25 Haziran 2012 Pazartesi

Attention Alton Brown fangirls and people interested in Next Iron Chef

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I just found this publicity photo of Alton Brown for the Next Iron Chef, which debuts on October 30 at 9 p.m. EST on Food Network. While I'm strictly informing everyone of the upcoming series, I have to include a nice little photo of AB.According to a FN press release the first episode, entitled“Primal: Heat and Meat,” is described as:
In the much-anticipated season premiere of The Next Iron Chef, ten of the most respected chefs in the culinary world take a trip to the middle of nowhere, where their primal instincts are put to the test. Split into five teams, the chefs arrive to a bare bones set-up and supply depot, where they must create a makeshift cooking station and build a fire in order to whip up an Iron Chef worthy meal. Using only basic tools including cinder blocks, metal skewers, flat iron and stacks of wood, this challenge tests the resourcefulness of the contestants in extreme conditions. After a deliberation from the judges, the least successful duo battles it out in the first-ever Secret Ingredient Showdown. After a grueling challenge, only one of the two chefs will live to battle another day for the coveted Next Iron Chef title.
See the real reason I'm happy about the press kit by clicking here. :)

A funny thing happened at the Serve and Protect event

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Last Thursday's Serve and Protect event for the Tennessee Aquarium was my 13th Alton Brown event. Yeah, lucky 13. I'm not that superstitious, however after the whole summer of AB being on Twitter and crap with things there, and reason for writing and flack he received for the Fanifesto, I was a bit nervous attending this one.

The evening started off with an odd incident. I was in the Aquarium's office purchasing a copy of Good Eats 3 to beat the rush later at the gift shop and after securing said copy I turned to exit the room. At that moment, a group of people came through the room from the stairwell. As I turned, I almost ran into one them. Then I realized it was Jim, Alton's assistant. He stepped back and I stepped forward and at that moment I looked up to see none other than Mr. Brown looking right at me!

He looked a bit surprised. And I know I did as well. He said, "After you." I giggled and and said, "Are you sure you want me to go in front of you?"He tipped his head, extended his arm and said, "Yes ma'am." I giggled like a schoolgirl and went ahead of him and the group. As I thought about it, I wasn't certain if Alton didn't know me or was just surprised that we ran into each other in the office. I know I was extremely surprised.

FIND OUT THE REST HERE!

Win a signed copy of Good Eats 3!

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Last week when I saw Alton at his book signing in Sewickley, Penn., he asked me, "Don't you ever run out of these things?" He was referring to the fact that two weeks earlier I had my copy of Good Eats 3: The Later Years signed in Chattanooga, Tenn. So I promptly explained what happened, I didn't know there would be an early release of the book and I had an impulse buy!Anyway, I told AB one of the books came from his publisher for a giveaway and since I was coming to the event, why not get it signed as well. Alton was nice enough to sign the book for lucky person.
 The contest is open until October, 19 at 11:59 pm EST.So now, to get this copy of GE3, click here!

Updates

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In case anyone has noticed I haven't been keeping up with a lot of Alton Brown news here on this site of late.  Mainly because I have taken the plunge with Wordpress and since I'm hosting my own site why not!

I have officially moved all of the news and posts to: http://news.altonbrownfans.com so this is where you can find me from now on.  Also, if you subscribe to the site's RSS please update to http://feeds.feedburner.com/altonbrownfans/DQXc  My twitter for the fansite is @_altonbrownfans

There is much to talk about with the visit to Pittsburgh on the tour but I have even neglected to write on that over on the new site. I do have video and will try to share soon.

Remember that Sunday starts a new season of Next Iron Chef.  Alton will, of course, be hosting the show and annoying the chefs as per unusual.  Gotta love that.

I will try to recap the episodes, however, I have doing my annual National Novel Writing Month challenge again this year so free time will be very limited.  No promises!

Sometime in November the one-hour Thanksgiving Good Eats special will air.  Still haven't a date on that.  And the Saturday before Thanksgiving the Food Network will have a Turkey Day live show with AB as host.  It will be from Noon until 2 p.m. EST.   Viewers have the opportunity to submit questions ahead of time via Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/foodnetwork), Twitter (http://www.twiter.com/foodnetwork, use #FNThanksgiving) and can simultaneously submit questions during the broadcast with Skype. (Username: FoodNetworkThanksgiving).

