Pizza-Pie Dough Warriors 2020: Part One

It was bound to happen... during our Covid-19 Shelter-In-Place Springtime, out of the kitchen deep, emerged the Great Pizza-Pie Dough Battle of 2020.  The adults going head-to-head, dough-to-dough, would make their pizzas, with only our pre-K son and each other to judge the outcome.

As the gold standard, we had agreed that the best pizza we have ever had in North America is just down the street at the amazing and always crowded Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana.  (Also up-there is a memorable Pizzeria Napoletana in Pescadero, Baja California Sur...maybe it was the romance, the tequila, or just extreme ex-pat hunger for a pizza done right.)

Adult A and Adult B both got the dough quite terribly wrong in the first round:
Mine was a recipe based on a New York Style from a once-trusted cookbook; the outcome was a dough that was sadly left in the fridge for too long as other dinners took preference; it emerged, far-too-sticky (and to the tune of some harsh trash-talking by the opposing team).

Cosmic retribution, perhaps, caused Adult #2's dough to subsequently blow up more than a zillion times the size it should have been, sitting overnight on the countertop, while the evening's thunderous downpour was the soundtrack to a dough mutating into an uncontrolled monster blimp, enough to feed or feed on a small metropolis - and too sticky to approach (ha!).  After calling in Ghostbusters, an exorcism-purification ritual for the kitchen, a planned search for flour (that seemed scarce when we needed it in our Covid-19 infested region) and several support-group zoom meetings, we were ready for another try - first, I reviewed everything that could possibly go wrong with my 6 Errori Dilittante.

Pizza was better on a pizza stone

My delivery of currently precious Caputo 00 flour did not arrive in time for pizza making; therefore, us pizza dough warriors were forced to use King Arthur All-Purpose Flour (the best brand we could find) for the Battle Part One.  Already, this would be an 'errori' but at least we had a level playing field for the competition.

After my disappointment with the New York style recipe I had tried previously from my Pizza Cookbook, I used the recipe offered on the King Arthur website, used my not-so-Dilittante stand-up mixer and just added a bit more flour to counteract our humid climate, you can read it here: King Arthur Flour Pizza Dough

I made two thin crust pizzas:
#1 was not 'pre-cooked' as the recipe instructed, because I was distracted by my son and husband coming in just at the moment that I was preparing the dough to go in ("Mommy, can we have a snack?"..."NO!!! I'm-making-THE PIZZA !!!"
I absent-mindedly put the toppings on without pre-baking, and just slid it and the parchment paper onto a hot pizza stone.  Actually, this turned out quite well. The crust slid off the stone hot and golden, crispy and got even my opponent to give it a '7' (perhaps to ward off any bad juju or witchcraft I might bestow in return towards his dough - after all the trash-talk!)
I liked this crust a lot and so did our son.

#2 was in on a flat pan, pre-cooked and then toppings put on before going back into the oven. after 8 minutes it came out clearly not as nice on the bottom.
In desperation I ditched the pan, slid it on the pizza stone for 5 minutes more and then it was almost perfect!

My opponent quite stubbornly remained loyal to his new-found YouTube Maestro's Neopolitan Recipe (but using the all-purpose flour!) that had produced the scary monster dough; he opted to reduce all ingredients by half and hand-knead the dough.  (Certainly a fun video, but be warned if you try this in your own town-home kitchen): Vito Iacopelli Pizza Dough
The judge then came to a decision. "Daddy's was more better-er."  (*sigh*)
And it's now in the books, or at least this blog.

My opponent's pizza smelled amazing, but by then the kitchen was about 500 degrees,
 everyone had to take a cool bath before the taste test

All-Strawberry (Shelter-In-Place) Pie

Greetings, Pie Blog Family! 

It's Passover-Easter time in 2020 and we are experiencing it like never before, during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Egg hunt is inside, Seders are by Zoom, and a seriously limited supply of ingredients is part of life today.  We got to get what we get and not get upset! So grateful to have our health and families and friends getting in touch more than ever.

The offering for this season's pie is an ALL-STRAWBERRY pie. Strict Pie Guidelines...no other berries allowed on this one due to social berry distancing guidelines.  (Which is just fine, because I could only get fresh strawberries affordably today and they would hold up to our strict clean handling standards of the hour.)

