Finally back to work, and ecstatic about it. Being unemployed for so long was rotting my brain, driving me crazy and making family life stressful. Very happy to be working again.

I got a job working for a staffing company as a team manager at a major tech company in the Austin area. The original position I got hired for was a phone tech job, but thankfully, I got promoted to team manager based on my previous work history and performance.

I named my homebrew operation in August. Its name is the New Texian Brewery.  I’m really enjoying the whole process from brewing to bottling… ok, I don’t really enjoy filling and capping 50 bottles in one sitting by hand. Not the funnest thing ever… However, everything else about brewing is something I enjoy. My wife and kids hate the smell, but I love it. It’s intoxicating (get it????) to me.

Since July, I’ve made 6 brews. They include a Red Ale (Red Blooded Ale), Hefeweizen (High Plains Hefe), Whiskey Porter (Cur Dog Porter), Hard Cider (337 Cider), Amber Rye (Autumn Amber Rye), and Pale Ale (Piney Woods Pale). I brewed them to make a variety six pack for friends and family for Christmas, like the sampler pack from Shiner (Family Reunion Six Pack). So far, everything is pretty good. Some better than others.

Brand: Weedwacker

Type: Hefeweizen(-esque)

Nice cloudy wheat beer. It’s unfiltered. Pale lemon in color.

Nice light hop notes, and very gentle citrus hints. A little allspice and clove in the background. Pleasant and fruity.

Very refreshing.

Perfect summer beer to enjoy while in the shade, and out of the Texas sun.

While the Lawnmower was very good, this is much better.

Serving type: bottle

In the midst of my search I came across PizzaMaking.com’s Forum. It was the turning point for my pizza journey. The site was like the Encyclopaedia Britannica of the Pizza world. A Pizza Community – full of folks that are CRAZY and knowledgeable about pizza. I knew I was home…

After a couple of years of making “ok” pizza in my home oven, I realized the limitations of said oven. It didn’t get hot enough. Without any modification, your home oven will only get up to 500 degrees and it’s not really all that efficient for pizza making. But a full blown Wood Fired Oven was just too far out of my reach. Living in an apartment at the time, I obviously didn’t have any place for one of those, not to mention the money. Then… I came across something that got my attention.

It was a thread about something called a “Little Black Egg“. It was basically a knock-off of the Big Green Egg smoker, only it was made from a Webber kettle grill, set upon a propane burner…. with a pizza stone. Hence the name “Little Black Egg”. A cheap, small, home made pizza oven. I was smitten.

It took a couple of years, but I was finally able to make one for myself from a used 18.5″ kettle grill. I’ve since moved up to a bigger 22.5″ kettle because I like making bigger pies. I gave the old LBE shell to Zane over at PizzaHunt.net awhile back and after seeing it in action, his brother, Brandon, decided he needed one as well and asked me if I’d give him a hand building it.

Of course I jumped at the chance because I’ve been wanting to write a how-to blog post on making an LBE for Steak, Chops -n- Hops for awhile now.

I made sure to have my daughter take pictures of the entire process so we could document it with as much detail as possible. I don’t know about you, but I’m a visual learner. I pick stuff up easier when I see it done, or when it’s documented with pictures, and when I’m trying to teach someone how to do something, I like to use the same method to do it.

And with that really long winded introduction… here we go…

You’ll need:

A kettle grill

A cordless drill

1/4″ drill bit

3/8″ drill bit

A hand held jig saw, with metal cutting blade

eye protection

Four 4″ bolts – FULL THREADS, 3/8″ shank

Eight slightly oversized washer

4 nuts to correspond to the bolts

Masking or painter’s tape

A pair of long, large channel locks

Last, but definitely not least… a Helper.

It’s your call as to what size grill would work best for you. I enjoy the extra space of the bigger grill, and looks like Brandon was thinking he’d be making larger pies with his LBE because he bought the 22.5″ kettle off of Craigslist. That’s where I got my first LBE kettle, too. It’s a great way to find one really cheap.

So, start out by removing the ash catcher and the legs. Turn the bottom of the kettle over to lay flat. (Pardon the mess in my garage – it was over 100 in the shade so too hot to do it outside)

You’ll want to drill the spot welds on the stars of the stumps where the legs fit.

After drilling out the spot welds, use a pair of channel locks to pry the stumps off the kettle.

Next step: You will be cutting out the very bottom of the shell. Lay down some type of masking tape over the section where you’ll be cutting. This will help the pencil marks to show up better on the black kettle, so you have something to follow with your jig saw.

