Cuisinart 3 in 1 Pizza Trial

Finally got around to trying out the pizza maker part of my Cuisinart 3-in-1. @cuisinart

Quick Calzones!

 The Boyz and I make some Calzones using premade store bought dough.

No Flour, No Mess, Pizza Dough Rolling

The PIZZA hack you never knew you needed! At home, no rolling pin, no machine. This clip was pulled from my full-length video "PIZZA! Start to finish!" https://youtu.be/seLx6YSyP_c Take advantage of the equipment I have reviewed for top recommendations in the kitchen. Kitchen Best Buys http://bit.ly/KitchenBestBuys

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

The Bcookin Show Too! (Pizza)

Tytus and I have made some improvements. I am getting a little better at editing and using the "thumbnail, end screen, subscribe button, watermark, and next video/playlist" add-ons for Youtube.

In this next video you may recognize some older clips that I pieced together. Eventually we will break it all down in newer shows but for right now we are getting the feel of things. 

What does that mean? we will video more technique and recipe breakdown. Showing you how we do it. 

• Make the dough, 
• ingredients we use, 
• equipment,
• tips and tricks...

But for now, thanks for being patient as we work this all out. 

* Thank you Anne and Beth for emailing in your suggestions and comments! We appreciate the encouragement!

Quick Kids Pizza Any Diet

Hear me out! As long as you can turn your oven on high as it will go, slide a cookie sheet/pan (or square stone) in there, and the oven doesn't take all day to heat up...you can feed pizza to your kids quickly with a crispy crust!  

Tortillas seem to come in any size, and any diet nowadays. Wheat, white, corn, gluten free...it's amazing really. For the basic I use white, flour tortillas. Turn oven up as far as it will go, you can stick pizza in before it reaches temperature and then check it in about five minutes to gage where it's at. Sauce (marinara, BBQ, Alfredo, pesto...), toppings, slide in oven with spatula or upside down tray, on top of hot tray or stone (I can do four small pizzas on my stone) bake till crispy and cheese/topping bubbling(five to ten minutes). Next round, if there is one, pizzas will cook quicker. If you have trouble getting them out just pinch end of crust with tongs and drag on top tray or plate.

Look at the crust on that puzza, thin, crispy, great color!

**if your a purist or a "professional" then maybe this isn't for you! But it's great for moms and dads that want something hot and quick without making / keeping actual dough or premade crusts around. And now your tortillas are much more versatile.**

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.

The Man's Meat Paleo Pizza Crust!

But seriously it can be for women too if they like this much meat! I suggest using ground pork of some form, whether it be Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, or just ground pork. I suppose hamburger may work but sometimes it doesn't seem to be as cohesive as pork.

Flatten ground pork down with hand or parchment paper and rolling pin. I would suggest a half inch thickness, some will melt away. Make sure you at least have parchment paper, silpat, or something nonstick underneath.

Bake the meat in a sheet tray or pan. My meat crust was baked in 350 degree (F) oven for about 15 minutes. You need to make sure and use a sheet tray or pan to catch the grease and juice that will cook out so you can drain it off. And just like the cauliflower crust in my previous post, you would then top it with sauce, cheese, and whatever else you desire! Then put back in oven till the toppings are done or cheese is melted.

This should easily be Paleo, Keto, and Atkins friendly! LOL!

Cauliflower Crust

I am not on the Paleo diet. But as we go thru different fads and diets I like the creative thinking that inspire people to do different things with food. And wanting to be versatile in my technique for self education and my clients, I tend to try the new recipes that start circulating. Maybe even putting my own spin on it! ~ Lets start with the Cauliflower Pizza Crust.

If you want a cauliflower crust that works start with this link: http://detoxinista.com/2012/01/the-secret-to-perfect-cauliflower-pizza-crust/  It has great pictures and instructions! I am not trying to re-invent the wheel but maybe discuss what happened when I used the same recipe and pics/illustrationsand give you some insight.

Pulse the cauliflower down. I have a full size processor but it was still better to do one head of cauliflower in two batches.

If you stop a little bit before this stage they say you can use the cauliflower as a 'rice' for stir-fried rice! (I will try that out in the future also and give you a report whether or not its worth it)

The recipe was correct, you basically get 4 to 5 cups of 'rice size pieces of cauliflower.

Boiling water. Salt goes in the recipe so I did not 'salt' the water.

Cooking/simmering.

Strainer.

Flour sack cloth or cheesecloth liner.

And drain.

Pull together.

Now here is where I deviated just a little, people were talking about how hot and wet the cauliflower was and whether they needed to wait a bit for it to cool down? NO! Just get out a rubber spatula or small pot and mash that baby down until you can't get any more out...no need for handling it with your hands!!!

Dry crumb clumpy texture, ready for mixing.

Add ingredients. Here is where the recipe called for goat cheese, I substituted with cream cheese with great  results. In the future I think adding real shredded Parmesan would help in taste and structure in addition to cream cheese.

