I’ve been a bad Daring Baker. I missed the last few challenges, once deliberately (I thought I might have a nervous breakdown if I attempted yet another layered cake after the Opera) and then the next couple of months I just ran out of time, plain and simple. Chris was less than impressed when he didn’t get those chocolate eclairs I can tell you. Anyway, this month, I am offically back with a vengeance, chomping at the bit to try a new recipe for one of the best foods in the world, pizza.

The difference with this dough is the cold fermentation process, which I hadn’t even realised existed, let alone tried. You make the dough, then whack it in the fridge and finish the process the next day. We were asked to try ’spinning’ the pizza, which I honestly tried to do but failed miserably. That shiznit is hard. If you want to see something truly impressive, check these guys out. Chris took a picture of me attempting to spin the dough, but I am basically a blurry patch in the middle of an incredibly messy (and perfectly in-focus) flat, so you don’t get that one I’m afraid.

I made pizzas with three different toppings and I wanted to get away from the same old flavours. First up, the anchovy and broccoli with rosemary, chilli and lemon infused oil. I basically wanted to re-create my all time favourite pasta dish, on a pizza. The base is slathered with a roasted garlic tomato sauce, dolloped with the odd blob of mozz and then strewn with blanched broccoli florets and salty anchovy fillets before drizzling with the spicy dressing. This is now one of my favourite pizza toppings, end of. it was really delicious – punchy, unapologetic and really rather pretty. That base is mighty fine too, crispy and thin but yet cloud like inside, almost like really thin ciabbatta.

Pizza purists, avert your eyes. I now bring you a pizza that will traumatise your sensitive souls. We couldn’t stop laughing at the idea of making an English breakfast pizza….. On that slab of crust right there you see bacon, mushrooms, onions (ok, so not usually in a brekkie), tiny cubes of black pudding (yes, really – we are sick) and an egg, plonked right on top (you can see below I overcooked it, damn). And we did eat it for breakfast. I kid you not. I even had brown sauce with mine. Please don’t stop talking to me.

I wanted our third and final pizza to be autumnal and decided to try out some roasted butternut squash as I thought the sweetness might work well, which it did. I used some caramelised onions for yet more gooey sweetness and then some extra rosemary-chilli-lemon oil to cut through and give it some bite. On the whole, it was delicious. I did experiment however, with using labneh (with onion seeds) in place of the cheese, which wasn’t entirely successful. It turns out the labneh flavour wasn’t quite tangy enough to hold up on this pizza. It was good, don’t get me wrong, it just wasn’t good enough.

Apart from the fact I managed to slightly burn every, single, pizza (I got distracted) – I loved the base recipe, although I’m not sure whether I loved it enough to stop looking for ‘the ultimate’. I totally conquered that pizza sauce though and some of those toppings were keepers, although perhaps not the English breakfast. Well, not very often…

So am I forgiven for being a Daring Slacker? I hope so because I still don’t regret my decision to join the club, I just hope it’s not another layered cake next month…

Edit: I forgot to mention that the host was Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yums.

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.

Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).

Ingredients:
4 1/2 Cups (20 1/4 ounces/607.5 g) Unbleached high-gluten (%14) bread flour or all purpose flour, chilled – FOR GF: 4 ½ cups GF Flour Blend with xanthan gum or 1 cup brown rice flour, 1 cup corn flour, 1 cup oat flour, 1 ½ cup arrowroot, potato or tapioca starch + 2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
1 3/4 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Instant yeast – FOR GF use 2 tsp
1/4 Cup (2 ounces/60g) Olive oil or vegetable oil (both optional, but it’s better with)
1 3/4 Cups (14 ounces/420g or 420ml) Water, ice cold (40° F/4.5° C)
1 Tb sugar – FOR GF use agave syrup
Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal for dusting

DAY ONE

Method:
1. Mix together the flour, salt and instant yeast in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).
2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes, until the dough is smooth and the ingredients are homogeneously distributed. If it is too wet, add a little flour (not too much, though) and if it is too dry add 1 or 2 teaspoons extra water.

NOTE: If you are using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for the same amount of time.The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too wet, sprinkle in a little more flour, so that it clears the sides. If, on the contrary, it clears the bottom of the bowl, dribble in a teaspoon or two of cold water.
The finished dough should be springy, elastic, and sticky, not just tacky, and register 50°-55° F/10°-13° C.

