O ur spouses, Laura Silver and Graham Franois, grinned and bore it, eating pizza at least three times a week (its a tough job but someone has to do it). Laura still edits everything before it goes out the door, and Graham keeps our design and incredible Web site up to date.
Recipe-testers became friends, and friends became recipe-testers, recipe-inventors, and other helpers. Thanks to Leslie Bazzett, Jay, Tracey, Gavin, and Megan Berkowitz, Sarah Berkowitz, Betsy Carey, Marion and John Callahan, Barb Davis, Fran Davis, Shelly Fling, Beth Fouhy, Anna and Ewart Franois, Leslie Held, Lisa Hoff, Kathy Hoff, David Hughes, Allison Jensen, Kathy Kosnoff and Lyonel Norris, Kelly Lainsbury, Tefera Landis, Alec Neal, Barbara and Kristin Neal, Carey Neal and Heather Pamula, Craig and Patricia Neal, Lorraine Neal, Peggy Orenstein, Elaina and Paul Perleberg, the staff at Quang, Danny Sager and Brian McCarthy, the Schmitt family, Sally Simmons and David Van De Sande, Jen Sommerness, Sue and Eric Strobel, Debora Villa and Ralph Gualtieri, Lindy Wolverton, and Warren Zacher.
At St. Martins Press, thanks to Peter Wolverton, Monica Katz, Matthew Baldacci, Amelie Littell, and Anne Bensson; thanks also to Leah Stewart, our terrific copyeditor, and Judy Hunt, who created another great index. Ouragent-team of Jane Dystel, Miriam Goderich, and Lauren Abramo was brilliant as always. Jeff Lin of BustOutSolutions.com created our new mobile Web site version.
Gratitude to colleagues in our baking and culinary worlds past and present: Brett Bannon at Brets Table, Karl Benson and all of the wonderful folks at Cooks of Crocus Hill, Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, Steven Brown of Tilia, Jennifer Burkholder, the kind people at Dunn Bros, Stephen Durfee of the Culinary Institute of America, Barbara Fenzl of Les Gourmettes Cooking School, the generous bakers at Taste of India for teaching us how to use a tandoor oven, Michelle Gayer of Salty Tart, Thomas Gumpel of Panera, Bill Hanes, Chopper Bitterman, Kelly Olson, and Sherie Wood of Red Star Yeast, Patrick Lobo and Tara Steffen of Emile Henry, Tom Payne, P. J. Hamel, and Michael Bittle of King Arthur Flour, Stephanie Jameson and the crew at The Chefs Gallery, Brenda Langton of Spoonriver, Michael London of Maxs, Ray Loomis from Mohawk Valley Trading Company, Rudy Maxa, Dan Klecko McGleno of St. Agnes Bread Company, Riad Nasr of Minetta Tavern, Serap Oligney and her sister Fatos of Depot 62, John Puckett and John Soranno of Punch Pizza, Peter Reinhart, Suvir Saran, and Charlie Burd of American Masala, and Andrew Zimmern, Dusti Kugler, and Molly Mogren of Food Works.
Our photographer, Mark Luinenburg, continues to be a great friend and creative force behind the look of this book. We worried that a bunch of round flat things wouldnt be all that interesting visually. But just look.
And again, our families did a superlative job supporting us in this most unusual adventure: Zos husband, Graham, and her two boys, Henri and Charlie, and Jeffs wife, Laura, and his girls, Rachel and Julia.
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day:
The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring
Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients
SOURCES FOR BAKING PRODUCTS
Bobs Red Mill: www.bobsredmill.com , 800-349-2173
The Chefs Gallery (Stillwater, Minnesota): www.thechefsgallery.com , 651-351-1144
Cooks of Crocus Hill (St. Paul and Edina, Minnesota): www.cooksofcrocushill.com , 651-228-1333 or 952-285-1903
Emile Henry USA: www.EmileHenryUSA.com , 888-346-8853
Hodgson Mill: www.hodgsonmill.com , 800-347-0105
King Arthur Flour: www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/ , 800-827-6836
Lodge Cast Iron cookware: www.lodgemfg.com , 423-837-7181
Penzeys Spices: www.penzeys.com , 800-741-7787
Red Star Yeast: www.redstaryeast.com , 800-445-4746
Tupperware: www.tupperware.com , 800-366-3800
Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1927.
Grant, Mark. Roman Cookery. London: Serif, 1999.
Langton, Brenda. The Cafe Brenda Cookbook : Seafood and Vegetarian Cuisine. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004.
Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Food Product Quality and Consumer Protection, Repubblica Italiana. Summary: Proposal for Recognition of the Specialit Tradizionale Garantita Pizza Napoletana. May 24, 2004.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Fact Sheet. Egg Products Preparation: Shell Eggs from Farm to Table. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/focus_on_shell_eggs/index.asp , accessed May 1, 2011.
PIZZA AND FLATBREAD ARE THE FASTEST BREADS WE MAKE: STORING THE DOUGH MAKES THE DIFFERENCE
B y the time we finished our second bread cookbook, we came to a basic truth: our pizzas and flatbreads were the fastest and often the most beloved recipes in our repertoire. Why? Because unlike loaf breads, they require little or no rest time after shaping them. So if you have a batch of our stored dough in the fridge (where its been developing richer flavor over its storage life), and youve preheated your oven, you can be as little as ten minutes away from piping hot pizza, or even less for fresh pita flatbread. For busy people, there is no quicker dinneras always, active time is under five minutes a day, because you spread the preparation time for your premixed dough over many pizzas and flatbreads.
Weve included soups, dips, and spreads that turn flatbreads or pizzas into a complete and speedy meal. Ingredients will include grains and toppings from around the world, as well as healthier alternatives where possible. So this book can become the basis for entire meals that are perfect for busy households.
New pizzerias are popping up all over the United States, and pizza remains the nations number one purchased meal. Despite this, there arent many pizzacookbooks on the market today. And most recipes rely on dough that yields just one precious pienot an option for most busy people. We have a voracious appetite for pizza, and so do our readers (thats what they told us on our Web site). Making your own pizza is much easier than it looks, and the options for toppings and crust mean that theres a world of variety. As in all our books, the secret to baking it fresh every day is that the dough is on hand, in your refrigerator, all the time. Storing the dough makes all the difference. Since you only mix once, but bake up to eight pizzas or flatbreads over a couple of weeks, you divide the prep time over all the pizzas and flatbreads you make from the batch.
Whether youre an old hand at baking or a novice, our helpful tips will let you perfect your pies. We start with basics in Chapter 2 (Ingredients), Chapter 3 (Equipment), and Chapter 4 (Tips and Techniques). And then you can start baking exquisite pies with our Master Recipe (Chapter 5).
INGREDIENTS
M aking pizza and flatbread is a lot like baking regular bread, only quicker and flatter. Many of the ingredients are the same as in our first two books, but we discovered some new ingredients that will help you create world-class pizza and flatbreads. to locate harder-to-find ingredients through mail order or the Internet.
Flours vary in important ways, and weve found that the most predictable results are obtained when you use standard supermarket flours. Thats what we used to test our recipes. One way that flours vary (especially white flours) is in their protein content. Wheat protein is mostly gluten, a long, stringy molecule that gives dough its stretchiness and allows it to trap gas and rise. Lets talk about the flours we use in the book to make great pizza and flatbread.