection.

Since returning from Alaska, I've made a new soap which is now available in the online store. This goats' milk soap, named Polar Smoke, is a mad mixture of warm cinnamon essential oil and cool peppermint essential oil with menthol crystals melted throughout!

The bottom black part (the smoke) has activated charcoal and is scented with cinnamon while the polar top is scented with peppermint! 

If you haven't tried showering with a soap that has menthol in it yet then you haven't experienced the refreshing, awakening shower that's perfect for hot summer days. 

Both the new Polar Smoke as well as the Peppermint Ice soap contain menthol and are fully stocked in the online store!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the longer days.

A Healthy, Easy Ingredient Substitution

I get a lot of promotional emails. Most of them I delete, however there are a select few I look at. That's how I stumbled on this great ingredient that you can use to substitute butter or oil in your baking recipes.

image from Food52

The image above stopped me in my tracks when I saw it in my email box one morning. My only thought was "I'M GOING TO GET ME SOME OF THOSE COOKIES IN MY MOUTH!"

Even better, these cookies were made with tahini instead of butter! Tahini is made from ground, hulled sesame seeds and can be found usually by the peanut butter in most grocery stores. It's lower in fat if you get the kind made with raw seeds rather than roasted. If you've had hummus before then you've had tahini as it's listed as an ingredient.

The best part though is tahini is quite healthy. It's a great source of calcium, magnesium and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. It's also vegan, if you swing that way. Compared to peanut butter, tahini has higher levels of calcium and fiber and lower levels of sugar and fatty acids.

And the cookies? Yes, I made them and they are (were) FREAKING AMAZING! Even better than the Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies everyone has made. Way better. They're soft and chewy even after sitting in the cookie jar a couple days.

I know, you want the recipe. Ok, here's the link. Now, go grab yourself some tahini and make these and the next time you're baking and your recipe calls for oil or butter, reach for tahini and substitute it one for one instead.

Summer

With the official start of summer happening last week, I thought I catch you up on what's going on around here.

I'm still loving my new pellet grill! For Father's Day I tried my hand at smoked salmon!

It cooked for several hours on the grill at 180 degrees and the result was spectacular! I used this recipe for the marinade.

I also pulled out the old Spirilizer and made a new take on the ever popular caprese salad.

To three sprilized zucchinis I added cherry tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella pieces. For a dressing, I used a tiny amount of olive oil and vinegar with some sea salt flakes.

In other news, the birds are all doing well and will soon be even more spoiled! We're in the process of making an outdoor aviary for them. Olive is overcome with joy about it, just look at that smile!

We've leveled the ground, put some pavers down, and are now awaiting the arrival of the very special, galvanized after-weld wire mesh.

This weekend we hope to get the 2 X 2s and start building it.

Also this weekend I will be replenishing my stock of Pine Tar Goats' Milk Soap as this was an unexpected popular addition.

Hopefully, if I have time, I've got a new bar I've been wanting to make for a while with embedded loofah!

The new Lora's Beauty website is up and running and I've added a redirect to it from the old site. That means if you go to www.lorasbeauty.com you will automatically be redirected to the new site. Please take a look, share the site on social media, and leave a review, oh and place an order if you're in need of some awesome, skin-loving goats' milk soap!

Lora's Beauty ships free with orders over $30 (in the US.)

For those celebrating, have a great Fourth of July. I'll leave you with a photo I took from the Eagle Creek Lavender Festival last weekend.

Get out there and enjoy summer!

Just In Time For Memorial Day Weekend; Pellet Grill!

I'm beginning to think I have a problem. I reread some of my past posts and noticed there's been a lot of kitchen gadgets purchased lately. Not counting my new range, there's been a sorbet maker, a pressure cooker, an ice cream maker, and even a Sprilizer! So, I write today (a little embarrassed) to say, I bought a pellet grill!!

Keep in mind that although there have been a lot of gadgets purchased for food making, they've been used a lot! In fact, we don't eat out near as much as we used to so I believe they haven't just been frivolous purchases (well, maybe the Sprilizer....)