Remember the old days when parents used to put a bowl over a kid’s head to give them a haircut? Same premise here. Use a larger, wider mouthed bowl to mark out the pattern for the hole to be cut.

Use a level to make sure the bowl is set correctly. If not your LBE will be lopsided (like my current one is, since I didn’t do this with mine. Brandon’s benefiting from my mistakes).

See? Level.

After using a pencil to mark out the circle, drill a pilot hole for your jig saw.

Pilot hole… up close and personal.

This is not the jig saw, but it gives you an idea of what it should look like when cutting. It’s my Dremel Trio. It wasn’t doing the job, so we brought in the jig saw. Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t get a clear shot of it cutting. She was too busy dodging shrapnel from the slice being made through the metal. Do yourself a favor, wear eye protection. ***And this is not a one person job… you’ll need someone to help hold the thing down. My first two I did on my own, without help. It was such a pain in the butt to keep the jig saw from shaking itself out of the cutting groove. With Brandon holding the kettle down, it was a lot easier to cut. Like butter!

It’s a metal frisbee!

Minus the metal frisbee…

Moving on, you’ll want to cut a notch out of the lid to give hot air a place to escape. We decided on a foot long notch. Find the center of the lid and measure out 6 inches to either side. Mark the spots, then connect them for the jig saw pass.

The spots marked out…

We (*cough* I *cough*) butchered it… sheet metal working is one of my strong points.

Next, we moved back to the bottom of the kettle. We’re drilling holes for the bolts to go in. The bolts will be holding up the heavier, stronger, smaller diameter charcoal grate. The original cooking grate is a lighter, thinner steel and absolutely will not stand up to the high temps from the propane burner. The charcoal grate will last much longer. The issue is that it’s narrower, since it sits further down inside the kettle. You’ll need 4 inch long, FULL THREAD, 3/8″ shank bolts. To keep it simple, we drilled the holes to the right of each of the original tabs that held the cooking grate up.

The bolts. You’ll need two washers per bolt. One for the outside, and one for the inside. And, of course, the nuts to secure the bolts. Make sure you bend the original tabs up, out of the way before installing the bolts.

Here is where Part 1 concludes. This is the bottom of the kettle with the grate installed.

Part 2 will move on to adding the firebricks, the cooking stone and the lid stone.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this instructional so far. Come back in a week or two for the next instalment.

My wife (and some friends) chipped in to buy me a full fledged homebrew kit for my birthday. I’m attaching a couple of pictures of different stages of the process.

During the boil and in the fermenter.

I’m in love…

I was turned onto this place by someone on Yelp. Evidently, they’ve read some of my reviews and knew I was a pizza snob… They told me if I was looking for good NY pizza, I needed to check Pizzeria Rialto out.

My daughter and I were out shopping for shelving at Lowe’s and Target today and it was getting to be lunch time. She asked if we could get some lunch while we were out and I told her I’d think about it… then I remembered the tip about this joint in the old (original) “Saccone’s Pizza and Subs” location. So I suggested pizza… she agreed but wanted to know from where because she doesn’t like crappy pizza (I’m turning my 9 year old into a pizza snob). I mentioned this place and she asked if it was as good as Saccone’s (young pizza snob in training, right there). I told her we’ll find out…

So… I know what you’re thinking… “Well, IS IT???”… hold ya friggin horses will ya? Sheesh… ya impatient so-n-so…

We show up and I see the little blurb on the lower left window of the place “Proprietor: Phillip Saccone Jr.” and my antennae went up… “Saccone”? Insert Ace Ventura voice here: “oh re-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-eally???” Hmmm… that’s interesting.

Reeeeeeealy?!

We walk in and… It. Smells. Friggin. AWESOME. In. There. Just like the places back home in the OC-NY. A little garlic, a little tomato, and some oregano waft through the air. I never get tired of that mix of aromas.

Talked with Phil, the owner, a little while, while he made the two standard cheese pies. Turns out he took the place over with some different recipes than the Saccone’s branded place. Phil’s a real nice guy. Very personable. I was fishing for info on how he makes the pies, and for the most part, he was happy to share. I didn’t get quite as many secrets from him as I had hoped, but he shared more than most do. Oh, and it’s a family operation… his wife and his daughter were both there as well, and we all had a good conversation. They were nice to my 9 year old as she talked with them about the stuff 9 year-olds talk about and they even gave us some water while we waited for the pies. I felt like extended family. Seriously… I did. This place is just like the family run places back home… where you’re welcomed as if you were a guest in someone’s home. They talk to you. They interact with you. You’re valued… that’s something you don’t get in today’s hyper-commercialized commodity-centric “bottom line orientated” cookie cutter places…

Finally the pies were done and we bid the Saccone family good bye. The whole 10 minute drive home, my daughter and I were both drooling over the pizza boxes. The smell… was absolutely KILLER. I mean… KILLER… as in “yer KILLIN’ ME!!!” It felt a lot longer than 10 minutes to get home.

