Library Donut

Picking up where we left off in pie vs. pie part I, we still have some of that fantastic pizza dough left and a very hot oven. The ingredients for the spicy supreme pizza:

• dough for a 10-12 inch pizza
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 6-8 ounces shredded mozzarella (or italian cheese blend)
• 2 oz pepperoni, thinly sliced
• 2 hot Italian sausages, sliced
• 4-oz can jalapeño infused black olives
• half a green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• half a red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to as hot as it goes (525 for me). If you are continuing from Pie vs, Pie Part I, it’s already hot enough! Stretch the dough to fit the pizza pan or form a nice pizza shape if you are not working with a pan. Spread the olive oil over the surface to keep it from getting soggy.

While the oven is preheating, brown the sausage in a small saute pan (hooray for food safety!) If you are using a lean sausage such as chicken or turkey you may want to add a little olive oil.

Put the tomato sauce and minced garlic on the crust, then spread it thinly and evenly around the pizza.  Sprinkle on the oregano, crushed red pepper and basil. Top with about 2/3 of the cheese then place the peppers, olives, pepperoni, sausage and onion evenly around the pizza. Top with the rest of the shredded cheese and send it into the oven for about 11 minutes. Check for doneness periodically depending on the heat of your oven and the tools you are using.

Sprinkle some parmiggiano on top and let it rest for at least 3 minutes before slicing to allow the whole thing to set. Then we eat!

I dove into the world of homemade pizza dough with a great recipe I found and I must say, when you have the time, the results are definitely worth it. Once the dough was made I went for a classic—the margherita—with a twist. You caught me. I got into the kalamata olives again.

Things you need, but shouldn’t eat:

• knife, cutting board
• pizza cutting tool
• pizza pan or pizza stone

The other stuff:

• pizza dough for a 10-12″ pizza
• one medium heirloom tomato
• 12 (give or take) leaves of fresh basil, shredded
• one ball fresh mozzarella
• 2-3 medium cloves garlic
• extra-virgin olive oil
• cracked black pepper
• parmiggiano reggiano (if desired)

Preheat your oven to something hot. My oven is a little on the old and unreliable side so I don’t push it past 525 (it allegedly maxes out at 550) but I’ve heard hotter is better, especially if you are using a pan rather than a stone. I don’t know what kind of heat these pizza stones are designed for, but if you’re buying I’ll take one and find out. For now, we stick with the $8 pizza pan.

While the oven is preheating, toss the garlic in there whole, skins and all with a little oil. Speaking of oil, let’s stretch the dough out to pizza shape and rub some of that olive oil on it too. This will keep the juicier ingredients from getting the dough all soggy. Thinly slice the  mozzarella and heirloom tomato* and place them evenly around the pizza in that order. Pit (if necessary) and finely chop the kalamata olives. It’s been a few minutes now so pull the garlic out. A little pressure with the flat of a knife should pop the cloves out of their skins. Mince them up finely and mix with the chopped olives. This makes it easier to evenly distribute the garlic since you have it mixed in with a more abundant ingredient that is easy to spread around the surface of the pizza. That means you should put the olive-garlic mix onto the pizza now.

Next, send it into the oven. Give it about 11 minutes at 525 in pan, less if you are using a stone and/or a hotter oven. As soon as you (carefully) pull it out, top it with the shredded basil, grate a little parmiggiano and crack some pepper over it. Let it cool for a couple minutes so the cheese can set and so you don’t burn your mouth, because your mouth is going to want to make this pizza disappear in a hurry! Just make sure to save some room for Part II: The Supreme Pile.

*Heirloom tomatoes are tomatoes that taste like tomatoes

In Italy and Spain alike, Rosa is pink. While I’m a man’s man, (or at least a bull moose’s bull moose) this pink sauced pasta creation is a guilty vegetarian pleasure. Spiral pasta grab the thick tomato cream sauce and bounce merrily off of bold-flavored vegetable bits, headlined by kalamata olives.

Now that you’re sold on it, let’s talk about making it.

