Bacon and Egg Pizza

As I have mentioned in the past I make Pizza at home quite a bit. Making pizza at home in a creative fashion can be fun for everyone. Try this one and you will soon be telling all your friends how surprisingly wonderful it is. You can buy the dough at your local grocer or make your favorite recipe. I like to make the Pizza dough the day before and cold rise it. This will yield a crispy crust that does not get those huge bubbles in it.

A few tips for making pizza at home and getting Pizzeria results;

Proof twice; Double proofed dough cooks up crispier

Cook it on pizza stone and turn the oven as high as possible the hotter the oven the more flavor your pizza will have.

Less is more with the toppings; Too many toppings on the pizza will give you an undercooked crust and mushy toppings with burnt cheese

Check the bottom of the crust before removing it from the oven; your looking for a golden brown color you can’t judge doneness by looking at the top

Use a rolling pin; Tossing the pizza in the air is nothing more than a show, a rolling pin will push air pockets from your dough and allow you to get a desired thinness.

Use quality ingredients

For the Bacon and Egg Pizza

Roll out your warm dough with a rolling pin

Place on to a Pizza peel lightly floured so it doesn’t stick ( you can start it on a pizza pan or screen if you’re not comfortable with this step)

Brush melted Butter on the crust

Spread 8 oz shredded sharp cheddar evenly

Make 5 spots for your eggs by moving the cheese out of the way kind of like making a mould

Crack the eggs in the moulds

Top with your favorite bacon and fresh chopped chives or scallion

Pan Seared Duck Breast

Pan Seared Duck breast is a great meal and very much in season. It can be prepared very easily and the cook time is very short. I like to cook it for guests when I don’t have time or want to spend my day preparing an elaborate meal. Many people perceive it as a specialty meal so I have impressed many people with this one. It can be prepared many ways but in this case I paired it with a gastric made with reduced veal stock, port wine, raspberries, blackberries,and a few dashes of champagne vinegar. Potato scallion cakes are quit simply fresh shredded potatoes drained of the juice, an egg scrambled in mixed with fresh chopped scallions and parsley, mixed in a bowl with salt and pepper, formed into patties and fried in olive oil.

For the Duck Breast score the skin in a honeycomb pattern( this means cut lines that cross in a diamond pattern a half inch apart) rub it well with cracked black pepper and kosher salt allowing it a minute or so to rest so the crust stays on the skin) this will allow the fat to melt properly rendering it crisp and nicely browned. Start it in a warm pan (not hot) with a pat of butter skin side down started with a high flame and turning it down to medium when it begins to brown. turn the breast over and continue to cook in the rendered fat. Turn one more time to crisp up the skin for a minute. This entire process should take no more than 10 minutes depending on the size of the breast, the most important thing is not to cook them past medium so it doesn’t dry up and become tough.. I like 10 ounce because they are thick enough to crisp up nicely and still remain pink on the inside.