Or

2.  FOR GF: Add the oil, sugar or agave syrup and cold water, then mix well (with the help of a large wooden spoon or with the paddle attachment, on low speed) in order to form a sticky ball of dough.
3. Flour a work surface or counter.  Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.
4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas).

NOTE: To avoid the dough from sticking to the scraper, dip the scraper into water between cuts.

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them.  Gently round each piece into a ball.

NOTE: If the dough sticks to your hands, then dip your hands into the flour again.

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.
7. Put the pan into the refrigerator and let the dough rest overnight or for up to thee days.

NOTE: You can store the dough balls in a zippered freezer bag if you want to save some of the dough for any future baking. In that case, pour some oil(a few tablespooons only) in a medium bowl and dip each dough ball into the oil, so that it is completely covered in oil. Then put each ball into a separate bag. Store the bags in the freezer for no longer than 3 months. The day before you plan to make pizza, remember to transfer the dough balls from the freezer to the refrigerator.

DAY TWO

8. On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the desired number of dough balls from the refrigerator. Dust the counter with flour and spray lightly with oil. Place the dough balls on a floured surface and sprinkle them with flour. Dust your hands with flour and delicately press the dough into disks about 1/2 inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle with flour and mist with oil. Loosely cover the dough rounds with plastic wrap and then allow to rest for 2 hours.

Or

8.  FOR GF:  On the day you plan to eat pizza, exactly 2 hours before you make it, remove the number of desired dough balls from the refrigerator.  Place on a sheet of parchment paper and sprinkle with a gluten free flour. Delicately press the dough into disks about ½ inch/1.3 cm thick and 5 inches/12.7 cm in diameter. Sprinkle the dough with flour, mist it again with spray oil. Lightly cover the dough round with a sheet of parchment paper and allow to rest for 2 hours.
9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven.  Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).

NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.

Or

10.  FOR GF: Press the dough into the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough).

NOTE:
During the tossing process, if the dough tends to stick to your hands, lay it down on the floured counter and reflour your hands, then continue the tossing and shaping.
In case you would be having trouble tossing the dough or if the dough never wants to expand and always springs back, let it rest for approximately 5-20 minutes in order for the gluten to relax fully,then try again.
You can also resort to using a rolling pin, although it isn’t as effective as the toss method.
11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter – for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.

Or

11.  FOR GF: Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.
12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.

Or

12.  FOR GF:  Place the garnished pizza on the parchment paper onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for about 5-8 minutes.

NOTE: Remember that the best pizzas are topped not too generously. No more than 3 or 4 toppings (including sauce and cheese) are sufficient.

13. Slide the garnished pizza onto the stone in the oven or bake directly on the jelly pan. Close the door and bake for abour 5-8 minutes.

Or

13.  FOR GF:  Follow the notes for this step.

NOTE: After 2 minutes baking, take a peek. For an even baking, rotate 180°.

If the top gets done before the bottom, you will need to move the stone or jelly pane to a lower shelf before the next round. On the contrary, if the bottom crisps before the cheese caramelizes, then you will need to raise the stone or jelly.

14. Take the pizza out of the oven and transfer it to a cutting board or your plate. In order to allow the cheese to set a little, wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.

…..me! This past weekend, the Mucky Pup Pub in Islington was host to the first ever Tipped chilli cook-off – 8 chillis went head to head in a blind tasting and miraculously, my chilli won! It was a tough call though – there was some serious competition in there – number four, damn, you were tasty.

The chilli wasn’t the only heat that pup was packin though, we enjoyed nachos, salsa and guac from Mucho Mas, some awesome tuneage and – last but by no means least, the Sarah Palin Pinata (above). Boy, did she take a hammering…and after that, well, I couldn’t possibly reveal her sticky end….

What I will reveal however, is my chilli recipe. The quantities below will serve about 8-10 on my reckoning, less if you are greedy like me.There are a couple of things I do which I think makes the chilli extra delish. Firstly, I use two scotch bonnet chillies, which I roast first (with the garlic), to mellow out the heat and intensify the sweet, fruity flavour. I also always make sure to use dried kidney beans rather than tinned for their superior bite and I add some dark chocolate at the end of cooking, to give the chilli depth and a touch of sweetness.