No fancy equipment, just:

• Stirring utensil
• Deep pot for cooking pasta
• colander or other pasta draining apparatus
• Saute pan
• knife
• cutting board

It wouldn’t be food without ingredients like these:

• half a large red onion
• a red bell pepper
• 15 kalamata olives
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil or 12 leaves basil (chopped)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• olive or grapeseed oil
• 12 oz whole grain rotini pasta
• 28-oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup white wine such as pinot grigio or graves
• 3 oz spinach (2-3 handfuls)
• salt and pepper to taste

Add a small amount of oil to the pan while chopping the onion and bell pepper. Warm the pan over medium heat and add onions and peppers with a pinch of salt. The salt helps the vegetables release their juices. Add crushed red pepper, minced garlic, and oregano. Chop kalamata olives (removing pits if necessary) and  add to the pan. Cook until onions become soft and translucent (about 2-3 minutes) and add wine. While wine is cooking down add tomatoes (juice and all) and lower heat. Add water to pasta pot and set on high heat (to boil it, you know) while the sauce cooks. Stir sauce occasionally, letting it cook for at least 10 minutes (20 may be even better.)

When the pasta water is boiling and the sauce has cooked for at least 10 minutes, add salt to the water if you fancy and add the pasta to the water. Stir the cream into the sauce (THE SAUCE, NOT THE WATER!). Check your pasta for a cook time. Mine said 10 minutes so I cooked it for about 8. When your pasta is about 2 minutes from being done, add the spinach, basil and black pepper to the sauce, stirring in to wilt the spinach. When the pasta is done, drain it and immediately it stir into the sauce. Don’t worry if you don’t get all the water off; a little starchy water will help bind the sauce. Cook for another minute and serve. If desired, top with flat-leaf italian parsley and Parmiggiano Reggiano (Mitica is my favorite.)

As is customary with my recipes, then you eat it. You might need help from at least 3 more people to finish it all.

Bison are considered an emblematic animal of North America. Big, majestic, historically significant—what’s not to like?

Well, as a moose, I resent them. And so, I take special delight in eating them. Bison are also very lean and high in iron, which will be great when I stop being so Phatty and go lift some weights at the gym. In the meantime, I will turn the bison into a sumptuous meal.

Like most unconventional meats, bison has a reputation for being tough and gamy. However, this is less true for store-bought bison. Nevertheless, the gamy reputation encouraged a potent aromatic spice rub on grilled bison. As an afterthought, creating a sauce for the bison yielded a second treat: braised bison.

Tools for the job:

• grill
• tongs
• saucepan
• knife
• cutting board
• mortar & pestle or spice grinder

Let’s get down to business. Warm your stock in a small-medium saucepan over low heat. Trim any undesirable pieces of the tri-tip such as the tough, silvery loin membrane and toss those in the stock. It’s OK if there was a little meat on the trimmings, you’ll recover it.

Once it’s trimmed, smother it with the spice rub. Don’t be shy, get your fingers into it. Make it remember why it’s called a rub! The rub listed here isn’t extremely spicy so it’s safe on hands.

Light a fire in your grill and let your meat relax an absorb the rub at room temperature while the coals heat up. This will prevent the sudden heat from shocking the meat which might shrivel it and cause it to cook unevenly. While you are waiting for the grill, add some wine and ground black pepper to the stock.

When the coals are ready, dump them in a heap and wipe the grill grate down carefully with oil, then toss the meat on the grill. Cook uncovered for 6 minutes on the first side, then turn it over, move it away from the center of the coals and cover it. Let it cook for another 10 minutes. Of course these times are approximate and tend to vary based on meat thickness, fire temperature, wizardry, etc. The best way to judge doneness is with a meat thermometer, cooking to between 120 and 180 degrees depending on desired doneness. It should be dark and crusty on the outside when it’s done.

Now you can pull your bison off the grill and let it rest a few minutes. Hopefully it took you a while to do all of this, allowing the stock/wine mix you had cooking to reduce down to less than half the original amount. This will also have braised the trimmings into spectacularly tender bits of deliciousness. Carve thin slices of the grilled bison, serve with the reduced stock and toss some of the braised bison on there while you’re at it. Serve with steamed broccoli and spinach, texas toast and finish off the rest of that tempranillo you poured in the sauce.

Take that, bison!