Knead-less Pizza Dough

I've been playing around for a few weeks, trying to create the perfect homemade pizza dough. It had to be quick, easy and tasty. This weekend I finally came up with what I think is the blue-ribbon winner. It's light and airy, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. And anyone can manage it. Even I, who have a lifelong aversion to working with yeast. This recipe is written for folks who can't cook, so disregard the obvious steps if you're comfortable in the kitchen.

KNEAD-LESS PIZZA DOUGH

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached white flour
1/2 cup semolina flour (this makes a big difference in the rising)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
Scant 1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
1 cup lukewarm water (it should be the same temperature as your finger)
1 packet (2¼ tsp) yeast
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey

Also:
Cornmeal
Nonstick cooking spray
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Makes two 12" thin pizzas, or one 16" thick crust pizza.

Preheat oven to 425°. Preheat pizza stones or pans in oven.

In one bowl, sift together dry ingredients. In another bowl, mix the yeast with the water. Add honey and oil, stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients, half at a time. Stir until mixed and a ball forms. It will be slightly sticky. Grease the bowl that held the dry ingerdients, transfer the dough there to rest. Cover with a towel and rest in a warm spot for 10-20 minutes (not too warm!).

Refrigerate covered for 4-24 hours to allow the yeast and flavors to develop. Remove from fridge at least an hour before using. Between the warm and cold rests, it will have at least doubled in size.

Lay out wax paper on the counter, enough to work your dough to match the size of your pan. I use two overlapping sheets. Do not oil the wax paper or you'll have slippery problems later. Spritz your hands with cooking spray before working. Divide the dough in half if needed. Smoosh out the dough to slightly smaller than the size of your pan(s). Don't press out all the air, you want it to stay kind of fluffy.

Remove your pans from the oven, spritz with cooking spray and sprinkle generously with cornmeal. Starting at the edge of the pan farthest from your body, lay the edge of the dough on the pan and flip it in upside down into the pan. It's hot, so be careful (duh). Peel off the paper slowly. Pieces of dough may stick to the paper, but that's ok. If big pieces come off, just press them back into the holes. Make adjustments to size and shape if needed.

Prick dough with a fork and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and add your toppings. Bake for about 10-13 minutes more, until center is done and toppings are bubbly. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before slicing.

The Beauty of Brine

Happy New Year! I was originally planning to talk about our holiday menus today. We had a ton of good stuff to eat, many enjoyable hours were spent in the kitchen and most items surpassed expectations. But they all paled next to The Brined Chicken. Thus the title and focus of today's post will outline the beauty of brine. Veggies be warned and come back again later.

How could something so simple, so low tech, so frugal make so much difference in a piece of meat? With nothing more than a gallon of water and a few ounces of salt, a meal can be transformed from "oh, chicken again" to "don't you dare come between me and that chicken!" There are a jillion web pages that explain the science behind the process that keep lean meats moist and tender. I recommend http://www.cooksillustrated.com/images/document/howto/ND01_ISBriningbasics.pdf, which gives a quick and dirty lesson on the how and why.

But it's enough for me to know that it does work wonders. Brine is to chicken and pork what a crock pot is to beef or lamb. We had a whole chicken ordered special from our friendly neighborhood butcher. It was a big boy because we do love us some leftover chicken salad (with a little dill and carrot, oh my!). We generally roast our chickies in the rotisserie. You know, set it and forget it - we're also suckers for As Seen on TV, remind me to tell you about our Ninja. Anyway, the rotisserie is a wonderful invention and totally worth the hundred bucks or so. It keeps the chicken moist and the skin gets all crispy, just fabulous. But I do have to admit that a brined chicken makes that taste like sawdust. We soaked our boy in a simple mixture of 1 gallon water, 1/2 cup salt, four cloves of garlic and some crushed rosemary. Set the pot in the fridge for a day. The Husband pulled him out and gave him a rinse Christmas Eve morning and patted him dry. When I got home from work, we stuck him in the rotisserie for an hour and three quarters. We usually give some additional searing time after the meat is done to make sure everything crisps nicely, but maybe it was something in the brining that made it unnecessary this time.

I don't usually eat the chicken skin. I love it, but it's completely incompatible with Weight Watchers. However, there was no turning it down. Resistance was futile. And I honestly didn't try very hard. Oh my goodness, bless my buttons, and come all ye faithful, I have never had a chicken like this. It was everything I've always wanted a chicken to be, but never knew it could. Please try it. Really, please get a chicken this week and brine it before cooking. You won't be sorry, I promise you.

We have no leftovers...

Other menu items over the last 10 days included a Chinese buffet, phyllo dumplings, stuffed mushrooms, sundried tomato dip, baked la-ziti and baklava. Fruit and veggie cleanse tomorrow! Best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful New Year!