pan pizza perfected for hot weather

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This is the second time I’ve made Kenji Lopez-Alt’s recipe Foolproof Pan Pizza and it didn’t disappoint. Because my kitchen is in Thailand, I have made changes to the directions to accommodate making pizza in the heat. For example, I didn’t leave out the dough overnight but stuck it in the refrigerator. I was concerned about two things: dough developing a sour smell and dough over-proofing. Kenji points out that the ambient room temperature should be around 75˚F but my kitchen is much warmer, at least 78˚F. Because I refrigerated the dough, it slowed down the rise while it also allowed the flavors to develop. The cool dough thus did not double “dramatically” not even when it came to room temperature. It got nice and puffy. The crust baked up crispy, light, and golden. I used fresh buffalo milk mozzarella cheese even though it wasn’t recommended. The cheese, probably because it was of inferior quality, turned out to be low moisture–the center was hard and dry but the outside was soft.

I made one red pizza and one green pizza. For the red pizza, I made a New York Style red pizza sauce, and for the green pizza, I used Jamaican green seasoning, a herbal sauce used in Caribbean cooking that I make with greens, green vegetables, scotch bonnet pepper, and olive oil.

Foolproof Pan Pizza (adapted from Kenji Lopez-Alt @Serious Eats)

Yield: 2x 10-inch pizzas

Total time: 8 hours in the refrigerator, plus 4 hours (includes coming to room temperature)

Ingredients

400g bread flour, plus more for dusting the work surface

10g kosher salt (10g fine salt)

4g SAF instant yeast

275g water

8g extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to coat pans and for drizzling

1 1/2-cups New York Style pizza sauce (use 3/4 cup if you are going to use green seasoning sauce for one of the pies. Recipes follow)

340g grated full-fat, low moisture mozzarella cheese (can substitute white cheddar, Monterey Jack, or provolone)

Grated Parmesan cheese to finish, optional

Suggested Toppings: pepperoni, fresh sliced tomato, basil

Suggested Equipment: 2×10-inch cast iron skillets or 2 10-inch springform cake pans

Directions

The night before:

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, yeast, water, and oil. Mix with a large spatula to moisten all the dry ingredients. I switched to my hands. Make the dough into a rough ball. Cover the dough in the bowl with a sheet of plastic to prevent a skin from forming. Then cover the bowl with another sheet of plastic. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. My dough did not double but got puffy.

Remove from the refrigerator about 3-4 hours before baking time. Put the bowl on the countertop and allow it to come to room temperature, about 2 hours.

Prepare the skillets or pans. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil in the center and spread it around the base and sides of the pans.

Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour then turn it out onto a floured countertop. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball, pulling and tucking the dough edges to the center. Rotate it on the countertop to form a smooth taut ball. Put each ball, seam side down, in the prepared pans.

Heat the oven to maximum or 550˚F/290˚C. Cover the bottoms of the springform pan with foil to prevent oil dripping on the oven floor and creating smoke.

Dimple and stretch the dough from the center outward, rotating the pans, to make sure the dough is stretched evenly. Sprinkle a little olive oil on the surface and spread it around with your fingers. If the edges of the dough start to shrink back, let the dough rest 10 minutes before dimpling and stretching again. This might take 20-40 minutes. Be patient and don’t pull the dough. Prick air bubbles with a toothpick.

When the dough just reaches the sides, spread each pie with 3/4-cup sauce. If you are using green seasoning, strain it of excess water. Add toppings, starting with the cheese. Bake 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle tops with grated Parmesan cheese, if using. If desired, sprinkle fresh basil leaves on top. Slice each pie into quarters and then into eighths. Serve at once.

Baker’s Note: The best way to reheat cold pizza is to use a dry skillet.

New York Style Pizza Sauce

Yield: 1 1/2-cups

1 (28 oz/793g) can whole, peeled tomatoes

15ml extra virgin olive oil

15ml unsalted butter

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Pinch red pepper flakes, optional (add more to taste)

Salt

1 medium onion peeled and split in half

2 (6-inch) sprigs basil

1 teaspoon sugar or to taste

Pulse tomatoes in food processor until pureed but still chunky. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine oil and butter over medium-low heat. Once the butter has melted, add garlic, oregano, pepper flakes, if using; and salt to taste. Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is fragrant but do not let it brown, 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, onion halves, basil, and sugar. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is reduced by half, about 1 hour. Discard onions and basil sprigs. Taste and season with salt, if needed. Cool and store, refrigerated, up to 2 weeks. Freeze any remainder, label and date.

