May 2021 Pizza Challenge

The pizza challenge was to use some kind of green pepper. Any kind.

The first pizza combo that came to mind was one I hadn't made in a while. So one Friday night I made dough thinking that I might get a chance on Sunday. Plans changed and Sunday was out. Oh well. Figured I'd make bread or stromboli with most of the dough. Some might get wasted. No big deal really. It is a little bit of a waste of flour, but not much. On Monday, I came up with an idea. I'm working from home. I could walk out, start a fire and be back at the laptop in a few minutes. Pop out once in a while to toss a log in the oven. Easy peasy.

Well, it turns out prepping the pizza toppings after work is a little bit of a rushed hassle. But what really through me off my game and turned this impromptu bake into an exercise in frustration was nature. More specifically, bugs.

I didn't notice anything during my quick oven visit to light the fire. It turns out carpenter bees have been drilling holes in my roof. There was some kind of ant with wings and I think a hornet was acting like a real estate agent checking out a spot for a nest. And in the back corner of the roof, I could heard a repeated clicking. I think it was carpenter ants eating. So, for the entire bake I was thinking I was going to have to take down a lot of the roof (which was a serious pain in the ass to build) and this threw me off my game. The dough didn't feel right. The stretches weren't right. The launches weren't right (I made a lot of ovals that night).

Yes, I know that a slice of pizza cut from an oval will still taste good. In my online Twitter complaints I was reminded of a Todd English quote: never trust a round pizza. But it was frustrating, I wasn't having fun. Instead I was getting kind of pissed. There were two high points of the bake. The first was trying out a new vegan pizza, a puttanesca. That had sauce, garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, Kalamata olives, capers and an olive oil drizzle. A light sprinkle of pecorino might be nice or maybe some anchovy, but those would take away the vegan status. Next go around, I'd replace the crushed red pepper flakes and olive oil with a chili oil. Overall, this was still a tasty pizza and it will find its way into a regular rotation. My vegan neighbor liked it too.

The second high point was the pizza challenge pizza. The is a TXCraig1 special. Mozzarella cheese (used both fresh and low moisture), sausage, dried cranberries that have been rehydrated in rum and jalapeno with a hot honey drizzle post bake. This was the roundest pie of the night. Still not quite round, but the dough stretching was not firing on all cylinders.

Not only is this a tasty pizza, but the chef gets a nice glass of cranberry infused rum after everything is all cleaned up. I needed it that Monday. Called an exterminator on Tuesday.