Task 42 - Take a Cooking Class (Perfect Pizza at Home)

Class Description: If you aspire to make great pizza at home, then this class is for you. However your personal pizza tastes run, we’ll start with the basics: first the dough, made from scratch, for the essential base. Then we’ll craft a delicious sauce and discuss fun ingredients, including fresh produce and delicious cheese. Finally, we’ll cover the baking methods so that every time you open your oven door you’ll pull out a perfect pizza that’s tastier than takeout.

From that I think you can understand why I wanted to take the class. This is the 9th class I have taken at Sur La Table’s Natick Cooking Studio and every time I learn new things to make cooking both more fun and easier to accomplish. Taught by chef Instructor Clarissa Lord-Norton and special guest Andris, inventor and manufacturer of the Baking Steel, I learned how to make delicious pizza in the comfort of my own home using better quality and healthier ingredients. Class started with an introduction and explanation of how Andris developed the baking steel.

We learned that after using many different pans, stones and other gear hoping to make a better pizza. he discovered the perfect tool was in a pile of steel scraps left over at the family steel business. Steel is more a more conductive cooking surface then stone and as a result pizza and other things cooked on it will cook faster, more evenly and even at a lower temperature. This allowed him to “create the crust you love”.

His invention is made locally by his family business the Stoughton Steel Co in Hanover, MA. It’s a ¼” thick piece of 14”x14” steel which is virtually indestructible. In fact you have to be careful because if dropped on your foot it’s going to hurt. You treat the steel like you would any pizza stone and preheat it in the oven before starting your pizza.

While our baking steel was preheating we learned how to make a Neapolitan New York style pizza dough. It is the starting point and most important part of any pizza. It was a very simple process where we combined flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a bowl. Once combined we added olive oil and water until the mixture formed a ball. The next part they made go fast by having already prepared some for us to use but if you are on your own you would then take that dough and put it in a refrigerator for at least one day to allow it to rise. Then you would pull it out a few hours before you wanted to cook it and allow it to return to room temperature.

We took the already made dough and used it to create our different pizza’s each with their own unique tastes.

Pizza Bianco with Four Cheeses was the first of the three unique and tasty pizza’s we made. We started off cutting and grating all the ingredients. There are four different cheeses in this pizza each providing a punch of flavor. They were Fontina, Pecorino, Parmigano and Asiago. Along with the four cheeses we added a healthy dose of Garlic and Rosemary. Once the prep work was done we rolled out our dough to the desired size and transferred it to a well coated with cornmeal pizza peel. Then we brushed our rolled out dough with olive oil and added the garlic and rosemary before taking our four cheese blend and liberally covering the pizza.

For our next pizza we used different dough. Andis shared with is his No Knead Dough recipe and brought three premade batches for us to use for our Classic Pizza Margherita pizza. He also explained why it’s important to grate your own cheese rather than buying the pre-grated. They use a starch to keep the cheese from clumping in the bag and that addition can change the flavor of the cheese. Grating your cheese fresh eliminates that problem and allows the full and uninterrupted flavor of the cheese to shine through. After rolling our dough we assembled our pizza’s on a pizza peel as we had previously done. Again we brushed with a little olive oil then generously sprinkled the buffalo mozzarella before toping with fresh sliced Roma tomatoes and fresh basil.

Our last pizza, a Pizza with Italian Sausage, Broccoli Raab and Fresh Mozzarella, took a little more work. First we removed the casing on our sausage and in a skillet we cooked that before adding the onions and garlic. Once the onions were soft we combined the tomatoes and red pepper flakes and simmered. The last part of the process is to blanch our broccoli raab. We drop it into a pot of boiling water to cook it but not too much then it gets transferred to a ice bath to stop it from cooking any more. Once all the ingredients are prepped we roll out our dough and transfer it to a pizza peel. Then we use out sauce and coat the pizza before adding the cheese and then topping it with the Broccoli Raab.

Of course we tried all three along the way. By the time we left we had stuffed our faces with some of the best pizza I have had in a long while. It certainly has encouraged me to take my Baking Steel out of the cabinet and into the oven. 
 

 

Belly Dancing at Karoun Restrurant

On the weekends when I don’t work I am always looking for something new and exciting to do or see. This past weekend a small group of us decided to give Karoun in Newton, MA a try. On Friday and Saturday night’s they have a pre-fixe menu and entertainment. The restaurant is Armenian and Middle Eastern and features a great ethnic menu.

We started off with a Meze platter of various appetizers such as Grapeleaves, Olives, Feta, Hummus, Baba Gannoush, and other similar tasty treats I had never eaten before.