Anyway, we get home and we dive into the pie and my first bite sent me into pizza ecstasy… it. was. great. Not too bready. Not too crispy. Not too thin. Not too thick. Sauce was right on the money. Cheese (which was made from sliced whole milk mozz, not shredded mozz) was perfectly salted and melted into the sauce. I truly enjoyed it.

I called Rialto when I got home and devoured my three slices to let them know what I thought. They remembered me and were very gracious. Class act, folks. Class act.

And now… Pizzeria Rialto is my new go to place for NY Pie. It’s a slice of home… (get it? It’s a SLICE of home!!!)

~~~ Additional info added the next day~~~

By the way, their pizza passes the cold pizza breakfast, and also the lunch reheat at over 400 degrees tests… not many do. The pie maintains its integrity and its flavor. My wife mentioned that it had gotten even better the next day. That doesn’t happen very often, folks.

I met the PizzaHunt guys here for lunch, Monday. They had both been a couple of times and had nothing but praise for the place in the build up to the visit, so I was pretty excited to give this joint a try. Uriah has been telling me it’s a little more rustic and a slightly thicker pie than your typical Neapolitan. I hear phrases like “plenty of cheese” and “stronger pie” and “hefty”. Definitely not your typical Neo. I’m really feeling good about this.

We walk in and I’m immediately translated to another time. The place is in an older building on Congress Avenue in Austin. The interior look is from the turn of the 20^th Century. The bold, heavy wood trim is painted a dark brown, and the walls are given a darker, lemony, Tuscan yellow treatment, complete with the light sponge technique. The high ceilings are capped with tin ceiling panels. The overall feeling is welcoming and classy, but not pretentious. Everyone on the staff is well dressed, mostly in black or black and white. The place exudes refined warmth.

We are provided with some table bread, which has a ciabatta appearance to it, but is much more dense and heavy. Along with this, we were given a small dish of some fantastic tasting Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I forgot to ask where it came from. My guess would be Italy, but after our experience here, I’m not so sure that assumption would be correct.

We put our orders in, which were from the pizza menu, of course. And, as I stated earlier, Neapolitan style pie is what they claim to make. Brandon and Uriah both got a standard Margherita pie with the traditional crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Me being the hell-bent, revolutionary rebel that I am, I opted for the Quattro Formaggi (Four Cheese). This incorporated a mixture of mozzarella, ricotta, fontina, and bleu cheese. After giving our waitress our order we settled in to some excellent conversation, something we’re pretty good at, by the way.

The whole time we’re talking, I’m drooling at the thought of devouring my four cheese pie, and stealing a slice of the Neapolitans that the guys ordered… and as time goes on, I’m getting hungrier and hungrier, so I’m scarfing down the bread like it’s going out of style. Each loaf is different, though. The first loaves were denser and far less fresh than the latter loaves. The latter loaves were really tasty… the earlier loaves, not so much.

They really took a long time with the pizzas. The place was not packed, and these pies were not super complicated. Not sure what the delay was, but it should not have taken as long as it did for our waitress to start walking our way with our pies seeing as the dome oven they had was able to handle five or six 10 inch pies easily. It was close to 40 minutes when she showed up with the Margheritas.

The pies were disappointing to look at… especially since neither pie looked like the other. I’m not kidding when I say that. Neither pie looked like the other. Yes, they both had all the same components, but they looked completely different. They were both overly sauced with way too many skins and too much pulp, though, and both only had little tiny dabs of mozzarella dotting the surface. The basil was barely there as well. One was toastier around the crust than the other. One had a lighter colored sauce than the other. The guys weren’t overly impressed with the taste of the pies either. They said they were “good” but the pies did not live up to the expectation of the two other times they’d been there. Like night and day. It was a completely different experience for them.

