Just before I left for a recent trip to France I found myself alone and hungry in Madison. Having heard about a new Italian fine dining restaurant and wanting to pitch the idea of them having our cheese on their menu, I wandered into Cento.
I actually love dining alone, you never have to share and there’s no one there to judge you for having a second glass of wine (or third)! I decided to order a smorgasbord of dishes starting with simple olives (which went great with my martini), the olives were marinated in an olive oil from Italy infused with orange peel, garlic, rosemary, thyme and a hint of chili.
I then went on to taste burrata cheese and olio verde on rustic bread, basically a fancy term for the best open-face grilled cheese you’re ever going to find.
As I dove head first into my lamb entrée, Chef Micheal Pruett joined me at my table. He treated me to delicious chocolaty desserts. We ended up talking for an hour about our shared passion of local food and the problems our farmers face, I tell you one more glass of wine and I think we would have had all the issues resolved.
Then I went on my merry way into the cold Wisconsin evening to walk a few laps around the Capital to work off dinner.
After returning from France I realized that one doesn’t need to cross the Atlantic to find great food, just head down to Madison and see what Michael’s cooking up at Cento … and maybe you’ll even find some of our cheese on their menu!
1 3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees)
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons olive oil
Step 1
Whisk the yeast and sugar gently into the warm water. Set aside and let sit for about five minutes or until yeast becomes foamy and begins to activate.
Step 2
In a large bowl or the bowl of a kitchen aid add flour, salt and cornmeal, stir to combine. slowly add the water/yeast mixture to the flour mixture until combined. Drizzle olive oil into the dough and knead for about five minutes. If you are using a kitchen aid leave it running for about three minutes.
Step 3
Place the dough in a oil lined bowl, seal with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for a few hours. If you think about it punch the dough down after an hour or two and let it rise again for another hour. Then stick the dough in the fridge for at least an hour before making the pizzas.
This recipe makes 2 pizza crusts. It’s easy to double if you would like to make more.
The best part about these pizzas are to be as inventive as possible, use what you have on hand and have a ball experimenting.
Tomato Mozzarella:
2-3 ripe tomatoes (When tomatoes are not is season I use a 15 ounce can of tomatoes and add a pinch of sugar)
2 or 3 cloves of garlic depending on your taste, minced
10-12 fresh basil leaves or a few tablespoons of dried basil
salt & pepper to taste
a splash of olive oil
fresh mozzarella, sliced
Step 1
Chop the tomatoes into 1/2 inch chunks, collecting the juice as you go. Add the tomatoes to a medium size bowl. Julianne the basil and add to the tomatoes, mix in the garlic and salt and pepper. Drizzle the mixture with a bit of olive oil. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for an hour or so so that the flavors can come together.
Step 2
Roll the dough out into 2 very thin crusts. This will take a little practice to get right, depending on the heat of your grill you may need to leave it a bit thicker, just play around and find out what works for you.
Step 3
Grill one side of the pizza crust on a medium high grill. When the crust is golden remove from the grill, flip over and begin adding ingredients. Add a bit of the mozzarella and tomato mixture, not too much, less is always more with these. Then place the pizza topping side up onto the grill. Grill until the crust is golden.
Enjoy!
Bonus: Gruyere, bacon and Thyme Pizza – One of my favorites!
Make a batch of crust and this time dress it us with grated Gruyere cheese, fried bacon bits and fresh time, a lovely combination!
For me the New Year doesn’t start when the ball drops at midnight in Times Square. It begins somewhere around the second or third week in March, when mud takes the place of snow, the robins return, and the cows begin to calve.
Joe and I have what is referred to as a seasonal dairy, meaning we try to get all the cows pregnant at the same time, so we can dry them up at the same time, so we can take two months off while the cows are dry, and so on and so forth.
Getting all the cows pregnant at once is about as realistic as me sticking to my new year’s resolutions. What usually happens is I get two or three cows calving the second or third week in March and the rest a month later. The three cows that are “fresh” (as we call it on the dairy farm), will not produce enough milk to have the milk truck stop every other day for a pick up—so that means until I have more cows freshen, I am stuck with about a hundred and eighty pounds of milk every day. What’s the saying? When life hands you lemons make lemonade? Well, when life hands you a hundred and eighty pounds of milk you make yogurt, fresh mozzarella, pancakes, milkshakes, butter, and you start eating cereal three times a day.
Well, it seems like home cheese making is all the rage, so I decided to try my hand at making whole milk ricotta, and the results were/are delicious.
Whisk in a small bowl:
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Makes ¾ cups
Combine into a food processor:
4 oz. local goat cheese, room temperature
¼ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon grainy mustard
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
1 tablespoon minced parsley
Pinch of salt, pepper, & lemon zest
Thoroughly combine ingredients, add more milk to thin the dressing if desired.
