fig and caramelized onion pizza

Have you ever bought a fig? Not a dried one or one wrapped in a Newton, but a juicy, plump one? Yeah, I hadn't either, hadn't even considered it until last week when I was at the farmer's market buying peaches for the cobbler and came across a little plastic container full of figs. I had to have them. After all they were less than half the price of most other vendors. Those purple-green, teardrop shaped fruits desperately needed a home, but what on earth was I going to do with them?

Let's see...first I considered a honey-fig tart, but after all of those pies and cakes last week for the 4th of July I couldn't really justify it. I needed to try something new and unexpected. I thought about wrapping them in prosciutto and grilling them, but we don't have a grill quite yet. I also thought about stuffing them with goat cheese and baking them in sea of honey. That sounded good, but something was missing. I realized, perhaps in thinking about the Newton part of a Fig Newton, that what was missing was bread. Bread cures most things it seems.

I really wanted to layer the figs and bread with other delicious ingredients, including goat cheese, caramelized onions, honey, a bit of jam and some parmesan cheese, and a pizza was the perfect answer. Still there was something missing. I don't know how I thought of it, perhaps through association figs make me think of fig leaves which in turn make me think of modesty and mostly nude statues, but I realized that the pizza needed a topping of leafy arugula. After all, we don't want those figs just sitting there, unadorned and naked for the world to see! The result was a delicious sweet and savory pizza, perfect for a summer evening.

Before I dive into that sea of honey and it's accompanying summer evening I wanted to note that this is the second installment of Recipe of the Week on My Girlfriend's Guide to Zürich. I'm excited to be teaming up with Deja and Angelica and their every growing, activity-filled, site.

Two pizza posts, back to back - a bookend to a wonderful weekend on Martha's Vineyard.! I'd love to say that this pizza is as delectable as the Grimaldi's pies that we scarfed down on Thursday, but I have to admit that even the hausfrau could never imagine making a pie that good. There are some things we just need to let go of, and besides I'm happy with my sweet-savory, healthy, at home pizza. I'll leave the expected to Grimaldi's and I'll take over the eccentric pies and toppings.
Making your own pizza dough has to be one of the easier and more satisfying kitchen feats. I think yeast tends to scare people off, but if you follow the directions and have bubbles then you are good to go. The dough also freezes really well so there is no pressure to use all four doughs in one sitting.
I love when we are sitting at our table and we can see our neighbors across the street sitting and eating on their terraces. It's as though we've devised a new type of dinner party, one held among strangers, where you don't actually sit next to each other or talk, but are just there.

I used goat cheese on this pizza because it just felt right, but I really do think any cheese would work. Zach and I aren't stinky cheese fans, but I bet a blue cheese or gorgonzola would be good. A basic mozzarella with some shaved parmesan would also be wonderfully simple and delicious.

Dough recipe - enough for four 10" pizzas

- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons kosher salt

- 1 2/3 cup lukewarm water

- 2 teaspoons of sugar

- 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

- 2 teaspoons of olive oil.

Fig-caramelized pizza toppings

- 4-5 figs, sliced into 1/4"discs

- 6 medium yellow onions

- 6 tablespoons of olive oil

- 1 tablespoon of butter

- 3 tablespoons of honey

- 3 tablespoons of apricot or fig jam (not a must)

- goat cheese or cheese of choice

- 2 handfuls of arugula

- shaved parmesan - to taste.

Start making the dough 2 hours before you want to make your pizza. Mix the flours and salt together in the bowl of a standing mixer. In a smaller bowl add the lukewarm water, yeast and sugar and allow to sit for about 5 minutes or until little bubbles start to form on the top of the liquid. Once the bubbles/foam has formed, add the olive oil to the yeast-water mixture and stir. Fit your mixer with a dough hook (or mix by hand) turn on to low and slowly add the yeast mixture to the flour. Knead until the dough is firm and smooth and easily releases from the bottom of the bowl as it mixes. Divide the dough into 4 balls and lightly rub them with olive oil before placing them on a sheet of parchment paper. Cover them with saran wrap and let them sit for about 2 hours or until they have roughly doubled in size. After the rise, place the dough you won't be using the same day in a plastic bag and into the freezer, where it will keep until the next time you want to make pizza.

When the dough still has about 30 minutes to rise you can start on the caramelized onions. Cut 5-6 medium onions into fairly large rings. The onions will shrink immensely and burn if they are too small so be sure to err on the larger side. Add about 1 tablespoon of oil per onion to a hot skillet. Add 1 tablespoon of butter (in total, not for each onion) and the onions and cook over medium-low heat until the onions have softened, turned light brown and caramelized, about 20-30 minutes. To prevent burning, stir occasionally and cover the skillet half way with a top. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside in a small dish.

