|
SCENE 1
|
| Let's get our dough on. Sixteen ounces by weight of all-purpose, or A.P. flour go into the work bowl of your favorite stand mixer. Now I know what some of you are thinking. You're thinking, hey, he's making a yeast bread. He's going to need some, you know, high protein. He needs to use bread flour. And if I was going with a really long rise period, or if I was trying to create a big poufy loaf, I would probably concur. But what I want here is pliancy and speed, so I'm going with plain old lower-protein all-purpose flour. To that, we will add one standard envelope of instant or "rapid rise" yeast. It's 2.25 teaspoons or 7 grams for the metrically minded. Now in this case, "instant" or "rapid" refers to the speed at which the yeast get to work. |
16 Ounces All-Purpose Flour 1 Envelope Instant Or "Rapid Rise" Yeast |
Now let's just review a couple of common forms here. This is cake yeast, not because it's used in cakes, but because it comes in a cake form. And this is like a big live colony - 70% water by weight. And the yeast that are inside are alive and kicking, wide awake and ready to go. Problem is, extremely perishable stuff, which is why back in, I don't know, early 20th century, people switched over to active dry yeast. Now to make this, you dry up the little bugs in such a way as to basically encapsulate live cells inside tiny little pods composed of dead yeasts. Blech! And when dissolved in water, the dead ones wash away and the living emerge, phoenix-like, from suspended animation. I don't much care for active dry yeast, because it has to be soaked or proofed in warm water before use, and I'm too lazy to mess with that. And all too often, you find that the yeast inside just aren't very robust, and they take a long time to get any dough blown.
YSP: [yeast appears, belching weakly]
AB: That's just pathetic.
Instant, or "rapid rise" yeast are processed differently so that there are more live yeast involved in the equation. And since they're packaged with a dash of citric or ascorbic acid, vitamin C, they get a little boost right out of the box. They are wide awake ready to blow.
YSP: [yeast appears, belching vigorously, inflating a
balloon]
AB: Ha ha ha ha!
They don't have to be soaked before they go into battle, which is nice.
| Now to the flour and yeast, a tablespoon of salt, and yes, you can dump that right on top of the yeast, no matter what your old culinary school instructor told you. Then the wet works. Ten ounces of warm water, say, about 105 degrees. That will provide the requisite moisture and the warmth needed to wake up the yeast. We're also going to add two tablespoons of olive oil for flavor and lubrication. And then my secret ingredient, one tablespoon of malted barley syrup. |
1 Tbs. Kosher Salt 10 Ounces Warm Water 2 Tbs. Olive Oil 1 Tbs. Malted Barley Syrup |
Barley syrup is made by malting barley. All right, step one, allow the barley to
sprout or germinate in water. Germination sets enzymes into motion, which
convert the grain's starch reserves into a double-glucose sugar called maltose.
The grain is then kiln-dried and mixed with water, as well as other cooked grain
products, which are gobbled up by the enzyme. Then a slurry is extracted, and
this is boiled down into a syrup. Although malt syrup could be made in the home
environment, buying it in the jar is ever so much more convenient.
Now here's the really important thing about maltose. Unlike sucrose and glucose,
yeasts can break it down very, very slowly, which means that when we lead our
dough into its second rise, the little boogers will still have plenty to eat,
and that means they'll still ...
YSP: [yeast belch and giggle]
So install your dough
hook and mix on low until the dough just comes together.
All right, now after a minute and a half or so, the mixing phase is over, and we
are ready to transition to the kneading phase, so boost the speed to medium, and
set your timer for 15 minutes. Now what's really going on here?
| [at the table with a weaving loom] Weaving. If we want a pizza with a thin, crisp crust, then we're going to have to be able to roll or stretch our dough into a thin membrane. To achieve that, we must weave together two weak proteins, glutenin and gliadin, and that is exactly what kneading does. Now the resulting mesh we call gluten, and without it, we would have a crumbly crust, rather than a nice crisp one. So how do you know when the weaving is done? Well, when you have a scarf, of course. Just kidding. | Gliadin + Glutenin = Gluten |
Americans eat an average of 43 slices of pizza per person each year.
What we're going to apply is called the window pane test. And just grab yourself
a little bit of the dough. It's going to be a little on the sticky side. That's
good. Kind of roll it between your hands, and then start kind of stretching it
out into a mini pizza. Just kind of work it and turn it, work it and turn it.
