In the Kitchen with: Terry Patano, Shaun Thompson Duffy pursue perfect crust for wood-fired pizza
Never mind the mosquitoes.
Rebecca Hurlen-Patano has all-natural insect repellent at the ready for all of her summertime backyard pizza parties – on the deck, in the woods, south of the Spokane River, between Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene.
Focus, rather, on the toppings.
Guests decorate their own pies with fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, tomato jam, pepperoni, pesto, arugula and a favorite finish: freshly squeezed lemon juice.
The Patanos – Rebecca, 54, and husband Terry, 59 – started hosting pizza parties a couple of years ago after the completion of their custom, outdoor, wood-fired oven. These days, they throw pizza parties “quite frequently.”
“We do them all year long,” Hurlen-Patano said, noting they number “about 10 times a year. We cook (outside) in winter,” when there might be snow and ice, but no mosquitoes.
Anywhere from six to two dozen people are usually invited. But, “There’s no set date,” said 53-year-old Alan Shepherd, who – along with wife Shanda Shepherd, 45 – always looks forward to them. “We’re just thrilled if we get invited.”
For pizza dough, on this recent Friday night, there are two different offerings: The old stand-by recipe from James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Bianco, the one that both Terry Patano and Alan Shepherd swear by and almost always use, and one prepared by bread consultant Shaun Thompson Duffy, known by former co-workers at Luna as “Bread Jesus.”
He prefers “Bread Jedi.”
Four-day dough
“Between myself, Alan and Shaun, we love to experiment and collaborate,” Patano said. “But in reality, Shaun is king. I have learned so much from him it is amazing. His willingness to share technique and knowledge is incredible.”
Duffy, 36, mills his own flour. He used to run Bouzies, the now-defunct wholesale baking operation at Luna. These days, Duffy runs Culture Breads, which focuses on ancient grains.
He’s been to several of the Patanos’ pizza parties and often helps out by manning the wood-fired oven and bringing specialty dough. This one took four days.
“But you don’t have to do anything to it,” he said. “It’s all about the pre-ferment. You’re letting it do its thing. Basically, what you’re doing is letting it pre-digest all the complex starches.”
For this batch, Duffy used an assortment of flours: spelt and einkorn from Lentz Spelt Farms, and hard red and soft white wheats from Joseph’s Grainery.
Terry Patano went with Tony Gemignani’s California Artisan Type 00 Flour Blend. But he typically uses type 00 flours from Antico Molino Caputo or Rinforzata. He’s also played around with ancient grains from Bluebird Grain Farms in Washington’s Methow Valley.
“I’ve experimented with a lot of flours over the past few years,” Terry Patano said. “The best is Shaun’s (crust) because fresh rules. And the grains he has access to are amazing.”
Fire it up
The Shepherds co-own Rocket Market on Spokane’s South Hill. When the Patanos founded DOMA Coffee Roasting Co. in Post Falls in 2000, they approached Alan Shepherd about carrying their coffee. He agreed.
But it wasn’t until about three years ago that they really began hanging out. And, once the wood-fired oven was completed in 2014, the Patanos’ place has been the preferred venue.
Friend and local artisan concrete craftsman Randy Bell built the oven, fashioning the engraved crest stone for them as a gift. It didn’t come with the design plans, which came from the late blacksmith Alan Scott’s business, Ovencrafters.
“They have three sizes that they make. This is a medium,” Hurlen-Patano said. “It’s a serious pizza oven.”
Cooking with it is hands-on, especially when it really heats up. The Patanos use a digital thermometer to check the temperature, which gets up to 800 or 900 degrees.
For fuel, “Hard wood is best,” Hurlen-Patano said. “We’re looking for apple wood. We’re looking for any kind of hard wood.”
Pizzas only need a few minutes in the oven, but need to be turned frequently to ensure even cooking and prevent burning.
“Generally, we have people make their own,” Hurlen-Patano said.
But when there’s a crowd, it can take a while, spreading dinner out over hours, especially if savory pizzas are followed by dessert pizzas – with Nutella, banana, cinnamon, apples.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of work that goes into this night. But it’s delightful,” Hurlen-Patano said. “I love it. It’s pure entertainment.”
Topping off
For seasonal toppings, the Patanos turn to their garden. This year, they’re growing more than 50 heirloom tomato plants, all started from seed, along with other veggies and herbs.
Terry Patano prefers homemade red sauces on his pizzas, too, or the Savory Heirloom Tomato Jam his friend makes and sells in Utah. “It’s delicious.” He’s also a fan of the classic Margherita pizzas with basil, extra-virgin olive oil, tomatoes and mozzarella.
His wife’s favorite combination features goat cheese, caramelized onions, fresh thyme and lemon zest.
Alan Shepherd, a vegetarian, loves thin-crust Neapolitan-style pizza with San Marzano tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. Like Patano, he also enjoys a classic Margherita pizza. Other favorite toppings are Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, caramelized onion, arugula, chilies and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Sometimes, he adds pistachios.
His wife’s top picks: rosemary, red onions, blue cheese, olive oil, pistachios and lemon juice.
Duffy prefers crème fraiche, clams and pancetta. But none of those ingredients are available at this party. So he goes with his second favorite combination: fresh garlic, pepperoni, onions and Bianco diNapoli tomatoes.
“The Bianco tomatoes are killer,” he said.
