...the last day.
see ya around, june, it's been pretty sweaty, and surprising,
but all the goodness and badness of month number six is all over and done with tonight.
yeah, man.
another twelfth of this year, down the hatch,
but there's another big deal is right around the corner.
uh-huh.
july is cool and all, with vacation and sunshine and fireworks and all,
but are you aware that more than all of that, that rules is rules?
and july starts on a sunday, dudes.
WORD. if you know, you know.
and if you don't?
you're gonna find out in under 24 hours.
meanwhile,
i knew that i needed somethin'.
....no, not like how ordinary people say they need a drink after a long day
of successfully soberly navigating the hazards of personal and professional labor.
i mean, c'mon.
that doesn't fix anything, y'dumdum.
what i mean is, i wanted to reward myself for enduring the burden of a busy day,
fraught with foreign language barriers, common english debacles, traffic, gossip,
and a querulous kind of hunger...
i swear that easing back on desserts has been the hardest thing, neighbors.
there used to be three or four kinds of cookies and cakes
on hand at any given time at AMPERSAND TATTOO.
now, there's like, one at a time.
i mean, i'm eating better, feeling better, hopefully even looking a bit better-
it's all part of that P.M.A. all day, bro.
and i think it's working.
but, back to the main thread of the narrative-
i needed somethin'.
and what i needed was my favorite reward, dudes.
yup.
even when it's hotter than the hottest, and the air is heavy with megatons of moisture,
that's no excuse not to bring the hottness and the fire to bear on the suppertime menu.
what's the bets thing there is?
yup: PEE EYE ZEE ZEE AYY!!!
check the teleport:
FOR THOSE WHO ALBIE ROCK-
*FIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!!!!*
WE SALUTE YOU!!
that's right, friends.
even when i'm already sweaty af and suffocating in the swelter,
i'll still turn the oven up to 485 luscious fahrenheit degrees.
mmhmm.
if i gotta go out, i'm going out doing what i love,
and that's making expert vegan pizza for my face,
that's no joke.
the only downside?
that crust was golden, but the grey in the day washed out every picture i took.
eh.
maybe you're not seeing what i saw, but i'll bet you're bright enough to fill in the blanks.
ha.
no sauce on this fat-crust hand-tosser, either-
there's shredded spinach, and a heavy layer of daiya chee'- minced-up, naturally,
for maxxximum meltability, because like i already said: rules is rules.
that's right.
now, while the oven was heating up,
and really blistering the whole entire kitchen with ferociously furious fuego,
i had some 1/4" sweet potato slices arranged on parchment on a baking tray,
softening in the rising temperature, with a gentle kiss of olive oil on 'em.
i dunno how long they were in there,
or what the increasing temperature averaged out to or anything.
but i do know what gently browned sweet potatoes look like,
and i pulled 'em out when they looked like that.
smart.
ok, that's a start, but that's not it.
no way.
too much is the right amount.
and that's a fact.
so, i had to have caramelized onions.
i mean, really, now, what kind of a homemade pizza is worth a sh!t without 'em?
i'm just sayin', they may not be for EVERY pie,
but they surely are on the list for MOST of them.
sweet baby bell pepper rings? in yellow??
kyoot.
i did that.
and halved baby grape tomatoes, too.
yeah!
AND fire roasted tomato flakes around the olive-oiled edges, bruh.
that's how it happens, with little details and exxxtras all activating
that level-eleven-style on your one-to-ten rating system.
believe that.
-
anything else?
well, yeah, man.
there's the fried garlic sprankle upgrade in F*ing full effect.
that's very necessary.
OH,
and that ho'sauce-activated smoky tempeh crOmble jauns
was where the true victory was won.
really.
-
*
FIERY CRUMBLE TEMPEH HOTTNESS!
-
that's 1/3 block of tempeh, sliced into 1/2" shrapnel,
sauteed in a hot pan in a slurry of SAUCINESS!
like:
1 cup water;
1 T tamari;
3 T ho'sauce;
1/2 tsp ea. GPOP;
1/4 tsp black pepper;
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes;
3 shakes of liquid smoke;
1 tsp agave'
1 tsp olive oil;
1 tsp smoked paprika;
1/4 tsp ground mustard seed.
-
y'just bubble that away until the liquid is absorbed/evaporated,
and the whole thing batch browns up enough to look like some grilled meatishness.
eh.
maybe not. but you know what i mean, don'tcha?
tight.
-
THAT'S how pizza happens at my house.
uh-huh.
the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress is where the magic happens,
and it's pretty mutha-effing sorcerously sexxxy when it's ready.
i like it a whole bunch,
and after a day where i dealt with all those different styles and challenges,
i gotta say,
i felt like more of a real champ whilst chowing down on that entire pizza pie.
yep.
huh?
oh, you really wanna know about the dough?
ok. i thought you had that on lock by now, but, here y'go:
-
1 cup bread flour;
1 cup semolina flour;
2 T olive oil;
1 T fast-actin' yeast;
2 tsp sea salt;
3/4 cup warm water...
in a stand mixer, preferably, let it beat itself up on the dough hook for like,
ten minutes, on one of those lower speeds,
until it's all smoooooth and gluten stranded.
then let it rise.....and when it's doubled in size, stretch it out, by hand,
and lay it out on an oiled, seasoned steel tray-
y'gotta bake it on a stone, too.
that's key....
YEAH.
***********
so, june is done, today.
and the even bigger action starts tomorrow.
july might just be the one.
we'll see.
i've got high hopes, but also, zero expectations.
that's the thing, folks:
i'm grateful for the time i have bee given,
and i don't take that sh!t for granted.
making minutes matter more,
and moving forward in time and space,
across the expansive, expensive spans of spirit and memory
that comprise the secret universal plan,
without compromise is the promise i keep every day.
it's ALL really happening,
and that's the whole point.
what??!
i say that a lot?
man, that's because i F*ing mean it;
never quiet, never soft.....
No comments:
Post a Comment