Summer's here, so break out the pizza and beer! (Pt. 1)

Hey foodies! Testing the Water is back online after a rough conclusion to my first year in grad school. I'm currently back in Richmond, VA unwinding with the pizza party. We've been brushing off our pizza making skills by welcoming some new cooks into the circle, testing out some different preparation methods (ex. lower hydration ratio in the dough- but more on that in a later post), and some experimental toppings (we're hiding these pictures in the vault next to Operation Bin Laden for now). The weather is gorgeous, the beer is cold, the pizza is hot, and the company is incomparable. I'll let the pictures do the talking.



Belgium blonde ale: flavors of citrus, cream, and alcohol.



White pizza: garlic, olive oil, basil, mozz.



A last minute squeeze of lemon brings it all together.



Very nice garlicky flavor. By far, the best tasting pizza of the night.



Skipped out on the Bell's Oberon mini-keg this summer, which was the beer (un)official beer of summer 2010. A couple of us have tasted this season's Oberon and it just seems to lack flavor. Anyone else know what I'm talking about?

Southern Tier's pale ale sampler pack includes their pale ale, IPA, Phinn and Matts (slightly dark pale ale), and 422 (wheat pale ale). All of them are sure to please a hops fan. We look forward to drinking these during hot summer nights.



The infrared thermometer is reading about 950 right above the stone. With the broiler on, it maxed out at over 1100 degrees (F). Pizzas cook in under 3 minutes.

Needless to say, the pizzas featured in this blog are prepared by cooks that have been trained at the school of hard culinary knocks using kitchen appliances that are almost as old as we are. We don't recommend everyone try this at home, as a drop of sauce on your fru-fru glass window oven will cause it to shatter.



A pizza margherita with some crust that got a little too happy in the oven (but was still delicious).



"Green" dining.



The last pizza of the night was made with dough by a rising pizza chef. This feletti pizza (grape tomatoes, cheese, garlic, basil) is well paired with the first cold glass of rosé of the summer. What? Afraid to drink pink wine? This ain't the white zin your momma drinks at her book club meetings. Educate yourself.

Drink This Now: White Wine

Today's post is inspired by a request from my good friend Lauren, who is looking for new wine suggestions. My response: rediscover whites. I haven't been uncorking too many bottles lately, but whenever I have it's been a white. White wine is usually served chilled, so maybe I'm looking forward to warmer days when this winter finally decides to go away for good. But really, white wine is a versatile crowd pleaser (particularly with the ladies, who don't want red wine messing up their pretty smiles).

So what specifically should you reach for? I'd say that depends on the pairing. Yes, that means you should drink whites while eating *something*. I've plugged a few chardonnays on some of my older posts, but I'm going to focus on the lighter side of the spectrum.

First off, there are muscatos. Muscato or muscadet have become kind of popular now, as they are now promoted by the likes of the Barefoot brand of bubbly and embedded in the lyrics of the American urban poet, Wacka Flocka Flame. These wines range from really sweet to just sweet (think Asti, in sparkling wine comparison). They often have a very floral nose. Sometimes it is bottle with a little bit of bubbles in it. I think that's the big appeal of the wine for ladies- it's like a bouquet of flowers AND a bottle of wine. Pairings are good with some lighter fare, like a cheese platter or for sipping after a meal. In my opinion, most muscato is a little too sweet to constitute a proper pairing while eating an entree.

Next on my trip down the "sweet to dry" scale are sauvignon blancs. These wines have a little bit of fruit on the nose and some mild sweetness. I really like ones with melon or grapefruit flavors (check the label), as they provide a more rounded pairing that still gives you a slight bit of acid to cut through the food. Probably my favorite sauv blanc pairing is with Chinese food. I can usually fry up a quick chicken or pork dish with some vegetables, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and a squirt of spicy siracha. Nothing too fancy. The wine's sweetness balances the saltiness picks up on the sweetness of things like hoisin and sauteed carrots/onions, and provides a little relief from the siracha burn.

Lastly, I highly recommend Italian pinot grigios. Pinot grigio is a fairly easy drinking wine, and is very available. I specify Italian because I have rarely been disappointed with the cheaper Italian pinots, relative to their American counterparts. the affordable American pinots I've tried tend to be a little unbalanced, usually too acidic or lacking a clean finish. Anyways, pinot grigios can go with an array of entrees: chicken, pork, fish, pasta, roasted vegetables, etc.




