Recently I found a bunch of ancho chiles while raiding my cabinets for food (Once again, living the “poor life of the artist” lends to creativity like nothing else I know of). Anchos are dried Poblano chiles and almost impossible to find in Japan. Hence the phrase “worth their weight in gold” comes to mind. Long and lazy Saturday afternoons were born for this kind of gastronomic exploration so…, I reconstituted the dried chiles in warm water, blended them up with garlic, cilantro, lime juice, S&P, Mexican oregano, finely chopped Ibarra chocolate, honey and voila: a poor man’s mole poblano for my rosemary whole wheat pizza dough. Add some feta, homegrown tomatoes, red onions and black beans, a bottle of Sauza, some limes and you got the French high-tailing it out of Veracruz on el 5 de Mayo all over again.
The dough:
* 4 1/2 Cups High Gluten Flour (add some whole wheat for rugged manly appeal)
* 1 3/4 Tsp Salt
* 1 Tsp Yeast
* 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
* 1 3/4 Cup Cold Water
Mix the flour, salt and yeast together, stirring well. Add the olive oil and the water kneading the mixture (adding a bit more water or flour as needed) until coalesced into a great big brown lump of raw love. If you have a mixer, put in the dough hook and let’er rip for 3-5 minutes or so. If not, I hope you work out (or at least masturbate), ‘cos your forearms are soon to be burning.
Cut into four, knead into pretty balls, oil’em up like your Swedish Masseuse and throw in the fridge overnight. They’ll last for up to week but are best used within two days. You use cold water to delay the fermentation process, which takes place in the fridge overnight. Longer, slower fermentation (equals better sex…?) means a healthier pie. Just ask the scientists.
