The Recipe Revolution

Since yesterday's post, I realized how absolutely depressing my list of recipes is.  Two, in all.  And I want to remedy that --- for your sake and for mine.  For your sake so you will have something perhaps new or different to try, hopefully enjoy, and then share with your family or those you love most.  And for my sake because I don't use recipes.  I don't create recipes.  I'm forcing myself to trod into the realm of the unknown, down the path of measuring and counting and planning and mise en place and all these processes that I don't normally do (except for baked goods, of course).

So, I'm officially giving it my all, in pursuit of turning what I normally throw together into something that can be accurately documented and then shared, because that's what this is all about.  Sharing with you some of the things I've learned and hopefully you returning the favor.  I'd love to hear from all of you about your favorite recipes, their history and if you have changed them in any way to make them your own.  You can either comment or send me an email under the "Contact" tab at the top.

Tomorrow, we start with the first dish that became a staple in our house (actually, it was an apartment back then).  Let the revolution begin!

New Pages

I thought I'd just put a reminder out there that there's more to this blog than just the posts here on the main page.  I officially have all of my separate pages up and going, which are linked in the tabs at the top of the page.  Of course, it will take some time to get them full, but at least there's something on each one of them right now.

Recipes
This is pretty self-explanatory.  Each recipe will link to the blog post which it's under, so you don't have to go searching through my whole blog for it.  I'm really going to try to start adding more at a faster rate, because it's a pretty depressing list right now.

Scripture
I'm currently doing some scripture memory and mentorship with an older member of our church. It has been great so far and it has revolutionized the simple spiritual disciplines in my life. We usually memorize 2 passages of scripture from the Bible per week, but since we've been going for a while, I'll post new ones each day until we get caught up.

Music
If you don't know me, I have been a musician since probably Kindergarten.  That's when I started piano lessons, which continued through middle school sometime.  In the 6th grade, I joined our band as a percussionist and continued with this until I graduated high school.  I was very, very fortunate to have teachers that were some of the best in the country, and thus spurred us on to be the best we could be.  This did result in a couple state titles in marching band and a runner up at a national competitition.  I then transitioned to guitar mid-way through college and have really been enjoying it.  I currently play electric guitar for our band at church and Bethany sings.  She, too, has grown up with music all around her and has a beautiful voice.  We are a muscial family, and it's something that I believe Charlie is already starting to pick up.

The music page is where I'll post new songs that I like, songs I'm writing, new equipment, etc.  I'd love to hear any feedback from any of you.

So, check out the new pages, even through the content so far is pretty scarce.  I'll continue to add more every day.

Pizza Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Pizza has to be mine and Bethany's favorite food of all time.  In fact, we make it a point to seek and find great pizza wherever we go, and are always on the lookout for the Mecca of the pizza world.  Along this journey, I think there have only been 2 times that I have had pizza that I would classify as great.

Great Pizza #1 - Lombardi's Pizza, 32 Spring St., New York, NY
We took a trip to New York the summer before Charlie was born, and this place was everything I thought it would be.  This was my main event of the trip --- what I was looking forward to the most.  Forget the broadway shows, The Statue of Liberty, blah, blah, blah.   Give me a great pizza pie.  And that's exactly what we got at Lombardi's.  In 1905 it became the first official pizzeria in America, and they still use the same coal fired oven to make every single pie.  It was quite an experience --- a slightly charred, crispy crust, thin layer of sauce, slices of fresh mozzerella which you could tell were hand made by it's irregular shape, and topped with homemade sausage and fragrant basil leaves.  What could be better?  I was in pizza heaven.

 Great Pizza #2 - Pizza Shack, 115 West Montgomery St., Willis, TX
Yes, I know what you're thinking:  "Of all the places that you could find great pizza, you think you found it in Willis, TX?"  And that would be correct.  As odd as it sounds, I have not found anything that tops it.  Now as far as history and nostalgia goes, it can't touch a place like Lombardi's, but for flavor and texture, it is it's equal.  The crust is not as thin as a Lombardi pie, but it is not thick either.  It's right in between.  It is chewy and toothsome, yet crispy and almost flaky on the outside.  The crust alone is what makes this pizza great.  Then all it needs is a little sauce, cheese and basil and it becomes perfect.  What can I say, I'm a purist and a sucker for Pizza Margherita.