Here, I've got a quick, low maintenance date-night spread going on. It's basically some bread, cheese, and wine.

Step one: Get bread. The bread is homemade using Mark Bitman's recipe for "no-knead bread." It's a dummy-proof recipe for making some pretty tasty, artisan-looking bread with little effort. If you aren't into making your own bread or you have last-minute date plans (lucky you!), then a good round loaf or baguette from your local bakery or grocery store will suffice. The wow factor is certainly higher if *you* pull the bread that *you* made out of *your* oven though.



If you've got some good olive oil laying around, I would also recommend setting up a small plate of seasoned bread oil. Nothing fancy here: just kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and some diced herbs if you have any laying around (I used rosemary). Pesto mixed in olive oil is also a winner. I recommend either some regular (non-XV) olive oil if you made your own bread, as it won't overwhelm all of that natural fermentation flavor you developed. If you bought a baguette, I guess some room-temp butter is more traditional (as are some sliced radishes).

Step two: Prepare some cheese. Brie is always a winner. It's rich and creamy, and goes with both savory and sweet toppings. You can choose to eat the whiter rind on or cut it off, as it can sometimes be too strong for some to eat. Camembert is like brie's stronger-flavored cousin. Goat cheese that has been set out at room temperature also is a tangy and versatile spread.

Step two and a half: Accessorize your cheese. Some high quality jam is a good go-to. I fig, orange marmalade, or even a flowery honey. Something crunchy on the plate is good too, for some contrast. I used roasted almonds above, but something like cashews would also work. Savory options could include caperberries (the ones that look kinda like unpitted olives with stems) or smoked salmon/lox.

Step three: Take your wine out of the fridge, pour, sip, and repeat. There's nothing pretentious about it. Here, the simple but elegant flavors of the food and wine play a supporting role to some conversation and company with your date. This is the sort of dinner that is great in front of a movie at home, or in case you two are still full from a late lunch. This setup won't weigh you down, but it will certainly give you enough energy for any late night activities that you might find yourself in- after you polish off that bottle for two.

Christmas Greetings from Testing the Water

Merry Christmas!

$5 Homemade Brick Pizza-Oven - Test #1

With my first semester in grad school officially in the books, I decided to take a day to decompress. I've had a lot of things on my "to-do" list that have been put off to the side because of schoolwork. Making my tiny apartment oven into a better pizza machine was certainly near the top of that list.

So how did I do it? Well, after doing some research on the intertubes, I headed down to my local Home Depot. I picked up a couple (3) regular red bricks (probably should've measured the dimensions of my oven first). I also bought 8, unglazed tiles from the flooring section. They are fairly thin, maybe a tad thinner than a pizza stone. It's important to buy the unglazed (non-shiny) tiles, or else you're going get a big side of chemicals with your pizza. I consulted an HD worker who told me I indeed was buying the unglazed stuff, so I'll let you know if I end up in the hospital anyways!



Altogether, the supplies cost me a whopping $5. No kidding. Cheaper than a pizza stone. After rinsing and wiping down the stones with water and a clean towel (don't use soap- it'll contaminate your pizza's flavor), I rearranged my oven racks to give me enough space to put the stones inside. I set my oven in "warm" for about half an hour to make sure the stones were dry. After the stones were dry, I pulled the brick out and wrapped it with 2 layers of foil (just because). If your oven is bigger than my easy-bake sized one, I suggest putting a few bricks on the side to really make an all-stone enclosure. Next time, I am also going to lower my top rack down so that the "roof" is closer to the pizza, and thus- will brown the top of my crust a little better. We'll see how that goes.

I made 4 pies (in the order that they were made):
1) Bianco Arugula: olive oil, garlic, salt, arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, parm reg
2) "Puttanesca": tomato sauce, sliced black olives, anchovies, capers, red chili flakes, basil, parm reg
3) Puttanesca w/ Moz: Same as above except add shredded moz
4) Red Arugula: Tomato sauce, chili flake, arugula, lemon juice, olive oil, shaved parm

