Saturday I'm going to a friends house on an island and he has a clay oven. At least to me, this is a rare and momentous opportunity, and I'd like to make the most of it. I will only be there for a day, so it has to be something that doesn't need more than that to rise; I haven't worked with sourdough until now, but if you suggest something awesome I'm willing to try.
Posted Oct 14, 2013, 4:28 PM UTC
Its wood-fired right?
Make pizza! Make a really stretchy pizza dough and portion the dough into 2 oz balls. Flatten and stretch the balls into about 8in pizzas and top as desired!
My favorite is to put garlic oil on my pizza with some crushed red pepper and mozzarella/goat cheese. Maybe add some prosciutto. Then slide the pizza into the oven. If the oven is at the correct temperature (700+), the pizza should bake within 3 minutes. Toss some arugula with a bit of olive oil and put on top of the baked pizza. stick in back in the oven for 15 seconds or so to wilt it. Perfect pizza!
It is wood-fired. Last time we went there I hadn't started making bread, and a friend made pizzas in the oven. They were awesome, indeed, and it is my backup plan. But I'd like to try something different. I don't get extra points for being second =P
Make the most of each firing
What I like to do is make pizzas for lunch then throw in some bread to have for dinner. That way you get great bread fresh on the day you make it but also amazing pizza.
Everything.
I haven't found any sort of recipe or tutorial for baking regular bread on a clay oven. The temperature is a lot higher than in my kitchen oven, so I doubt the process is the same.
I immediately thought naan bread. Make some chicken tikka, some nice fresh salad, mint yoghurt, chilli sauce, and wrap it in a freshly cooked naan.
I have no idea if this is a feasible idea, but you said the words clay oven and that's what came into my head :)