Can You Count to Eight?

Well, I can't believe I pulled off the whole thing! In my galley of a kitchen, and with no one else's help, no less!

In preparation for tomorrow night's festivities (there will be eight people, including Brigitte and me) I made eight 12" pizzas! Yes, onetwothreefourfivesixseveneight!

The actual baking of them took all afternoon yesterday, but the prep was done the day before, and I was very, very careful to do it all methodically, since this was a huge task. I cut most of the vegetables and the meats and grated most of the cheeses Friday, and Saturday I took care of everything I'd forgotten on Friday (lots) and then I prepared the kitchen like a mini-O.R. (scalpels -- on right -- CHECK!) and then, since I know by now that I always forget a step or an ingredient, I prepared an ingredient list for each pizza. I made a couple vegetarian in case someone doesn't like meat (like Brigitte's mother, to whom we'll bring some) but as usual I screwed up and DID forget some ingredients on some pizzas (like the garlic on the first one) but it really, really helped in the organization of the actual cooking. Here's the hastily-scrawled list (as usual, click to enlarge):


The plan

Then I made the "custom" sauce. I know Blork is a purist in all things pizza, as in, simple tomato sauce, simple ingredients, but I like to make a complex tomato sauce made from fresh tomatoes, some red peppers, onions and garlic with a bit of sugar and lots of spice, and then I purée it. It turned out remarkably well:



The custom sauce
Then I prepared what I like to call "The Sterile Field." Namely, all shit wired tight, dishwasher empty, sink empty, tools collected, counters clean etc. I preheated the oven with a large pizza stone in it on 550 for an hour (thank god it's not summer -- it can be an oven in there!) and assembled all my cooling racks, then got my "meez" out (mise en place, or sundry ingredients). I had prepared my dough (from an excellent place at Atwater Market) and let it come to room temperature, and I divided it into eight individual balls, which I wrapped in plastic wrap to rest while I prepared everything else. (The resting, I've found, is a crucial step).

And as you consider my culinary genius, please admire also my twist, of which Blork will be very jealous: I like to brush a mix of olive and truffle oil on the dough before the ingredients (you can just see it in the glass bowl) which gives the pizzas an excellent aroma.

Here's my meez (notice the OCD Nick-labelled spice rack):


The "Meez"
Then I went to work. I went very methodically, like an assembly line. I've gotten quite good in stretching the dough. On not one pizza did I get a tear. Blork will be jealous to see my badda-bing-badda-boom technique. And they're all somewhat round and not misshapen LIKE BLORK'S any more. (Just kidding, Blork, yours look fabulous, and the roundness rarely affects the taste).

I assembled each pizza according to the list, put it in the 550 oven for six and a half minutes (underdoing them because I knew they'd be reheated tomorrow and didn't want eight large cookies) and prepared the dough for the next one while the first one was cooking . . . in such a manner, I got them all out! It took about an hour to do them all, and I screwed up on the last one and had to make it the "kitchen sink" pizza because I had so many ingredients left, but . . . ta-daaa!

I assembled them (in order) on the dining table for the photo and then stacked them carefully (in order), put the stacks in small plastic bags and put them on the balcony, which doubles as a refrigerator.

I'm so proud of myself I could burst, and I know you are too!

You're all invited! they look MAHVELOUS and I'm sure they're going to please the attending hordes! Closeups etc. to follow.


Eight of the bastards!