Notes on some of the ingredients:
-I bought 2 Giant-brand, regular pizza dough balls (each cut in half to give me 4 pies). This dough is mediocre (need more salt), but it was convenient.
-For the sauce, I used 1 can of Cento-brand plum tomatoes, rinsed, de-seeded, mashed, drained of liquid, and then mixed with their canned puree. There was plenty of sauce left over.
-I just used Giant brand bagged and shredded moz. Yeah yeah yeah, I know- but i really didn't care. As you can see- I kinda like pizzas with less cheese anyways.
-Olive oil: I've been working my way through a bottle of California Olive Ranch XV. It's pretty damn fruity, unlike the "spicier" notes you get from stuff from Europe. Each has their own strengths. I don't really ever heat it (I just sprinkle it on the final, hot product). I really like this stuff in dressings or on bread. It can overwhelm some dishes though.
-Cento anchovies wrapped around capers in oil

I apologize for the appearance of my pizzas. I haven't made a homemade pizza in months and I'm clearly off my shaping game. The arugula pizzas turned out a little funky. The first one was stretched a little too thick and a dough "malfunction" made the last one hard to stretch beyond a flatbread shape. I also apologize for some of the quality of the pictures. I'm going through post-exam-week caffeine withdrawal, hence the shakes. Excuses aside, here are the results from the first test run.

*Warning: Pizza Porn Below*

Bianco Arugula



Puttanesca




Puttanesca w/ Moz



Red Arugula



By far, the best crust award goes to the Puttanesca w/ Moz. I was able to get the dough stretched out thin enough to give it a good crunch but not too thin that the sauce soaked through.

I'll keep you updated on future trials with this new pizza setup. Keep posted to TtW over the holiday break for more pizza updates, as I reunite in the kitchen with my buddy Nathan. Happy holidays!

The Full Monty- A Yankee Spin on The Full English Breakfast

For those who know me best, you know that I'm a big fan of the big brunch. Today's post is a good example of that passion. In England and English-based societies, it's not uncommon to have a Full Monty breakfast on the weekends. No- I'm not talking about that British Full Monty. This version is a full-on English breakfast, with enough substance to induce a food coma or fuel for a busy day (depending on your schedule).



The picture above is a version I had this past summer after a long night on the streets of Sydney. Going clockwise from 12 o'clock, we've got sausage, seared tomatoes, a potato cake, poached eggs, some garlic toast (like Texas toast), and some bacon (sorta like Canadian bacon to us, Yanks). Baked beans are also a common find.



I've got quite a bit to do today, so I needed a meal that will stick to my ribs and give me a well-rounded nutrition balance until I slow down for dinner. Mine is sort of a Mexican-inspired version, just because I had those sort of ingredients in my fridge. From 12 o'clock going clockwise, I've got:
-Sweet sausage (chorizo would have been preferable, but that's what I had)
-Sliced avocados with a squeeze of lime and S&P
-Two corn tortillas with cumin spiced (canned) black beans, chipotle salsa, and over-easy eggs
-Seared tomatoes seasoned with S&P

There's protein from the eggs and the sausage, some of that "good fat" from the avocado, filing fiber from the beans, and the seared tomatoes provide a nice sweetness and complex flavor. Bring on the day!

Get to Know: Bison

Today I am featuring a meat that is not a common part of many Americans' diets: bison. Also known as buffalo, this red meat is leaner than 90% ground beef (and a heck of a lot tastier), holds its moisture fairly well and has a slightly softer consistency than ground beef, and is usually raised on grass fields. Pro-environmental propaganda has wooed me to eating less red meat lately, in order to curb my carbon footprint, but I feel the free range, grass fed buffalo isn't as bad for Mother Nature (let's forget the fact that it's shipped from across the country). If I am wrong, please do not correct me because I love this stuff too much.

As I was doing my routine grocery shopping last week, I saw that all the bison on the shelf was discounted for quick-sale at $2 off per pack, making it only about 50c a pound more than the 90% lean, Giant brand ground beef. I bought every pack they had (8lbs in all). It is actually more available than you think. Most middle to upper class grocery stores should carry the Great Range brand of 1 lb. packs from Colorado. I've found it at Kroger, Martins, and Giant in the DMV region.

Anyway- let's get to the good stuff! You can substitute bison in for most of your ground-beef recipes, like burgers. I've got two examples today: chili and meatloaf.



