Day three Friday

Went for a walk yesterday afternoon and there were a few couples and lone walkers about. Some of the Esplanade restaurants are open for takeaway but they are struggling. I’m not sure how super, extra-hygienic some of the food prep is and utensils and containers are another matter but some people have no choice or little choice. My school officially stops face to face teaching this afternoon and goes to virtual lessons. Unfortunately, I don’t think this will work, but I wish them luck.

I am tutoring JCU students under the Indigenous Peer Assisted Learning program and have two active students and two who have not responded. Par for the course they say. JCU uses Zoom and it’s a great platform. We are in the process of setting up our lounge/dining room for zoom conferences with all the participants appearing on the large screen TV, so we reckon we can have virtual drinks, cocktails and dinner parties.

It’s coming up to lunch time as I type this and again it’s a miserable wet day. Warm though. Makes it hard for a man to get his washing dry.

Franksy and I have been making pizzas for a while and he is like a dog with a bone, seeking the very best dough and modifying ovens to reach staggeringly dangerous temperatures. He has shared a recipe for pizza dough which he claims to be the best. Thanks mate, I’m making it tonight.

For those interested here is the recipe

Mark Franks’ Neapolitan pizza dough.

500gm 00 flour

300ml warm water

1 teaspoons good dry yeast

1 ½ tablespoons (yes, tablespoons) table salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

Stage 1

300gm flour in a food mixer bowl, leave 200gm to one side

Mix everything else in a jug and add to the 300gm flour

Stir with a fork or spoon, cover with gladwrap and leave at room temperature for a good hour

This sloppy mess is called the bega (no doubt there’s other names) and the super wet consistency has something to do with forming initial flour protein strands

Stage 2

Now add the rest of the flour and mix with a dough hook for ten minutes, leave for ten, mix for ten, leave for ten, mix for ten

Add flour if you need to. The dough should be super smooth and springy, and already very stretchy.

Leave at room temperature for an hour to wake the yeast up

Cover with gladwrap and leave in the fridge for 24 hours if you can.

Take out of the fridge about 4 hours before you need it. This is enough dough for 3-4 medium/small pizzas. Freezes well.

One thing that puzzled me was why add so much salt – won’t that kill the yeast?

Turns out that it doesn’t kill the yeast but slows it right down. OK, says I, why not just use less yeast?

Well if you use less yeast it won’t get dispersed evenly and you’ll get patches of bubbles and patches of flat, unleavened bread. So all that salt gives even yeast distribution, a slow ferment and a lovely salty taste.

It’s 1330 and the remaining teachers have just texted me. The bastards are drinking the fridge dry. At 1330 – how 80’s.

Well it’s 1700 now so that means a gin and tonic.