birthday pizza party!

Ok not really. But it was recently my birthday and I got a bunch of really great gifts-all of which were total surprises. Do you see a theme here?

• Johnny sent me a song that sounds like Daft Punk wishing my a happy birthday
  
• Sarah made me an amazing cake that I have now had for breakfast five days in a row, not to mention homemade salsa and jams
  
• Todd made me a sign that says "I (heart) mayo"
  
• Jen gave me pretty white dishes to take food pictures on (you will be seeing a lot of them)
• Heather made me cookies; Sophie made me blondies
  
• Matt gave me a baking stone, a cookbook, and a bread machine!
  

I have no idea how I got so lucky, but I'm really very thankful for it.

So having listened to my song about ten times on repeat, and finally finally wanting something other than sweets for a meal, I decided to make a pizza, dough and all! And it actually turned out really yummy. I used a Cooks Illustrated dough recipe and hijacked a Bon Appetit toppings recipe and I shall call the concoction "28 is Great... for PIZZA". Ok, I'll work on the name, but really the recipe is good.


28 Is Great... for PIZZA
(or caramelized onion & mushroom pizza)

dough (via Cooks Illustrated)

1 3/4	cups water , warm (about 105 degrees)
1	envelope rapid-rise dry yeast
1	tablespoon granulated sugar
2	tablespoons olive oil
4	cups unbleached all-purpose flour , plus extra as needed
1 1/2	teaspoons table salt
	Vegetable oil (or cooking spray) for bowl

Instructions

1. Set oven to 200 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn oven off.

2. Meanwhile, in bowl of food processor fitted with either metal or plastic blade, add water and sprinkle in yeast and sugar. Pulse twice to dissolve yeast. Add all remaining ingredients and process until mixture forms cohesive mass. Dough should not be sticky (if it is, add 2 more tablespoons flour and pulse briefly) nor should it be dry and crumbly (if it is, add 1 more tablespoons water and pulse briefly). Let rest for 2 minutes. Process for another 30 seconds.

3. Remove dough from food processor and knead by hand on floured work surface for 1 minute or until dough is smooth and satiny (dough will feel a bit tough at this point).

4. Very lightly oil large bowl with vegetable oil or cooking spray. Place dough in bowl (do not coat dough with oil) and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 40 minutes or until doubled. Remove from bowl, punch down, remove from bowl and separate into two round pieces. Let rest for 10 minutes under damp dish towel, then shape according to illustrations below, and add toppings.

5. Proceed to cook topped pizza in preheated 500-degree oven using the following guide to determine cooking time for pizza crust with topping but without cheese. All pizzas need to be cooked an additional two or three minutes after adding cheese, or until cheese is completely melted.

Toppings (adapted from Bon Appetit)

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 large onions, thinly sliced
• 8 oz mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1 (5-oz) package Boursin garlic-herb cheese

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook onions with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to moderate and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden, about 15 minutes more. Add mushrooms, reduce heat to low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft and deep golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Remove from heat and cool to warm, about 10 minutes.