I started the Ugly Duckling Bakery blog in 2021 to share the recipes that I make for my family, ranging from 30 minute weeknight meals to more complicated weekend cooking, baking projects made from scratch, and classic cocktail variations. I realized recently that I identify personally with heirloom tomatoes - my goal isn’t to create recipes that are the equivalent of artificially ripened but tasteless tomatoes we get year-round. We’ll get along if you’d rather eat a tomato that is bursting with summertime flavor but perhaps looks misshapen and imperfect. My tiramisu cake doesn’t look like it came from a commercial bakery, but no one complains about how it tastes.
Pizza Night!
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Hi, Reader Happy Friday! If there's one thing that I would bet on, it's that most of you like pizza in some form. Pizza is a perfect dinner canvas because it can be classic comfort food or adaptable to the most adventurous tastes. Below are ways I do pizza night in my house. We have an Ooni pizza oven (I am not an affiliate) and it's an amazing tool once you get past the learning curve. Happy to answer questions if you have one or are contemplating. If you don't, I get the best crust in my oven by cooking my pizza on an oiled pan at max temperature. I finish it off directly on my pizza stone to crisp up the crust. Pizza night basics:Pizza dough: This is my favorite pizza dough. It's an overnight recipe, which gives your crust more flavor and makes it much much easier to stretch. If you avoid wheat, I've not played with gluten-free or cauliflower-based crusts. Or you can skip crust altogether and make pizza beans. Pizza sauce: Traditional pizza sauce has tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, and perhaps some oregano or other herbs. I like to cook my pizza sauce recipe so it's a little thicker, especially with the Ooni. Obviously you don't need a tomato base. On any pizza night, at least one of my pizzas uses pesto and I've played around with homemade barbecue sauce, white pizza, etc. Pizza toppings: Cheese comes next in my house, and mostly it's a block of low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella I shred. I love fresh mozzarella (and want to make it myself), but the moisture in fresh mozz weighs down my crust. The rest is up to you. Our house favorite is sausage and fennel, though my personal favorite is topped with caramelized onions, fresh figs, and blue cheese. I've also been playing with meatballs, of course. And this King Arthur baked potato pizza was fun. Pizza night sides:Pizza is our focus on pizza nights, but we always have a green salad like these greens plus strawberries. Alternatively
Pizza night cocktails:Pizza isn't complicated. So have a beer, open a red or pink table wine, or make an easy cocktail like
Happy pizza-ing!! Not into any of this?Looking for the recipes we make all the time? check out...
And a favor...Google updates have hit me hard, and one thing that would help is comments on the blog. If you've made any of my recipes, I'd love if you would leave a note there. It would truly help. Hit reply to let me know your favorite pizza toppings. Or let's connect in my Facebook community! |
Ugly Duckling Bakery
I started the Ugly Duckling Bakery blog in 2021 to share the recipes that I make for my family, ranging from 30 minute weeknight meals to more complicated weekend cooking, baking projects made from scratch, and classic cocktail variations. I realized recently that I identify personally with heirloom tomatoes - my goal isn’t to create recipes that are the equivalent of artificially ripened but tasteless tomatoes we get year-round. We’ll get along if you’d rather eat a tomato that is bursting with summertime flavor but perhaps looks misshapen and imperfect. My tiramisu cake doesn’t look like it came from a commercial bakery, but no one complains about how it tastes.
Hello Reader Happy Friday I know not all of you are into cocktails. But have you ever wished you could make a great cocktail? Maybe you have a cocktail book or two but they're filled with bottles you don't have. And the last thing any of us need is another liquor bottle we don't drink. Since I started the Ugly Duckling Bakery blog, I've been realizing that I really want to write a cookbook or two. At some point. And I've been thinking about starting with cocktails. One thing I like about...
Hello Reader Happy Friday. Shana Tova for those of you celebrating the new year. And a big welcome if you are new here. It's been a pretty boring week in my world, which is nice, given how much is going on elsewhere. I hope you too are somewhere safe and with a roof over your head, running water, and electricity. If you are, and if you're looking for ways to help out victims of Hurricane Helene, I'd suggest World Central Kitchen, who's been providing food and water to residents and first...
Hi, Reader Happy weekend! Today seems like a good day to do a re-introduction, whether you've been a friend for years or you're new to the Ugly Duckling Bakery family. I'm Joanne. I'm a Seattle doctor who specializes in HIV prevention in the U.S., and I'm the creator behind this food blog. Although I'm a doctor, you'll notice that my blog isn't about low fat, healthy foods all the time. I'm a big fan of the Oscar Wilde "Everything in moderation, including moderation." So while I try to eat...