Yes, I AM chopped liver!

I spent the day cooking, with an interruption to pick up a pale yellow roller blind and install it in our slowly-emerging nursery. My mood was a bit intense and down -- I spoke to Chef R at the restaurant, it seems I still have 2 shifts, but they are on more of a floating basis than a regular schedule (a change from what I was originally told). It's another element of insecurity that comes out of our recessed economy. Thinking about my next move, how to position myself in the future. Got some small plans of action, but I think I better talk to the wifey about them before I share it with you, you sexy undifferentiated internet cloud!

Cooking, like bike riding (too cold) and yoga (maybe tomorrow), is a form of meditation that makes me happy. So cook I did. My friend E is having a holiday housewarming party tomorrow, and I'll be helping to direct the food. Wifey is going to a friend's holiday party which I'll be meeting her at. (My wife just LOVES dangling prepositions, yo.) And in the evening, one of B's closest friends and her new love were coming over for a cavalcade of pizza.

So first I whipped up a big batch of gingerbread cookie dough, brown sugar, molasses, the good butter, lemon zest, fresh ginger, all sorts of spicy pie spices, baking soda and powder, real vanilla bean, organic flour -- just trying to make it as fool-proof as possible with high quality ingredients. I baked off a small batch and rolling and cutting, they came out dry and cracker-like, but in a good way.

While that was going on, I made chopped liver based on the 2nd Ave. Deli recipe. Hard-boiled a couple of eggs. A pound of chicken livers were spread on a sheet after I removed weird membranes and random bits, coated in oil then broiled until cooked. While they chilled in the fridge, I sauteed mire poix in a large pot, browned a whole chicken in there, then covered with water and simmered for 45 minutes. The 'scum' that I skimmed off I reserved -- a key ingredient in chopped liver is 'schmaltz': rendered chicken fat.

I ate a boobie and reserved the other for tonight's pizzas. 45 minutes was too long, the meat was dry despite being cooked in a liquid medium. I made parsley oil (parsley, olive oil, and salt in a blender) and sliced the chicken thinly, put it all together to marinate for the evening. I also sliced some scallops and put in the oil.

I started caramelizing onions, one batch for pizzas and one batch for the liver. As this takes a few hours, I installed the shade while this was happening. One the liver's onions were cooled, I got out the food processor, put in the livers, shmaltz, hard boiled eggs, onions, some salt and pepper, and blended until chopped liver magically appeared. This is for E's party, a good crostini topper, from a technical point of view. Still, I just don't like the gamey-ness. I do like the natural browned sweetness the onions bring, and the hardboiled egg blended in lends a lightness, but still...

By this point, it was time to prep the mise for the pizza. The dough was made last night and developing in the fridge. Here are photos of each pie; descriptions will illustrate what mise had to be made:

Salad pie: crust baked with just olive oil and salt, finished with a salad of romaine, grated carrot, diced cucumber and shallot, dressed with olive oil, balsamic and salt. The crust was snappy, but too pale.

Classic margherita, with raw tomato sauce, buffala moz, and finished with basil. Went a bit too far with the crust here, very snappy, not enough chew. Tasted good, though. Nice and thin.

Cauliflower pizza, totally ripped it off from the restaurant. Layer of fresh moz topped with cauliflower puree (cauliflower and garlic steamed in chicken stock and then blended with heavy cream), roasted cauliflower, caramelized onions, and rosemary. Got the crust right, just browned right and because I left it a little thicker, stood up to the heavy toppings. Probably the most winning pie of the night.

Two scallop and parsley pizzettes and two chicken and parsley pizzettes. Two people didn't do scallops, but one peep said it was her fave, and I think scallops work perfectly on pie from a texture point of view. So each pie got a piece of fresh moz, parsley-marinated protein, and finished with a more fresh parsley. Came out a lot better than I thought it would, thought it would need something to expand the flavor profile but simple was indeed the way to go.

The last pie was a bit of a punt, a margherita with bufala moz topped with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and pepperoni. The wifey's favorite, a crowd pleaser when everyone is trying to save room for dessert!

BREAKFAST: 10am, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM TASTING: 11:30am, a bit of dough, a couple of cookies, hunger 3/5
Gingerbread, not my thing.

PM SNACK: 1pm, a small braised chicken breast, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5

PM TASTING: 3pm, spoonful of chopped liver, hunger 3/5
Really not my thing, very funky, tastes just like....chopped liver.

PM SNACK: 4pm, black cherry soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6pm, slice of the restaurant's pizza, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Snack on pizza before spending the night making pizza, funny. Freezes surprisingly well.

DINNER: 8pm, one quarter of a pie of all the pies described above, small bowl of vanilla ice cream and a gingerbread cookie, 2 glasses prosecco, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11pm, quart of water