Quiero Conchas

OMFG

So, I admit that I like 1. sugar 2. fat 3. salt...and 4. gluten.

To that end, if you feel similarly, I must say that Mexican conchas will blow your mind. Not only is concha a fun and dirty word in Spanish, as it ought to be, it's a delightful pastry with which I am quite eternally enamored.

The best way to make conchas is to...just make them. Use Fany Gerson's recipe from My Sweet Mexico (although I admit that I oppose, very strenuously, her not weighing the ingredients for pastry recipes). 

And then eat them, don't forget to eat them. 

Buen provecho, my little cerdos.

Pizza: something easy to blather about

Pizzascape: with homemade ricotta and capers

I suppose it's relatively easy for me to talk about pizza. So, why not begin here. My advice is thus:

• Really great crust takes 12-24 hours to make. Plan ahead. But if you can't, who cares, make it and bake it right away. It will still be good.
• As I said, just make it. It's easy.
• Use bread flour (King Arthur or Caputo Tipo 00 are nice, but don't be afraid to try other bread flours. Or other random edible substances.
• Follow either Bobby Flay's recipe or Alton Brown's recipe. Double the recipe. Freeze extra balls of dough for future pizza making.
• Use this recipe if you like tomato sauce. Don't use if it you don't.
• Don't put a ton of crap on your pizza. Just a sprinkling of toppings is enough. The crust should be the focus.
• Use great, tasty olive oil, whatever you might want to actually lick off your own paw. Be liberal with it, it should taste awesome.
• Crank your oven up to 500+ degrees.
• Set the rack at the lowest setting. You don't need a pizza stone, a pizza pan works fine, but use a stone, or a large terracotta pot base, or a big ceramic tile, if you want to feel virtuous about it.
• Expect each pizza to take about 5 min or less to bake at high heat. Watch it, it's fun and prevents fires, too.
• Invite your friends over. Chow it all down together with beer, or wine, or water, or vinegar...