Trying to make a nice thin membrane, almost like what you do with your tongue
when you're getting ready to blow a bubble with bubble gum. And when you get it
thin enough, hold it up to the light, and you should be able to see the meshwork
right through there. That is what we call a well-developed dough.
Now lube up either a large canister or mixing bowl with just a bit of oil. Toss
in the dough ball to coat, and cover for the first rise. One hour in a warm
spot. Speaking of ...
[at the oven] Let us take a moment to contemplate our baking venue. Now most of
us have a home oven. The problem with these devices is that they're calibrated
to heat only to 550 degrees. I mean, sure, you could potentially file off the
door lock and bake during the self-clean cycle, when temperatures top 800
degrees, but that particular modification would void your warranty, and quite
possibly your homeowner's insurance. Besides, 800 is just medium-warm for a real
pizza oven.
Now when I say real, I mean, of course, an
old-school, old world wood-fire oven like this. [camera pulls back to reveal
said oven] Ooh, soapstone. Nice. In here,
temperatures can top 1,200 degrees, which can convert a dough to cracker-like
crunch in not minutes, but moments.
Alas, I do not possess one of these ... yet. Nope, to find the heat I seek, we're
going to have to head out of doors. Sure is nice, though.
[AB opens the lid of his gas grill] Oh, don't let those bars spook you. If we've
constructed our dough correctly, it will flourish in this environment, okay?
Now if you're a purist, you could light two pounds of charcoal in a chimney
starter and build yourself a nice single-level, medium-heat fire in your
charcoal grill. However, if I remember correctly, instant gratification was
something of an issue here. So this time, we're going gas. We will fire all
burners on high and give the box plenty of time to heat up. I'd say 15 minutes
minimum. Oh, and make sure that the grates are clean, because anything that's
left on them is going to be in your pizza.
All right, our hour is up. Time to bust down this dough and divide it into
thirds. Ooh! Nice rise. That's exactly what we're looking for. So turn that out,
and the first thing you're going to do is punch it down, get out some of those
really big bubbles. So just move it around, form it back into a ball.
Now we need three pieces, so I'm going to weigh it to be precise. [weighs it on
a balance, 1 lb. 11.8 ounces] So we're basically
going to be looking for 9 1/2 ounces here. So in splitting this up, I usually
find it's easier to shape it into kind of a cylinder like that. And we'll take a
third. [cuts a piece and weighs it. It weighs 9.50 ounces] Hey, not bad.
All right, pound it out flat, just to make sure that all the big bubbles have
been popped out. Now pick it up and start folding it in on itself. And pinch the
bottom so that you've got a nice, smooth outer skin, okay? Now lay that down on
the counter. Hold your hands like this [loosely cupped around it], and just roll. Now notice I'm not
closing my fingers around it. I'm not squeezing the dough. There. That'll
tighten that outer skin and give us a nice smooth ball, which is going to make
it a lot easier to roll out later. Repeat with the remaining two balls. [cover
with tea cloth]
Set your timer for 45 minutes. Now this step is referred to as bench resting
and it constitutes a second rise, which will happen fast and furious, thanks, of
course, to the maltose in that barley syrup. All right, so with the dough on
final approach, it's time to hit the sauce.
| Get yourself a big old ripe tomato and slice it thin, about a third of an inch. You'll get about six pieces. Toss that with two whole cloves of garlic, minced, a tablespoon of olive oil, half a teaspoon of good old-fashioned kosher salt, and, for a kick, a quarter teaspoon of red pepper flake. And just toss that together with your hands and allow it to marinate. No cooking necessary. |
1 Large Ripe Tomato, Sliced 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced 1 Tbs. Olive Oil ½ tsp. Kosher Salt ¼ tsp. Red Pepper Flake |
Time to consider our one piece of specialty hardware, all right? [the pizza peels
lower from the ceiling] The peel, which, of course, derives from the Latin "pala" or
spade, is indispensible to the pizza-producing process.
Now pizzerias that do their cooking in commercial deck ovens often cook their
pies on flat pans, which are bandied about on metal peels. True pizza artisans,
however, like you, should always reach for wood, because its texture allows for
the easy transfer from board to oven floor or fire and back again. You can even
cut your pizza on it if you wish.
Now this is my personal favorite peel, Emma. Emma Peel. Oh.
You know, you
youngsters are just going to have to look that one up.