Mix. I like to use my hands.

This technique I actually use on my pizza dough because I hate cleaning up and dealing with flour. Use two pieces of nonstick sprayed parchment paper with mixture in between. You don't actually even need to 'roll' the dough out, use it to smooth the dough out. I push down on rolling pin and smash outward feeling the thickness and watching it spread even.

Hand contour (spray your hand with nonstick spray so it doesn't stick) your crust so it looks like what you want.

Bake it according to recipe. I have some dark spots because I let it get a bit thin in these areas.

I started basic because I wanted to really taste and observe the crust. So sauce and cheese.

Throw back in the oven on the stone. (still re-using the same parchment paper under it). Looks good! Looks like a boring old cheese pizza! LOL

Crusts holds together like a real bread or dough. Some parts even crunchy with a bit of chew. Will it ever replace a real pizza crust or fake somebody out? Nah, I don't think so...maybe small kids! But the taste is neutral enough and recipe technique ingenious enough to be a great idea! (and great Carb replacement)

Not to shabby!

Next Time: 

THE MAN'S ALL MEAT PALEO PIZZA CRUST!!!

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...

Men's Retreat

Weekend before last we started our annual men's retreat on that Friday night. I was suffering with a bad hack that I just could not cough past or get better. Unbeknownst to me I was developing or already had pneumonia. It was a rough weekend but a great time!

It was the standard menu (as in almost identical to last time)...man food. We started Friday night with grilled ribeye steaks and loaded baked potatoes. Yes, we had some veggies. Broccoli. And some real nice yeast rolls. Followed by apple and pecan pies served with vanilla bean ice cream, some of that 'all natural' stuff.

Saturday morning we used the leftover ribeye's to cut up as tips and cut & fried the baked potatoes from the night before. Also served bacon, eggs, biscuits, sausage gravy...had butter, jelly, jam...you know all the extra stuff with coffee, milk, and/or orange juice to drink.

Lunch was pretty simple, meatball or kielbasa sub sandwiches with chips.

I was going to do nachos mid afternoon but everybody was still so stuffed I just added them to the dinner menu. We had a late dinner that night about 730 or 8pm I think. We had Nachos, hot wings, and homemade pizzas! And of course anything else left from all the other meals were thrown out there too! The remainder of pies And ice cream came out again afterward.

The funny thing about the equipment there in the kitchen is sometimes the ovens are a bit quirky. Last time we did pizzas it was a two step process...the oven was hot enough to cook them but left the bottom soggy, so we threw them on the flat top grill for awhile and it seemed to remedy that. But, my right hand man last time (PW) was not going to be there for the dinner this time!!! So he went around telling everybody about how I was going to make my homemade pizzas then he split on me!!! LOL

BUT I figured out a way to do it and pulled it through even a little easier than last time and with crispy crusts! I started making all crusts that afternoon after all my dough balls had ample time to relax. Then I started shaping my crusts and par-baking them on sheet pans to a light golden color/crust. Later that evening I just sauced and topped my par-baked crusts and they had enough structure I could finish them straight on the oven rack which produced a nice crispy crust on bottom without another step in the process. Success!

Sunday morning is always simple, homemade cinnamon rolls and coffee...then cleanup and off to church service!

Everything came out great!

This year my sous chef, Roberto, was there attending the retreat but he still helped out! And thanks to several other men at the retreat who helped! ~ Always a great group of guys.

Favorites This Week

Below are a few things I found this week I like. Each picture was borrowed from, and has a link to the original post so hopefully I am not breaking online etiquette. Merely trying to bring attention to some cool ideas and a few new things.[click pics for link back to articles]

Cheese & Herb Waffle BLT! Need I say more? Click the link and get the recipe.

The Pioneer Woman really spoke to my stomach on this one...Pepperoni Pizza Burgers!

Sweet Potato Pancakes from The Gingered Whisk!

Home made peanut butter(or any nut)! Love the recipe and instructional over at Michael Ruhlman's and of course all excellent photography done by his wife: Donna Ruhlman!

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.

Grilled Pizza pt.2

If you have some caramel sauce from either making it or buying it (particularly the dip you can buy in produce for apples works good as well!) a 1/8 to 1/4 cup of it spread thin on a thin crust then topped with marshmallows and semi-sweet chocolate chips makes and excellent dessert pizza! None of that pizza h-t apple pie filling and cinnamon roll icing on top dessert pizza...no!

Grill your pizza!

Love that pizza oven pizza? Want to cook great 7 minute pizzas at 600 plus degrees(F) and not heat up your home?

I certainly didn't originate the idea but I do use the concept to the fullest!

Buy a pizza stone. I use the square one. Probably the best price is on sale at your local Walmart, Target, or Bed Bath & Beyond. Sometimes Pampered Chef has good sales on them.