Madison House Chef

No Knead Pizza Dough (with step by step photos)

As our long standing tradition continues, Ken makes pizza for us most Sunday afternoons. We’ve used the CIA Pizza Dough recipe for ages and enjoy the flavor of the crust plus it’s versatility in creating both thin and crispy crust and a chewy thick crust.

We’ve been experimenting with crusts as of late (including cauliflower crust) and this week Ken has prepared the pizza dough using the Bon Appetite No Knead Pizza Dough (inserted below for convenience). This crust is classified as a chewy crust.

What’s for Supper Tonight? Sunday Pizza Edition

It’s Pizza Day …
Today’s pizza pies include

• pepperoni
• mega cheese (fresh mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, goat cheese, bleu cheese)
  
  
   
• red onion and goat cheese
• pepperoni, jalapeno, bleu cheese

Pineapple Jalapeno Goat Cheese White Pizza

 

 

Another fabulous combination of sweet and savory. The goat cheese was creamy and added a wonderful complimentary taste to the fresh mozzarella.

 

 

 

 

Red Onion and Fresh Mozzarella Pizza

 

 

Oh my!
Luscious. Delicious. Savory. Oniony.

Amazing!

Pepperoni Jalapeno Pizza

 
Here’s another version of the Pepperoni – Jalapeno Pizza I’m fond of.  This time, since we were out of fresh jalapenos, I used the jar ones. The jar peppers, while adding heat and spiciness, didn’t have the same fresh appeal that the unprocessed ones do. I’ll stick with fresh.

Ken did a great job on the crust (as always). The crust was thin, yet held strong with weighty, wet ingredients. Bravo!

Sunday Pizza: Mediterranean and The Valley Come Together

Wow! Wow! Wow!  

This week I couldn’t decide what toppings to have and thus my terrific pizza chef husband made a half and half pizza for me.

Sunday Pizza Highlights

White pizza with red onion and fresh mozzarella. Note the gigantic bubbles that formed at the edge.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

It’s Sunday … which means it’s Pizza Day at The Madison House.

Today’s specialty pizza is Buffalo Chicken.

The local Double Dave’s pizza has (or more precisely had) a Sunday afternoon buffet.  Often times (back in the day before chef Ken began making pizza) we went there after church to enjoy the great variety of slices, their stromboli (not quite up to PA standards, but good in it’s own right) and an overly sweet dessert pizza. On a whim, I tried the buffalo chicken pizza – what the heck, live dangerously, I’ve eaten stranger things.  It was good, quite good. Sadly, Double Dave’s went belly up and since then, we’ve been hungry for Buffalo pizza.

Sunday Pizza Photos

 

If it’s Sunday, it’s pizza day in our household. Here are a few recent pizza pies to come out of the oven.

Three cheese: fresh mozzarella, blue cheese, and part skim mozzarella.

 

Ultra Thin Pizza Crust

This afternoon Ken made the most exquisite pizza.  The crust was wafer thin, no thinner, with a snap and a crunch that well surpasses any ‘gourmet’ pizza I’ve ever eaten, bar none. It was almost cracker like, yet with a taste of yeast and a ‘breadiness’ of any traditional crust and it was not the least bit dry.

Look at how incredibly thin the crust is.  Amazing.

CIA Basic Pizza Dough

Ken has incorporated fresh herbs into this dough; he does this during the kneading process.

This is the recipe for basic pizza dough that Ken uses for all of his pizza’s, both thick and chewy crust and thin, thinner, and very thin and crispy version.

The credit for the dough is 100% property of The Culinary Institute of America, The Professional Chef’s Techniques of Healthy Cooking, 2nd edition.

I’ll add Ken’s notes and words of wisdom following the complete recipe.**

Thin Crust Pizza & Stuffed Crust Pizza - Homemade

 

This Sunday Ken made our Sunday pizza with a delicious garlic crust with which he experimented with its thinnest and thickness.   He made an amazing super thin crust that had was not the least bit dry and also a standard crust pizza with a stuffed crust.

 

 

 

Three Cheese White Pizza (with photos)

Sometime ago a tradition began in our household … Sunday pizza.  Not that I don’t enjoy a good roast beef or a roasted chicken with potatoes and gravy (both aromas instantly take me back to my childhood and to my grandmother’s kitchen), but a hot pizza and a cold malted beverage have become a pleasant, very low key way to unwind after a busy morning and at the end of a full weekend.

 

Puff Pastry Pizza Stars

 

 

A fun and tasty finger food that's perfect for young helpers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gourmet Pizza at Home

Herb crust, three cheese white pizza

Some time ago we began what has now become a tradition -- Sunday Pizza.  After a busy morning, which often times begins at dawn and quickly becomes afternoon, I've not enough energy to cook.  Oh sure, by the time I've had an afternoon nap I can manage a creative dish or two; well, if it was a good nap.  Even so, no one would make it to after-naptime without food.  Ken is a fabulous cook, but it's his day off that usually culminates with grading papers and answering emails -- at least when he's not writing or researching. After a relaxing morning I want a little sabbath rest for him, too.  We needed a solution: order pizza. Dominos is on my speed dial.

Deep Dish Pizza

Last week Ken made deep dish pizza crust using the spring form pan.  The pizza was of course incredibly delicious and the crust was chewy and luscious.  The CIA dough recipe is a win-win every time.  The other thing that Ken did was to put the toppings on the bottom and the cheese on top -- how very Chicago.

By the way, this photo does not do the crust justice.  And Mom... thanks for the markings on the bottom of the pan...we had it in correctly this time.  LOL