Pizza Heaven

Pizza is one of my all time favourite things.
It ticks all the boxes of what you want from a meal. It has carbs, rich tangy sauce, veggies, meat, and as my friend Lauren would say 'HELLA cheese'.

Good pizza recipes are few and far between. They are made predominantly from plain yeast bread dough but this can prove difficult to work with and to manipulate when rolling.

I have run the gammit on pizza doughs but finally I have gathered my own little repetoire of pizza dough recipes that serve their purpose depending on what I'm using them for focaccia, calzone or flat bread.

Here's a recipe I'm fond of. Its easy to make,freezes well and the final product is a crisp buttery dough.
This dough is versatile and I have used it to make bread sticks,flat breads and even a baguette. Its amazing what you can pull out of your hat when you have to.
A little bit of fine cornmeal on the table when rolling the dough gives the base a nice texture and you don't end up with a floury base.



Olive Oil Pizza Dough

1tsp dried yeast
225ml water (body temp)
50ml olive oil
25g butter
1tsp salt
15g sugar
450g strong white flour

~In a large bowl put the flour, sugar, salt.
~Rub in the butter until it resembles bread crumbs.
~Stir in the dried yeast.
~Mix to a loose dough with the olive oil and water. Leave to relax for 5 minutes.
~Turn out the dough onto the counter.
~Knead by hand for around 10 minutes until it forms a smooth dough. Or mix for 5 minutes in a food mixer with a dough hook.
~Put the formed dough in a greased bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to double in size for an 1 ½ hours in a warm spot.
~When the dough is ready punch the air out of it and cut into 6 pieces. Shape into balls and leave to relax on the counter for 30 minutes lightly covered with cling film.
~Use straight away or put in oiled sandwich bags and refrigerate or freeze
~Cook the pizza on the highest temp on your oven. I cook mine at 500of.
~Preheat a tray in the oven and then slide your pizza on to it or put your pizza directly on the bottom of the oven,trust me it will be fine and give a great pizza base.

Everything but the oink!!!!

One Markets weekly beast is a fantastic way to experience the Michelin star restaurants cuisine without paying the a la cart prices. They offer a five course tasting menu for a modest $49, with wine pairing it's $69.

Our weekly beast was a suckling pig. There is only one thing tastier then a pig, and that's a baby pig.
For me the first and last course were the highlight of the meal, which I suppose is the best way to have it. Thee pig head and foie gras croquette was almost sinful. The meat was rich in flavor and the foie gras velvety in texture, a combination that makes for damn good eatin'.

The 3 courses to follow were lovely in their own right, but my favorite was the grand finale, bacon and waffles. A breakfast that seems to drive Americans wild and I can now see why. A soft mini waffle,maple butter and caramelized bacon, heaven. This is my kind of fine dining. When the chef takes something that people are familiar with and puts their own creative spin on it. Dishes like these transport you back to particular moments in your life. Food memories are my favorite kind of memories.

I always shied away from tasting menu's. The reason being I feel the customer doesn't always get the same standard and care that customers ordering off the a la cart menu get. This is just my personal experience from kitchens I have worked in. However this was not the case here.
I'm delighted I stumbled across One Markets "Weekly Beast" and will be keeping my eyes open for the upcoming animals to tantalize my taste buds. I highly recommend you check it out, and make life easier on yourself and go for the wine pairing. They are Californian wines which suites me because I'm a new world wine kinda gal.

I would like to take a moment and give honorable mention to the salted caramel petit fours. Ever since this night I have stormed SF candy stores for something similar but nothing could hold a candle to these salty golden nuggets of greatness. Alas, the search continues....