Deep Woods Pizza Methods
Caterers get asked to present all sorts of foods in all sorts of places.
On occasion people like pizza in the mountains. Since anyone can just
order some pizza, drop it in a hotbox and pull out the thing after
driving to the mountains you would think you would not get asked. But if
you have fed someone real pizza or if you have ever had pizza right from
a stone or brick oven you know that stuff that they deliver has a
problem. Mainly the crust (the heart and very sole of a pizza) begins to
turn into some type of oversized noodle as soon as the box lid closes.
Even with the little vents, the fancy cardboard disks, boxing ruins
pizza. So if we are to produce fantastic pizza for the end of a 15 mile
horse ride it is going to have to be cooked on site. No exceptions ever.
Partly because of my Italian Pizza Shop background, partly because I
believe comfort food should be cooked correctly as well as gourmet food.
He11 done correctly many comfort foods are gourmet to some people.
So how to do it in the woods. The test, can we devise a method and some
way to build a pizza to order in the woods?
Make the dough the night before, to do otherwise is to cheat yourself of
what wonderful things yeast can do to dough cold and slow overnight.
Plus if the dough is reefered it will hold while you are out on the
trail., sauce can be prepared ahead of time. (A little hint for those of
you who did not come from the pizza shop business. Contadina does not
make a bad canned pizza sauce. Just needs a little basil for cheese and
vegetable pizza and oregano for meat topping pizzas) Also shred the
cheese ahead of time and bag it or purchase the preshredded pizza
cheese. I shred mine as I like low moisture Mozzarella at 65 percent of
the mix and the rest mild cheddar.
While I have messed around with the in a tube pizza crusts and the bread
rounds, I just don't think they come close to a little time making your
own.
My dough is:
3 cups flour
1 tbsp dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 cup 115F to 120F warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil or Olive Oil
Shift half the flour and all dry ingredients together. Add in warm
water, mix in as much of the remaining flour as you can with a large
spoon. Knead 6 to 8 minutes. rest 10 minutes. At this point you can make
pizzas if you want. I divide this into two balls, cover with plastic
wrap and set in the reefer overnight. (about 12 hours, no more than 18
hours or the dough will start to suffer Cardboard tastisis)
So go on the horse ride and when you get back we will make the pizza.
And stop along the way to enjoy the scenery!
And then when you get back to the trailer it is time to water the beasts
and fire up the charcoal cause we are going to make pizza in the black
iron!
I used a 12 inch fry pan with a lid. The other pan you see is for the
steak fajitas'!
Now a word from experience, you want to start with the coals on top of
the pizza pan for about 20 minutes before adding the heat underneath
with coals.
When you wait the 22 minutes it takes you end up with this
And when you pop it out of the pan you can place it on a round pizza pan
Now the testing and stuff was done at the house before I headed up to
the woods with this stuff. And it now works every single time. You can
put whatever you would like on top a pizza. But in the mountains with
all that air and all that scenery you just have to have wine to drink!
Beer is an acceptable substitute when its hot, but wine is great in the
mountains. Now since anyone that tells you they only drink the expensive
wine just does not drink wine very often and that is not good. I am not
afraid to chase for special wines that cost next to nothing but drink
well and with the right friends along drink downright great! So I do use
a lot of Woodbridge Wines in the magnums. Cheap in price and actually
very good for a table wine. So be wary of those that only claim to drink
the best, unless they are rich they just don't drink a lot of wine,
could not afford to drink like that, so don't be afraid to try these 9
to 18 dollar magnums, they really do have some nice drinkable wine at
real deals.
Til will talk again
Chef Bob Ballantyne
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA
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