The Pizza Chronicles: Part I

Eduardo and I have finally settled into our first apartment in Dallas! It is absolutely fantastic. One of the best features (as opposed to dorm life) is that it has a kitchen!! A NICE kitchen, with lots of counter space and plugs to use nifty gadgets with! And even more exciting, we now have acquired all the cooking supplies and tools I need for real cooking. Gone are the days of microwave meals and pre-made packaged goods. I'm excited. I'm so excited that I decided to embark on a pizza journey. I've never made pizza before, but I decided to go all out. I made everything, from the dough to the sauce. This is Tassajara's Pizza with Pesto, Ricotta, and Heirloom Tomatoes. I only used half of the dough I made, so I'll be making another pizza pie in the next couple of days, topped with another recipe for veggies from Tassajara :). But anyway. Here's part one.

THE DOUGH.

I never really liked making bread, mostly because I'm not the biggest fan of bread (Except Doña Patricia's Challah. Mmmmm...). But you can't really make a pizza without dough, right? Oh well. Here I go. My first package of yeast was dead. After ten minutes, instead of being bubbly and active, it looked watery and sad. It looked like loose, soggy sand. Good thing yeast comes in packages of 3. Note to self: never, ever cook a recipe that requires yeast if you only have one package. If you only have one and it's dead, you're screwed.

The second package of yeast looked quite robust, so I figured it was ok to go ahead and add the rest of the ingredients. Remember how I said I never really liked making bread? Now I remember the real reason why. "Mix together by hand until a shaggy mass forms." Ewwwwwwwww!! I just shoved my hands into slimy, icky glop! If I ever put my hands in a baby's mouth while it was eating, I think this is what it would feel like. But I shouldn't scare anyone. This feeling only lasts a few seconds. After that, the dough becomes malleable and not gross feeling. Next comes the kneading. 12 minutes of kneading feels like a looong time! It's no joke that chefs need good upper body strength. I was literally sweating when I was done. I do have to say, you feel powerful when you're kneading, in much the same way some might feel powerful when lifting weights. That was it for now. Coated with olive oil, the pizza dough now sat on top of the oven, warming up and growing over the heat of a preheating 500 degree oven.

To be continued...