When you are ready to make the pizza, grab one of the dough balls, lightly flour your work surface and begin to stretch the dough out with your fingers. Once the dough has flattened you can use your rolling pin to roll it out until it's very thin - about 10" in diameter.

Preheat the oven to 500F (260C). Place the rolled out dough on a greased baking sheet. Begin to top the pizza by spreading the honey and jam onto the dough. Follow the honey with the goat cheese and then the sliced figs. A lot of pizza making is about personal taste, so go with amounts that you think look good. After the figs add your caramelized onions. Place the baking sheet in the heated oven, keeping an eye on it. It should be ready after about 10-13 minutes, or when the crust has lightly browned. Remove from the oven, top with the arugula and shaved parmesan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut and serve!

Don't you love these house that are covered in ivy? I thought these photos, long awaiting a blog debut, were the perfect pairing for this fig pizza that I topped with arugula.
The arugula and parmesan turn a sweet pizza into a sweet AND savory pizza. Mmmm.

Wow' it's hard to write about these meals when I haven't even had breakfast yet. Now I want to make a breakfast pizza. Just imagine it...eggs and sausage and cheddar cheese! And I think I'd add caramelized onions to that. If only I was in Zürich I'd whip out one of those dough balls from the freezer and make it.

I had a wonderful and restorative weekend on Martha's Vineyard with some of my dearest friends. We've decided that next time we need to go for a week because two nights and one full day is just simply not enough time. OKay off to look at pictures from the weekend over a sad bowl of yogurt and fruit. Hmph.

Happy Monday!

Grimaldi's pizza

I'm a traitor. I might never be allowed back in New Haven. Ever. For the last ten years, since I started my freshman year at Yale, the debate has always been Pepe's or Sally's. If you aren't a New Havenite or from New England then you might not know that this is a question, a serious one, about pizza. One of New Haven's claims to fame, aside from being the forth most dangerous city in the US (eek), is that pizza was invented there, right down in Wooster Square. Before Zach and I moved to Zürich we lived at 23 Court Street, right next to Wooster Square Park and right around the corner from both Pepe's and Sally's, which are only a block away from each other on Wooster Street. I think we got take out pizza, veggie special, from Pepe's at least twice a week, and probably three or four times in the summer. In truth, neither of us have been to Sally's. We picked our allegiance early and stuck with it. In my mind Pepe's is the best pizza on the planet. Or at least that is how I felt until last night, when I ate Grimaldi's pizza. It was not only the best pizza I've ever had, but probably the best thing I have ever eaten. I think it was all in the dough...or it could have been the sliced instead of shredded mozzarella cheese. Either way, it was heaven.

I went to Grimaldi's with some family...well they aren't really family, but Pete's best friend since forever, Mac is virtually family and we like to joke that our mom and mac's mom talk to each other so much that they probably talk to each other in their sleep. It's Mac's birthday on Saturday so he planned a little bday excursion across the Brooklyn Bridge. I'd never walked across the bridge before to Grimaldi's, it was a great summer activity. There was a long line, but Mac bought some drinks and it gave us some time to work up at serious appetite. We ordered four large pizzas for seven people and we ate all of them. Every single last bite.

We probably waited in the line for about an hour, which wasn't so bad in my mind. I've waited in the Pepe's line for just as long. This is pete giving directions. It might not seem funny, unless you know Pete. Let me spell it out for you - upper east side Pete is giving directions in Brooklyn. He was very proud of himself. He dressed as hipster as he could, which meant he left his blue blazer and loafers at home, untucked his starched white button down, pulled on his dark jeans and wore sneakers. Perhaps there is a little hipster buried in him somewhere, deep deep down, but I don't think he'll be calling Brooklyn home anytime time soon. Oh Pete, too funny.
We ordered four pizzas: 1 pepperoni, 1 ricotta - sun dried tomatoes-basil, 1 meat lovers and 1 plain cheese. I could only manage two slices, but somehow all four pizzas disappeared. Pete did a quick calculation of how many pieces he had eaten and it came out to one whole pie. Oh dear. He had a couple 'moments' on the walk back over the Brooklyn Bridge. The pepperoni was my favorite. Delicious! So yes if you haven't tried Grimaldi's yet, go on a week night when the weather is nice so you won't mind waiting in the line. Happy Bday Mac!

