Wood Fired Pizza, it could be finally here for our back yard with the Kettle Pizza Oven!

UPDATE 7\12\2015
We just finished our first try with the Kettle Pizza, BIG SUCCESS! Full story coming after our second night tonight of Neapolitan Pizza Bliss!

 

 

First Pie Margareta Baked in 2 min 20 seconds

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Could this dream be true?

Folks, it has been years of perfecting our attempts at Neapolitan Pizza in our home oven and gas grills. Until recently, we have achieved decent success in a home oven without making any modifications to the locks on the oven doors or heating elements. Yes, I have reached the pizza pinnacle in a home oven and our technique produces some delicious pies. BUT! Still not being satisfied and wanting a wood fired oven to bake our pies, calzones, and artisan sourdough baguettes, my research has continued to find something that would work for us.

 

On the whole, a big custom brick oven is just not an option. I don’t want it nor maintain it. If I was opening an Italian restaurant and needed an oven on 7 days a week, a brick oven retains and maintains it’s heat very well so that would be an option. But for the home, at most I make 10 to maybe 15 pies for a pie party that usually has between eight to fifteen people. A huge brick oven just would be overkill, it is not for us. I have also looked at smaller “Portable” ovens and although I have never used one, I can tell there are some inherent problems with those as well.

From Kettle Pizza Test Kitchen. 2:40 pie. Awesome!

I found just about everything out there on the internet and there are lots of positive claims about producing Neo pie in a variety of Gas ovens. However anything gas—Is out! Authentic (VPN Standards) is a wood fired \ coal oven only with temperatures ranging from 700 to even up to and over 1000 degrees. There are other reason to go with wood \ coal, mainly because it is a dry heat and does not inject any moisture into the oven. Also there is a hint of flavor from the wood burning. (not a lot but some).

Picture from Kettle Pizza

So my research led me to something I had not seen before and it immediately caught my eye. Someone had come up with the idea to make an insert that would sit atop a standard Webber grill. Then by placing a pizza stone on the grate you could then have a wood fired pizza. The top of the grill would hold the heat and temps would build up rather quickly. The name of the product and the company is called the Kettle Pizza.

I read everything I could find about this American made product and watched a lot of videos. Serious eats had made some suggestions to the company’s inventors that basically would improve the amount of heat capable as well as a better and thicker stone. After some seemingly minor refinements to an already good product, Kettle Pizza now looks to be a SERIOUS contender in the home gourmet Neapolitan Pizza market. The benefits are clear: Most homes already have a standard Webber grill so all you would need to get is the Kettle Pizza kit. Portability, ease of use, simple to clean, high temps necessary for Neapolitan style baking, and affordability! I love all of this! It was enough for me to pick up the phone and try this thing out and that is what I did.

 

We will test the Kettle Pizza out this Saturday so I started making dough Tuesday night. I am using my posted recipe, basically 00 Italian flour (no GMO no BLEACH no BROMATE!), salt, water, and our Chesapeake Bay Sourdough Starter that we developed. We will use our fresh grown Basil and Oregano from Mermaid Bay, EVOO, certified San Marzano tomatoes, fresh garlic, and fresh Motz (well we may do cow instead of water buffalo-sorry). Everything to VPN spec including the heat in the wood fired oven.

 

We are very excited to try this Kettle Pizza out. We will be doing a full production shoot with stills and high definition video and post all of our results over the weekend and or next week. The official Kettle Pizza inferred digital thermometer will be taking readings throughout the cooking event. We will record how long it takes to get to temperature and how long it will hold before refueling. I am very interested in seeing the results we get and we are very optimistic that this Kettle Pizza is going to do the trick.

Testing on our 35 yr. old Cast Iron Skillet-WORKS!
Now ready for the Kettle Pizza!!

Finally, it may be possible to have a high temp wood fired oven that does not break the bank, is portable and affordable!

We will report back ASAP with our Kettle Pizza Neapolitan Pizza Fest!

Godspeed.

Jim Baugh

JBOTV

Balled and ready! Jim's Chesapeake Bay Pizza Dough with Sourdough Starter.
5 Day total prep, four day bulk ferment. Lean dough, 00 flour, sea salt, water, and Jim's
Chesapeake Bay Starter.

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OUT OF THE BOX! Assembled and ready for Saturday!
(No problems with shipping and the Kettle Pizza puts together in minutes- no tools required. It was a snap)

 

We have got the hard wood, oak and hickory plus charcoal. Four day cold bulk ferment sourdough made with 00 flour. San Marzano tomatoes' and fresh cheese. Looking forward to firing this thing up and getting her to temp!

 

Come join us on our new You Tube Channel!

  

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The Tomato Sandwich…. A True Southern Tradition

The Tomato Sandwich….

