for the lazy baker

Pardon my absence from the blogging world...although I doubt I would be missed by anyone ;)

I am quite disappointed that I am not able to visit my regular blogs here in Beijing. Even though I have set my google readers before leaving home, nothing shows up when I tried to access it here. Well, guess I have to do a lot of catching up when I get back by the end of the year.

Although I am away from home, I don't really feel like I am on holidays. Other than the cold weather and the rather laid-back weekends, our weekdays are just like any other day. My kids will spend the mornings doing their holiday assignments while I reply emails to friends, do my groceries and prepare lunch. In the afternoons, my boys are very much pre-occupied with watching cartoons, playing games and letting off their energy by playing table tennis at the fitness centre. Life is pretty much as usual.

I still get to do my baking, at least once a week, if not more.

One of my latest bake is none other than a simple pizza for our dinner last night.

Believe it or not, this pizza requires No Kneading at all. Perfect for a lazy baker like me!

I have made this once, before I left home for Beijing. It was so good that I recommended it to my cake friend right away. She couldn't resist the temptation to make it for her family after I showed her pictures of my boy tucking away into a hearty slice of homemade pizza. I had to share the idea with her since she was the one who introduced me to her magical rolls

...that is, The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. I used the exact same dough recipe for the pizza base, so, no kneading is required. I did make some slight adjustments, ie, I replaced the milk with plain water, and this time, I also cut down the sugar amount a little (as suggested by my cake friend) so that the pizza base would not taste as sweet. Her's turn out great as well! Even though she didn't take any pictures, I had no difficulties conjuring an image of her boys and hubby wolfing down her delicious, made from scratch, homemade pizza.

I managed to make two pizza from the small batch version of the original PW's cinnamon dough recipe...a big regularly one to fit the drip pan, and a small round 8" 'personal' pan pizza.

Just like making the cinnamon rolls, the dough is as sticky and soft to handle...but after dusting it freely with flour, I was able to flatten the dough and spread it out as thin as possible...no rolling pins required, since I don't have one on hand. Unlikely most pizza doughs, this one is sooo 'baby-bottom' soft that it doesn't shrink back while trying to flatten it. One thing to note is, I spread the dough out directly on the parchment paper...it makes handling the dough much easier.

For once, I didn't make any hawaiian pizza for my children. Instead, I topped it with fresh white button mushrooms, salami slices, capsicums, mini tomatoes...

The texture of the pizza base is very soft and very bread-like...great if you like pan pizza. I love how the combination turns out...especially the fresh, juicy toppings :)

What more can I say, nothing beats a slice of homemade pizza, especially when it doesn't requires much effort. A truly, kneadlessly simple, everyday meal that everyone can put it together, either for their own indulgence or for their loved ones...

so, what are you waiting for?!


No Knead Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup caster sugar (I used 40g)
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (I used 1 teaspoon Instant yeast)
2 (250g) cups plus 1/4 cup (30g) plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder (heaping)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (scant)
1/4 tablespoon salt (heaping)

extra flour for dusting

pizza toppings and grated mozzarella cheese


Method:

1. Mix water, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald (heat until just before boiling) the mixture. Leave to cool for 45mins ~ 1 hour.
2. Place 250g (2 cups) plain flour and Instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the above mixture. Stir with a spatula until the mixture comes together to form a thick batter. (If using Active Dry Yeast, sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and let it sit for a minute before adding it to the plain flour.) Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.
Add in the remaining 30g (1/4 cup) flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Either go ahead to make the pizza or cover and leave to chill in fridge over night or until needed. If left to chill, check the dough and punch it down by folding with a spatula if the dough rises almost to the rim of the mixing bowl. (Note: dough will be easier to handle if left over night.)
3. When ready, place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking tray. Dust parchment paper generously with flour, transfer dough onto parchment paper. Dust dough freely with flour, dust hands with flour, flatten and roll out the dough into a thin round or rectangular shape, as desired.
4. Spread dough with a layer of pizza sauce, top with some grated mozzarella cheese. Arrange toppings over the surface evenly. Top with more grated mozzarella cheese, bake in preheated oven at 200degC for about 15 mins or until the pizza base turns golden brown and the cheese melted.

Recipe source: pizza dough recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls

lunch for two

To many, cooking a meal for two should be a fairly simple task, but to a lousy cook like me, it is as challenging as cooking for ten. My everyday lunch has to be something that is easily put together otherwise I will be so tempted to just settle for a takeaway. I always zero in for dishes that meet my 3Ms...minimal preparation, minimal cooking which leads to minimal cleaning. The reality is, not many dishes could fall exactly under this category. As a result, I keep going back to the same old dishes week after week.

Pizza happens to be my children's all time favourite. I am sure they will not get sick of it even if I were to make them a pizza every week. However, making pizza from scratch requires time...and a bit more effort than cooking a pot of fish porridge. I could have made the pizza dough in advance and freeze them, but so far I have not done it. I really have yet to accept the idea of stocking up on frozen food. My freezer compartment remains quite empty most of the time.

It was by chance I 'discovered' a quick way to make a pizza while I was writing an email to a blogger pal. I didn't wait too long before I put my idea into actions.

Here's my short-cut version of a homemade pizza. I am sure it is nothing new to many of you. Instead of making the pizza dough from scratch, I made do with store bought loaf bread. The only difference is, I used this local brand, Gardenia focaccia loaf instead of square sandwich loaf. This store bought focaccia is really tasty and delicious on its own...great for making homemade deli subs (see here), and it is the first time I thought of using is as a pizza base. Why didn't I think of that??

I sliced the loaf horizontally into two, spread some meat sauce (minced beef cooked with some chopped onions and ready made tomatoe-based pasta sauce...very much like cooking a simple bolognese sauce) and topped it with mozzarella cheese before popping it into the oven. The meal was prepared under 15 minutes...with minimal preparation, cooking, and cleaning. 

While the cheese was melting away in the oven, my younger child came home from school. I opened the door and just like every other day, I was greeted with a great smile from a very sweaty, dirty looking boy. The next moment, he let out a little squeal, "I smell pizza!"

Thanks to the wonderful aroma of the focaccia loaf, it really smells like pizza whenever I toast the bread in the oven, I attribute it to the generous use of herbs in making this bread.

It was a very satisfying meal for the two of us as it was almost like eating a pan pizza. I was a little surprised when my boy, who is a small eater, helped himself to 5 slices. Either he was very hungry that day, or he loves nothing but pizza ;)