Mellow Mushroom - Johnson City, TN and other foodie matters

[ljay42]

Originally Posted by Beretta

I only use KA flour as well. I usually only use Penzey's spices. I have been using Amish or Land o Lakes butter but am looking for a high fat butter in the Tri Cities (for my pastries/desserts). What do you all use?

ljay, would love your dough recipe! And, congrats on your son becoming a senior at UT. We have sons the same age! My younger one is at ETSU in an apartment and he loves home cooking. Let us know how the pizza flour turns out for you.

I like the local Amish butter..isn't that very high in fat? When I melted some it sure seemed like there was a disproportionate level of milk solids and when cold it sure broke off like there was a good amount of fat compared to commercial brands. I don't do much pastry though so there's probably a lot i don't know about butter fat. HOWEVER, if I were seeking high fat butter I would probably check earth fare.

On the dough: Although we will use a batch from time to time just after it rises, I prefer to age the dough for a few days if possible. I do the same with bread dough. I just think aging it provides a better flavor and texture. We tried different recipes but really there are all pretty much the same...good flour, yeast, water, and salt. Maybe a bit of sugar. Something else we do from time to time is make a big batch of the 5 minute artisan bread recipe and put that in the fridge for a few days. Then we use that for both pizza and bread. Works great.

Here's a recipe we are going to try soon just to see if it turns out a better product.

Our daughter graduated from etsu a few years ago. The boy is our youngest also. Got to keep those young men cooking...lord knows the young women aren't and somebody has to carry the kitchen load when they get hooked up later in life ;-)