Green Seasoning

Juice of 3 limes

30-60g Italian parsley (can substitute frisee, arugula, or baby spinach)

30-60g cilantro (increase parsley if you prefer to leave out cilantro)

30g basil leaves

3 sprigs thyme or 1 tablespoon dried

1 bunch scallions, chopped

8 large garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1 sweet green pepper

1-3 scotch bonnet peppers, seeded if less heat is desired (can use 2 Thai chilies)

3 chopped celery stalks

5 allspice berries (substitute 30g coriander seeds)

100ml oil (rice bran oil, olive oil, or sunflower oil)

Salt to taste

Coarsely chop all ingredients. Place in a food processor and blend to make a coarse paste. Store in a jar, pouring over the surface a layer of oil to cover. Can also be frozen, label and date.

japanese egg salad sandwich

Egg salad sandwiches (sando) are a staple of convenience stores called “konbi” in Japan. This is my version which I have made with mayonnaise and Dijon mustard, but there are other types of sandwich spread that come to mind: Kewpie (a Japanese brand) mayonnaise, wasabi mayo, even Sriracha mayo. The last two add considerable zing if your palate so desires.

But, you say, boiling eggs is such a pain. More precisely, peeling hard boiled eggs is a frustrating chore. Despite chilling in cold water, the shells never seem to come off without a chunk of egg coming away with it. However, I have a new method to boil eggs that will make peeling them a breeze, thanks to Kenji Lopez-Alt’s research on how to make perfect boiled eggs that are easy to peel.

How to Steam-Boil Eggs

6 large eggs

1 quart saucepan

steamer basket

Fill the saucepan with 1 inch of water. Put the steamer basket, if using, in the pot and bring to a vigorous boil over medium heat. Using a spider or slotted spoon, carefully lower four eggs one at a time into steamer basket in the boiling water. The water does not have to cover the eggs. Cover the pot and continue boiling vigorously over medium heat, 12 minutes for hard boiled eggs. When the eggs are done, remove from the heat source and let them cool until you can handle them safely. Don’t throw off the water.

Bring the water in the pot back to boiling. Lower the remaining two eggs into the basket. This time, only cook them for 6-8 minutes to achieve a custard-y yolk. Six minutes will get a more liquid yolk. Eight minutes will be firmer.

Crack the egg shells all over then peel. Set the eggs aside in a medium bowl to cool to room temperature.

Japanese Egg Salad Sandwich

Yield: 4 sandwiches

2 tablespoons mayonnaise of choice

Salt and Freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons celery, onion, scallions and/or cilantro, finely chopped, optional

Dijon mustard

8 slices of soft sandwich bread, thinly sliced. Japanese milk bread is traditional but I’ve used whole wheat sandwich bread

Crush the hard boiled eggs with a potato masher or pastry blender. Season with 2 tablespoons mayonnaise. Add salt, pepper, and celery/onion/scallions/cilantro, if using, to taste. As a guideline, use enough mayo to make the egg salad spreadable without falling apart. Chill 30 minutes or more to firm up. Slice the soft boiled eggs in half and chill 30 minutes or more or until you are ready to make the sandwiches.

To assemble, take two slices of bread and stack them. Trim the crusts and discard. Open the bread and spread mayo on one side and Dijon mustard on the other. Spread a thin layer of egg salad on either the mayo or the mustard side. Place an egg half in the middle and mound more egg salad around and on top. Cover with the other slice of bread. Chill, covered, to firm up the egg salad sandwich. Repeat with the remaining bread slices, egg salad, and egg halves. When ready to serve, slice each sandwich with a serrated bread knife. Use a sawing motion to cut the sandwich right through the middle.

homemade bagels

The original recipe uses a food processor but mine is not powerful enough to knead a stiff dough, so I have used a stand mixer instead. These bagels have an ingredient called a yukone, which is a flour-water paste the makes these bagels so tender. They also require 24 hours rest period in the refrigerator before boiling and baking. They are hard and tough when they are taken from the oven, and you think, “fail!” However, these bagels need to be cooled to room temperature for their tender chewy texture to appear. They are even better the next day. Cold bagels can be toasted whole for 2 minutes, then the outside becomes crunchy and crispy which complements the chewy tender inside. This is the best bagel recipe by far. I baked these bagels three days ago and I’ve eaten 5 already. I do need to work on my shaping technique but I’m happy to have found the recipe!