For those of you who helped with the Heifer International fundraiser, THANKS SO MUCH!  We were able to buy the cow for Alton and I gave him the card in Pittsburgh.  

One last thing, I'm still wishing for an interview with Alton.  Since he has changed is outlook on social media and the reasons he gave me in the past for not allowing an interview with me as no longer valid, my hope is he will see the value and benefit of this site and be ever so kind as to talk with me for an interview.  After all, my site now ranks #1 in Google searches for him being an asshole and mean... so its not like no one is reading out there in cyberspace.

 
It's pretty funny that my site would get that ranking for these searches since I'm constantly bemoaning the fact AB seems to care more for the haters than the good folks like me.  Maybe he thinks since I took the time to do this site I will always be in his corner, while the haters need to be shown the light.  Who knows.  It is beyond me.  I still don't think he cares to read the site, which is very disheartening.  I hoped he would at least change his outlook but judging from his retweeting of mean comments that goes much further than any act of kindness does.  Maybe he's paying it backward?  
Anyway, I'll leave you with the reminder of the new site: http://news.altonbrownfans.comand NIC on Sunday.

See ya,Lisa :)

Next Iron Chef recap and Alton Brown running silent

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I was remiss in talking about Next Iron Chef last week. I was trying to launch my NaNoWriMo idea; however, that seems to be heading down the tubes this week. So to re-ignite my writing mojo, I thought about talking a little about Sunday night's installment of NIC and maybe a little from week one.

The second installment had the nine surviving chefs heading off to San Diego and the home the Major League Baseball team, Padres, to do a little ball park cooking. Honestly, the first challenge should've been who can look at Alton Brown and not laugh their ass off at his clothing choice for the day. I say this with great affection, AB the gray plaid sport coat, yellow slacks, navy blue polo shirt and light blue pocket square just didn't come together for me.

All giggles aside, the first challenge, to reinvent ballpark food seemed to be something fairly easy. I mean, traditional ballpark food isn't the best grub in town anyway so to elevate it wouldn't take much. But either its been too long since I've been to game, or the offerings of the minor league team here are behind the times, or these chefs had no clue what ballpark food is because I didn't understand most of their "reinventions."

It was bad enough to hear the new judge utter the word "foodgasm" last week. However this week's word was deconstructed. It seemed most of the chefs' concept of reinvent a dish was to deconstruct everything. I was beginning to think I was watching HGTV or DIY instead of Food Network with the number of times that word as bandied about. Ugh!

Continue reading

24 Haziran 2012 Pazar

Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

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Giving up meat hasn't been quite as hard as I had thought it would be.  Don't get me wrong - I've had my cravings of a nice rare filet, a Chick-fil-a sandwich and a juicy Breslin Burger.  But, we've been trying a lot of new seafood and vegetarian recipes which have kept things interesting.

I hadn't ever thought of pairing brussels sprouts (which we love) with pasta.  But, when I saw this delicious looking Taste of Home recipe, I knew we'd be adding this to our menu during Lent.

Not only was this recipe beyond easy to make, it was also wonderful.  The Husband scarfed it down and I enjoyed it as well.

The brussels sprouts are hearty by nature and paired with the pasta, it makes for a very filling vegetarian meal.

By roasting brussels sprouts you get a tad bit of sweetness which plays against the bite of the green onion and garlic very well.  The small amount of cream cheese is just enough to add creaminess without being too heavy or decadent.

A few notes:
- As mentioned before, we hate parsley so we omitted that.
- I halved this recipe, which worked just fine.
- I added one chopped shallot and sauteed that with the green onions and garlic.
- I added in crushed red pepper flakes to the final product for a bit of spice.
- I used reduced fat cream cheese instead of regular cream cheese.  Fat free cream cheese would work as well.

Orecchiette with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts, halved
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided3/4 teaspoon salt, divided3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided3-3/4 cups uncooked orecchiette or small tube pasta6 green onions, sliced3 garlic cloves, minced1/4 cup butter, cubed3/4 cup white wine or chicken broth4 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubedMinced fresh parsley

In a large bowl, combine the Brussels sprouts, 3 tablespoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30-40 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, cook orecchiette according to package directions; drain, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
In a small skillet, saute onions and garlic in butter for 1-2 minutes. Stir in wine. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half.