Cheers to the guys at Tipped for a truly awesome day and to all the tasters for voting my chilli to win – hurrah! You can see I was rather smitten with my new chef’s hat, crocheted chilli (thank you, Aromy!) and my ‘pocket gardens’ – soon I will be growing my very own chillies at home. Hot damn!

Chilli Con Carne

1200g stewing beef, cut into bite size chunks
1 whole bulb of garlic
2 extra large scotch bonnet chillies
2 onions, diced
1 handful coriander leaves
100ml beef stock
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 heaped tablespoon tomato puree
3 tins cherry tomatoes in their juice
2 romero peppers, diced
400g kidney beans, soaked overnight and cooked
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
A splash of red wine
A teaspoon or two of red wine vinegar
50g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Remove the outer papery layers from the garlic bulb (leaving the cloves intact and the bulb together) and cut the top 1/2cm from the top of the bulb. Put the garlic and chillies in a small roasting dish, drizzle with oil and cover with foil. Roast for about half an hour until the garlic is soft. Remove from the oven and tease the garlic cloves from their cases and scrape the seeds and skin from the chillies, set both aside.
- Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan over a medium heat for a minute or so until they start to smell aromatic (keep giving the pan a shimmy so they don’t burn). Remove to a pestle and mortar (or grinder) and grind to a powder.
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil (I like groundnut) in a large cooking pot, brown the meat in small batches and set aside.
- Heat a couple more tablespoons of oil in the pot and add the onions on a medium heat until soft and opaque before adding the peppers for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic, chilli, cumin, coriander (seed) and oregano, stir for a couple of minutes and then add a good splash of red wine and allow the alcohol to burn off.
- Return the meat to the pan together with the beef stock, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, cinnamon stick and bay leaf and simmer for 2 hours or more on a really low heat (lid on) before adding the vinegar, dark chocolate and fresh coriander. The chilli is best eaten the day after you make it, with a touch more fresh coriander to finish.

Earlier this week, The Kitchen at Parson’s Green was brave enough to fling open it’s doors to some friends of Trusted Places. Among our group – Su-lin, Chris, Bron, Lizzie, Alexthepink, terryturbojr, Lea, Lolly, Melanie, Tom and Niamheen. The idea behind the place is this; you choose some dishes online before you arrive, they get all the prep ready, you turn up and follow the instructions to assemble your meals which you then take home and finish cooking. Michelin starred chef Thierry Laborde came up with the recipes, which all take around 15 minutes or under to cook once at home.

We were welcomed with a glass of vino and all found our places around the long workbench, marvelling at how methodically everything was set up. All the prep for each dish is in front of you on a big tray, you simply follow the recipe to assemble everything, pack it in a tray and seal it ready to toddle off home with. I noticed people peeking into my bag on the tube with very envious eyes! Perhaps it was the veal saltimbocca with green beans and sicilian lemons (yum) one of my four chosen dishes. The others included salmon teriyaki with bok choy and shitake mushrooms, puy lentils and split pea dahl samosas with a creme fraiche dip and organic salmon and smoked haddock fishcakes with homemade ketchup. Not bad eh?

Apart from the food being mighty tasty, we had a really good laugh around that table, messing around with food and trying our hardest not to eat the ingredients.

Here’s a couple of the cooked dishes. I was really glad to see instructions for oven-baking the samosas – I’m not a deep-frying kind of gal – makes me feel ill just thinking about it actually. I made sure they were properly doused in melted butter before bringing them home so they crisped up beautifully, shame I had to share it (of course you can have some honey..). As usual, we both burnt our tongues because we couldn’t wait…

The teriyaki salmon was also delicious, beautifully caramelised and glazed with sticky marinade. I burnt my tongue on that too.

OK, so us food bloggers are not really the target market, we all make a lot of time for cooking and to us, the process is just as important as the finished product but, if you lead a hectic lifestyle and you’re not interested in/no good at/can’t find time for cooking but you want great grub at home, it could just be for you. And if all that assembly seems like a bit too much effort you can arrange to pick up the meals ready to go, just take ‘em home and cook ‘em. You won’t find a ready meal like that down your local Tesco…

The Kitchen at Parson’s Green
275 New King’s Road
Parson’s Green
London
SW6 4RD
0207 736 8067

Krista at Londonelicious came up with this corker of an idea – write a post about your perfect day in London (or anywhere else). At first I thought this might be quite a simple task – food-centred (obviously) – but I had no idea how often I would change my mind, I agonised over it! In the end I realised I would need an infinite amount of energy and stomach space to really make it work but this is my perfect day and so I wake up with both.