Ok, now that that's off my chest, back to the pellet grill.

It all started with an innocent statement from my son, "you should go to Home Depot, they're demoing Traeger Grills and you can cook pizza on them." Whaaaa!?? Fast forward two days later and I'm at Home Depot talking to the Traeger guy.

Needless to say, at $800 I didn't leave the store with one that day. I did what every normal(?) person would do and stewed on it for a couple days then took to Google and started researching them looking for a good, less expensive one. And I found it! The Davy Crockett Green Mountain Grill!

At $350 this grill is a bargain! It's compact as it's meant to be portable, but it's still large enough for a 15 lb turkey. I gave it a good test last weekend to celebrate my son's birthday. I smoked ribs, grilled chicken, sausages, and corn on the cob. It was delicious! The ribs literally fell off the bone.

Prior to this purchase, I wasn't real big on barbecuing. I hated how messy it was what with the lighter fluid and charcoal and besides that, recent studies have shown that eating food chard over a charcoal grill may not be all that good for you or the environment. Consequently, we seldom barbecued.

The pellet grill is so much easier to use! I add pellets to the hopper, turn it on, and set the temperature! Once the grill gets to cooking temperature (about 15 minutes to reach 350 degrees), I add the meat and set the timer on my phone app (yes, you heard that correctly, there's a phone app where you can control the temperature and turn the grill off and on!) While the grill is getting up to temperature, there is smoke, but once it hits temperature and is cooking there is very little smoke leaving it.

Supposedly you can bake a cake, pie, or even bread in it. I haven't tried that (yet) but yes, we made pizza!

I grilled the pizza on my stonewhich I just laid on the grill grates. At 420 degrees, the pizza was ready to eat in about 15 minutes

The pizza had a nice brown crust and a smokey, wood-fired taste. Grilling the pizza on the pellet stove will definitely be a weekly occurrence around here this summer and may even extend into the fall and winter!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Lora's Beauty ships free with orders over $30 (in the US.)

Salted Chocolate Cookies in the New Range

Happy Friday! Yes, I'm still enamored with my new range and although I'm never one to need an excuse to bake cookies, I still figured there's no better way to test out a new oven then cookie baking!

I know Valentine's Day has passed but every day is a good day for chocolate and buuuuuterrr and these shortbread cookies have plenty of both and a little salt to make them extra decadent!

I got the recipe from the New York Times. It may be behind a pay wall so without further ado here it is.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (2¼ sticks) salted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate, chopped (but not too fine, you want chunks, not thin shards of chocolate)
1 large egg, beaten to blend
Demerara sugar (for rolling)
Flaky sea salt

RECIPE PREPARATION
Using an electric mixer and a medium bowl or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until super light and fluffy, 3–5 minutes.

Using a spatula, scrape down sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, slowly add flour, followed by chocolate chunks, and beat just to blend.

Divide dough in half, then place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Fold plastic over to cover dough and protect your hands from getting all sticky. Using your hands (just like you’re playing with clay), form dough into a log shape; rolling it on the counter will help you smooth it out, but don’t worry about getting it totally perfect. Each half should form logs that are 2–2¼" in diameter. Chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a rimmed baking sheet (two, if you’ve got 'em) with parchment paper. Brush outside of logs with egg wash. Roll logs in demerara sugar (this is for those really delicious crispy edges).

Slice each log into ½"-thick rounds.

Arrange on prepared baking sheet about 1" apart (they won’t spread much). Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake cookies until edges are just beginning to brown, 12–15 minutes. Let cool slightly before eating them all.

Do Ahead: Cookie dough can be made 1 week ahead. Tightly wrap in plastic and chill, or freeze up to 1 month. Cookies can be baked 5 days ahead. Store in plastic wrap or an airtight container.

Enjoy! We certainly did!

More Than You Want To Know About My New Range

I took the week between Christmas and the New Year off.  It was cold outside, may have even rained a little (or a lot), and I had time on my hands so I listed my range on Craigslist. Yes, the perfectly good range that I just cooked Christmas brunch on. Of course I did. 

