Category: The Kitchen

Giving Up

I despise giving up on anything.  Yet, I must admit that it has to be done sometimes.  Contrary to popular belief, Andrea and I are not professional food connoisseurs.  However, we both have a little idea about what exactly we like.  Several times we have tasted something superb at someone’s home or at a good restaurant, then gone home to imitate it.  I think that all of the times we have been able to get it pretty close.

Then came la Nave Pizzeria in Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico.  We ate there twice during our Mexico vacation, and fell in love with their brick-oven pizza.  I thought to myself, “I can imitate this.  It’s just thin crust pizza cooked at a high temperature.”  Not.  For the last few months, I have tried at least a half-dozen times.  Each time has been slightly closer, but still not there.  I don’t have a clue what it is.  So I gave up trying at home in our oven.  I thought maybe we just didn’t have the right kind of oven.  “Ahhh!  I can just find something at another pizzeria somewhere here in the states.”  Not.  Nowhere I have tried here is anywhere close.  la Nave was just so unique that it cannot be imitated easily.

Here are my observations of the uniqueness of their pizza:

  • The crust was extremely light.  It was crispy, but not like a cracker.  It was also extremely thin, but also flaky–almost the consistency of phyllo dough, but still different.  My wife and I thought the closest thing to the taste of the crust is the bread that is partaken of during the Lord’s Supper.  Go figure…
  • The pepperoni (or spicy salami, as they called it at la Nave) was the best I have ever tasted.  It seemed far less processed than any other, and much more spicy than what we have in America.
  • I think that the cheese was real, fresh mozzarella.  The kind that comes from Italian Water Buffalo milk.
  • The sauce was spiced with something…possibly fresh cayenne pepper.

Nonetheless, I have given up trying to find something or making something like it.  Alas, La Nave Pizza Napoletana is only at the place on the main avenue in Tulum, owned by a real Italian from Rome itself.  I greatly look forward to going there again someday!  Until then, though, all other pizza will just be normal…normal…not quite there.

Salsa Verde (Green Salsa)


I would like to introduce you to the most delicious salsa in the world!  I know some of you are more fond of red salsas, but maybe you have never honestly given green a chance…or maybe green just seems forboding for the same reason…GREEN!  Well, here is a recipe I would like you to try.  I have tried different green salsa recipes, and have never encountered this one’s rival.  This recipe was given to me by a Mexican friend, and is one of those that never was “written down.”  In fact, I asked for the recipe, and she kind of chuckled and said, no, there is no “recipe.”  So I asked her to tell me how to make it, and she did.  Here is my attempt to record it onto paper!

Here are the stars of my show!

As you can see, these come in a husk, which is easily removed. They are available in most grocery stores.
Small, white onion
Small onion

One medium to large clove of garlic
1-2 Serrano peppers...not to be confused with Jalapenos. Serranos are typically longer and skinnier. These are available in most supermarkets as well.
Salt
Cilantro
One avocado...also available at most grocers. Be sure to purchase one that is soft, but not mushy. A hard one will ripen in the windowsill, but don't try to use before ripe and soft. It is very difficult to make anything with...I know from experience!

Ingredients:

5-6 medium green tomatillos (Medium as in 2-3″ diameter)

1/4 of small onion…just sliced off the onion (Maybe 2-3 Tablespoons if chopped)

1-2 serrano pepper (to your taste and tolerance!!!)

1 clove of garlic

Salt (In the palm of your hand, about the size of a quarter…maybe one teaspoon or so)

5-6 stems of cilantro (more if you want…to taste)

1 avocado

Boil water in a medium pot.  Add the green tomatillos, onion, serrano peppers, garlic; leave until the tomatillos turn from bright green to yellowish.  Place in cool water to cool and prevent further cooking.  When cool, place in blender.  (You probably want to start with half the serrano, and add the other half and other pepper depending on how hot you want it.  Every pepper is different…some are very hot, others not hot at all.)  Add salt, cilantro, and a handful of water (just what stays in your hand from the sink to the blender!!!…just to allow liquid so it will blend).  Taste it when well blended for flavor and hotness.  Add more of the serrano if desired, and blend again.  Pour into bowl.  Open avocado by slicing in half around the seed.  Cut one half while still in skin…lengthwise and cross wise.  Then slice the cubes out of the skin (turning the skin inside out might work!) and into the bowl.  Add the other half of the avocado if you want.  Stirr it around into the green salsa.  Enjoy the best salsa in the world!!!

Christmas Ponche — A La Americana

Well, while Dustin was studying recipes for Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza, I had a recipe search of my own.  I love hot drinks, but with a cold and sore throat, I have been trying to avoid milk-based drinks.  After a while, plain black tea or even herbal and flavored teas get old to me.  I had a taste in my mouth for PONCHE NAVIDEÑO, a hot fruit punch served at Christmas in Mexico.

