Joe's Easy Homemade Pizza Crust

Submitted by Joe Perry

Pizza Crust
2 ½ to 3 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package regular or quick active dry yeast (2 ¼ teaspoons)
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 cup very warm water (120 to 130 degrees)


Directions
Mix 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons olive oil and the warm water. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour until dough is soft and leaves sides of bowl. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead to 5 to 8 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes. Continue as directed below for thin crusts or thick crusts.
For thin crusts: Heat Oven to 425. Grease 2 cookie sheets or 12 inch pizza pan with olive oil. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into 12-inch circle on cookie sheets or do that impressive pizza dough toss thing that you see on TV. Doing the pizza toss can win you major coolness points if you do it correctly, and I am pretty sure there has to be a Youtube video tutorial of it somewhere. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are you doing the hand tossed dough trick you may be careful not to drop the dough on the floor. That would totally suck.

Anyways, partially bake (par-bake) the dough for 7-8 minutes or until crust just begins to brown. Add toppings and then continue to bake for another 6-8 minutes (or until your cheese looks awesome)

For thick crusts: Who the hell eats thick crust? If you were to make it with thick crust, and I don’t know why you would, but let’s say you went crazy and wanted to you could bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or until cheese is awesome.

Woody's White Bread

Submitted by Joe Perry.

When I got the idea to do a cook book I immediatly thought that I had to post my bread recipe. Baking has always been one of my passions, having been the Head Baker at Montana Mills Bread Co.Cassidy always jokes that my baking is what made her fall in love with me… if you try this recipe you may believe her, lol.


Woody's White Bread (LOW Fat) Makes 2 Loaves

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
3 cups bread flour (for second step)
2 – 3 Tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
2 packages regular or quick active dry yeast (4 ½ teaspoons)
2 ¼ cups very warm water (120 to 130 degrees)
(optional)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted



Directions (For more information refer to the Tradional Yeast Bread How-to.)
1. Mix 3 ½ cups of the all-purpose flour, the sugar, salt, shortening and yeast in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in remaining 3 cups bread flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.
2. Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until bread is smooth and springy. I can’t stress this step enough, don’t half-ass this. If you do decide to half ass this step, perhaps even skip over what you are reading right now your bread will turn out like crap. The bread will not rise properly and it will be crumbly too, and you don’t want that.
3. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until doubled. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
4. Grease bottoms and sides of 2 loaf pans with shortening.
5. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. Divide dough into half. Flatten each half with hands or rolling pin into 18”x9” rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at the 9” end. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Press each end with side of hand to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. If desired, brush lightly with butter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 35 to 50 minutes or until double.
6. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 425. 7. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack. Brush loaves with butter; cool.

How to make Traditional Yeast Dough

How to make Traditional Yeast Dough

1. After the first addition of flour has been mixed in, the dough will be very soft and fall in "sheets" off a rubber spatula.
2. The second addition of flour makes the dough stiff enough to knead. Mix in only enough flour so dough leaves the side of the bowl and is easy to handle.
3. To knead, fold dough toward you. With the heals of your hands, push the dough away from you with a short rocking motion. Move the dough a quarter turn, and repeat motion.

4. When the dough has been kneaded long enough, it will feel springy, and be smooth with some blisters on the surface.

5. Place dough in a large bowl greased with shortening, turning dough to grease all sides.

6. Dough should rise until it has doubled in size. Test by pressing finger tips about 1/2 inch into dough. If the indentations remain, the dough has risen enough.

7. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. [ This is effectionatly called "punching down the dough"] Fold dough over and form into a ball. This releases large air bubbles to prdouce a finer texture in traditional loaves.