Homemade Bagels

Yield: 8 bagels

Time: 25 hours 30 minutes

Yukone:

3/4-cup/170g cold water

3/4-cup, spooned/100g bread flour

Dough:

2 3/4-cups, spooned/355g bread flour

1 tablespoon/15g sugar

2 1/2-teaspoons/9g Diamond Crystal kosher salt (1 1/4-teaspoons/9g table salt)

1 teaspoon/4g instant dry yeast

1/2-cup minus 1 tablespoon/100g water

Boiling:

4 teaspoons/30g honey (or barley malt syrup)

Toppings (optional)

• Everything Bagel Seasoning (recipe follows)
• Sesame Seeds
• Onion
• Garlic

Special Equipment: 10-inch skillet, 3 or 4-quart stainless steel pot, stand mixer

Make the yukone: In the skillet, whisk together water and flour over medium heat until thickened to the consistency of mashed potatoes, about 2 minutes. Scrape onto a plate and spread it out into a one-inch layer. Cover and cool to room temperature, around 30 minutes. If the bottom of the plate is cool to the touch, it’s cool enough.

Make the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the flour, sugar, salt, and instant yeast. Mix to combine. Scrape the cooled yukone into the flour mixture and add water. Mix on Level 2-3, increasing speed to 3-4 as the flour becomes moistened and the dough is crumbly. Knead dough 5-8 minutes total until the dough is smooth and a piece of dough can be stretched without tearing. This is the windowpane test indicating gluten development.

Shape the bagels: Turn dough onto a clean un-floured work space, and divide it into 8 equal portions. I weighed the dough and divided it into 8 pieces 88g each. Cover the dough balls with a large overturned bowl or a sheet of plastic wrap. Working with one dough ball at a time, cup the ball lightly beneath your palm and work in quick, circular motions to form a taut ball with a tiny seam along the bottom. If the seam is larger, deep or irregular, continue rounding until the bottom is nearly smooth. Keep the dough balls covered and let rest 15 minutes. They will become puffy but not doubled in size.

Form the bagels: Prepare a well greased parchment lined half-sheet pan. I didn’t have the space in my fridge so I greased the insides of two 9×14-inch plastic bags. Prepare a small bowl of water. Take one of the dough balls out. Damp your index fingertip in water and poke a hole in the center. Wet your hands in water and gently stretch the ball into a ring about 3 1/2-inches in diameter. Tip: move your hands lightly around the ring—don’t squeeze–evenly stretching and shaping the bagel. Arrange the bagels on the prepared sheet or in the bag (4 per bag). Don’t let the bagels touch one another. Cover the sheet with plastic. Refrigerate 24-36 hours.

Prepare saucers with toppings, if using.

Boil the bagels: Heat oven to 425˚F/218˚C. Fill the pot with 3-inches of water. Stir in the honey or barley malt syrup. Bring to a boil over high heat. Line a baking sheet with 3 or 4 layers of paper towels. Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator. If they are stuck together, use a bench scraper to slice them apart. Lift them up with a thin blade or pancake turner. Drop them in the boiling water two at a time. Boil the bagels, 30 seconds per side. Remove with a slotted spoon to the paper towels. Let rest 3 seconds then remove at once to the parchment/silicone mat-lined baking sheet. The longer you let the bagels sit on the paper towels, they will stick, so remove them within 5 seconds. If they stick, dip the bagel in hot water and peel off the paper towel.

Top the bagels (optional): Brush the top with egg white. Dip brushed side of the bagel in the toppings, if using, and put it on the parchment/silicone mat to bake.

Baker’s Tip: Try not to handle the bagels too much. Cut open the bag, if using. If using the baking tray, cut through the parchment around the bagel and slip bagel and paper in the boiling water. The paper will float off. Fish it out and discard.

Bake the bagels: Bake bagels until blistered and browned, about 25 minutes. Rotate the pan half-way through. Cool at least 15 minutes. Split bagels horizontally with a serrated knife but do not store them split as they will get stale faster. Store them uncut at room temperature 2 days, then wrap and refrigerate.

Everything Bagel Seasoning (Two Peas and Their Pod)

2 tablespoons poppy seeds (substitute chia seeds)

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds

1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried minced garlic

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried minced onion

2 teaspoons flaked sea salt

Mix together all ingredients in a small bowl. Store in a sealed jar or container. 

homemade bagels à la Jo Goldenberg

It takes practice to make the hole in the bagel. Seriously, it is a challenge to make the perfect emptiness in the center. There are two methods, one is the loop and the other is to punch a hole in the middle of a ball of dough. Bagel recipes, however, there are dozens of variations. Nothing to do but bake my way through a few of them, like Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe, and Skinnytaste’s unusual version which required no yeast. I’ve made Turkish simit and tried its Polish cousin, the obwarzanek, which was an unmitigated disaster, having forgotten the yeast. Last month I made Montreal bagels. They’re eggy and tender like challah, and so delicious, but I missed the chewy texture of the bagels I’ve come to know and love in New York. Because I live in Bangkok now, it is a challenge to find the more exotic ingredients to make bagels, for example, diastatic malt. It is impossible to find here. I once went to a baking supply shop to find it. Yes, the shopkeeper said, we do have malt (มอลต์) but it was barley malt drink powder not diastatic malt.