The day starts in our flat. Now of course I realise there are many wonderful places in this city to get breakfast and coffee (Monmouth being a personal fave) but I want the rare treat of breakfast in bed and so that is how we start. I will eat boiled egg with marmite soldiers, eggs benedict or florentine or scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, depending on my mood. Chris and I will then catch a train to London Bridge (reeeally early) where we walk along the bank of the Thames, so that I can hopefully catch one of my favourite London landmarks, Tower Bridge, in the mist (there will be morning mist followed by bright sunshine on my perfect day).

I am a little obsessed with the fairytale bridge, massively incongruous against the modern skyline of superslick buildings and cranes. I think it is a masterful piece of architecture and when I see it surrounded by morning mist, it never fails to take my breath away. OK, so this is a bit of a crap photo but it was a cloudy day and she is opening, which caused me great excitement. Yes, I do refer to the bridge as ’she’ and I also follow her on Twitter which gives me no end of amusement as updates consist of ‘I am opening for the HMS blah blah to pass upstream’. I feel like I have embarrassed myself enough now and so will stop. talking. about. the. bridge.

We will take a look from the high level walkway and then amble on down to Borough Market (here’s my review) – of course. Remember, it’s still early at this point and so we are beating the crowds and getting first pick on the produce. It’s time to visit some of my favourite places so first up, the cider man. Yes, we are a couple of hours shy of midday but the man is so nice and jolly (how is it that I don’t know his name?) that we will stop for a chat even if we can’t face the hard stuff yet.

Then we join the queue for a chorizo roll from the Brindisa BBQ. This roll is so worth the wait you won’t believe it! With the tried and tested sustenance of cider (maybe) and chorizo inside me, we head around the market to pick up the ingredients for a picnic, to eat with friends at another of my favourite places later on. There will be cheese from Neal’s Yard – probably some of the barrel aged feta, although this Milleens looks good (if a little tricksy to transport).

There will be some calzone from DeGustibus (below), filled with vegetables and mozzarella…

…some cakes, of course, along with some scones, clotted cream and jam…

…and perhaps some pies from The Ginger Pig – always great picnic fare.

I need a little rest after all that walking around and eating and so we will catch the train to Charing Cross and walk to The Sanctuary in Covent Garden for a relaxing massage, to rejuvinate before the afternoon (I’m not sure what Chris is doing at this point, as The Sanctuary is ladies only – probably massaging his beer buds in the nearby pub). With a new lease of life we head up to Regent’s Park to another of my favourite places -  the Inner Circle, for that picnic with our friends.

Super tranquil with weeping willows over the lake, immaculate lawns and of course, the totally stunning rose gardens. They have started to die off in the pictures below but you get the idea.

We save dessert for later because we are heading South from one park to another – St. James’s. We are going here partly because it is a gorgeous place but mostly because you can feed the squirrels (they eat right out of your hand) and I adore those little guys. Cute, and yet you know they could take a finger no probs if they fancied.

Next, we will head towards Battersea. I have always wanted to explore inside the now derelict Battersea power station. I find the structure awe inspiring and eerily beautiful. Apparently, the ever present London pigeons are quite interested too so the developers have introduced a couple of peregrine falcons, to try and keep the little blighters out. The BBC has some great pictures and titbits of info here and the Londonist ran a fab little article too. I have just realised I also refer to the power station as ’she’. Make of it what you will.

Photo from Jon’s Pics London set on Flickr

From Battersea it’s back to London Bridge and a drink in the not-so-secret wonder bar that is Shunt. Pass through an unmarked door into the dark tunnels underneath London Bridge station to be greeted by a strange fantasy bar, (a different theme each week, chosen and created by London artists) – this place is really quite impossible to describe, but there are some great photo sets on Flickr.

Finally, as if we haven’t eaten enough already, it’s time to go for a meal with a difference (I have limitless resources remember?). This is possibly one of the most ridiculously extravagant ideas for eating I have ever come across, I’m not great with heights but if I had the chance, I would go for dinner in the sky….now that is a restaurant with a view…

Picture from www.dinnerinthesky.com

Trinity is one of my favourite restaurants in London. I love the focus on British ingredients and their style, which is one of sophisticated comfort food. The Sunday supper menu is a lot more rustic than the regular Trinity fare but even the latter, despite being a damn sight more fancy – has a very honest and soothing quality about it.