Chris Bianco’s Pizza Dough
For the past couple of years, Terry Patano has borrowed pizza-making technique and inspiration from Bianco, who owns three pizza places in Arizona.
“In the pizza world, he may not be God, but he’s an angel or an apostle,” said Patano, who experiments with flours but usually sticks to this recipe.
2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (one ¼-ounce envelope)
2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
5 to 5 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting, preferably organic
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
Extra-virgin olive oil, for bowl
Dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups flour and the salt, stirring until smooth. Stir in an additional 2 cups flour; continue adding flour (up to 1/2 cup), 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until dough comes away from the bowl but is still sticky.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface, and knead with lightly floured hands. Start by slapping the dough onto the counter, pulling it toward you with one hand and pushing it away from you with the other.
Fold the dough back over itself (use a bench scraper or wide knife to help scrape dough from surface). Repeat until it’s easier to handle, about 10 times.
Finish kneading normally until dough is smooth, elastic, and soft, but a little tacky, about 10 minutes.
Shape dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl; turn to coat. Cover with plastic, and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, 3 hours. Press it with your finger to see if it’s done; an indent should remain.
Place a pizza stone on floor of gas oven (remove racks) or bottom rack of electric oven. Preheat oven to at least 500 degrees for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, scrape dough out of the bowl onto floured surface, and cut it into 4 pieces. Shape into balls. Dust with flour, and cover with plastic. Let rest, 20 to 30 minutes, allowing dough to relax and almost double.
Holding top edge of 1 dough ball in both hands, let bottom edge touch work surface (refrigerate remaining balls as you work). Carefully move hands around edge to form a circle, as if turning a wheel. Hold dough on back of your hand, letting its weight stretch it into a 12-inch round. Transfer dough to a lightly floured pizza peel (or an inverted baking sheet). Press out edges using your fingers. Jerk peel; if dough sticks, lift, and dust more flour underneath.
Arrange desired toppings on dough.
Heat oven to broil. Align edge of peel with edge of stone. Tilt peel, jerking it gently to move pizza. When edge of pizza touches stone, quickly pull back peel to transfer pizza to stone. (Do not move pizza.) Broil until bubbles begin to form in crust, 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce temperature to 500 degrees, and bake until crust is crisp and golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes more. (If not using broiler, bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes total.) Remove pizza from oven using peel, and top with additional toppings if using. Slice and serve. Repeat with remaining dough and assorted toppings.
Shaun Thompson Duffy’s Four-Day Pizza Dough Process
From Shaun Thompson Duffy of Culture Breads
This formula takes a bit of time but it’s beneficial in flavor, nutrition and digestability of the finished product. It does contain a leaven: sourdough. Contact your local bakery, and ask if they can spare a little bit. Or, email Duffy at culturebreads@gmail.com. “I always have spare,” he said.
For flours, he recommends Joseph’s Grainery in Colfax at www.josephsgrainery.com and Shepherd’s Grain at www.shepherdsgrain.com.
Day One: Make Leaven and Poolish
Make the leaven
100 grams water at room temperature
100 grams fresh milled hard red wheat flour (Joseph’s Grainery is a good source)
5 grams sourdough starter (known as seed)
Mix, then let sit overnight at room temperature to ferment.
Make the poolish
100 grams water at room temperature
50 grams all-purpose flour (Duffy recommends Shepherd’s Grain low-gluten)
50 grams fresh milled soft white wheat (Joseph’s Grainery is a good source)
0.5 grams yeast (Duffy recommends Saf-Instant)
Mix, then let sit overnight at room temperature to ferment.
Day Two: Combine Leaven and Poolish
200 grams leaven
200 grams poolish
300 to 350 grams water at room temperature
250 grams whole-grain spelt flour
250 grams high-extraction wheat flour* (see note)
15 grams sea salt
Combine all ingredients except salt in bowl, and stir to combine. Then, set aside and let hydrate for 30 minutes.
Add salt, and mix by hand until salt is mixed throughout. Let dough bulk ferment 30 minutes, then give it a stretch and fold. Let the dough rest another 30 minutes, and give it another stretch and fold.
Cover with plastic wrap and let bulk ferment overnight at cellar temperatures, or 46 to 55 degrees.
Note: Achieve a similar flour by mixing 125 grams all-purpose flour with 125 grams whole-wheat (red wheat) flour and substituting it for the high extraction wheat flour.
Day Three: Shape
Remove dough from bowl, and place onto floured surface. Divide into six 200-gram portions, and shape each portion into balls. Wrap and store overnight in fridge to finish proofing.
Day Four: Bake
Pull the six dough balls from fridge two hours before bake time so the dough has time to warm up a bit. This will make it easier to stretch.
Flatten and make pizza, topping dough with ingredients of choice.
Bake following the directions in the recipe above.
Lemony Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Red Pepper Flakes
From Rebecca Hurlen-Patano
These Brussels sprouts are a popular side dish at the Patanos’ pizza parties. The recipe has been modified for the stove top. A cast iron pan is recommended.
2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 cups Brussels sprouts, cleaned and cut into quarters lengthwise
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 whole lemon, quartered, plus zest from 1 quarter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Heat coconut oil in a cast iron pan over medium heat. Add Brussels sprouts, crushed garlic and red pepper flakes. Use a microplane or grater to zest quarter lemon and add the zest to the pan, along with lemon quarters. Turn heat to high and cook for 6 minutes or until sprouts have slightly brown edges. Reduce heat, finish with a drizzle of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.