I had looked around for recipes, and all or most called for the traditional ingredients of tecojote (a small fruit similar to crabapple) and cana (small pieces of sugarcane) among other things.  Needless to say, I had neither on hand, nor do they grow in our garden! –Not only would they probably not survive in the south-eastern Pennsylvania climate, but neither do we have a garden or yard outside our house!

I had read in one recipe that if you did not have a specific ingredient, it might be omitted from the recipe.  So I decided to simply try a punch with the fruits I had on hand.  I had about a pint and a half of mango syrup/juice from canned mangoes, a few frozen peach slices, some frozen blueberries, a chopped apple and a chopped pear, juiced one pink grapefruit and two large oranges, made a concentrated quart of cranberry-jamaica tea, and used one cinnamon stick.  I placed all the ingredients into a medium crockpot and turned on high since it was already after dinner, and I wanted to try some before the evening was over.

After about 2-1/2 hours, it was bubbling around the edges, and I decided it was ready.  After a quick taste, I decided to add a little brown sugar, and —Hmmmm!  It was yummy!  Even Dustin really liked it, and he is a bit leary of eating new things!  So instead of trying to search for all of the traditional Mexican ingredients, now I know you can use whatever fruit you have on hand, some cinnamon, and sugar or honey to taste!  (I would definitely advise using some kind of apple(s) for the rich, tart flavor, and a good amount of citrus juice at least, along with whatever other fruits you decide to add; and for myself I decided not to use rasberries or blackberries because of their seedy properties!)  

To serve, you may strain out the fruit pieces or serve them in the glasses as well!

The Creation of a Deep Dish Pizza

Wow!  What an afternoon!  You see, my wife and I tend to have strange cravings for food here and there.  Once it was baked pretzels, then it was brick-oven pizza, and of course southern style biscuits.  Yes, I know that you can buy these things in the frozen food section; but you know as well as I do that they could never compare.  So, today I had a day off from work, and we had one of those cravings.  This time it was the famous Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza.  Once that craving comes, however, it is near impossible to stop!

This time, it was my turn to fulfill the craving!  I went out shopping at one of our local markets for cornmeal, Italian sausage, and cheese.  Thankfully, every item I was looking for was on sale, which made the purchasing of it a lot easier.

I imagined that I should share the recipe with all of our readers.  Here it is (with some pictures that we took):

Pan Dough:

  • 1 cup warm tap water (110−115ø)
  • 1 pkg. active dry yeast
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup coarse ground cornmeal
  • 1 teas. salt
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Pizza Topping:

  • 1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 lb. Italian Sausage, removed from the casing and crumbled
  • 8 slices sandwich pepperoni
  • 1/2 quart can of whole tomatoes, drained and coarsely crushed
  • 2 cloves Garlic, peeled and minced
  • 3 fresh basil leaves, chopped fine
  • 1 teas. fresh dried oregano
  • 4 tbls. Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
Pour the warm water into a large mixing bowl and dissolve the yeast with a fork. Add 1 cup of flour, all of the cornmeal, salt, and vegetable oil.
Mix well with a spoon. Continue stirring in the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Flour your hands and the work surface and kneed the ball of dough until it is no longer sticky.Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl, sealed with a wet towel, for 45 to 60 minutes in the oven with just the light on (the oven turned OFF!), until it is doubled in bulk.
Punch it down and kneed it briefly. Let it rise agian for another 30 minutes. Punch it down and press it into an oiled 15−inch deep dish pie pan, until it comes 2 inches up the sides and is even on the bottom of the pan ( about 1/8 inch thick). Let the dough rise 15−20 more minutes before filling.
Preheat the oven to 575 degrees. While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Cook the crumbled sausage until it is no longer pink, drain it of its excess fat. Drain and chop the tomatoes. When the dough has finished its rising, lay the cheese over the dough shell.
Then distribute the sausage, pepperoni, and garlic over the cheese. Sprinkle on the seasonings and Parmesan cheese.
Top with the tomatoes.
Bake for 10 minutes at 475 degrees. Then lower the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for 30 minutes longer. Lift up a section of the crust from time to time with a spatula to check on its color. The crust will be golden brown when done. Serve immediately. And that's that!
I will say that it was a blast making it; but it was by far the best eating it.  It turned out pretty close to perfect for us.  As you can see, at least someone liked it..
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We also shared with some of our friends; one of which has never had Chicago-Style Pizza before!  We’ll see if they like it.  Some of you may be wondering why we didn’t offer you any…well, come out and visit, and we’ll be honored to share!
By the way, Andrea’s sister Sharon got us the pizza-themed plates for Christmas.  Yes, they’ve already been of good use!