Update: Cookin’ With Who?
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
We had such a good time last Thursday celebrating our wonderful community and its commitment to diversity and integration and community partnerships. And the food was fantastic. While I didn’t win the coveted platinum spatula, I had a great time meeting many, many neighbors and community leaders.
And, to be honest, I was really quite touched by the number of folks who contributed. Your gifts and your support made a difference to our community – all total we raised more than $10,000 for three great institutions – but it also made an impression on me. Thank you.
I’ve left the original post below, in case you want to check out the site and learn more about the event. Who knows, perhaps in the year’s to come your congregation and community might consider something similar! 🙂
Thank you, again.
David
Original Post:
I like to cook. I’m guessing many of you didn’t know that. I’ve not been trained as a chef, and I don’t honestly have much time to cook these day, but I like to. And I’ll be honest – I do best with recipes that don’t, well, demand that you follow them exactly. I’m more of the creative kind of cook who likes to experiment, mix things up, and sometimes comes up with something unique and delicious. (Of course, there are other times…, but I won’t go into those.)
I’d like to think that it’s for all these reasons that the Mt. Airy community of NW Philadelphia invited me to participate in their annual competition “Cookin’ With Who?”, a charity fundraiser that benefits East Mount Airy Neighbors, The Awbury Arboretum, and – you guessed it – The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, proudly located in Mt. Airy for nearly a century and a half.
I’d like to think that, but it’s probably not accurate. I’ve probably been invited because I’m the new president at LTSP and they hoped that would spark even greater interest from the LTSP community and get some others interested and helping out as well. We’ll see. 🙂
For now, I want to let folks in the Philly area know that they can come and sample the dishes of 10 area “notables” (seems more honest than calling us “chefs”) on the evening of Thursday, November 6, from 6:30-8:30. It should be great fun with lots of great food and fellowship, and you can purchase tickets here.
But even if you’re not from these parts, you can help me win the coveted Mt. Airy Platinum Spatula by voting for me by making a donation of any size here. (Yes, you’ve got to contribute to vote – this is, after all, a fund raiser.) Currently I have…well, let’s just say “very few” votes (as admitting I have absolutely zero votes with less than two weeks to go would be downright embarrassing), so I could really use you’re support.
In case you’re wondering what dish I’ve offered, it’s our family’s favorite – potato, tomato, and spinach pizza on a homemade oatmeal crust. Mmmm. (And in case you’re wondering…or worried…area “notables” only supplied our favorite recipes; a local chef will be preparing them all.)
Whether you can come, whether you vote, whether you like cooking or not, at least check out this creative and fun community fundraiser. And thanks for your support!
David, did you post this marvelous pizza recipe in some secret place that I missed? Oatmeal crust?
Here you go, Robin!
Oatmeal Pizza Crust and Potato-Spinach topping
Pizza Crust – makes one 14 inch crust.
1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour (plus several tablespoons used for kneading)
1/3 cup of quick-cooking oats
1 packet of rapid rise yeast (or 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup water
Place the flour, oats, sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Add the water and mix. Knead the forming dough on a clean table dusted with flour for several minutes. (You can also do this in a mixer using the dough hook.) When the dough is tacky to the touch, place it in another large bowl coated very lightly with olive oil. Cover this bowl with a damp towel and let sit to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. When dough has risen, punch it down, knead for another 1-2 minutes, and form into a bowl. Roll or shape your pizza dough from that ball.
Topping:
1 potatoes
4 cups fresh spinach
2 roma tomatos
4 oz. mozzarella cheese
1 oz. parmesan reggiano cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
Slice the potato thinly and fry on skillet heated to medium and lightly coated with olive oil until golden brown on each side. Saute fresh spinach in frying pan or wok with a little bit of olive oil. Slice roma tomatoes thin. Heat pizza stone to 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Place rolled dough onto a pizza peel dusted with flour or cornmeal. Distribute cheese evenly across the top of rolled dough. Place spinach on top of cheese and distribute potato and tomato slices on top of spinach. Place dollops of ricotta cheese on top of this and sprinkle parmesan across all topping. Slide onto heated pizza stone and cook for 12-14 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Remove from oven with peel and place on cutting board to cool for 2 minutes before slicing and serving.