It sold in a day to a nice fireman for their firehouse. 

No, I didn't have a replacement. 

I had been eyeing new ranges for a while now (maybe years?). Lately I've been reading a lot about induction cook tops and there are now a lot of ranges available that incorporate them. I know because I Googled it, a lot. 

I even started making a mental list of what I wanted in a new range (in order):

1. I wanted an induction cook top.
2. I wanted a white one (to match all my other appliances.)
3. I wanted a convection oven option.
4. I wanted it to have knobs not some overly complicating push-buttons.
5. I wanted it to sit on legs up off the floor.
6. I wanted it to look beefy but not industrial.

After continuing to research my new range I quickly modified my list of wants by dropping my second want:

1. I wanted a white one.

Come to find out, almost all induction ranges come in stainless steel unless you want to spend $2000 more, then you can get a colored one. Justifying an additional $2000 for a color wasn't something I could do and besides I was now without a range and colors meant a special order.

Let's pause here to explain what is so special about induction cook tops. Unlike gas and regular electric cook tops which cook food via thermal conduction, induction cook tops cook via magnetic induction. 

Perhaps the best explanation I found for this was from this New York Times article that explained how it works this way: "an electrical current produces a magnetic field that excites iron molecules and heats the pan and its contents." 

The result is you reach zero to boiling in minutes, like one, seriously. For this to happen, you have to use cookware that's magnetic, think cast iron or stainless steel.

Induction cooking is also very efficient, only a small amount of heat is wasted by seeping into the kitchen. I've read articles that say less than 15% of the heat from induction cooking escapes to the kitchen. Compared to gas where 60% of the heat escapes into the air!

Another bonus, induction cooking gives you very precise heat control, similar to gas, and when you turn it off, it's off. 

So, that's why I wanted an induction cook top. What I didn't expect and what caused us to live two weeks without a range (and a lot of pressure cooker meals!), was the electrical end of it.

Apparently ranges (including induction ranges) come with cords sold separately. You can either get a 3-prong cord or a 4-prong cord. I had no idea since the range I just sold was about 15 years old.  3-prong plugs are the older style, which is what my old range had. This shouldn't have caused a problem because remember I just said ranges (including induction ranges) come with cords sold separately.

The problem was trying to buy an induction range from an appliance store in town that would include a 3-prong plug. They wouldn't sell me that. I assumed this was because their ranges were already wired with 4-prong plugs and they didn't employ staff to rewire the ranges. 

So, they insisted I should call an electrician to change my plug in the wall from 3-prong to 4-prong. They insisted on this so much that when I did get an electrician out and he said it was actually going to be a more involved job than just switching out the plug and would cost over $500 and I didn't need to do it anyway because my plug was code, they still wouldn't sell me the range with a 3-prong plug.

So, I went to a different store.

This store pretty much said the same thing however, they offered to deduct the cost of the electrician from the price of the stove in order to sell me the range with a 4-prong plug. OK fine, I did that.

So, to give you the Reader's Digest version of this story, I ended up with this beauty of a range; a Blomberg 30", slide in, induction range.

It was delivered last Tuesday. Not installed, though. We had to do that. Oh, and as the delivery guys were just about to leave, one of them hands us the cord! After all the hassle about the specific cord, we (Jeff) still had to wire the stove! It was not lost on us as we (Jeff) was wiring the range that we (Jeff) could have just as easily wired a 3-prong cord! whateva.

Isn't the new range beautiful!?

I'm still getting used to the induction side of it; learning how hot setting 5 is versus setting 7 and so on.

The oven oddly doesn't have an indicator to show when it's reached cooking temperature so I bought a $4 thermometer off Amazon.

Oh and I did need to replace my saucepans as they were not magnetic. So I bought this adorable enameled Cast Iron Apple Pot

So far I love my new range and am happy with the end result. Would I have changed anything in the process? Perhaps, maybe not selling my old one before I had a new one, but sometimes you've gotta live dangerously!