My four cheese pie came a minute later. It… looked… fantastic. It was beautiful, and, after biting into it, it was delicious. I’m confused at this point. I don’t know what to think… what to believe… what to do… I’m clueless as to what is going on. I’m dining at a restaurant that is completely inconsistent. I don’t know if my food is as good as I think it is because it looks better than theirs, or if it’s really that good. I don’t know which bread is the bread I should really expect, the first few loaves or the last one. I don’t know if they have new people cooking, or if something is seriously wrong, or if someone’s having a bad day. I’m pulling what little hair I have left out of my head! ARGH!!!

That’s how I felt as I left Quattro Gatti. I felt confused. Quattro Gatti is a mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an enigma. They’re great, and they’re so-so. They’re fresh and they’re a little stale. They’re confusing. And I hate being confused, especially about my food and where I spend my money. I’m giving them 3 stars based on the guys’ previous visits, and the taste of my pizza, however, I don’t know if I’ll go back. If I do, I’ll be sure to revisit the review and let you know what the next experience is like.

The Margherita Pie. Notice the conspicuous lack of cheese.

The Quattro Formaggi. It was really good. Loved the hint of Bleu Cheese.

I guess it’s no surprise to some of you that I’m good friends with the guys over at PizzaHunt.net (become their fan on Facebook). “The guys” are the Brothers Hunt, Uriah and Brandon. They’re originally from Detroit, and now call Austin home. We all share a love of different sorts of pizza, and we’ve basically made ourselves into a small little private pizza tasting club. Every few weeks, we get together at a different pizza joint and chow down on some pie. That’s great, and all, but we really wanted our families to get to know one another. So, for a few months, we’ve been trying to get our clans together at one of our cribs (I’m hip, yo!) to enjoy some homemade pizza, but synchronizing schedules can be tough sometimes…

We were finally able to get the stars aligned and the ducks in a row this past weekend. Friday evening, we all descended upon Uriah’s place like a band of gypsies. We gathered together in the name of Food, Family, and Friends to fire up his Little Black Egg Pizza Oven for the very first time. On the menu were Neapolitan pies made with Caputo 00 flour… the REAL DEAL.

We were mainly concerned about taking pictures of the food, as you can imagine since you know how much we’re into it, so we didn’t take many pictures of anyone. I did get a few shots of my daughter, Emmie, though. She really wanted to help out, and make her own pie. She did a great job, and she’s a chip off the old Italian Block.

Here are a few pictures from that night for you to enjoy…

The very first pie of the night…

It’s gorgeous. ALL the pies were gorgeous.

This one is Pecorino Romano, Texas grown EVOO, and Basil.

Caputo 00 dough… a thing of beauty.

*sigh* I’m in love.

Uriah’s Little Black Egg Pizza Oven, firing away… looking to devour more pies.

Emmie is making her own pie. Ladling on the sauce. Love the shimmer of the sauce. My wife’s camera is SICK.

Emmie “supervised” putting the pie on the LBE and the cooking process. She did great.

That’s how we all looked by the end of the night… pizza drunk. (Don’t tell her I posted this picture – lol)

Things are not always as they say they are. This is especially true in the case of foods that claim to be “Authentic NY” here in Texas (Just as the reverse is true in NY with foods claiming to be “Authentic Texas”). I’ve lived in Texas since August of 1998. In those 12 and a half years, I have yet to find one single “NY Bagel”. There have been a multitude of places over the years that have claimed to serve “NY Bagels”, and even some places CALLED by the name “NY Bagels”, but… they all LIE.

Liars. Every last one of them.

After jonesing for so long, I was ecstatic when I saw a recipe for bagels in a book from Peter Reinhart I picked up a few weeks back and I knew I had to try it out. Peter is very well known in bread and pizza making circles. The guy knows a thing or two about bread-related items. The book is called “Artisan Breads Every Day“, and after reading it thus far, I highly recommend it.

I made the bagels last week and they looked beautiful. However, after they cooled, I thought they were good, but not “exactly” Authentic NY Bagels. The next day was a different story, though. After they had completely cooled and tightened up overnight, the crumb structure was exactly as I remembered it back home. They were gorgeous. They toasted perfectly and made me feel like I was sitting in my mom’s kitchen, scarfing down a bagel for breakfast before school. I knew I had to share them and the recipe with you.

Keep in mind that I tripled this recipe for my latest batch of bagels.

Here’s the recipe, and the detailed illustrated instructions afterward…

Dough Ingredients:

1 tablespoon (21 g) honey or barley malt syrup (honey is better)

1 teaspoon (3 g) instant yeast