Those who follow know I normally would go for a strawberry-rhubarb at this time of year but there's no rhubarb for sale in these parts, (not yet, anyway.) Therefore, this is my first All-Strawberry Pie.  I added the sugar crumble crust half-way through the cooking and forgot to use brown sugar, which could have elevated it, or maybe it doesn't really matter. This could be made into a double crust pie, but I prefer the lighter crumble as it turns out.

The Littlest One's review is : "I like it." 

The Grandfather's review is: "Especially good."

The Pie Bar: featuring Special Guest Pie Blogger KPV

Welcome back to The Pie Blog!
As we get into the High Holidays of Pie, the WannabePieChef wants to wish you all a happy and tasty Thanksgiving week, I am so grateful to you the readers for all these years of sharing stories and photos of Pie!
For a special treat with this edition, I'm posting photography from longtime friend and Pie Chef KPV who has experienced the pie making class and bottomless mimosas at The Pie Bar in Long Beach, California.  The Pie Bar started out as a pop-up shop, and with such amazing success now offers classes and treats both sweet and savory that are as beautiful as they are delicious!
KPV and her crew joined in on a class for some team building and made this delicious creation! Enjoy this feast for the eyes and let it be inspiration for the biggest Pie Week of the year!

You can learn more about KPV and her many projects by clicking here.

Check out The Pie Bar when you're visiting Long Beach, CA! 

Hunters' Pie, Colonial Style

Hunters' Pie at the Colonial Williamsburg, VA; The King's Arms Restaurant

Just as summer 2019 came to a close, the WannaBePieChef traveled to Colonial Williamsburg Virginia, time traveling back to the late 1700s to sample the authentic fare of the moment!  I ordered up a real Hunters' Pie, and true to the name, the ingredients were a savory stew of duck, rabbit and wild venison, with onions, carrots, and spices.  The black currant jam on the side was traditionally spread all about the top crust of the pie adding that sweet-savory yumminess, so of course I followed that instruction.
This is probably the most serious pie I've ever reported on - the meats were smoked ahead of time, which gave it a less 'gamey' flavor.  Founding father of America and the 3rd President of the United States, native Virginian Thomas Jefferson is said to have eaten this very recipe (possibly after playing his violin!) and all the while enjoying his favorite beverage: Champagne, mixed with anything!

Violinist at the King's Arms Dining Room

Friendsgiving Pies of 2018

A special edition! My 3 year old son made his first pie, Pumpkin, and it was yummy. I am ever grateful for my family, and I do not take for granted that I have a wonderful new life as a mommy, and my son's dad is a great role-model chef!  Above and beyond all, I work at SGF Science Center HQ where we help people fulfill their own vision of family in all of its diverse forms; it's not always easy to have the baby you want, and it can be difficult to become a mother or father.  Anyway, I am an acupuncturist there and grateful for that work.  In my spare time I am still making pies!!!   This year is special indeed, due to our California family escaping the fires.  We are all together East and West and sharing our stories and journey.

Pies of Chihuahua

On our recent journey to Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, we were looking for a place to sit and eat after touring around for the day, and visiting the awesome 'La Rodadora' Interactive Museum, we were so happy to walk into a diner style restaurant called "Cafe La Nueva Central", established in 1958 - in the historic district, for some tasty comfort food.  An enormous menu caters to an array of tastes, including 50's style diner food, mexican plates, and even some classic chinese favorites.

They still had that 1950's feel, and bullet-proof cashier window.  Sitting next to an old jukebox that played the Mexican oldies, the pie cases were full of delicious pies and puddings.

We chose a booth next to the pie cases, and as we ordered lunch, it became clear that most of the customers were to ultimately take home a coconut, apple, chocolate, or banana cream pie!
This was THE place for pie in downtown historic Juarez.  We sampled their enchiladas, club sandwiches, fries, and strawberry milkshake, and even their arrachera beef flank steak and salad...and everything was incredible.  The banana cream pie was exceptionally good so we took some extra to go!

Arriba Juarez!!!

Dutch Market Apple Walnut Pie

This Apple Walnut Pie came from the Dutch market in Germantown, Maryland, where on Thursday - Saturday you can hit that bakery and choose from an enormous selection of yummy pies and other things too: cakes, pretzels, BBQ, candies, chocolates and more!  We chose a 1/2 pie and it was a fantastic choice.  The apples were cooked to perfection and somehow even with the crunch of the walnuts, there was a wonderful melt-in-your-mouth quality.  Such very good luck to kick off this autumnal pie season with a delicious apple walnut pie !!!