(no subject)

inflammatio wrote an entry about her love for downtown seattle, and i commented, saying how sad it made me. Her reply, which had some good sound advice, encouraged me to think about the good things in Philly.

So, this morning, i was driving mystery to school, and we drove down Kelly Drive, which runs next to the schuykill river. it's the river where Eakins painted all the rowers. for some reason it is unchanged since those turn of the last century paintings. even the stone bridges look the same, more like amsterdam than the united states. even this morning the rowing teams from all the colleges were out practicing on the water. it looked just like an Eakins painting. along the side of the road is fairmount park, the largest outdoor park contained within a city in the united states. bigger than golden gate park or central park. the tree trunks were dark brown, almost black with morning dew, and the sky was battleship dun, and the trees themselves were aflame with foliage, sugar maples, oaks, many others, with their bright fall coats and mufflers on.

on the radio, WHYY's Radio Times was taking caller reactions to the Democratic win for Governor, and a self professed "dyed in the wool Republican" called to say that she had voted for the Democrat, because Fisher, the Republican, had the nerve to suggest that shops in Pittsburgh made better sandwiches than shops in Philadelphia. "I couldn't in good conscience vote for the guy," she continued, "seeing as he was clearly an idiot."

maybe philadelphia isn't all that bad.

pear and potato pizza

this sounds odd, but it is a great pizza. the mint oregano pesto plays with the starchiness of the potato and the sweetness of the pear. the cheese compliments both. it was assembled out of leftover bits from our pantry when i was trying to avoid going to the store for groceries, and it was so good that i made it again, to see if it was a fluke. it wasn't.

the crust: (this makes two crusts, freeze one, or make another pizza or cinnamon rolls. halving the crust recipe has NEVER worked for me, the crust comes out horribly.) i've taken to using a focaccia dough for this, it has more oil, and gets crispier. for a less fattening crust, use a third of the oil... it isn't absolutely necessary for the chemistry of the bread, but it sure tastes good. by the way, a good olive oil is essential, i recommend a strong, flavorful estate bottled olive oil. if you want to go through the trouble, get a bottle from the Bariani family in san francisco. they make the oil in accordance to traditional italian methods. bariani olive oil is the best you can get in the united states. suprisingly, it is cheaper by far than many high end olive oils found in specialty stores. for info, email bariani@aol.com

1 and 1/3 cup of warm water (115 degrees or so.)
a packet of baker's yeast (about a tablespoon)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
3 and 1/2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons of salt

place water, yeast and oil in the work bowl of a food processor, blend for a few seconds. add the flour and salt, run for thirty secnds or until the dough comes together in a ball. turn out onto a floured surface, separate into two balls, and knead for about a minute. place each into an oiled bowl., cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place (about 80 degrees) for an hour. (if you lack an 80 degree place, put the bowls in an oven that was been heated to warm, (generally, this is 200 degrees) and then turned off, and let sit for about five minutes, so that the temp inside the oven is no greater than about 115 degrees farenheit. any hotter than this, and you will kill the yeast. let this sit in the warm oven for forty-five minutes.) if you lack a food processor, you can mix the ingredients in a bowl, then turn out onto a floured surface, and knead by hand for five to ten minutes, until the dough is soft and firm, but yeilding about the texture of an earlobe. let rise as before.

the potatoes:
two medium new potatoes (yukon gold are good)
a tablespoon of fresh rosemary, diced
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cracked black pepper
a half a tablespoon of olive oil

slice two medium new potatoes into very thin slices, put in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper and rosemary, drizzle the oil over, and toss. spread the potaotes out on a baking sheet, and if you don't have the dough in there, bake in a 350 degree oven for ten minutes or so, or until they have lost most of thier crispiness. once the potatoes come out, the oven will need to be ramped up to five hundred degrees for at least a half hour before you put the pizza in.

the pesto:
1/4 loose cup fresh oregano leaves
1/4 loose cup fresh mint leaves
5 to 10 peppercorns
a pinch of salt
3 cloves garlic, diced
a dash of olive oil

put the oregano, mint, garlic, peppercorns, and a pinch of salt into a mortar. grind to a rough paste. the salt should pull the oils from the mint and garlic and make it a wet mix, if you have trouble, add a little of the olive oil to make a loose paste, but nothing runny. this pizza has enough oil as it is. you will only have about a tablespoon of pesto, do not be alarmed. this is plenty.

the onion base:
one half of a large sweet onion, such as a bermuda or vedalia or walla walla
a bit of olive oil for the pan
a sprinkle of salt
a half tablespoon of stone ground dijon mustard
a half tablespoon of cream sherry, mirin, sake, or white wine

slice the onion thin. heat oil over a medium flame, and then add the onion and salt. the salt will pull the water from the onion, and it will begin to go clear, and then to brown, add the mustard and sherry , stir until the mustard wine sauce covers the onions, be careful, this may burn.

the rest of the assembly:
three small pears
a good cheese, use your imagination, i used a "Drunken goat cheese" which was a goat cheese aged in red wine. i can see a good gorgonzola working here, as well as a nice swiss, or even a hard cheese like pecorino, asagio, or parmesian.
a dash of olive oil
some salt.

take the crust, and stretch it out until it makes a twelve to 18 inch round (depending upon how thin you like the crust.) place on a pie pan or pizza stone. if you want, you can let the crust rise again for about a half hour at this point. it makes the crust breadier. if you leave it as is, it will be thin, almost crackerlike. regardless of your choice, after the bread has risen again or no, spread the onions evenly over the crust, arrange the potatoes in a a thin layer over the onions. (you may have some left over, after the pizza is done, put them back into the oven on the cookie sheet until they brown, they make a good snack) peel the pears and slice them into coin sized chunks and spread over the potatoes. you want about half to three quarters as many pears as potatoes. take your pesto and put a dab here, a dab there, in little bits no larger than a penny, all over the pizza... use it all. using a brush, brush the crust of the pizza with olive oil, and sprinkle a tiny bit of salt all the way around. you can either put the cheese on now, in which case it will brown and harden and crust up like a cheese cracker, which is good, or you can bake your pizza and add the cheese in the last three minutes, which allows it do brown, but not harden up, which is also good. if you use a gorgonzola, you have no choice, you have to add it a the end.

put your pizza into a 500 degree oven for at least ten minutes, but more like 12, until the potatoes and crust are browning.