In a food processor, combine the onion mixture, reserved pasta water and remaining salt and pepper. Cover and process until smooth.

In a large saucepan, combine the Brussels sprouts, orecchiette, onion mixture, cream cheese and remaining oil. Cook over medium heat until heated through and cream cheese is melted, stirring frequently. Garnish with parsley. Yield: 6 servings.

Let's Get Together Thai Shrimp

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It's not often I come across recipes for two people.  Most of the time, if a recipe is made for 4, it works out pretty well because The Husband will take leftovers to work for lunch.  But on the weekends, we tend to go out and any leftovers will go to waste.  So a few Friday nights ago was the perfect night to whip this Taste of Home recipe up.

This very easy to make meal really had tons of flavor.  The lime, curry, and ginger each shown on their own creating a delicious sauce bath for the shrimp, mushrooms and tomatoes.  The coconut milk definitely added a little something extra and the crushed red pepper flakes gave it a great spiciness.  The cilantro and nuts are a great finish.

The Husband and I both loved this and will definitely be making this again.

A few notes:
- This is a meal for 2 people, however the recipe could easily be double or tripled, etc.
- I increased the crushed red pepper flakes from 1/2 tsp to a little over 1 tsp, since we love heat.
- The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of mushrooms, we increased this to 1 cup.  I would highly recommend doing this.
- The recipe calls for 10 cherry tomatoes, and that's what I used. But, next time I would definitely had another 5 or so.
- The recipe calls for cashews, I used dry roasted peanuts because they were what I had on hand.

Let's Get Together Thai Shrimp

3/4 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon pepper2 tablespoons lime juice, divided1 shallot, chopped1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot1 garlic clove, minced1 tablespoon olive oil10 cherry tomatoes, halved1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth1/2 cup light coconut milk1 teaspoon curry powder1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes2 tablespoons chopped salted cashews2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
Sprinkle shrimp with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon lime juice.

In a large skillet, saute the shallot, ginger and garlic in oil for 1 minute. Add shrimp; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add tomatoes, mushrooms, broth, coconut milk, curry powder, pepper flakes and remaining lime juice to the skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and sauce is slightly reduced, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp; heat through. Garnish with cashews and cilantro. Yield: 2 servings.

A GIVEAWAY and Alton Brown's Pizza Dough

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The kind folks at OXO sent us a kitchen scale to try out and it couldn't have come at a better time.  I'd been wanting to make Alton Brown's recipe for pizza dough and Alton only weighs flour by weight, not by volume.  I had attempted this recipe last weekend with miserable failure because I tried to convert weight to volume by asking "the google."

So when The Wife told me what came in the mail, I was looking forward to trying this again.  We love to make pizza dough and have a great recipe that's never failed us, but I'm always interested in trying out an Alton recipe.

Back to the fine folks at OXO - not only did they send us one kitchen scale, the sent a second for one lucky reader - That means it's GIVEAWAY TIME!  Details following the recipe.

Ingredients:

9 1/2 ounces of Flour (recipe calls for bread flour, but I used all purpose)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 warm (100-105 degree) water

Directions:

Place your mixing bowl on the OXO food scale, zero it out and measure out 9 1/2 ounces of flour.


Add in your yeast, sugar, salt and 2 teaspoons of olive oil and whisk to combine.

Making sure you have the dough hook attachment on, turn to "stir" and add the water.  When the dough has come together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, turn the speed up to halfway (6 on a KitchenAid) and knead the dough for 10 minutes.












Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board, kneading until smooth.



Put the remaining olive oil into your mixing bowl, and return the dough to the  bowl,













Roll it around so it's covered with the olive oil, cover with a warm towel and place somewhere warm and let the dough rise for an hour.  (This is where Alton and I part ways, he says to let the dough rise in the fridge for 24 hours, but I didn't have that much time- maybe next week.)

After an hour, your dough should have more or less doubled in size.


Preheat your oven to it's highest setting, mine is 525 - and make sure you're pizza stone is in the oven as it warms.

Turn it our onto a lightly floured cutting board and cut in half.  At this point you can either make two pizzas,or set one ball aside for another project.  I used the second dough ball for breadsticks to accompany dinner later that night.




