Not bad …

in an old-hippie, crunchy-granola kinda way.

I'm talking about the whole-wheat crust from last night's pizza, of course.

Prior to serving, my husband said if we didn't like it, we could just eat the toppings. I agreed, but was secretly hoping I wouldn't have to sacrifice a precious jar of homemade pesto. And I didn't! The crust was earthy, almost nutty, not too dense (that was my biggest apprehension) but definitely not the softer crust we're used to.

The recipe I've used (link is to a .pdf file) for the past several years is from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (P.S.), the book that nudged me into being much more of a locavore, whole-food kinda cook. It's the traditional formula, calling for approximately half-and-half white and whole wheat flours, along with yeast, olive oil, salt and water. I usually added a little sugar. Go figure.

Here's the Nourishing Traditions recipe:

1 cup plain whole yogurt
1 cup softened butter (oops! I only used half a cup, and it really was totally fine!)
3-1/2 cups spelt or whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons sea salt 

Mix the yogurt and softened butter, add salt and incorporate flour. Cover and leave in a warm place 12 to 24 hours.

Ready to pre-bake at 300° for 30 minutes.

That's it. Pretty simple. It doesn't rise, as a traditional yeast dough does. It just sits there in a bowl overnight. I doubt that an extra half-cup of butter would have changed the dynamics of the resting period. That additional fat surely would have changed the character of the final product, but we were happy with the, ahem, lower-fat version. Heh.

On the left, topped and back into a 350° oven for another half hour. At
right, plated and ready to eat. I was so excited I shook the camera getting
ready to sit down for dinner.

I spread a quarter cup of pesto over the pre-baked crust, then added shredded mozza, onion, mushrooms and chunks of chicken breast which had been sprinkled with garlic powder and sautéed in a little olive oil. I meant to add some feta cheese crumbles but I forgot. Sometimes I also throw on some sliced black olives. These are my favorite pizza toppings by far.

All of the recipes I've seen for a whole-wheat yeast dough include sugar or honey. If you find one that's sugar-free, please share your source! Thanks. In the meantime, we'll be enjoying this one again.

We're waiting for a big snowstorm today here in the Middle of Nowhere. I stopped by Tiny Kroger yesterday to pick up some of my husband's favorite yogurt (Kroger brand Vanilla Chai, which is okay but I don't care for flavored yogurt, and he doesn't care for my, um, tangier plain homemade stuff). I had to go past the refrigerated meat and poultry on my way to the dairy section. There was not a single package of fresh chicken on the shelves.

I bought the last seven cups of his yogurt and as I walked down the aisle toward the checkout lanes, noticed there were no tubes of refrigerated biscuits nor any packages of sliced American cheese. I should have taken pictures, it was so funny.

This snowstorm will last one day. Temperatures will be back up into the 50s the remainder of the week. I predict it will hardly be worth getting a snowplow out. I look at it as a nice soaking rain, only colder.

Apparently a lot of folks in my county are more worried about it than I am, and are planning to eat a lot of chicken and biscuits. I hope you have a warm-and-toasty Sunday. With American cheese on top.

A South Beach gripe

I alluded to this when I began following the South Beach plan a month ago. I'm a "whole foods" kinda gal. When it comes to dietary fat, SB suggests that you:

Dispose of all solid vegetable shortening, lard, butter and hydrogenated oils. Replace them with extra-virgin olive oil, canola oil and cooking spray, and with margarines and spreads that do not contain trans fatty acids.

The South Beach Diet Super Charged, p. 165

I have some issues with this directive.

Obviously I'm not doing much baking on South Beach. Do I miss it? Hell, yeah! I told my husband last night that possibly the worst thing about the plan is I really don't get to cook. Mostly I throw a chicken breast on the George Forman and toss a salad or roast some cauliflower – not exactly haute cuisine, nor is it even creative cooking.

In the second phase of the plan you can eat whole grains. I'm really missing pizza, so I decided to try making a 100 percent whole-wheat pizza dough. It's in progress; I'll report back tomorrow on how successful I was.

I found the recipe I'm using in Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats.

Right up my alley, little rebel that I am. Heh.

The thing about the recipe that doesn't fit with South Beach is, um, butter. And full-fat yogurt (which I make from fresh, grass-fed, non-homogenized cow's milk). I'll post the whole thing if it's edible, but I just wanted to say right up front that butter is now and always has been on my menu.

Granted since Dr. Agatston doesn't encourage baking or the eating of bread, there's not much opportunity to eat butter. And I use olive oil when I sauté meat or poultry in my non-stick skillet (or Dutch oven, I love my new Dutch oven!), but I've been using olive oil to sauté for years.

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There is, however, butter in the pizza dough. One. Entire. Stick. The recipe calls for softened butter, and mine wasn't, so here's a tip. Don't put a stick of butter in the microwave to soften. Instead, grab your box grater and shred it into your mixing bowl. It will soften quickly and be ready to incorporate into your recipe in no time.

I need to make the mozzarella this morning, pull a jar of frozen pesto and a chicken breast out to thaw and  tonight – we feast! I hope. Film at eleven.