Secret Pizza Party

1, November 2010.JPG

(mid november. number 10.)

 

We took an enforced hiatus from Secret Restaurant-ing in October, for a multitude of reasons. We enjoyed making small autumnal dinners like savory pies and soups, and soaking up the odd amount of sun still left in Portland. We also had no dining table, or seating, or kitchen utensils, or glasses, or white china, or silverware, due to a roommate switcheroo.

November came, along with the rain, and we still didn't have a proper table at my house. But we decided create a meal that didn't really require one! PIZZA SLAM. We hit up Portland Farmer's Market one last time before the season concluded, and crafted almost all toppings/sauces from what we found there.

We brought out pies two-at-a-time, every 20 minutes or so, for a couple of hours. There was an ongoing came of Pictionary between the pies.

1:

wheat crust

garlic

olive oil

fresh mozzarella

cracked pepper

topped with a lightly dressed tangy salad of arugula, spinach, and fennel

 

2:

white crust

red sauce (made from red and yellow cherry tomatoes, and the last few heirloom's being sold by the guy we buy all of our roots from at farmer's market)

black trumpet mushrooms

romanesco broccoli

sheep's milk feta

fresh mozzarella

 

3:

wheat crust

gouda

apples (cox's orange pippen from our favorite stand of this fall, 'Old World Apples')

walnuts

parmesan cream sauce

fresh rosemary

 

4:

spinach crust

juniper berry pesto

lion's mane mushroom

chinese winter greens

This one was NOT GOOD. Sorry, folks. 

 

5:

spinach crust

part skim mozzarella

yellow cherry tomatoes

arugula pesto

yellow foot mushrooms

 

6:

rosemary white crust

fresh fennel

shallots

arugula pesto

crispy red potatoes

fresh corn (the very, very last of the season- still good, we were happy to note)

sheep's milk feta

 

7:

white crust

oregon white truffle

cream sauce

parmesan

goat gouda

 

8:

rosemary white crust

red sauce

fresh mozzarella

grilled eggplant (recipe was first used during S.R. #1, some guests remembered it)

fresh oregano & sage (from the yard- as was the rosemary that made it into the crusts)

 

9:

rosemary white crust

broccolini

spinach

parsnips

garlic cream sauce

feta

At this point, we had 6 more pies planned and ready to go, but the guests understandably refused to be served any more food. One of the left-over pizzas ought to be noted:

 

10:

rosemary white flour calzone

kuri squash sauce

hedgehog mushrooms

double gloucester

fresh rosemary

we made this the next night, with ingredients originally intended for a pizza.

the squash sauce was really good. we wished it had made it to a public pie.

 

drink

Semi Generic Wine

The S.R. beverage director, Jenny Mosbacher, had left the project by this month, so our drink situation involved an assortment of wines from California and Italy, purchased on the merits of their label design. I'd say a solid 75% of them were great.

 

dessert

drinking chocolate

with chinese five spice, cinnamon, cloves, mauritian muscovado sugar, and sea salt