6352. Twirl pizza dough

I'm not going to lie. I was not a big fan of pizza before I met the hubby. Pizza to me meant Jacks or Tombstone.. maybe Pizza Hut or Dominos. Then I met the hubby and I became a pizza snob. I still will eat Pizza Hut or Dominos if I have to but I prefer the local pizza joints like Cranky Pat's or Sammy's. 

Picture courtesy of Google

Homemade pizza was never a thing growing up, probably because mom wasn't a big fan of pizza. Since meeting the hubby, I have also tried my hand at making homemade pizza instead of buying frozen or ordering pizza. I discovered a really good pizza recipe in my Food Network Magazine that has become our favorite go to recipe for pizza. 

When I saw that Kimberly-Little Chute library was going to teach us how to make pizza as part of the Culinary Thursday series, I was stoked especially since Megan was going to teach us and she's the executive chef at Wildflower Pizzeria (which is too froo-froo for the hubby) and knows a thing or two about food and (hopefully pizza). Then I saw a rumor about the possibility of throwing dough. Sign me up -- pizza making lessons, pizza sampling, and possibly dough throwing what more could a pizza lover ask for.

Since Wildflower Pizzeria is known for their Neapolitan Style Pizza that is what Megan was going to teach us. Apparently to be certified Neapolitan you have to follow all sort of crazy rules and your ingredients have to meet all sorts of standards. Neapolitan pizza is really just crust, sauce, a bit of fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil. Personally it's too much sauce and not enough cheese for me. Megan showed us a traditional Neapolitan pizza along with a few specialty pizzas. The best part of these pizzas is that they are wood fired and take only a minute or two to bake. Hence why we could sample several types of pizza.

After Megan showed us how to make pizza she asked if anyone wanted to try to turn a glob of dough into a pizza crust. For Neapolitan pizza this is a lot harder than it sounds. It requires extensive turning and pushing the dough with your hands while keeping a nice lip to the crust. I managed to kind of create a Neapolitan crust..... but when it was too thin since as soon as I twirled it, holes appeared. It went from being Neapolitan pizza to Swiss cheese in a matter of seconds. However, I have to admit I did not drop my dough while twirling it.

As much fun twirling pizza dough is, I will stick with my Food Network crust. I couple of quick rolls with the rolling pin and I have pizza crust -- none of this push, turn, and twirl non-sense for this girl. However, if you want to feed me some Neapolitan pizza I won't say no. 

I Tried Squash and Survived

Little Chute and Neenah both had library programs I was interested tonight. Based on the times of the events, I opted for the one at Little Chute even though I don't even like squash. Kimbery-Little Chute Library started offering Culinary Third Thursdays where Megan will demonstration demo, teach, and let us sample new foods.

Image courtesy of Google

Like I said I am not a fan of squash but I figured since I was impressed with the salad dressing class, I might find some kind of squash I do enjoy. So instead learning the history of grocery stores in Neenah, I learned about making squash just in case I get some gifted to me or I go off the deep end and decide to buy one.

Megan came prepared to teach us how to make 5 squash dishes using a variety of squashes. You mean there is more than 1 or 2 types of squash? Apparently there is more than just acron and butternut. There's also honey nut, Kabocha, spaghetti, and a list of others. I really should have taken notes just in case I need to buy a squash (or decide to make one of these dishes again).

Since it was a quick paced class with some of the prep work done last night, I am just going to highlight the different squash dishes I tried.

Roast Honey Nut Squash
Honey Nut squash is the little cousin of the acorn squash. Megan prepped this last night basically just peeling and slicing the squash in half, scoping out the guts and sprinkling it with brown sugar before roasting it. I was told this is a good squash to stuff. I actually liked this. It is sweet.

Honey Nut squash at the top and oven roasted at the bottom

Oven Roasted Squash
I don't recall what kind of squash was used in this dish -- it might have been Kabocha. This again was prepped last night. Megan roasted the squash tossed with oil, honey, and thyme. This was very good. I would definitely consider making this in the future if I ever needed a squash dish for something.

Oven Roasted Acorn Squash
This one was prepared in front of us. Megan sliced the acorn squash in half and scoped out the guts. Then sprinkled it with brown sugar, cumin, chipotle chili powder, and another spice. Along with the squash, Megan added sweet peppers, garlic, and butter before sliding it in the oven for 20 minutes or so. This one I was apprehensive of but like the others, the spices and flavors really came out and made the squash really good. Apparently the only squash I've tried was not prepared like this.

Squash Bisque
Technically as Megan said this was cream of squash soup since it didn't have seafood in it. However it was really good. To start this soup, Megan add some mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions) along with some apples to a stock pot and let it cook down. Then she added vegetable stock and the roast butternut squash and allowed it to cook til the squash was soft. Wine was added too (either now or later). Once the squash was soften, Megan pureed it and added some heavy cream to it. I believe some spices were added at this point to. YUM. It was good. Even though the texture wasn't quite smooth, the apple and mirepoix helped bring out more than just the squash flavor. This recipe is similar to what Megan made. You can substitute coconut milk for the heavy cream as well as chicken stock for vegetable stock.

Squash Curry
This ended up being my favorite. After sauteing some onions, Megan added red curry paste and garlic. Once that was nice and toasted, some squash (I think Kabocha) was added along with soy sauce and vegetable stock. Once the squash was soften, coconut milk was added. Then it was garnished with cilantro and lime. The flavors were amazing-- it was a mix of Asian and Costa Rican. This actually reminded me of having lunch at work in Costa Rica. This is a similar recipe.

Now I won't say I have a love of squash but I do appreciate it. If it was prepared flavorfully I might actually eat it. The bisque would be good for a soup cook-off. I am looking forward to other cooking adventures with Megan at the library as this sounds like it will be a regular thing.