The toppings of the Margherita pizza – basil, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes are said to represent the colors of the Italian flag.
Time to check on our dough balls. This was no boating accident. Sorry, I ...
Well, never mind.
It is time to roll things out. But before we do anything, we must lightly flour
our pizza peel, because it's got to be done at some point, and it's easy to
forget. There. Now if you're not going to use a peel, just use a flat cookie
sheet. Whatever will allow you to deliver the pizza to the grill.
All right, take dough ball one and just work it into a disk. I like to use my
knuckles to help break up the bigger bubbles in there. Now if you don't mind a
free-form shape, you can just kind of stretch and rotate this thing until you've
got a 12 to 16 inch amoeba. Otherwise, you might want to fetch a rolling pin. I
like this French model. No handles, just a stick really. Go to work, rolling
outward and then turning, so you're always rolling in the same direction. Turn
kind of 90 degrees and roll again. Now if you want a really thin pizza, this is
definitely the way to go. And every now and then, just kind of shake the dough
to make sure it's not sticking to the board. More flour may be required, but try
not to go crazy with it or the dough will get tough on you. I'll measure. 16
inches. Almost there.
Now if you're feeling really daring ... [tosses the pizza into the air to make
it bigger] There,
and lay it right out on the peel, stretching to the edges. Good. Nice fit.
Now, to the fire!
Now the first step is to wipe down these grates. I've got just a little oil on an old towel. There you go. Heat goes down to medium. And we want to make sure we've got our tools. Tongs, spatula, brush, oil, mise en place standing by.
| So about one to two teaspoons of oil goes down on the dough. Brush that out right to the edges, and flip down onto the grill. Then on one side, line up those tomatoes. That's right. They're finally getting cooked. | 1-2 tsp. Olive Oil |
| Two minutes later, you'll be ready to flip that dough over, but first, a little bit of oil on the "A" side, so to speak, which will now go down. There. Now scoop up the tomatoes, and they will be gushy, and place them right on the pizza and just mash them down. This is from the original kind of Margherita-style pizza from Naples. | 1-2 tsp. Olive Oil |
| One-half ounce of parmesan cheese grated, 1.5 ounces of mozzarella, and four to six large basil leaves, shredded. |
½ Ounce Grate Parmesan + 1½ Ounces Grated Mozzarella 4-6 Basil Leaves, Shredded |
Two more minutes, and look at that. You have got a finished pizza. Just scoop that up on your peel. Now notice there's still some puffiness around the edges, but that will set nice and crispy with a few minutes of resting.
[at the refrigerator] I will share with you now my top-secret favorite pizza
combo. It's going to sound a little odd. But trust me. I'm a professional.
First thing you're going to need, a 3.5 ounce ball of fresh mozzarella. That's
the round white things packed in water or brine. Very different from melting
mozzarella, okay? You're also going to need three very thin slices of
prosciutto, about one ounce total.
[at the cutting board] Now this stuff can be really tricky to cut,
so skip the scissors and the knives, and just whip out your pizza cutter. Lay it
out on the board and just slice right through it. It's sticky enough so that it
will stay adhered to the board. I like thin short ribbons, so I just cut through
one direction, and then the other, and then scoop up with my dough blade.
All right, as for the cheese, we need to get some moisture out of it, so cut it
into quarter-inch rounds, place it on some paper towel, a little more paper
towel on top, and then weight it with something in the two-pound range. In 20
minutes, you will have rung out all of the excess moisture, leaving cheese that
looks a lot like this. If you skip this step, you'll have puddles on your pizza.
If you like that, well, okay.
[at the pantry] Now for the secret ingredient: dates. An ingredient never
before utilized on this program. These are the dried fruits of the date palm
tree. They are sweet. They are figgy. They are sticky. They are perfect on
pizza. And although pitted versions are easily found in American megamarts, if
you find some with the stones intact, don't be afraid.
[at the cutting board] Here's what you do. Lay them out, take your pizza roller,
and just slice right into the side of the date. Open it up, and then you can use
your thumb to pop out that little pit. That's it. Then just cut them up as you
would any other date. Again, I like to use the pizza roller for this.