I always find it easiest to start by patting your dough out into a circle as flat as you can get it, then use your rolling pin to get it to your desired flatness.  Make sure to turn the dough over several times.  Add flour as needed (by the tablespoon/large pinch.)
When it's as flat as you want it, place about one tablespoon of cornmeal on a pizza peel and transfer.
Give it another roll with the rolling pin and poke a bunch of holes in it with a fork - this will keep it from having large air bubbles in the oven.
Put the pizza on your pizza stone and bake for 1-2 minutes, just long enough for the dough to get firm enough that you can put toppings on and it will slide off of your pizza peel.  (if you try to place toppings on the fresh dough, you'll never slide it off of your peel onto your pizza stone.)












Voila - you're just made pizza dough.  And you'll never go back to store bought stuff again.
Now top it as you like.  I did olive oil, sliced garlic, tomatoes, spinach and fresh mozzarella - topped with garlic powder and red pepper flakes.


Bake until the edges are golden brown and you cheese is melted - about 7-8 minutes.

We both really enjoyed this dough - it seemed to be sturdier than our standard dough, although I attribute that to the increased kneading - cultivating the glutens in the flour.  Next time, I'll allow it to rise for the full 24 hours, but either way, this was delicious.


Enjoy!

Now on to the GIVEAWAY! One lucky reader will receive this OXO Good Grips 5lb Food Scale with Pull-Out Display courtesy of OXO.  This is a great product and we LOVE the pull-out display - so convenient for big bowls, etc.   


To Enter:1. Like One Couple's Kitchen on Facebook and leave a comment here letting us know you have done so.

2. For a 2nd entry, follow us on Twitter @1CouplesKitchen & leave a comment here letting us know you did so. OR if you already follow us on Twitter, leave us a comment letting us know that you already do.

3. For a 3rd entry, follow us on Pinterest & leave a comment here letting us know you did so.
4. For a 4th entry, tweet our giveaway to your followers and leave us another comment letting us know you did so.

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 11 P.M. EST ON THURSDAY, MARCH 15TH.

Winner will be chosen at random.

Winner will be announced on Friday, March 16th! Saturday March 17th! (Sorry for the delay!)

Alton Brown's Yeast Donuts

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The Wife was craving something sweet, and being the diligent and providing husband that I am, I felt obliged to make something unexpected.  I just made her a Kentucky Butter Rum Cake last weekend, so a cake was out.  I had made her cupcakes the weekend before when she returned home from a girls weekend.  I cast my thoughts to one of her guilty favorites, and something we've never made so I knew she wouldn't be expecting them.  Donuts.  Yeasty, sweet donuts.

Given that we now have a kitchen scale, I decided to give Alton's recipe a try.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups milk
  • 2 1/2 ounces vegetable shortening, approximately 1/3 cup2 packages instant yeast1/3 cup warm water (95 to 105 degrees F)2 eggs, beaten1/4 cup sugar1 1/2 teaspoons salt1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg23 ounces all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting surfaceOil for Frying
    Directions:Heat the milk in a sauce pan until just before a boil, pour it over the shortening in a separate  bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, put your yeast into the warm water, stir and let set for five minutes to let the yeast wake up.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer using your paddle mixture, combine the yeast mixture and the shortening mixture and turn mixer to stir.  Add your eggs, salt, sugar, nutmeg and half of the flour mixture.  Turn up the speed once flour is added to combine the ingredients.  Stop the mixer and add the other half of the flour mixture, using a low setting to combine ingredients.  
  • Switch from your paddle attachment to your dough hook and mix at medium speed for about 4 minutes, until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, it will still be slightly sticky, but somewhat elasticky.
  • Turn out to a well oiled bowl, cover and let rise for an hour or so, until doubled in size.

  • Turn out on to a well floured cutting board (I had to cut the dough in half and work in two batches).  Roll the dough out to 3/8 inch thick and using something roughly 3-4 inches and circular make your donuts, rekneading the dough as you go.  I also used a very high tech tool to make the donut holes - a shot glass.

  • Place the donuts on a floured pan, cover with a towel and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

  • When they've risen, bring your oil up to 360 degrees and fry for about one minute on each side. 


  • If you're tossing the holes in cinnamon and sugar (highly recommended) do so immediately.  

  • Otherwise, set on a draining rack for 15 minutes before you glaze.
  • Or if you're really feeling saucy, take the donuts from the grease to the cinnamon/sugar mixture then let them cool for a minute, dip in the glaze, then back in the sugar.  

