Bail Lynne - Pizza, focaccia, flat and filled breads from your bread machine : perfect every time

Pizza,
Focaccia,
Filled and
Flat Breads

FROM YOUR BREAD MACHINE
Perfect Every Time

LORA BRODY

with Lynne Bail, P. J. Hamel,
and Cynthia Salvato

June 12, 1994

To Harriet and Charlie,

Love is all around you

The inspiration for this book hit me like a bolt of lightning the very last time I shelled out twelve bucks for pizza at our local pizza emporium. I couldnt help noticing the brand-new red Corvette parked right out in front. Then I saw that Apollo, the owner of the place, was wearing a very spiffy red sweater with a little Corvette emblem where the alligator usually goes. Putting two and two (or six and six) together, I realized just how much of a profit margin there was in this pizza business. Not only was Apollo making out like a bandit, he wasnt even giving good value for my money. His crusts were too thick (too many uneaten smiles of unsauced edges were tossed away by kids who liked only the covered parts), the sauce was uninspired at best, and the cheese had no flavor whatsoever. Hey, I could make better pizza than thatand for a fraction of the price.

And now you can as well. The bread machine makes it so easy to make world-class pizza dough that you will be forever spoiled. From the most basic pizza with red sauce to the ultimate in designer pizzaall are possible, and tastierin record time. And the news gets better; other classic breads are just a push of a button away. You can make hundreds of filled breads, braids, and twists, not to mention that new shining star on the food block: focaccia. The bread machine will open up a whole new world of flatbreads. Wait until you see how easy it is to make your own crackers, pitas, and lavosh. Youll find yourself inviting company over just to wow them with your interesting bread-sticks.

There is another very important reason to start making not only your own pizzas and focaccias but all your bread as well. Now that you have a bread machine, you are in complete charge of the kinds and quality of the ingredients you feed yourself, your family, and friends. By using unbleached, unchemically treated flours, grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices grown without pesticides and not treated with dangerous preservatives, you have a leg up in the nutrition game. By adding nonfat dry milk to your doughs, and low-fat dairy products to your toppings and fillings, you get a major calcium boost. By combining foods such as legumes (in the form of cooked chick-peas or pureed black beans) with the complex carbohydrates in the flour, you create a bread with nearly perfect protein, which, when combined with a salad or plate of steamed dark green leafy vegetables, makes a balanced meal. Add some bran or whole wheat flour and youve got your fiber for the day. You can turn any of the recipes here into vegetarian recipes by omitting, or substituting tofu for, the meat.

If you like to get your hands in the dough, and make great-tasting bread and pizza almost from scratch, then these recipes will satisfy that urge. Let the bread machine make the dough; you do the rolling or forming and baking by hand. Its a perfect combination of talents. And dont forget to stash away all the money youve saved by making your own pizzas. I think a red Corvette would look great parked in front of your place as well.

All of the recipes in this book were tested on a large (1 pound) machine. All the recipes can be used in ALL 1pound machines. Market surveys show that 90 percent of bread machine owners have the large models, and that trend is continuing. This does not mean you cannot use the recipes in a small machine, but some adjustments are necessary. You have two choices: Reduce the ingredients called for in the recipe by one third or make the full amount, watching carefully that the dough doesnt rise up and overflow the pan. If it threatens to do this, simply remove it to a well-oiled or buttered bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and continue the rise for the remainder of the time indicated on the machine.

All bread machines come with a Dough cycle. Sometimes its called Manual or Basic Dough. What it means is that the machine kneads the dough and then allows it to rise (depending on the brand of machine, this happens once or twice). At the end of the final cycle, the machine will signal that the dough is ready. You can then remove the dough and prepare to form it into bread.

Many recipes here instruct you to place the finished dough on a work surface, cover it with clean towel or plastic wrap, and let it rest for a few minutes. The act of deflating, or punching down, the dough, activates the gluten (protein) and makes the dough tense and therefore difficult to roll out. A short rest allows the gluten to relax and renders the dough more manageable.

You can refrigerate doughs after you deflate them. I store my doughs eitherin an oiled bowl, covered with plastic, or in a heavy-duty plastic freezer bag. Its important to use oversized bags, as the dough will continue to rise in the refrigerator. Doughs without perishable ingredients (eggs, milk, etc.) can be refrigerated for up to six days. Those with perishable ingredients should not be kept more than three days. You can freeze both kinds of dough that come out of the machine at the end of the dough cycle. I freeze my doughs for up to three months in 1-gallon heavy-duty plastic freezer bags. You can defrost them (still in the bag) either in the refrigerator (this is best for doughs with perishable ingredients) or at room temperature.

Many of the finished recipes in this book taste best when enjoyed hot from the oven, or at least while they are still warm. This is certainly true of pizza, although you couldnt prove that by my kids, who think leftover pizza for breakfast is one of the worlds great treats. Storage at room temperature is infinitely preferable to refrigeration, which robs the bread of moisture and allows other food smells to seep in. If you plan to freeze breads they should be completely cooled before being wrapped in plastic or placed in a plastic freezer bag. Defrost frozen breads while they are still wrapped so the moisture will collect on the outside of the bag, not on the bread. You can reheat or refresh breads in a moderate (350F) oven for ten to fifteen minutes. Wrap them loosely in foil and place them right on the rack, which allows hot air to circulate around them. If a bread is sliced, it is helpful to separate the slices slightly before reheating.

A toaster oven is perfect for reheating (and/or toasting) slices of bread as well as rolls and scones. A microwave is less successful, since bread tends at first to get soggy, then turn hard as a rock. If you dont mind soggy pizza crust, then reheat it in a microwave. Ill stick to my toaster oven.

If you do not see freezing or reheating directions in a recipe, its because we felt the bread didnt stand up to it.

There are a few things that contribute greatly to success in baking regardless of whether you use a bread machine to make your dough or do it totally by hand. They are the kind and quality of ingredients, the pans used for baking, and the oven temperature.

The order in which manufacturers instruct you to put ingredients into the machine varies from machine to machine. I have found that with the exception of the Dak or Welbilt it makes no difference at all if you are going to be making dough right away.