[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks everyone. Some day I'll write my dough recipe down and post it. I actually need to write it up before I do my talk...

I'll look at the recipes you all suggest.

This weekend in addition to my normal pizza I made a Jim Leahy no-knead pizza dough. Leahy, in his My Bread book says this should be ultra thin and almost cracker-like. I could not stretch it this thin and it was actually pretty thick and bready. I should have put it aside and let it rest but I was feeding people. I still have a half recipe left so I'll try it again some time under less urgent circumstances.

I really want a go to no-knead recipe for people who do not have a stand mixer and do not want to knead it by hand.

The other new thing I tried with my own crusts was to bake it part way with just crust and sauce then pull it from the oven and put cheese and other toppings on it. This was to try and make the crust crisper and it definitely worked. Normally the outside edge is cracker crisp and the pizza become softer the closer I move to the center. With these pizzas the pizza was crisp from the outer edge to the middle even with extra sauce and lots of veggies.

But my family did not like it this way so I won't do it again as it's more labor intensive.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[aaronatthedoublef]

The only nit I have to pick is Mike characterizing the Chicago style of thin crust as being "North side". As a fourth generation South Sider there was and is plenty of the distinctive, ultra-thin pizza on that side of town too. In fact, the legend of Ike Sewell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike_Sewell) aside the first place in Chicago to server pizza was a tavern in Hyde Park called Ken and Jacques's. In the late 50s Urban Renewal razed the entire block and Ken and Jacques's became a group of row houses one of which became my family's home.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks. I have not tried vinegar instead of sugar. I have to make some dough tonight so maybe I'll try it with this batch and let you know. I'm also going to make some no knead too. I'll let my family decide what they like better.

I know that Leahy uses sugars in some of his doughs but not in pizza. I haven't read enough of the book yet to understand why he does when he does.

Also, you pointed me to some recipes for different Chicago pizzas in the past but I lost them. Would you mind pointing me to them again?

Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

Fascinating... Whole Foods in Connecticut has both types. The organic WF brand is long and skinny and the inorganic (I know that's not the real term) is short and stubby.

My favorite is LoL half sticks which packages eight half sticks instead of four quarter pound sticks per box.

As for pricing $3.99 a pound is pretty good. Here we're looking at $5+ on average. Whole Foods inorganic is actually the best bargain on a regular basis at $3.69/pound. I usually buy LoL when it is on sale (usually two for $5 which is different from $2.50 per pound) and stock up with it in the freezer. If I need something that requires butter that has not been frozen I'll go buy some for the occasion and depending on the occasion I decide what butter I want to buy.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks. I've tended to either weigh or scoop flour (usually scooping). I'll have to start weighing it. Something that is very nice about weighing over measuring that I've never seen anyone talk about is that it is easier to keep track of the amount when you are interrupted in mid-measure. We have a very busy kitchen and a very active three year old who will toddle in and decide she wants to help. If I am three cups into a measure of five cups I usually have to start over. If I am 16 oz. into 20 I can just pick up where I left off (so long as the scale has not switched itself off).

[aaronatthedoublef]

Sorry I did not see this sooner.

I have a beehive wood burning oven and I've used it to cook chicken as well as pizza. You will need a roasting pan that will stand up to the heat as well as a way to handle the pan. My oven heats up to over 1000 degrees (I once leaned in to close and singed my hair off). The oven also came with a wooden door I can use to close it off.

There are basically two ways I can cook meats. I can heat it up (it takes a few hours) and put the chicken in while it is hot. The heat is intense and I can roast a chicken super fast.

Or I can let the wood burn down and put the chicken in and then put the door in. This cooks slower and works more like a smoker.

How do you like the Jim Leahy no knead pizza dough? I am looking for a no knead recipe to go along with my standard recipe for a pizza class I am teaching.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks. Is this the same for all flours?

[aaronatthedoublef]

Glad to hear everyone is safe. Up in New England it is giving us some much needed rain. It's enough so that soccer was just cancelled which never happens.

Hope the power outages are brief and the clean up goes quickly.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[aaronatthedoublef]

It being the week of Rosh Hashanah I made challah. I made it extra sweet and with a sweet egg wash instead of my normal one. Then I sprinkled sparkling sugar on top. I also added an extra egg but that was by accident. I had four out warming - three for the dough and one for the egg wash - and without thinking put all four in. I did not add apples (which I've done in the past) because I was rushing and out of time (hence the accidental extra egg).

I made two round loaves each almost two pounds and took the nicer looking one to my cousins' for dinner.

I won the family challah competition and did not even know there was one!

Also my wife and kids like the sweeter version better so it looks like I will be making that from now on.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I wonder if that was because of the baking soda. I've frozen several things with baking soda only and never had that problem.

Could it have been something else?

Also, there are TONS of frozen cookie doughs on the market. I'll start looking to see if the use soda or powder or both (and by both I don't mean double acting baking powder).

[aaronatthedoublef]

Happy belated birthday!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Ahhh. I misunderstood. I looked up SFBI and found it in San Francisco. I was looking for classes by them in Chicago. I'll look for Chocolate. Thanks. I grew up in Chicago and much of my family is still there.

Frontera used to be great. But the last time I was there it was a little disappointing. But that was one lunch five or so years ago so it might have been a fluke.

My favorite barbeque is still there but it's down in Hyde Park so a bit out of your way. And Giordano's is still my favorite pizza but that may just be out of nostalgia.

I don't remember the name (I'll get it for you if you're interested) but there is a great bakery up in Evanston run by a member of a team that won the International Pastry Cup. And if you're up that way and are a John Hughes fan and have the time, Molly Ringwald's house from "16 Candles" was for sale so you could call a realtor and go on a showing.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I went to KAF twice in two weeks recently. Their Vermont shop is about 15 minutes from where my kids were going to summer camp.

Everyone was really nice but the baked goods were a little disappointing. Some of it may have been my choices - croissants that were made fresh in the morning may not last the whole day. But it is a nice place with a nice feel to it.

Walmart has a lot of different KAF products but no pastry flour. They do have Bob's Red Mill however and it's a bit less expensive I think - especially if you batch it up and have an order over $50.

I still like the recipe roundups I get from KAF so I'll stay on their email list.

I'll have to check out SFBI in Chicago. I'm always looking for an excuse to head back there and I even have a free room.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I was at Costco yesterday and, like Luvpyrpom found vanilla with vanilla, water, and alcohol. It was also $17 for a pint so I bought a bunch of bottles. I may try making my own but I believe it needs to steep for a while so this should tide me over until it's ready.

I also ran buy Target on the way home and they had McCormick. The ingredients were also simple - vanilla, water, and alcohol.

We keep our ginger in the freezer and then shave it off when we need it. Never tried the vodka trick. Wonder what it would do to the taste of vodka...

[aaronatthedoublef]

Oh, and for as for different vanillas I cannot tell the difference in baked goods. We have a Penzy's nearby and I can tell the difference between the Bourbon and the Mexican when I smell them in the store but not when I bake with them. I wonder if I could in something very mild like pastry cream?

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