We first fell in love at The Taste Festival earlier this year, where I must have given them my e-mail address as I have received drool-worthy teasers since, that have worked exactly as intended. Our first real visit, we were a party of six and on arrival, found we had been allocated the chef’s table, which was a rather pleasant surprise. I remember enjoying a delicate crab and avocado salad and a main of juicy, tender suckling pig – that night’s special, advertised as using every bit of the piggy – oink oink.

So, just when I was undecided about where to dine last week (even after putting out the word on Twitter, Londoners – where were you?), another superbly timed e-mail dropped into my inbox. Trinity have introduced a Sunday supper deal. You get three courses – a choice of two starters, a set main course (a whole roast joint or fish, to be shared between a couple or group), a choice of two desserts, a pre-dinner drink, and coffee – setting you back 30 of your finest pounds (sans booze).

There are many things I love about Trinity and this is the first – the bread. Those little rolls are the most adorable angular shape and oh-so cheesy. They are wonderfully warm and when you break them apart and get ready to give them what they want (a good buttering), you get a poof of cheesy steam right up in your face. Fantastic.

To start, we were offered either Jerusalem ‘artichoke soup with hazelnut Chantilly’ or ‘hand chopped terrine of middle white pork, prunes and pistachios with chutney and warm country bread’.You can see I opted for the terrine, which was bloomin’ marvellous. I am officially in love with the hand chopped terrine. Great chunks of meatiness interspersed with fantastic sweet date pockets and flecked green with pistachios. Great textures too, soft ham, even softer dates and then crunchy nutty fun in between.

The main course for the week was oxtail (“sourced from Long horn cattle which graze in the pastures of Appleton Farm in Essex”, apparently), slowly braised overnight in red wine – this is basically what sealed the deal for me in the first place. It arrived with these honeyed Chantenay carrots, super buttery green beans, some seriously smooth creamed potato action and mellow roasted garlic cloves (fast becoming one of my essential roast dinner accompaniments).

Now I realise the contents of that pot below may resemble something you give to your pet but let me tell you, that is some meltingly tender ox meat in there – all wine-y and thyme-y and gorgeous. So everyone just dives in and scoops up a big helping of the meat, followed by some mandatory dripping of juices on the pristine white tablecloth.

To finish, a choice of chocolate pot with ice cream or rice pudding with damson jam. I opted for the chocolate pot, which I expected to be quite small, but when it arrived – what a monster. I couldn’t actually finish it but before I gave in I found time to re-name it chocolate goo. A cake-y circle around the edges but in the centre – pure chocolate goo. It’s a chocolate fondant but bigger and with ice cream. I think that’s enough said really.

Chris came over all old school and ordered the rice pudding, which I’ve never been too keen on to be honest. Apparently though, as rice puddings go, this was top notch. I love the way he scooped out all the jam in one big blob and put it on top of the pudding – how else indeed?

The service is also fantastic, never a foot wrong and yet it’s all very relaxed and the staff are genuinely charming. I promise they didn’t give me any freebies to write this and I still can’t really think of anything bad to say about the place. A little heads up about a couple of things though. Firstly, if you are vegetarian – this restaurant ain’t for you. This Sunday supper menu for example, offered a set main course of oxtail, there is no vegetarian option. Secondly, if you want to dine on the Sunday supper deal, you have to eat at 7pm. I’m thinking either the word hasn’t got out yet or the 7pm time slot may be a problem, as the restaurant was really quiet – even for a Sunday. Do not fret over this minor detail however, Trinity can offer you food at other times, on other days! In fact, I’d rather you didn’t go much anyway because then I know I always can..

TRINITY
4 The Polygon
Clapham Old Town
London
SW4 0JG
0207 622 1199
dine@trinityrestaurant.co.uk

Opening Times
Lunch: Monday – Closed
Tuesday to Saturday: 12.30 – 2.30pm
Sunday Lunch: 12.30 – 3.00pm
Dinner: Monday to Sunday from 6.30pm

I couldn’t find any information about the Sunday supper deal on their website, which is very unfortunate (why the hell doesn’t someone update that?), so I called to make sure and it is most definitely on.