Saturday, January 1, 2011

Pizza Night in Banámichi

Pepperoni and 4 Italian cheeses
Ever since 1971 I have wanted to build an adobe clay oven. The idea first came up with an article in Sunset magazine. For some reason the time wasn't right, so I clipped the article and put it aside for later use. From time to time I re-found the article, but the time was never right.
When we were renovating the house in Banámichi, I decided this was it...it was now or never. There were no codes here, and no one cared about backyard fires - in fact they had developed them into a sort of art form- smoky, smelly, burning trash and fragrant mesquite cooking fires seemed to be the order of the day.

While I was trying to figure out where to get all the supplies, my friend Lynn of the Hotel Los Arcos de Sonora researched mud ovens on the internet and found a wealth of information. While I was twiddling my thumbs and thinking about where to put the thing, she and Tom just built one! I was a bit miffed that they got to  my long term desire first, but couldn't help but celebrate the accomplishment with them.

Heating the dragon
Dragonshadow
Tom has even decorated his with a sculpted dragon that breathes smoke from it's mouth. It's way cool. My oven is now drawn out and the space  has been located in the back yard, however construction has not begun. When it does, I will keep you apprised of the progress!


Of course we had to experiment with making pizza in it. The first one emerged a bit burnt, but generally the results have been absolutely fabulous! The creations have been a joint effort and have been so enjoyed that we hope to make them a regular event. You can see the process and some of the results in the photos below. Don't you wish you were here for this? You can be! Come see us!
Preparing the dough
Spread the sauce


 
Add Ingredients
In it goes! Master chef Tom at the peel.
          








Now we're cooking!
 
3 minutes and out it comes
















                                                                                                



Caprese Salami and fresh mozzarella








2 comments:

  1. Looks like fun June, great entry and sorry we missed it. Maybe next year...

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  2. Wow, only three minutes to cook it!? That's fast. I want to come see you June. And I start my new campground host work tomorrow. So back to work I go, hi ho hi ho! Here's to 2011 and our ever-growing friendship!

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