http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjlI_P6ua-0
Take the lyrics of Woody Guthrie, combine the instrumentals and haunting voice of of Slaid Cleaves...and you have magic.
this morning i was born again
and the light shines on my land
i no longer look for heaven
in your deathly distant land
i do not want your pearly gates
i don't want your streets of gold
this morning i was born again…
“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect – you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break – her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.”
― Bob Marley
Accepted a challenge from Dortha to share some random things about me.
Would you be willing to share some random things about you?
For my last night in Missouri I made homemade St. Louis Style Pizza. I can’t do this on the gulf coast since there is no provel cheese down there. The instructions below will make two 12″ pizzas.
for the dough:
3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 teaspoon active-dry yeast
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
for the toppings:
pizza sauce
provel cheese
(If you are using meat toppings you will need to precook them)
method:
Set the oven to 500°F or as hot as it will go and let it heat for at least a half an hour before making the pizza. If you have a pizza stone, put it in the lower-middle part of the oven now.
Combine the water and yeast in a mixing bowl, and stir to dissolve the yeast. The mixture should look like thin miso soup. Add the flour and salt to the bowl and mix until you’ve formed a shaggy dough.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface along with any loose flour still in the bowl. Knead until all the flour is incorporated, and the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. I admit to kneading the dough right in the mixing bowl, but I am a bit like The Anal Retentive Chef (as portrayed by Phil Hartman on SNL) and clean like a scrubby dutch as I go. If it is not necessary to dirty up another surface or dish I don’t do it. The dough should still feel moist and slightly tacky. If it’s sticking to your hands like bubble gum, work in more flour one tablespoon at a time until it is smooth.
Divide the dough into two equal size balls. I cover the dough and let it rise for at least an hour but this is not necessary. You can also refrigerate the 2nd dough ball for up to three days or freeze it if you want to just make one pizza.
Lay out a piece of parchment paper that is roughly 13″ long and using a rolling pin roll the dough out until you have about a 12″ pie. The dough will stick to the parchment paper, which makes it easier to roll out.
Mix some grated provel into your pizza sauce, enough cheese so that basically you just have sauce coated cheese. Spread the sauce/cheese mixture over your pizza crust. Add toppings of your choice. Meat toppings need to be precooked. I make cheese pizza so I added more cheese. BE VERY CAREFUL when you are using provel cheese. A little bit goes a long way and you will have more cheese than think. Too much will cause a cheesesplosion in the oven which will cause a very smoky kitchen.
Using a pizza peel or a cookie sheet, slide the pizza (still on the parchment paper) onto the pizza stone. If you don’t have a pizza stone, bake it on a baking sheet.
Bake for about 8 minutes until the crust is golden brown and the cheese looks toasty. Do NOT overcook the provel cheese. It has a very low melting point and burns easily.
Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes (so cheese won’t run) before slicing and serving.
Note: You can use 2 cups all purpose flour if you do not keep wheat flour in your pantry. It won’t be as good though. You can also use any type of cheese you want. But the provel makes it St. Louis Style.
Look at that crust detail! That is why I use wheat flour in my pizza dough.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 5 years to get that many views.
“We should be telling girls what they already know but rarely see affirmed: that the lives they lead inside their own self-contained bodies; the skills they attain through their own concentration and rigor, and the unique phase in their lives during which they may explore boys and eroticism at their own pace – these are magical. And they constitute the entrance point to a life cycle of a sexuality that should be held sacred.”
― Naomi Wolf
I am currently visiting Missouri for the holidays. I can’t get anything close to St. Louis Style pizza on the gulf coast so that has been priority one in the food department on this trip. The defining characteristics are fresh made thin crust and provel cheese. Imo’s Pizza does not count! They use mass produced pizza shells. Yuck! When I was a kid Imo’s made the crust fresh but no one but me seems to even remember that!
First stop was Pirrones Pizzeria. This style is my favorite. Same recipe as Saullo’s. Some people say it is too greasy but I order cheese only and do not have that experience. They load up the toppings so I can imagine that a meat lovers type pizza would be greasy!
Cheese Pizza from Pirrone’s
Next stop was Tony’s B’s in Fenton, MO. Good pizza is harder to find in South County. But this particular style is a recipe similar to Nick & Elena’s Pizzeria and Serra’s Pizzeria in North County.
Cheese Pizza from Tony B’s
Though it is not St. Louis Style pizza, I prefer Arris’ Pizza when I am at the Lake of the Ozarks. It has a fresh made thin crust and good cheese. It is a greek restaurant so you can get feta cheese but that is not to my taste. Quality mozzarella cheese is fine for me.
Cheese Pizza from Arris’
So far that is all that I have had while in Missouri. If I could go to Saullo’s and Serra’s I totally would but not having a car makes it impossible to go to each place.