BISON MEATLOAF:
1 lb package of ground bison
1 egg (all-natural or organic preferably)
Parmesan and/or pecorino cheese
Garlic powder
Pepper
Kosher salt
Seasoned breadcrumbs
Ketchup (get the organic or HFCS-free stuff- it tastes a lot better)

Optional:
Fine-diced raw, or sauteed, onions
Mrs. Dash (gotta love her)

Serves about 2-4 people (depending on how hungry you are)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Drop your bison, egg, breadcrumbs, cheese, and seasoning into a bowl. FYI: I don't cut my meatloaf with a whole lot of breadcrumbs. Wash and dry your hands, and then dive right into your meatloaf mixture. I feel that the hand mix technique is the best way to make meatloaf. Make sure you squeeze the chunks of ground bison so that the seasoning gets equally incorporated into the mix.

Transfer the mix into a loaf pan or square baking dish that has been sprayed with some non-stick spray. Light pack and shape the meat so that it will cook evenly. Squeeze a generous amount of ketchup on top of the loaf, and spread it to coat all of the meat.

Pop your loaf into the oven and let it cook for about 45mins-1hr. Check it after 45 minutes by cutting into the middle of the loaf. If it's still pink, then let it continue to cook. When it's done, pull it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Serve it with some ketchup, potatoes and some veg. That's some kicked-up comfort food! You'll never taint your meatloaf with things like milk, sugar, or worstechhherrhire sauce again.



BISON CHILI:
2 lbs of ground bison
2 Green peppers, diced
Frozen corn
1 Yellow onion, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
Canned tomatoes
2 small cans, tomato paste
1 can the following, drained and rinsed:
-Pinto beans
-Black beans
-Kidney beans
2 cartons of beef stock, low sodium/no salt added

Siracha hot sauce
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Kosher salt
Chili powder
Ground cumin

Serves quite a few bowlfuls, but it probably won't last long.

The veg and beans are obviously up to whatever you like. I think the beans add a lot of heartiness and a lot of healthy fiber that keeps me full. The sweet corn is a nice taste and it's also visually appealing. The key ingredients in my chili are cumin (classic chili flavor and aroma) and siracha. Don't skimp on these.

Get a big pot on medium-high heat. Add some canola or vegetable oil to coat the pot and then add your bison. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ground chili powder, and cumin. Once the meat has almost cooked through completely (no red/pink), Add your frozen corn, diced onion, celery, and green peppers. After the veg softens a little, I add my canned tomatoes (which I also dice into some smaller pieces) and the stock. I cover the pot and bring it up to a simmer while I open and rinse the beans. Add the beans and then the tomato paste. The tomato paste will thicken your chili as you stir it in and bring keep it at a simmer. It also adds a bold and slightly bitter tomato flavor that adds a lot of body to the chili.

At this point, I begin to season. I usually add enough cumin until there is a distinct "cumin aroma" from my chili. I add a few good shakes of chili and garlic powder. Slowly, squirt the siracha in (this stuff is hot). Give quite a few grinds of black pepper. Lastly, salt to taste. Overall, I try to make 3 layers of "heat" in my chili, each with its own flavor: black pepper, chili, and the siracha.

Let the whole pot simmer for at least 30mins or so until you readjust your seasoning. I serve it with some grated cheddar and jack cheese, a scoop of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt, and a little cilantro. A side of cornbread would also be ideal.

There's a lot of flavor going on in here. Obviously, there's the triad of spice that I mentioned earlier. The cheese and yogurt provide a temporary relief from the heat, until you take another spoonful! That mild-gamey, grass-fed bison flavor comes out once you put a big chunk in your mouth. The sweet corn pops. I also really like the crunch of the diced celery (which retains a lot of its texture still).

You'll love this pretty healthy chili recipe so much that you will go through a pot faster than you think. I think there is something slightly addicting about the slow burn of the spice. The flavors only get better overnight in the fridge too.



Here's a great excuse for chili in the morning: huevos rancheros. Scramble some eggs, heat up some corn tortillas, and smear the chili over the eggs. Ohhh man.

Happy Halloween! - Pumpkin Muffins

Happy Halloween everyone! Here is something I baked up for the holidays. I used fresh pumpkin, some grated carrot, and walnuts. To prepare the pumpkin, I roasted it in the oven at about 375f until the flesh was soft. Then I scraped the flesh into a bowl and mashed it with a fork until I got a mashed potato-like consistency. 25 minutes or so in the oven and the muffins are done. I cut mine in half while they are still hot, smear some whipped butter on each half, and then drizzle a little honey on top. Yum!