What I’m reading now…

Food Books

 The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn

I actually rather enjoyed this story of woman in her mid-30′s, recently fired from her office job, on a quest to “find herself” by enrolling in Le Cordon Bleu cooking school for a year. What did she have to lose? So even though this book might scream Eat, Pray, Love, it, thankfully, is not.  Instead of complete vapid narcissim (oy, the ENTIRE India section, anyone?), it’s a fun little tome of one woman’s day to day life at the school – an experience she’s always wanted to have, but career and life got in the way in the past. It’s not glitz and glam – it’s a lot of hard work (and some of it is quite graphic surrounding the gutting of fish and other creatures) and the author seems to spend a lot of her time shuttling herself back and forth to the school instead of enjoying the city. Still, it’s a fun, light read and a bit of a glimpse into what it’s like attending the school – for those of us mere mortals who do not have the where-with-all (i.e. funds) to spend a year of our lives learning to be better cooks.

The dough had great flavor, but was a little chewy for me.

An added bonus in the book is the handful of recipes Ms. Flinn has included in the work. Today, I’m attempting her Pizza with Herbs recipe, although I’m not grilling it as she suggests. I also wish to try out her Tomato Provencal Spread and of course, the Nutella Crepes – she sprinkles brown sugar over the top and pops them under the broiler. How good would that be??

Anyway, here’s the pizza recipe as I’ve made it. Check out her book for the exact recipe (I’ve kept the crust pretty much intact – just didn’t grill it).

Pizza Grillee from The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

Ingredients for the Dough:

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

2 cups all purpose flour

1 T olive oil

1 t Italian seasoning

2 t sugar

1/2 t salt

1/4 t garlic powder

Extra flour for kneading

Steps

• Dissolve yeast in warm water – set aside for 10 minutes or so. 
• Mix flour, oil, seasoning, sugar, salt and garlic powder in a large bowl.
• Add water mixture to flour mixture. Stir to mix.
• Gently knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface.  The dough will be very soft and elastic. 
• Shape into a ball and place in an oiled bowl.
• Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for an hour – or until doubled.
• Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Punch down, divide dough into two balls.
• Stretch dough into circular shape. If you have a peel and a stone, you know what to do. Otherwise, stretch on a pizza pan.
• Top and bake in your pre-heated 450 degree oven for like 10 minutes. 

Read Full Post »