PIZZA! Start to Finish!

Pizza! Start to Finish! Is a promise we gave you in "trial run 2". We said we would revisit PIZZA in more detail and here we have! There's no food shortage in Barton's house. We say this because you can whip up some dough and throw all kinds of leftovers on top and call it a pizza! LOL The boys and I have fun with this! We use either a pizza stone or a pizza steal in the oven. We have both. Some people feel the need to let it cool down and remove it after use. We leave the stone/steel in there all the time. We cook right on top of it. Doesn't matter if its a sheet tray of cookies or a casserole in a glass dish. Here's a recipe to get you started... Easy Bread and Pizza Dough Recipe

Easy Bread and Pizza Dough

I put this recipe together for my own use a long time ago.  A yeast dough (and different kinds of dough in general) get a certain 'feel' to them and you start noticing this...Then you make better judgments on when to add a little more water, more flour, or a pinch more salt.  From this same dough, I can alter the sugar and other ingredients to produce cinnamon rolls, pizza crust, pita bread, naan...sometimes it's just the kneading, rise time, technique, or cooking method with the same recipe that makes it another dough 'product'.  It can even be multiplied successfully for bulk preparation in commercial kitchens. (I know, I was doing it for years!)

Easy "Bread" Dough (use whole wheat flour for wheat dough) for Bread or Rolls

• 4 Cups High Gluten Flour - or - 5 Cups of All-Purpose Flour


• 1 Tablespoon Yeast


• 1 Tablespoon Sugar


• 1 Tablespoon Salt (scant)


• 1 Tablespoon Oil


• 2 cups warm/hot water (not above 110F)

Put dry ingredients and oil in a mixer. Use mixer set on 2 or 3 (not fast, but not real slow) and use the dough hook. Add up to 2 cups of warm/hot water from the faucet. Pour in the mixer while the dough hook is working. Watch for the dough to start to come together then let the mixer run for about 5 to 8 minutes…you can also need the dough by hand for about the same amount of time instead of using the mixer.

You are looking for a soft smooth texture to the dough, oil dough ball, put in a bowl and cover…let rise for about 40-60 minutes (adjust rise time to your humidity/heat) dough may double in size quicker in more warm and humid conditions or slower in cold conditions.

** If you're making pizza, it's up to you about the rise time or if you want to store it overnight in the fridge to develop more flavor. But you can start working with the dough as quick as 30 minutes if you're rolling out pizza.

Smash or punch down, then shape into rolls or 2 loaves in bread pans and wait the same amount of time for the second rise (or longer if needed) bake in an oven at 160C or 350F for about 30-40 minutes.

Let cool slightly, eat fresh and warm.

*Later on when you feel pretty confident about your skills as a basic bread dough maker you can try mixing the sugar, water, and yeast together and waiting till it starts to bubble. Then you can add it to the flour and salt that is mixing in the bowl. And don't forget the oil!

Comments welcome or contact me for further questions...this recipe was developed as a beginner's understanding of dough.

Christmas Dinner

A lot of people have asked either my wife or I what we had planned for dinner, and or what we had for Christmas or Christmas Eve dinner. Hate to disappoint others but we usually don't do 'traditional' meals for holidays.

This year it was just us (wife and I) and the boys. There was to much sickness going on with friends and extended family so it was small and...no not intimate, remember we have two young boys...loud and rowdy, BUT FUN!

Back to the topic. On Christmas Eve I made Chicken Tortilla Soup (our own recipe) but I sure do miss the grilled whole chickens I used to get from Mi Pueblo's in California I used! They would grill those chickens out in front of the store and the rub/marinade they used on them was excellent! Kind of like a rotisserie seasoning, but much better. I searched online for a copycat recipe to no avail.

Christmas dinner was my own homemade thin crust pizza made with a dough I developed for it. Nothing secret or special to it except I know exactly how our family likes to eat and I like to put a few herbs and spices right in the dough and use certain techniques to get the crust and chew to come out just perfect for us. Oh, I made some breadsticks too...

Low Cost Fresh Baked Bread

Using frozen dough balls from Sam's Club for low cost bread and minimal use of freezer space while also creating several varieties of bread items. Ideas for small commercial kitchens based off of my current experience as Food Director for a private academy.

(Video may be a little shaky, somebody had to hold the camera! LOL)

Ciabatta, Pizza, & Yogurt Bread

I usually try to get things done in batches for freezing since I have two young children. This morning after batching some banana waffles (made from those black bananas you throw in the freezer before they really go bad) I started several doughs.

Later tonight we will be having guests over for pizza (on the grill unless raining) and salad. Then at a later time I will bake off the dough I have for ciabatta. In Italy the ciabatta goes from crunchy crust and porous chewy crumb to the more dense heavy crumb. I have a high water content in my dough and am going for the crunchy, porous, chewy version. (picture & post later)

Yogurt bread is just something I am experimenting with. I like to adjust water content, ingredients, knead times ...mostly just to entertain myself and have fresh bread while figuring out what it does to the texture, crumb, and overall taste among other things.