Speaking of celebrations...This Saturday is the 9th, which means we were married three months ago. I can't believe it.
This is Zach reading his vows. We each wrote our own and kept them a secret until the ceremony. It was a highlight of the entire weekend.

Okay time to sign off and get my stuff together so I can head to Martha's Vineyard. I'm meeting my friend Kerry at the fast ferry in 45minutes. It's a funny name for a ferry that takes 5 hours. Yes, 5!!!! I packed trashy mags and barf bags- wish me luck. Happy weekend.

a bagel a day

I went to the Swiss Consulate this morning. Let's not talk about it. Let's instead talk about the bagel with cream cheese (more like cream cheese with a side of bagel) that I got before I went to the consulate. Sound good? I made sure to google 'best bagel upper east side' before I made my way down to the consulate from 63rd street. Smack in the middle of my journey down 3rd Avenue was Ess-a-Bagel. I'd never heard of it, and you probably haven't either, but damn that bagel was good. Perhaps it's because I've been deprived for so long, but I really do thing there was something that separated my bagel from the pack. The outside was perfect crusty and the inside deliciously soft. I also think I liked it because I actually witnessed the guys making the bagels behind the counter, dipping the dough into boiling water before placing them on a baking sheet and into the oven. I don't think you'd see that at any old NYC bagel place.

And did I mention how delicious the iced coffee was? Heavenly really. I might have to get a few more as the day goes on. I actually stayed up for 26 hours yesterday - all in the name of fun and birthday celebrations! Thank goodness for 5hr Energy!

I'm going to continue drowning my consulate sorrows for the rest of the day. Next stop - manicure and pedicure, followed by a brief look around Bloomies and then on to sushi for lunch. But not at this place - good god.
I mean have you ever seen so much cream cheese on a bagel? E-gads. It was a bit ridiculous and wasteful really. I can't imagine anyone actually eats that much cream cheese. If you did you'd probably keel over right there on the corner of 51st and 3rd.

So you probably want to know about my trip to the consulate. Or maybe you don't, but I'll just spit out the basics. It will take roughly 8-10 weeks to get the visa even though my husband already has one. Since I originally applied from Switzerland, which is an apparent no-no, they have their eye on me. I cannot overstay my 90 day welcome in Swtizerland (not that I was going to) or I will be banned from Switzerland and Western Europe for 3 years! I also can't get a temporary permit. I just carefully counted the stamps in my passport and I only have 24 more days, so that means lots of time in the states twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the visa to come through. Twiddling my thumbs while eating bagels and sushi and getting pedicures, all at the same time.

It's always nice to twiddle and eat with friends so let me know if you are around these next few days/weeks/months. But be warned, I will limit your restaurant options to Sushi or Mexican.

a star-spangled pie

It was a star-spangled weekend. Really it was a picnic-spangled weekend. We went to three picnics in a row. From the lakeside cobbler on Saturday, to a bbq engagement celebration on Sunday to a true 4th of July party last night. No more hamburgers for Talley. Well to be fair, Friday was steaks and bratwursts, but still you get the idea - I'm stuffed full of Swiss Fleisch (it bothers me a bit that the word for meat sounds so much like flesh.) So yes we ate a lot of meat, and a lot of potato chips and oh yeah, a heck of a lot of desserts. The picnics should be broken down by what I brought for dessert; Saturday cobbler, Sunday berry cake, Monday berry pie. The underlying theme/ingredient was definitely blueberries. I can't decide which was the best one, either the pie or the cobbler. I should have known the cake wasn't going to be that good when the recipe only called for 1/4 cup of butter. I mean what was I thinking? The pie crust alone has an entire cup. Butter makes things better, even the bit of homesickness we felt being in Zürich for the 4th of July.
Can you tell which one I like better? Elaine and Chris, if you are reading this then I apologize for bringing the 'eh' dessert to your party. If I had known I would have baked a heart-spangled pie for your engagement celebration. The cake was just off. I don't know what else to say, it was the wrong consistency, not moist enough and the coarse salt that the recipe called to be sprinkled on top did all the wrong things for the flavor in my mind. I like the idea of a buttermilk berry cake, but I need to find a better recipe for the cake. Since it was only 'eh' I won't leave you with the recipe, but if you have a better cake recipe that you are willing to share I'd be most appreciative.
I'm not sure how Zach feels about me snapping photos of his breakfast, but I couldn't help myself when he came to the table with a red-white-blue themed bowl of cornflakes.
chocolate.cake.so.damn.good. I'm not sure I can even call it cake, it was more like brownie dough. Incredible, edible, gone in a few seconds. The cake...well the cake lingered a bit longer. At least it's pretty, it has that going for it.
And then there was the pie. I adapted the recipe from the cherry pie that I made last month, replacing berries for cherries and adding a bit more cornstarch. It was delicious and this time we remembered the ice cream! Unfortunately they didn't have a 5-pointed star cookie-cutter at the store so I had to go with the 6-pointed, but it gets the idea across, and now I'll have Hanukkah ready cookie-cutters.