[back at the grill] All right, the grill is ready, so we're going to swab it down with the oil just as before. The heat's a little high, so I'm going to knock it down to medium, maybe medium-high. There you go. I want a little bit more char.
| Lube up the dough just as before. Brush it on just as before. Face down just as before. | 1-2 tsp. Olive Oil |
| Two minutes later, just as before, we're ready to oil the "B" side. Brush that on, and carefully flip. There. | 1-2 tsp. Olive Oil |
| Now time to add the goodness. A little more oil, just to give a little more flavor. A little bit of parmesan cheese, again, about half an ounce as a base, and then lay on your fresh mozz, topped with the ribbons of prosciutto, the dates sprinkled on, and I like an herbal finish. Just a teaspoon of fresh thyme chopped up. |
1 tsp. Olive Oil ½ Ounce Grated Parmesan 3½ Ounces Fresh Mozzarella 1 Ounce Prosciutto Ham, Thinly Sliced 4 Dates, Pitted & Chopped 1 tsp. Fresh Thyme Leaves |
Two minutes later, and look at that. You've got my favorite pizza on earth. Nice and crisp, a little burned around the edges. I like that. Salty, sweet, nice.
Al Forno, a restaurant in Providence, RI is credited with serving the first grilled pizza in the US.
GUEST: Vinnie, delivery man for "Nice and Cheesy Pizza"
[both pizzas are shown] After three to five minutes, your pizzas will be ready
to cut, and I do prefer a pizza wheel for the job. Vastly superior to a knife,
but you can't hesitate. It's got to go down and across. And I give it about, ah,
we'll say six pieces ought to do the trick.
Now as you can see, the pieces are light. They are crispy, and I guarantee you,
that little bit of char is going to up the flavor quotient from 10 to 11.5. Now
decisions, decisions. [finally decides to eat both pizzas at once]
I imagine that some of you are sitting there all grumpy-dumpy about now saying,
"We live in a 5th floor walk-up in the middle of the city. We can't grill our
pizza." Well, chins up, New York, London, Paris, Munich. If you've got a gas
cook top, a cooling rack like this, and a pair of vice grips like this, then the
thinnest pizza on earth is closer than right around the corner. All right, just
mix up a dough just as before, and knead your dough just like before. Rest,
rise, portion, roll, and bench rest exactly as you would for the other pizzas.
Then use your roller to work one of the dough balls into a rectangle, roughly
the same shape and size as your cooling rack. Mine is 12 x 17, I think. Take
your time, because it's going to take a combination of rolling with stretching
to get this nice and thin.
Then just crimp it right onto the rack, and don't worry about holes. It's
rustic. People pay extra for that. Good.
Around my house, we have a lot of vice grips to choose from, but I like the
needle-nose versions for these. They really help you get a hold of the rack.
Just go for the center of the back. There.
| Now apply a very, very thin coating of olive oil. It doesn't have to be extra virgin. Some kosher salt and a few grinds of black pepper. |
1-2 tsp. Olive Oil Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper To Taste |
Now crank your biggest gas burner to high, and get to grilling. Just keep the bread about two inches above the flame. You know, when I think about it, this is actually going to be more like a lavash, the Armenian flatbread than a pizza, but you can treat it the same. Now just keep moving evenly over the gas. I kind of go back and forth and then side to side. And in about two minutes, you're going to notice that there are going to be bubbles, blisters coming up. Don't let those frighten you. See where it's starting to blister up in the middle? That means it's going to be extra crispy there, once the bread sets.
| All right, it's been about four minutes. I'm going to take a peek. Yeah, it's brown enough on the bottom. So we're going to flip. A little bit more oil. Going to brush that on. A little more salt. I think I'll skip the pepper on this side. And continue the grilling process for about another two minutes. |
1-2 tsp. Olive Oil Kosher Salt To Taste |
If you want to slice your bread/pizza, do it while it is still warm. I like just
kind of geometric shapes. Otherwise, let it cool and just break it into chunks.
Now instead of sauce, hummus would be appropriate, maybe with a little cumin
seed and parsley.
Now the best part.
AB: [to crew] Boom, please. [boom microphone comes into view]
[bites into a piece of the bread, making a very audible crunch] Mmmm. How's that for crispy-crunchy? And the dough is fast. And since it contains that barley syrup, it will keep viable in the refrigerator for up to a week, so you can just grab it out and bake it up anytime you like. If your pizza urges must be serviced even faster than that, well, there's always this guy.
VINNIE: [opens up a box of so-so pizza]
See you next time on Good Eats.
Transcribed by Michael Roberts
Proofread by Michael Menninger
Last Edited on 09/27/2011
