Go Team Pizza!

I was off yesterday (I love having Monday off – just saying), so in between laundry, yoga, and cleaning, I decided to make pizza dough. I hadn’t make pizza at home in a long time – probably not since pastry school, I reckon. So I thought I’d give it whirl. I used my favorite recipe from bread making class (which was also my favorite class). I had all the ingredients on hand luckily, including dry yeast. So, I made the dough, and put it aside to let it proof for about an hour, while I (reluctantly) finished my chores. When I came back to check on it, it had risen rather nicely.

perfectly proofed.

At this point, my boyfriend arrived home, and I shared with him the joy of the proofed pizza dough. We had a (slightly heated) debate about what to put on top, and it was at that point I realized I wasn’t very good at making sauce, while he apparently was. So, while he made the sauce, I rolled the dough onto the pizza stone.

just roll with it.

We always have an assortment of cheese in the house, but we really didn’t have any traditional pizza topping cheese. We did have a whole wheel of mild cheddar. So, he shredded some up, we put it in the oven, and then hovered around, hoping for the best.

pretty as a pizza.

It looked real nice. That was a good start. But how would it taste? I let him do the honors of slicing it. We each took a piece, and proceeded to chow down.

a little slice of love.

We ate the entire thing – the two of us. Let’s just say the teamwork paid off. And all we had to do was add one extra ingredient that we always have around the house – love.

Next time, we’ll share it, I promise. 😉

 

 

Get sauced.

I never gave sauce much thought, other than it’s the stuff that goes on pasta. And as far as desserts go, in my home baking, it did not enter the equation. However, in this dessert plating class i just took, one of the main focuses (next to the desserts themselves) was the sauce. We must have learned how to make at least 15 sauces, and the beauty of most of them is that with one small ingredient switch, they can become any flavor you desire. A sauce is like the premier dessert accessory – the handbag of desserts, so to speak. It can make or break a dessert. But the right look, texture, and design can really take your plate to the next level. I’ve grown to appreciate sauces, in all their many colors, flavors, and viscosity, and will use them in my own desserts from hence forth.

What really got me sauced though, was when I created a sauce in class for our “final.” Basically, it was like that show “Chopped”– we were given a box of mystery ingredients, and from this box, we had to create a menu of desserts, utilizing all of the ingredients. At first, it sounded like a daunting task – but we came together as a team, and started brainstorming, and before we knew it, a menu had been strewn forth – a pretty good one, in fact. I won’t go into detail, but I will say that my main dish was a black bean gingerbread cake, which I will be making again. But I also was tasked with making a sauce – a jalapeño tabasco chocolate sauce. Being someone who does not normally eat jalapeño or tabasco sauce (I avoid spicy for the most part), I was a little wary of creating a sauce that had the perfect combination of chocolatey sweetness and “kick.” Somehow, through the grace of who knows what, I did it.

houston, we have sauce.

And not only did I do it, but when the teacher asked the class what was the best sauce, my jalapeño tabasco chocolate sauce got quite a few shout-outs.

So just like every fasionista has a signature bag, I now have a signature sauce. And just in time for graduation. I’m gonna make it after all.

the sauce in action.