  • These are time intensive, but it makes it worth it if you do a large batch for company, or a tailgate.










  • Enjoy!

Thomas Keller's Seven Yolk Pasta Dough

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I love making things from scratch.  If I were to ever open a restaurant, I would make everything from scratch - from the rolls on the table, the salad dressings and the pasta.  I've never understood why more restaurants don't make more things in house.  But that's another post for another day.

After our two-month hiatus from the blog we're back with this recipe for pasta dough.  I've made pasta dough from scratch before and it turned out really well, but I came across this recipe from Thomas Keller when looking around the Internet's pantry.  Anything I stumble across from Keller I want to try, especially when I can make it with things I have on hand.  So here we go - my attempt at Thomas Keller's seven yolk pasta.
Ingredients:8 ounces of flour (I used whole wheat)6 egg yolks1 egg1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil1 tablespoon of milk

Directions:The directions call for placing your flour on the counter, making a well in the middle for your wet ingredients and mixing by hand slowly.  For lack of available counter space, I turned to our handy-dandy Kitchenaid mixer to start it out.  I put the flour in and made the well, added the wet ingredients but let the dough hook kick things off.


It worked OK - but the centuries old counter top method is probably best, space permitting.  When the dough comes together (Sidebar - if you've made bread dough, this will not be the same.  It will be moist, but not sticky and a LOT firmer) turn the dough out on a cutting board and shape into a ball.  Knead the dough by pressing the palm of your hand into the dough, flattening it out.  Reshape it into the ball and repeat.  You will do this for about 73 years - or so it will feel like.  I did it (with The Wife coming in as back up) for about 20 minutes.  The recipe talks about some kind of pull test that never happened in my kitchen.

In any event, once you've kneaded for about 20 minutes, cover the ball of dough in olive oil and wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest on the counter for one hour.  You do this so the dough will not dry out.


Now comes the fun part if you don't have a pasta machine (and we do not.)  You've got to flatten that sucker out to proper pasta thinness.  I recommend cutting the ball in half and using a rolling pin.Flatten it out with your hand, the roll with your rolling pin.  When it gets as big as your cutting board, cut the sheet in half again.



and using your rolling pin, flatten out the halves.


I found this to be a good thickness.Flour the sheet of pasta and roll the sheet up like a jelly roll and cut to your desired thickness.

Store in a bowl (not long term), tossed with flour until you're ready to cook.  This will keep them from sticking together.  Cook immediately - or freeze what you don't cook.  Just be sure to toss with more flour before you freeze.
I used this for carbonara, adding some spring peas.
Enjoy!

23 Haziran 2012 Cumartesi

Let's Get Together Thai Shrimp

To contact us Click HERE
It's not often I come across recipes for two people.  Most of the time, if a recipe is made for 4, it works out pretty well because The Husband will take leftovers to work for lunch.  But on the weekends, we tend to go out and any leftovers will go to waste.  So a few Friday nights ago was the perfect night to whip this Taste of Home recipe up.

This very easy to make meal really had tons of flavor.  The lime, curry, and ginger each shown on their own creating a delicious sauce bath for the shrimp, mushrooms and tomatoes.  The coconut milk definitely added a little something extra and the crushed red pepper flakes gave it a great spiciness.  The cilantro and nuts are a great finish.

The Husband and I both loved this and will definitely be making this again.

A few notes:
- This is a meal for 2 people, however the recipe could easily be double or tripled, etc.
- I increased the crushed red pepper flakes from 1/2 tsp to a little over 1 tsp, since we love heat.
- The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of mushrooms, we increased this to 1 cup.  I would highly recommend doing this.
- The recipe calls for 10 cherry tomatoes, and that's what I used. But, next time I would definitely had another 5 or so.
- The recipe calls for cashews, I used dry roasted peanuts because they were what I had on hand.

Let's Get Together Thai Shrimp

3/4 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon pepper2 tablespoons lime juice, divided1 shallot, chopped1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot1 garlic clove, minced1 tablespoon olive oil10 cherry tomatoes, halved1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth1/2 cup light coconut milk1 teaspoon curry powder1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes2 tablespoons chopped salted cashews2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
Sprinkle shrimp with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon lime juice.

In a large skillet, saute the shallot, ginger and garlic in oil for 1 minute. Add shrimp; cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add tomatoes, mushrooms, broth, coconut milk, curry powder, pepper flakes and remaining lime juice to the skillet. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and sauce is slightly reduced, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp; heat through. Garnish with cashews and cilantro. Yield: 2 servings.