I haven’t got a favourite bagel recipe yet, so I‘ve got no brand loyalty to speak of. I approach each new variation with an open mind. This recipe here is adapted from a famous Parisian bakery (Jo Goldenberg) via Adam Kuban at Serious Eats. My favourite bagel, bar none, is the Everything Bagel with scallion cream cheese, which I ate for the very first time at the old Nussbaum and Wu deli in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Columbia University. So I always test a new bagel recipe by how well it makes my favourite bagel. It must be fat and chewy, mind you, also salty, garlicky, onion-y, with tiny seeds that get maddeningly caught in your teeth. And in between the top and the bottom slices of the bagel, the smoothness and sourness of cream cheese mixed with the tang of fresh scallion. As the Aussies say with deadpan understatement, it’s not bad.

Homemade Bagels, à la Jo Goldenberg (Adam Kuban, Serious Eats)

Yield: 10 bagels

Total time: 3 hours

3 1/2-cups/19.25 oz/530g unbleached bread flour

2 1/2-teaspoons/1/4 oz/ instant dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 1/2-cups/12 oz/340g hot water (120˚F-130˚F)

2 tablespoons demerara syrup* (or 1 1/2-tablespoons malt syrup or sugar) for the boiling water

Optional Toppings

1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water for topping

2 1/2-tablespoons Almost Everything But the Bagel Topping*

2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

2 1/2-tablespoons fried shallots

2 tablespoons fried garlic, optional

Add the flour, yeast, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined, 5 seconds. With the processor running on low speed, slowly add the water, pouring it down the side of the chute. When the machine starts to vibrate, turn up the speed to high. Continue processing until dough becomes shiny and elastic, 30 seconds.

Oil a large bowl with a teaspoon of oil. Set aside. Lightly flour the work surface. Scrape the dough out of the work bowl onto the floured work surface. Tuck in the ends to make a smooth ball. Pinch closed the seam and put the ball of dough into the oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in bulk, 1 hour at least.

While the dough is rising prepare the water bath. Put 4 quarts or 4 liters of water in a large pot. Add the demerara syrup. Over high heat, let the water come to a boil. Heat the oven to 400˚F/200˚C.

After the dough has doubled in bulk, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, pressing down all over the dough to de-gas it. Divide the dough into 10 equal balls. For greater precision, weigh the dough. I divided the dough into balls weighing 89g-90g each.

Make each ball into a smooth round, pinching the seam on the bottom closed, then placing the ball on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Cover the balls with a kitchen towel. After all the balls are made, make the bagels. Here are 2 methods:

1. Take a ball and roll it into a rope 7 inches long. Bring the ends together and crimp. Put 3 or 4 fingers inside the hole and roll it back and forth on the work surface to seal the ends together. Stretch the ring out between your hands to even it out. The hole should be about 2 1/2-inches across. If it’s not, don’t sweat it.

2. The second method is to punch a hole in the center of the dough ball then stretch it out into a ring.

Put the bagels back on the tray and cover them with the towel. If they are a little sticky, lightly flour them. Prepare plates for the toppings, if using. Set aside.

Drop 3 bagels into the boiling water for 1 minute. Flip them over at the 30 second mark. Remove bagels with a slotted spoon or spider to a clean towel. Lightly dry the bagels. Brush on the egg wash if using, then dip the egg wash side into the prepared toppings. Put the bagel on the baking tray and repeat the process.

Bake 15-20 minutes. Remove the bagels from the oven and let cool in the baking tray on a wire rack.

Notes:

• Demerara Syrup: 1/2-cup demerara sugar mixed with 1/4-cup water. Heated to a simmer until sugar dissolves, 1 minute. Store covered in the refrigerator
• Almost Everything But the Bagel Topping: 2 tablespoons chia seeds (instead of poppy seeds), 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds, 1 tablespoon dried minced shallot, 1 tablespoon dried minced garlic, 2 teaspoons sea salt flakes

The Almost Everything Bagel–because it’s missing poppy seeds– with Scallion Cream Cheese