2 1/2 teaspoons (10.5g) kosher salt (1 1/2 teaspoons table salt)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (255 g) lukewarm water (I used a mixture of beer and water – lukewarm, of course)

3 1/2 cups (454 g) unbleached bread flour

Brine (Poaching Liquid) Ingredients:

2-3 quarts (181-272 g) water

1 1/2 tablespoons (28.5 g)honey (I used both honey and molasses on my tripled recipe, and it came out great)

1 tablespoon (14 g) baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon (7 g) kosher salt (1 tsp table salt)

Preparing ahead of time…

To make the dough, stir the honey, salt, and some of the yeast into the water (or water/beer mix).  Put the entirety of the flour and the rest of the yeast into the mixer’s bowl. You can use the dough hook or the paddle on the mixer, but you’ll need to switch to the hook very quickly if you start with the paddle because the dough will get stiff quickly (I guess it’s male dough?). Set the mixer to the lowest speed, and let it run for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, it should be fully hydrated and lumpy. Let it rest for 5 minutes.

After the 5 minute rest, put the mixer back on the lowest setting, with the dough hook installed. Let it go for another 3 minutes. After this, it’ll be silky and supple (now it’s female dough?), but firm. At this point, let it sit, covered at room temperature, for 1 hour in a lightly oiled bowl.

While it’s resting for that hour, get a sheet pan out and lightly oil it. When the dough is done resting, divvy it up into 4 ounce balls (113 g) and this particular recipe will give you about 6 dough balls. I used 4.5 ounce balls on my tripled recipe. If you make smaller balls, you’ll have more bagels (duh?!) but you’ll need another sheet pan.  No more than 6 per sheet.  Ok? Otherwise they’ll run into one another as they ferment and then proof.

When you’ve got your balls in a row, start to roll them out to about 7 inch length ropes, or so, and taper the ends. Form them into rings, and connect the tapered ends so the seam disappears (do your best). Place each newly formed bagel on the sheet pan, cover with some plastic wrap, and stick it in the fridge overnight. They can go up to two days in the fridge.

On the baking day…

Pull the bagels out of the fridge 60-90 minutes before you want to bake so they can proof to room temp. NOTE: you do not want these puppies to OVERPROOF. You will end up with small frisbees, not bagels. They will flatten if they overproof. Don’t let them do that.

Start the brine (poaching liquid) by mixing the ingredients together and get to boiling it. Once it boils, let it simmer. Now, set your oven to 500 degrees F.

Get a sheet pan covered with parchment paper, and lightly spray some cooking spray on the paper.

When you’re ready to bake, drop 3 bagels at a time, GENTLY into the poaching liquid. They should float within 15 seconds. Let them poach for 30-60 seconds, then flip them GENTLY. Let them poach for another 30-60 seconds. Pull them each out with a slotted spoon, let them drain in the spoon for a second or two, then place them DOME SIDE UP onto the parchment topped sheet pan. Repeat these steps for each batch of bagels.

Put the sheet into the oven and drop the temp to 450, and bake for 15-20 minutes – turning once during baking, until the bagels are golden brown, or slightly darker if you like that. During the bake, check the bottoms of the bagels, if they are getting too dark, insulate the sheet pan by putting a second pan under it.

Let them cool for about a half hour before slicing and enjoying.

Here are the illustrated details…

Preparation…

Pouring the salt/beer/water/yeast mix into the dry ingredients (flour, and the rest of the yeast)

Using the paddle attachment, the dough is roughly coming together

Switched to the dough hook after letting the dough rest.

The dough is silky and supple after mixing for the prescribed period of time

Putting the dough into the oiled bowl

Dough is now resting in the oiled bowl – 1 hour

Measuring out the dough balls after it’s rested. I chose 4.5 oz as the weight for my balls. I have big balls and I like it.

The little soldiers are all lined up and ready to get rolled out

Rolled out, with the tapered ends

Formed into bagels. You’ll see later that I did a mediocre job of joining the ends well enough

Ready to be put into the ice box for an overnight nap

The next day, after fermenting in the fridge

The brine… water, salt, baking soda, honey and molasses

Bagels going in the boiling brine

Flipping a boiled bagel out onto the sheet. Notice the dome goes up.

Making “Salt Bagels” with course sea salt (my favorite)

Mmmmmm…

Into the oven they go… 500 degrees pre-heat, then bake at 450

Mid-bake…

After 15-20 minutes, they’re done. They’re absolutely gorgeous.

Closeup…

The plains are out now too…

I’m in love…

Here’s the final shot… the crumb structure