crust:

- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 1 tablespoon sugar

- 3/4 teaspoon salt

- 1 cup butter

- 5 tablespoons ice water

- 1 beaten egg to adhere cutouts to crust

filling

- 7 1/2 cups of mixed berries. I used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries roughly in equal parts

- 1/3 cup cornstarch

- 3/4 cup sugar (adjust according to sweetness of your berries, mine were very ripe and sweet)

- 1/4 salt

- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

- milk for brushing

- butter for dotting

preheat oven to 425F (218)

for crust: whisk flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and rub with your fingers until integrated to the point that nothing is larger than a pea sized clump. Add the 5 tablespoons of ice water and mix with a fork until the dough holds together when pressed between fingers. Gather dough together, divide into two balls and flatten to disks then place in plastic wrap and into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

for filling: mix berries, sugar, cornstarch, salt and lemon juice in a large bowl.

Roll out one of the dough balls on a well floured surface with a well floured rolling pin. Roll until it is roughly 12" in diameter. Place the dough into your 9" pie dish and trim the edges so that the dough only overhangs by 1/2." Pour your berry mixture into the dough lined pie dish, mounding slightly in the center. Dot the berries with butter (about 1 tablespoon.)

For the second ball of dough make sure the surface is floured super well otherwise it will be impossible to get the cutout dough off (my pie is witness to that difficulty) Roll out the second ball so that it is just larger than the dish. This is where it gets tricky. You want the dough to be thicker rather than thinner since that will make it easier to lift as one piece once you have your stars cut out. So cut your stars out, saving the cutouts, and once complete lift the dough onto the berries. Fold the bottom dough over the top dough and press with fingers. Beat your egg into a small dish. With a knife spread a bit of egg on the back of your cutouts and adhere to the edge, or wherever you like. Brush milk over crust, not edges, and then place in the oven.

I recommend placing your pie on a baking sheet in case it gurgles juice. Bake at 425 for 15 minute and then lower the heat to 325 and bake until the filling is bubbling and the crust is gold brown, about another 50 - 60 minutes. Remove and let cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

A juicy hamburger, topped with cheddar and smothered in ketchup - ahhh 4th of July! Burgers were a highlight of both picnics this weekend, but the mini burgers were definitely the better burger. I mean just look at them, so precious, and I should mention delicious. I'm mad at myself that I didn't get a picture of their partner in crime - the pig in a blanket. The mini burger made their appearance at our friends Jas and G's festive 4th of July party last night. They are incredible hosts, always easy breezy, and they have the best terrace in town with a fabulous view.
I never thought I would mix ketchup and mustard. I blame it on my bratwurst addiction, where the mustard is too spicy so I cool it down with ketchup. I guess the mixture has ventured beyond the stick of meat and onto the patty of meat.
A note about the American flag. Jas is American, a homegrown Texas gal, and G is French (G stands for Gregoire) and this flag was originally the French flag. But Jas, unable to find an American flag in CH and at a loss decided to slice and dice the French flag and turn it into a make-shift American flag, hence 'France' written next to the stars. That's the view. And even more impressive, the enormous spread. Jas really outdid herself and made fried chicken, spinach artichoke dip, various cheese balls, buttermilk dip and of course the mini hamburgers and pigs in a blanket. I felt like I was eating America...mmm good.
Sparklers make everything festive. And so do star-spangled pies! I hope you had a star-spangled weekend and ate your fill of corn on the cob and hot dogs.

I can't believe I'm writing this...again....but I'm heading to the states tomorrow. I'm officially a gypsy. Give me a violin and I'll play you a sad song. Okay, really it's not that sad, but I am beginning to feel a bit feed-up with this whole unsettled feeling. I have to go home to apply for my visa, which shouldn't be a big deal, but then again dealing with any paper-shuffling bureaucratic issue is bound to be head-ache inducing. Good thing I have just the cure for that headache - a weekend with some of my girl friends in Martha's Vineyard. Ocean...here I come!!