Cooking With Cooper

Here’s the second episode of Cooking with Cooper! Excuse...

a1991w — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:26:34 -0600

Here’s the second episode of Cooking with Cooper! Excuse the weird facial hair (No Shave November) and the mic (short in the wire we didn’t know about until after shooting).

The Calzone

a1991w — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 00:02:06 -0600

I absolutely love calzones. They’re delicious, really fun and easy to make, and pretty cheap depending on what ingredients you use. The following recipe is the one I use on a regular basis, the same one my father taught me when I was a child. Here’s what you’ll need:

A package of pepperoni (or whatever other meet you want to use, like bacon, sausage, etc.)
A 4-pack of biscuits (I personally prefer the Pillsbury brand, but you can use any)
You can also use this dough recipe
A large package of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 garlic clove, minced (Here is a link on how to peel and mince garlic cloves)
2 tablespoons of butter
A jar of marinara sauce (for dipping)
A pizza pan (or baking pan)

The first thing you need to do is pre-heat the oven to whatever temperature is on the biscuit can (usually around 400 degrees or so).

After you’ve done that, the next step is to make a garlic butter sauce to be rubbed on the outside of the dough. In a small saucepan, heat garlic and butter over medium heat until garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and allow to sit.

Then it’s time to make our dough. If you buy the biscuit dough, you’ll need to open two of the four cans and smoosh the individual biscuits together until it forms a unified lump of dough.

The next step is to spray your baking sheet or pizza pan with PAM, or any other cooking spray. You’ll then need to get your roller out and cover it and your hands with flour, so it won’t stick to the dough. Roll the dough out as best as you can to the edges of the pan, getting it as thin as possible without breaking it.

Next you’ll place your toppings on one side of the calzone. I’m using pepperoni and cheese, so that’s what I placed on mine. Make sure it’s only on one side of the calzone.

The next step is to grab the side of the calzone that doesn’t have toppings on it and fold it over the topping side. Seal it by rolling the two edges of the dough together, and cut a hole in the top to release the steam that builds up during the baking process.

You’ll then liberally coat the outside of the dough with the garlic butter.

Place the calzone in the oven, and let sit for however long the biscuit instructions say it takes to cook. (Usually about 15-17 minutes.) If you use the dough recipe, that cooking time goes up to about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven when the top of the calzone is golden brown. Let sit for about 5 minutes. Serve with heated marinara sauce.

Pizza Dough

a1991w — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:11:52 -0600

Here’s a recipe for making pizza dough that I got from this website:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/01/pizza-and-the-limits-of-diy/

Really Simple Pizza Dough

Makes enough for one small, thin crust pizza. Double it if you like your pizza thick and bready.

1 1/2 cups flour (can replace up to half of this with whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (may need up to 1 or 2 tablespoons more)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Stir dry ingredients, including yeast, in a large bowl. Add water and olive oil, stirring mixture into as close to a ball as you can. Dump all clumps and floury bits onto a lightly floured surface and knead everything into a homogeneous ball.

If you are finding this step difficult, one of the best tricks I picked up from my bread-making class is to simply pause. Leave the dough in a lightly-floured spot, put the empty bowl upside-down on top of it and come back in 2 to 5 minutes, at which point you will find the dough a lot more lovable.

Knead it for just a minute or two. Lightly oil the bowl (a spritz of cooking spray perfectly does the trick) where you had mixed it — one-bowl recipe! — dump the dough in, turn it over so all sides are coated, cover it in plastic wrap and leave it undisturbed for an hour or two, until it has doubled in size.

Dump it back on the floured counter (yup, I leave mine messy), and gently press the air out of the dough with the palm of your hands. Fold the piece into an approximate ball shape, and let it sit under that plastic wrap for 20 more minutes.

Sprinkle a pizza stone or baking sheet with cornmeal and preheat your oven to its top temperature. Roll out the pizza, toss on whatever topping and seasonings you like. (I always err on the side of skimpy with toppings so to not weight down the dough too much, or if I have multiple toppings, to keep them very thinly sliced.)

Bake it for about 10 minutes until it’s lightly blistered and impossible to resist.

This is Cooking with Cooper episode #1. In this episode I show...

a1991w — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:59:58 -0600

This is Cooking with Cooper episode #1. In this episode I show you how to make bagel sliders.