For our entrée we had several options from Lamb Kabobs (which they are famous for) or your choice of beef, chicken or mixed kabobs. There were more options but I don’t recall since I immediately honed in on the Lamb Kabobs.

While we enjoyed our Meze platter and cocktails the lights dimmed and Melina our entertainment for the night was introduced. She swirled onto the floor in a colorful and shiny ensemble. As she hypnotized us with her choreographed routine accompanied by similarly themes music from the 3-piece band behind her we all watched in amazement. She paired her actions with the beat and used tiny symbols on her fingers to accentuate her movements.

Our meals began arriving as she started her first trick which was to balance on three carefully place candle sticks and demonstrate both her control and flexibility. We enjoyed our perfectly cooked and tender dinners as her rhythmic routine continued. With each she slowly disrobed until she was down to shimmering and sequined attire that caught the light and reflected like a mirror ball.

Once down to her barely their outfit she treated us to a visual splendor as her body (particularly her belly) proved she is a master at her trade. How so skinny a lady could cause her stomach to wave like rolling water was impressive. She immediately engaged the audience paying particular attention to an older gentleman who was enjoying one of his many birthdays.

Next she selected a middle aged man who had a trick of his own. When dragged up on stage he lifted his shirt and showed off his skills as a belly dancer which got a big applause and a shocked Melina to offer him a tip for his spirited participation.

Little did I know that I was next and I too had to perform. After the previous guy I looked perhaps a bit pedestrian and well white. My gyrating hips and chest shaking was hardly a money maker and after a good time with her I returned to my seat.

After my participation she brought out a few more props. First it was a large sword which she balanced on her head while belly dancing. Next she up’d the anti by adding a dagger which she placed in her mouth and then carefully balanced the sword from its tip. It was amazing to see how much control she had and I couldn’t help but applaud.

After putting away the sword and dagger she began a trip around the restaurant tour gyrating and flirting as she went earning tip for the many admirers in the audience. She returned her barely there outfit was stuffed with bills as we all cheered as she entertained us more. Next she began inviting more people on to the floor to learn her skill and at one point there was close to ten ladies all getting a lesson on how to move their hips to the music.

After that quick lesson she treated us to one final rhythmic routine that had us all enthralled as she gyrated and shimmied her body all the while using the symbols on her fingers. As she wrapped up her performance she invited everyone to dance.

The audience took over the dance floor ans as mysteriously as she appeared Melina was gone. She truly is an impressive talent and her skilled routine had us all in awe and impressed.

While some danced Baklava and a chocolate cake were served. We enjoyed our desert and more drinks before finally deciding it was time to go. The restaurant had definitely gone up in temperature and it was time for us to make our exit.

I would recommend Karoun not just for the amazing food but for the entertainment like no other. Both left us satisfied and wanting for more. Special thanks to Wende for the suggestion and making all the arrangements for us to have a perfect seat.



Task 75 - Buy An Eames Lounge Chair & Other New Home Items

The most painful part of ordering something is the time it takes for it to finally be delivered. After years of salivating every time I saw or sat in an Eames lounge chair I finally bought one of my very own. After a week of daily checking of the tracking number and confirmation calls from the delivery company the chair has finally arrived.

The process wasn't perfectly seamless however. The delivery window came and went and no chair appeared but after a call to the freight company they apologized that it hadn't been put on the final delivery truck and sent a special truck to bring it the last few miles to my living room.

When it arrived it was like peeling an onion as I took all the packaging materials off the chair exposing the beautiful and vibrant 7-ply santos palisander veneer. The black vincenza leather is soft, supple, inviting and so very comfortable to sit on. Its aluminum braces and stainless steel glides are perfect compliment  to the molded plywood.

It isn't a surprise that this chair designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1956 has become an icon of mid century modern furniture. It was designed to be "warm and receptive and look like a well used first baseman's mitt" and I'm pleased to say it fits me perfectly. I'd say it is a homerun.

The chair is just the icing on the cake of a recent spat of new things I have picked up for the house. My retail splurge on all things home started on a pair of lamps I've been eyeing for sometime. The table lamps in my bedroom I have loved but it felt like it was time to make a change. This time I opted to go for a different look all together and choose a pair of very heavy crystal lamps with linen white silk shades.

I also picked up a bargain priced bench that was just the right depth to fit the tight space at the end of my bed and just the right material to match the distressed hickory chair bedroom set I have. The burlappy type material has a great geometric pattern that compliments the angular geometric patterns of the carpet.



The only thing's left now to find are a pair of crystal accent lamps to compliment the two new ones in the bedroom for the top of the gentlemen's chest and a modeline floor lamp to pair with the Eames lounge chair.