Breakthrough Pizza

I was gifted with a Pizza Stone years ago. My ex never showed any interest in using it. I decided that it was a valuable addition to my collection of kitchen artillery. So I read the scant information that came with it and pulled up everything I could on the web - all conflicting of course. But I gleaned enough to feel comfortable with a trial.

So I mixed up some whole wheat pizza dough from a recipe I found on the web. The proving yeast didn't look all that energetic - like not ready to sign up for a triathlon - but I soldiered on and set the dough aside to rise. After the prescribed 2 hours it had not budged. I figured I had a bad batch of yeast or I was a little overambitious in attempting whole wheat dough the first time.

So I chucked it and made a batch of basic dough....same result. And again. I got discouraged and went to take a nap. When I got up two hours later the dough had noticeably risen. So I went out for a beer to celebrate. When I got home I punched down the dough, separated as directed into three portions and began to create a pie. I did this on the work surface. then I had to transfer to the peel. This did not work too well and I basically had to remake the pie on the peel. I had sprinkled lots of flour and cornmeal on the peel but the process of patting and spreading the dough evidently made it stick so the transfer to the hot stone in the oven was a disaster. But I did wind up with a misshapen mountain of edible pizza.

So I was part way there. Some one had suggested wax paper would work for an easy transfer to the peel. I had visions of transferring and simply peeling away the wax paper. It does not work. Scratch another batch. I thought perhaps A half sheet of wax paper to fold the dough over would make for an easy transfer to the peel. Wrong! Both halves stuck to the wax paper in spite of a generous flouring. Scratch another batch.

So I made some more dough. Three more batches. It rose in 4 hours. I had determined by this time that the pie would have to be made on the peel to avoid transfer disasters. The peel now well floured and well cornmealed, I brazenly placed the portion of dough in the centre and proceeded to spread it into the prescribed circular shape - or something resembling it. I gave the peel a shake from time to time and the whole crust-to-be moved freely. So far, so good. Then came the construction phase. I painted the dough with California Oil Sauce (basically EVOO and garlic, and sprinkled with grated mozzarella. Another little shake and the dough was still free-wheeling! I added turkey, mushrooms and red bell pepper for a little colour and topped with more mozzarella. This time, the pizza was a little reluctant to move when I shook but a little assistance from a metal spatula freed it up and it was rolling free. The transfer to the hot stone was flawless. Twenty minutes later, I had my first near-perfect pizza stone pizza.

And that's the way life is in the rainforest.