Makes 1 cup
Pour into a small bowl:
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Add big pinches salt and pepper
Stir to dissolve salt, then taste (salt subdues acid of vinegar)
Add small pinches of salt to taste if needed
Whisk in 3-4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Taste as you go
Add:
2 cloves of garlic, adjust for preference
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, adjust for preference
1 tablespoon of Lemon zest or juice, adjust for preference
Touch of honey or sugar, adjust for preference
Makes ¼ cup
Recipe by Chef Nathan Berg
Ingredients:
1 small shallot, diced
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 oz apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
2 Tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup sunflower or grapeseed oil
Salt and pepper
To prepare the vinaigrette:
Place shallot, buttermilk, mustard and vinegar in medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk until combined. While whisking rapidly, slowly drizzle oil into mixture until fully incorporated. Lastly, mix in fresh dill and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Ingredients:
1/2 loaf of crusty sourdough bread
2-3 Tablespoons of quality oil (sunflower, olive, grapeseed, etc.)
Salt and pepper
To prepare the croutons:
Preheat oven to 400º. Rip bread into bite-sized pieces.
In a mixing bowl, coat the bread chunks with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and heat in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Croutons should be firm and crispy on the outside but still relatively soft in the center. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Ingredients:
1 pound of fresh green and/or yellow beans
1 cup of fresh grape, cherry and/or pear tomatoes
3-4 cups of sourdough croutons
1/2 cup buttermilk vinaigrette
Salt and pepper
To prepare the bread salad:
Bring large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
Snip stem ends from beans. Boil beans for approximately 3 minutes, or until beans are just beginning to soften. Immediately remove from boiling water and place into an ice bath until cool. Strain beans and pat dry.
Halve the tomatoes. Place the croutons, beans and tomatoes together in a large mixing bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Salt and pepper to taste.
Variations
You can utilize add additional fresh vegetables to this salad (grilled sweet corn being the best that immediately springs to mind) or you can substitute different vegetables and dressing/vinaigrettes altogether to suit your specific meal. Sky’s the limit…
Recipe by Chef Nathan Berg
Ingredients:
6 cucumbers
8-10 fresh mint leaves
3/4 cup greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
To Prepare:
Peel, seed and chop the cucumbers into 2 inch chunks.
Combine all ingredients into a blender and puree on high speed for 1-2 minutes.
Strain soup through a sieve or some cheesecloth. Add salt & pepper to taste (white pepper seems to work better for this soup, but you can use either).
Season some additional greek yogurt with salt and pepper to use as a garnish, along with a sprig of mint.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 inch of ginger, grated
1 gallon of cold water
fresh seasonal fruit for garnish
To Prepare:
In a jug large enough to hold a gallon of water, mix the honey, apple cider vinegar and water together, taste add more honey or vinegar if needed. Serve in glasses filled with ice and garnish with seasonal fruit.
Ingredients:
1 pint black currants
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
To Prepare:
In a sauce pan, combine the currents with the sugar and water. Cook over medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.
Let the mixture cool before continuing with the next step.
In a small bowl, beat together cream, sugar and vanilla until the cream thickens but remains a bit runny.
In pretty glasses, layer the mixture of currents with the cream. It also looks nice when the two are slightly mixed together.
Garnish with an edible flower, a sprig of mint or even lemon balm.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound lard
1 Cup warm water
5 Cups flour
To prepare the pastry:
In a small saucepan, bring water and lard to a boil, stir until lard is dissolved. Place flour in a food processor, add the water and lard mixture slowly to the flour until just combined.
Turn the pastry out into a bowl, cover with a tea towel to keep warm while preparing the filling.
Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon Worcester sauce
1 tablespoon finely minced herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, or sage
To prepare the filling:
In a medium bowl, add ground pork and remaining ingredients.
Remove 2/3rds of the pastry, roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or small bowl, cut pasty into about 7 inch circles. Place circles in the muffin tins.
Spoon pork mixture into the pastry lined tins pressing down and filling just over the tops of the tins.
Remove remaining pastry from bowl. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 thick. Using a biscuit cutter or small bowl, cut pastry into 4 1/2 inch circles. Place pastry on top of the pork filling
Brush the tops of the pies with an egg wash, then, put the pies in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Take the pies out of the oven and carefully lift each one out of the muffin tin and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Brush the sides of the pies all over with the egg wash then place them back in the oven at 400 for an additional 30 minutes.
This will make 6 larger individual pies. For smaller pies use a traditional size muffin tin and cut out the pastry to fit.
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