So, it's with this love of pizza that I have made many, many attempts to make my own version and enjoy those same experiences and smells and textures and flavors in my own home.  It has been a long journey of failure after failure after slight success, followed by an even bigger failure.  However, over time it started coming to me and I can say that I make a decent pie.  Not great, just decent.  But today it became the most special to me, exceeding anything that one from Lombardi's or Pizza Shack could ever be.  And that's because I got to make it with my son, Charlie.  As I've said before here on GFGS, Charlie likes to help daddy cook dinner and today was extra special.  We made our own tomato sauce (which by the way is probably the easiest thing to do, not to mention that your missing the approximately 3 TBS of sugar you would be eating from store bought brands), grated the cheese, sliced and sauted the mushrooms...and then came the dough.  Charlie loved the dough and how it felt in his hands.  He would pat it down and throw it up in the air just like daddy.  What a reminder to me that he is watching my every move.

He probably will not remember this time that we made pizza for the first time together, but I always will. He is what made this pizza the best I've ever had.

Paul's Easy Tomato Sauce

• 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large red onion, medium dice
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 2 14oz. cans whole or diced tomatoes
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 6 large basil leaves, sliced, chopped or just left whole
• Salt to taste

- Heat oil over medium low heat in a large saute pan for a few minutes.
- Add the onion and a pinch of salt and cook for about 7 minutes until the onions turn translucent and start to brown a bit (The sweetness of the onions is a perfect substitute for any additional sugar that is added to store brand sauces.  You don't need the sugar, it's already there in the onions.  Carrots would also be good).
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and basil to the pan and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce reduces slightly, approximately 20 minutes.
- At this point you can leave it as is, slightly chunky, or put the spurs to it with the stick blender or food processor for a more consistent texture.  I suggest the latter for pizzas, and the former for pastas.  Enjoy!!

Mother's Day

Charlie made this video for his mommy and showed it to her this morning.  It's only a fraction of the thanks and honor she deserves.  Bethany, I love you and you are a wonderful mom to our boy!

Day 37 - A New Tomato

Well, another tomato plant has officially started producing fruit.  The picture above is of my Carbon plant and it's the first sign of fruit that I've been able to see.  It will eventually turn a deep purple when ripe.  All the plants seem to be producing right on schedule, it's just tough to be patient through this growing season.  I just want to eat them now!!  Also, Lime Green Salad has about 8 - 12 new tomatoes on it that I didn't even see until this morning.  It just kind of sprang up overnight, it seemed like. 

We made our morning trip out to the St. Fairsted Farms farmstand, only to find out that the opening has been delayed a week and was still closed.  Charlie had a good idea that we should find the keys so we could open it, but we never we able to find them :)

I guess we'll have to wait another week.

Success

Well, I think this can be considered a success.  I went out and got a good ole cast iron dutch oven and it gave me great results.  It rose a pretty good amount in the oven and the crust is amazing.  I do think the dough was a bit on the dense side, still.  That might take a little tweaking with the ratios of flour to water.

Also, today is May 5th, which marks the opening of the farm stand at St. Fairsted Farms.  Although I won't be able to go out there today, the family will definitely be making a trip out there this Saturday. 

Hockey Anyone?

Tried a new method...looks like it's back to the drawing board.  At least I can practice my slapshot, or mabye my discus technique.

In all seriousness, though, I was happy with the texture of the crumb and crust of this recipe.  I think the problem lies not in the ratio of the recipe, but the baking method itself.  I'm in need of some special hardware, which I'm planning on buying.  So, until then, I wait, dreaming of that one day when I create the world's most perfect loaf of sourdough.

Guy's Day

While Bethany is living it up in the knick-knack cornucopia that is Canton, Charlie and I are having a guys day.  First, we went and had pancakes and bacon.  As you can see, like his daddy, he likes bacon.

After that, we went to the grocery store to pick up what we needed.  I love going to the grocery store, and I haven't been in a while because Bethany has been doing it a lot lately.  So it was really nice to get back there because it gives me different ideas about new dishes.  Like today I saw these Indian Eggplant, and it's like they just spoke to me:  "Grill me and put me in pasta."  That's what they said to me, so that's what I'm going to do.

So we had a great trip, just father and son, enjoying the day and each other...and going super fast in the shopping cart.  But I have to tell you, being at that grocery store made me more excited about the farm stand opening on May 5th.  I can't wait to get stuff like this right from the source.