Some of my food choices have not made the transition to adulthood. Lightbulb fried salami. My Kraft Mac & Cheese and ramen habit.* Fruit Loops when I could get them, which was once a year or less (it was a good rule, parental units, but don’t think I’m over it! 😉
But some have.
Consider the peanut butter and jelly sandwich.** Is it a perfect balance of densities, sweet and savory, carbs, protein and flavor? Crunchy or smooth, with your choice of fruit flavors. Spark it up with homemade bread if you’re into that sort of thing. And so easy to assemble!
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* What? Alternate days, it was all perfectly reasonable.
** Am I posting this because it’s lunchtime, because I enjoy reminders of my often unconventional culinary childhood, or because I want to remind my mother that a PB&J is a terrific option for those days when lunch seems like a lot? Let’s go with all of the above.
Today in vaccine news: We’re just back from shot #1. It was great to see the parking lot full as other Ontarians came in to do their part, for themselves and the community.
I will now dedicate the rest of my Sunday afternoon to bolstering my immune system. In the back yard. With a frosty and refreshing beverage.
This is one of the coolest projects I’ve seen in some time:
The cities of Vilnius, Lithuania and Lublin, Poland—which are 376 miles (606 kilometers) away from each other—unveiled their futuristic portals this week… allowing a real-time feed of whoever is in front of the portal to be transmitted between the two cities via the internet.
It’s not quite Stargate, but “it’s a bridge that unifies and an invitation to rise above prejudices and disagreements that belong to the past.” (Benediktas Gylys)
The original recipe is very good, but we wanted something a little more traditional. I kept the dough method but modified the rest. I use a standard pizza pan (works very well), stretch the dough out to ~14” and increase the toppings by a factor of roughly two. This way isn’t as fluffy as the original recipe, but there’s more pizza:)
See the original recipe for instructions and helpful pictures. It’s easy but the crust takes a little upfront fiddly time, so I make four times the amount, split the dough after the initial rise, and freeze the extras.
This is our usual, Butter Chicken Pizza. As always, topping ingredients and amounts are flexible.
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Ingredients
Quadruple Batch of Crust
960g All-Purpose Flour, King Arthur if you can get it
200g Butter Chicken or other sauce, tweaked with a little soy sauce and balsamic vinegar
200g cooked chicken, drained and shredded
wilted, chopped spinach and mushrooms or other veg, a handful or two
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
olive oil for the pan
Instructions
Crust:
Place the flour, salt, yeast, water, and olive oil in a large mixing bowl.
Stir everything together to make a shaggy, sticky mass of dough with no dry patches of flour. This should take 1-2 minutes by hand. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to gather the dough into a rough ball; cover the bowl.
After 5 minutes, uncover the bowl and reach your wet hand down between the side of the bowl and the dough, as though you were going to lift the dough out. Instead of lifting, stretch the bottom of the dough up and over its top. Repeat three more times, turning the bowl 90° each time.
Re-cover the bowl, and after 5 minutes do another fold. Wait 5 minutes and repeat; then another 5 minutes, and do a fourth and final fold. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest, undisturbed, for 40 minutes.
Split into four parts of ~425g each. Place into oiled containers (I use oiled takeout dishes.)
If using soon, refrigerate for a minimum of 12 hours, or up to 72 hours. It’ll rise slowly as it chills, developing flavor; this long rise will also add flexibility to your schedule. (A 72 hour rise will require a largish container.)
To save for longer, seal each container in a ziplock bag and freeze. The night before you want to use it, move one batch from the freezer to the fridge.
Assemble:
Crust: About 3 hours before you want to serve your pizza, prepare your pan. Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons (18g) olive oil onto pizza pan or cookie sheet. Spread the oil across the bottom.
Transfer the dough to the pan and turn it once to coat both sides with the oil. Press the dough to the edges of the pan, dimpling it using the tips of your fingers in the process. The dough may start to resist and shrink back; that’s OK, just cover it and let it rest for about 15 minutes, then repeat the dimpling/pressing. At this point the dough should reach the edges of the pan; if it doesn’t, give it one more 15-minute rest before dimpling/pressing a third and final time.
Cover the crust and let rise for ~2-2.5 hours at room temperature.
About 30 minutes before baking, place one rack toward the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450°F.
Toppings: once the dough is risen, sprinkle about three-quarters of the mozzarella over the entire crust. Spoon a spiral of sauce from the center outward, over the cheese. Laying the cheese down first will prevent the sauce from seeping into the crust and making it soggy. Sprinkle on the chicken, any veg, and remaining mozzarella.
Bake the pizza for 20-22 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the bottom and edges of the crust are a rich golden brown (use a spatula to check the bottom). More and/or moister toppings will take longer to cook.
Remove the pizza from the oven and slide the pizza onto a cutting board or other heatproof surface. Cut and remove extra slices to a cooling rack to avoid sogginess.
Click a starting point and the site will calculate a route and then do a visual fly-over. I wish it covered places outside the US but it’s still a fun and impressive window into data from the always excellent USGS.*
* Ah, the USGS, font of so much maptitude! Wait, is that a volcano webcam? Stop browsing, woman, you have work to do! But remind me to tell you my volcano story someday:)
For no reason whatsoever, I decided that I would be much more productive if I had a new mug. When one is writing or slogging through the data mines or sailing with a letter of marque on the Great Internet Seas, a mug is a friendly, forthright, supportive companion. Choose right, and it’s a burst of good cheer on a cloudy day.
Sure, it’s a weird fixation, but it’s cheaper than drugs. And it works.
I got these mugs from Roy Kirkham in Staffordshire, England. The good: the colors are rich, the designs pretty, and the china delicate. The bad? Shipping. And duties. That said, I really like these.
The one in the middle with the robin is my new favorite.
I drafted four possibilities for today’s post and wasn’t quite happy with any of them. I made bread and was distracted by the cat trying to eat said bread (claws were involved), which lead to me doubling the amount of butter. (Still delicious.) We picked up herbs and other plants from a local farm. Then Mr Man asked for a haircut. I do a decent job but it takes me forever. And now it’s time to start thinking about making pizza for dinner and I’m wondering where the day went.
So today, a not terribly original thought about whales. It’s really just an excuse to use the image I spent some time playing with yesterday.
What do whales think of the ridiculousness of humans naming this planet Earth?
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