 

Yes I am a southerner. Born and raised in Virginia growing up in Richmond, the Chesapeake Bay as well as Lawrenceville VA, I grew up with certain Virginia table fare traditions. Lets see, at my grandparents’ house in South Side every dinner table had a side of salted smoked and cured ham sitting on a plate. Alongside the ham was a bowl of fresh cut cucumbers, sliced tomatoes and onions all from the garden. The vegetables were douched in apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. The vinegar veggies and ham were a side at every dinner, regardless of what the main course was. Main course in the south for us meant fresh shot Doves from the corn field, venison, or the infamous Brunswick stew. (I never took to Brunswick stew, everyone else in my family loved it.)

 

For desert, was usually fresh churned vanilla (always vanilla) ice cream topped with fresh black berries we had picked earlier in the day. After desert, my brother and I would go out and catch lighting bugs, put them in a jar and place bed side for our night light.

This may sound like a sepia tone moment, but the rustic throwback image would not be complete without the king of southern traditions, the tomato sandwich.

I grew up with fresh grown super big beefsteak tomatoes and they are the BEST for making tomato sandwiches. Some folks I hear spur up the standard tomato sandwich with bacon, lettuce, and other delights that are wonderful. However the authentic beginning of all sandwiches in the south start with the tomato.

Yes, this is a simple recipe. The complication is only fresh ripened summer tomatoes will work. The biggest beefsteak you can grow or purchase in late June or July is what you need. It takes one whole beefsteak to make a tomato sandwich. It’s a biggie, but nothing else will do. It is just delicious.

I look forward each year to tomato season and the time has come. Here is the incredibly simple recipe.

 ·         Use whole wheat bread rather thin sliced. Homemade is best, if not than just get a hearty whole wheat brand from the store.

·         Real mayo! Homemade or get the good stuff from the store. Spread liberally on the bread. ( Do NOT toast the bread)

·         Cut you tomato and salt and pepper each slice, and also pepper the sliced bread.

·         Load up the tomatoes on the bread, slice and serve.

Well, it can’t get any easier than that. The fact is that the simple tomato sandwich has a flavor profile all its own. Once you add bacon, etc., it takes on another form, a delicious form, but it does go in another delicious direction.

 

Chow!

Jim Baugh

JBOTV

Author of Hooked & AFTERMATH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tag Pic Pac (from Carrabba's)

Tag Pic Pac Italian Home-style

Picchi Pacchiu Sauce with your favorite pasta is about as good as it gets. A dish made popular here in America by Carrabba’s Italian Restaurant and Grill is based on an authentic Italian recipe. I use to go quite often and get this dish and could not believe how good it was. I always ordered Tag Pic Pac (short for Tagliarini with Picchi Pacchiu Sauce) with grilled chicken.

On evening I had the opportunity to talk with the owner who was a super nice fellow, he even let me purchase one of his imported dishes that was on display hanging in the restaurant. It was a super cool large serving dish that had a octopus on it. I just had to have that thing, and to my surprise he did sell it to me! Funny thing the lady I was dating at the time was with me and she insisted she pay for half of the plate. I let her, however made the stipulation that should we stop dating, I keep the dish. Well in the end, the dish I kept was the one on the wall, the other dish I never saw again. 

This is the plate I bought off the wall in Carrabba's Restaurant. We still use it
to serve on special occasions.

That night while chatting with the owner I ask him about the main secret in making Tag Pic Pac, because mostly I could not figure out how to do the sauce. He said,

“Jim, you will not believe it is as simple as it is. You first hand crush fresh tomatoes; add fresh sliced garlic, basil, oregano, dash of salt and pepper. Then put in a pan with EVVO and cook for only about a minute, then serve.”

Well, that sounded a little too easy for me. So anyway I decided I would give it a try and sure enough it really is that simple and truly delicious. The fresh herbs are a must and for us the more basil the better.

Here is how we prepared this simple and delicious meal.

·         In a bowl slice then hand crush fresh tomatoes and add basil, oregano, Italian parsley, salt and pepper and set aside.

·         Precook your pasta, drain, and set aside

·         Precook you chicken stripes either grilled outside or seared in cast iron. Season with garlic, pepper and salt. Then set chicken aside and keep warm.

·         Lastly, add the bowl of tomatoes to a hot pan with EVVO and stir only for a minute. Take off heat.

 

NOTE: We had the best results by not precooking the garlic. We simply add them when we add the tomatoes. Also we added a little fresh Motz and grated Romano Cheese on top.

 

To serve place pasta on a plate, then add chicken and top off with the fresh Picchi Pacchiu, and add your favorite garnish, basil of course.

You can substitute the chicken with veal, pork or seafood if you like. It is all great!

Chow,

Jim Baugh
JBOTV
Author of Hooked and AFTERATH
Husband to "Ms11"

(Check out my Calamari recipe below-fantastic!) CLICK HERE

 

 

A recipe for laughter on Dad's Day!