A GIVEAWAY and Alton Brown's Pizza Dough

To contact us Click HERE
The kind folks at OXO sent us a kitchen scale to try out and it couldn't have come at a better time.  I'd been wanting to make Alton Brown's recipe for pizza dough and Alton only weighs flour by weight, not by volume.  I had attempted this recipe last weekend with miserable failure because I tried to convert weight to volume by asking "the google."

So when The Wife told me what came in the mail, I was looking forward to trying this again.  We love to make pizza dough and have a great recipe that's never failed us, but I'm always interested in trying out an Alton recipe.

Back to the fine folks at OXO - not only did they send us one kitchen scale, the sent a second for one lucky reader - That means it's GIVEAWAY TIME!  Details following the recipe.

Ingredients:

9 1/2 ounces of Flour (recipe calls for bread flour, but I used all purpose)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 warm (100-105 degree) water

Directions:

Place your mixing bowl on the OXO food scale, zero it out and measure out 9 1/2 ounces of flour.


Add in your yeast, sugar, salt and 2 teaspoons of olive oil and whisk to combine.

Making sure you have the dough hook attachment on, turn to "stir" and add the water.  When the dough has come together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, turn the speed up to halfway (6 on a KitchenAid) and knead the dough for 10 minutes.












Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board, kneading until smooth.



Put the remaining olive oil into your mixing bowl, and return the dough to the  bowl,













Roll it around so it's covered with the olive oil, cover with a warm towel and place somewhere warm and let the dough rise for an hour.  (This is where Alton and I part ways, he says to let the dough rise in the fridge for 24 hours, but I didn't have that much time- maybe next week.)

After an hour, your dough should have more or less doubled in size.


Preheat your oven to it's highest setting, mine is 525 - and make sure you're pizza stone is in the oven as it warms.

Turn it our onto a lightly floured cutting board and cut in half.  At this point you can either make two pizzas,or set one ball aside for another project.  I used the second dough ball for breadsticks to accompany dinner later that night.




I always find it easiest to start by patting your dough out into a circle as flat as you can get it, then use your rolling pin to get it to your desired flatness.  Make sure to turn the dough over several times.  Add flour as needed (by the tablespoon/large pinch.)
When it's as flat as you want it, place about one tablespoon of cornmeal on a pizza peel and transfer.
Give it another roll with the rolling pin and poke a bunch of holes in it with a fork - this will keep it from having large air bubbles in the oven.
Put the pizza on your pizza stone and bake for 1-2 minutes, just long enough for the dough to get firm enough that you can put toppings on and it will slide off of your pizza peel.  (if you try to place toppings on the fresh dough, you'll never slide it off of your peel onto your pizza stone.)












Voila - you're just made pizza dough.  And you'll never go back to store bought stuff again.
Now top it as you like.  I did olive oil, sliced garlic, tomatoes, spinach and fresh mozzarella - topped with garlic powder and red pepper flakes.


Bake until the edges are golden brown and you cheese is melted - about 7-8 minutes.

We both really enjoyed this dough - it seemed to be sturdier than our standard dough, although I attribute that to the increased kneading - cultivating the glutens in the flour.  Next time, I'll allow it to rise for the full 24 hours, but either way, this was delicious.


Enjoy!

Now on to the GIVEAWAY! One lucky reader will receive this OXO Good Grips 5lb Food Scale with Pull-Out Display courtesy of OXO.  This is a great product and we LOVE the pull-out display - so convenient for big bowls, etc.   


To Enter:1. Like One Couple's Kitchen on Facebook and leave a comment here letting us know you have done so.

2. For a 2nd entry, follow us on Twitter @1CouplesKitchen & leave a comment here letting us know you did so. OR if you already follow us on Twitter, leave us a comment letting us know that you already do.

3. For a 3rd entry, follow us on Pinterest & leave a comment here letting us know you did so.
4. For a 4th entry, tweet our giveaway to your followers and leave us another comment letting us know you did so.

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE RECEIVED NO LATER THAN 11 P.M. EST ON THURSDAY, MARCH 15TH.

Winner will be chosen at random.

Winner will be announced on Friday, March 16th! Saturday March 17th! (Sorry for the delay!)