http://acqtaste.com/2010/11/offal-good-chris-cosentino/

heres a good article...
read me!

Spanish Slang of the week
"puro Flash!"

translates "pure flash"

not sure where this one comes from but means "its all good" or something to this effect

Sicilian-style square pizza

I love Pizza. America loves Pizza. The Whole world loves pizza, but most of us would be damned to know how to make it ourselvs. For the 20 or 30 bucks spend on delivered pizza one could make upwards of 7 or 8 homemade pizzas. Roll up your sleeves and check out how to make one of my favite pizzas styles.

First and foremost you need to make dough. It is incredibly simple and one must procure minimal ingredients.

(This recipe makes 2 nice dough balls)
120z warm water
instant yeast
1Tblespoon sugar
1Teaspoon salt
drizzle olive oil
4 cups AP or HG flour (plus more for kneading and work surface)

Bloom yeast in water, add dry ingredients into mixer.
mix 6-7 minutes, slowly adding additional flour, until nice dough ball is formed. It should be completely pulled away from the side walls.
Cover and let rest 1 to 2 hours


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You need:
A nice seasoned square pizza pan.

To Assemble:
Season all sides of pizza pan generously with olive oil.

Roll out dough with rolling pin into nice sqaure shape



Form the dough around the pan making shure not to rip dough.




Next you are going to leave this sit for up to 4 or 5 hours, allowing sufficient time for the dough to rise in the pan. This is very important for it insures a light, crispy, bread-like crust.

To Cook:
Season dough with olive oil and bake in a medium-hot oven for 6 or 7 minutes
Add sauce, cheese, and any toppings
bake another 10-18 minutes or untill cheese is bubly and golden and crust is browned.

Let rest 12 minutes before removing from pan and slicing



Pizza Tips
-Always use fresh grated cheese; better texture. Try experimenting with blends such as mozzarella, parmesan, pecorino, locatelli etc
-I like to make very simple tomato sauce with minimal prep, but canned works just as good in a pinch
-Double or even triple dough recipe- it freezes and defrosts wonderfully
-Use scrap dough to make "garlic knots"
-Think twice next time you want to order out, nothing beats the satisfaction of homemade food, it's interactive and fun, and after a few times you will begin to develop your own style of pizza, unique to only you!

Trotter Gear

Every morsel of swine is edible, including pigs feet, commonly referred to as "Trotters. They are extremely boney and yield very little meat, but what they lack in quantity they make up for in quality(of flavor), giving of rich gelatenous pork product. This recipe originally appears in Fergus Hendersons book "Beyond Nose to Tail". Of what I gather,"Gear", is Fergusons interpretation of nothing more than "confit" . In his recipe he calls for Leeks and Madiera. I chose to fore-go the wine, add vinegar and settle for fennel.

2lb Trotters
1 onion
2 carrot
2 celery
3 clove garlic
1 bunch thyme
1 bunch fresh oregano
light chicken stock (enough to cover and braise)
1 cup red wine vinegar


If your Trotters aren't cleaned, dig out an old Bic razor and shave off any extra hair. Next you will Blanch these in lightly salted water for 10-15 minutes to rid them of any extra pond-scum.

In a Dutch oven add roughly chopped veggies and brown




Add stock, vinegar and herbs bring to boil
Add trotters, cover and cook in oven @ 300F for 3-3.5 hours

When cool enough to handle pick off all meat, chop and store in air-tight mason jars topped with reserved cooking liquor.



As they say "Bacon makes everything better!". So does Trotter gear. Add some while pan searing your plain old chicken breast for a rich pan sauce, or try adding some to fresh pasta with white-wine butter sauce, Foot Vinagrette, Bloody Marys...The possibilities are endless!!! ENJOY