Wood Fired Apple Pie

Baking in a Wood Fired Oven: After pushing the coals to the back of the wood fired oven near the wall, brush the ashes off of the floor.  The chunks of glowing hardwood coals should have little or no flame when the apple pie goes in. Every 15 minutes, turn apple pie so the other end faces the fire.

1 pie = 2 crusts (10 inches)

Ingredients for Crust:
2 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening
7-8 tablespoons ice water

Mix flour, salt & shortening; cut in with pastry cutter. Add water last. Roll into a ball. You may refrigerate or roll out right away.

Ingredients for Filling:
12-14 apples (Golden Delicious, regular size)
¾ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg

Peel and slice apples. Mix all ingredients together. Make sure to fill pie all the way before baking.  Brush crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar.  Poke with a fork. Bake 1 hour at 350° F and put cookie sheet under pie.

* Put cut-outs on after milk & sugar. *

Wood Fired Stuffing

Baking in a Wood Fired Oven: After pushing the coals to the back of the wood fired oven near the wall, brush the ashes off of the floor.  The chunks of glowing hardwood coals should have little or no flame when the stuffing goes in. After 15 minutes, turn stuffing so the other end faces the fire.

Ingredients:

1 lb. coarsely ground Italian sausage, crumbled

2 lbs. mushrooms, chopped

1 head celery, chopped

2-3 onions, finely chopped

1 pkg. Mrs. Gibbon’s Cornbread Stuffing (use only 1 pouch)

Direction:

Sauté sausages. In another pan, sauté mushrooms. In yet another pan, sauté everything together celery and onions.

Mix everything together and add cornbread stuffing.

Place in a greased 9x13 casserole. Add stock (not too watery).

Bake for 30 minutes at 350-375°, first covered, then uncovered.

If too dry, add stock.

Luxury Outdoor Kitchen Installation

We enjoy some of the best weather in the San Diego area. Outdoor living space gives you a place to prepare meals in your outdoor kitchen, entertain or relax with family and friends.

From exposed beam construction to retractable glass walls this outdoor living area was designed for serious outdoor entertaining.

Click Here to view a tour of this luxurious outdoor living space.

We supplied the client with the wood fired ovens for this outdoor living space.

Wood-fired Oven Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:

8 medium Yukon potatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt & pepper

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Peel and wash the potatoes, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Place them into a greased casserole. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with garlic and rosemary. Bake at 400^oF (200^oC) for approximately 1 hour. These are very easy and delicious. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Prosciutto & Arugula Pizza in a Wood Burning Oven

Use one of our Forno wood burning ovens to create this light summer pizza.

Basic pizza dough (recipe on previous blog)
Flour, for rolling out dough
Extra virgin olive oil
Thinly sliced prosciutto Fresh arugula, washed
Parmigiano Reggiano shavings

Roll out pizza dough, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking. Drizzle with olive oil and bake directly on stone in wood-burning oven at about 600-700F (300-350C) until crisp and golden-brown on the edges. Remove from oven and top with prosciutto, arugula, and parmigiano. Serve right away.

Using Real Cheese for Your Pizza

What’s the point of using a fantastic tool like a wood burning pizza oven if you’re going to use subpar ingredients? It’s arguable that cheese is the most important part of the pie, but many people end up using cheeses from the grocery store that have a bunch of additives and chemicals that take away from the real flavor of good cheese. The most common cheese used for pizza pies is mozzarella, which is available in a variety of different ways including fresh, skim and infused with a variety of different spices and herbs.

The potential of cheese and pizza is so much bigger than mozzarella. There are over 400 different types of Italian cheeses, many of which would be fantastic as a main cheese or as an accompanying flavor on a pie. The key to picking a good cheese is to find one that melts consistently and goes well with the flavor of tomatoes or whatever sauce you are using, but even this isn’t a hard a fast rule. Some pizzas use unique cheese, topping and sauce combinations to create something completely unique. You can even create a pizzas that barely uses any cheese at all except for a generous dusting of Parmesan Reggiano or Pecorino Romano. Whatever kind of pizza you are looking to make, your wood burning oven can make it burst with flavor.

Safety and Your Wood Burning Pizza Oven

Cooking with a wood burning oven is a fun experience that produces delicious food, but when proper safety precautions are not followed bad things can happen.  Newer wood-fired ovens are marvels of modern innovation and technology that contain a wide variety of options that make operating the oven as safe as possible. Even with these conditions, however, it’s important to operate the oven with caution in mind so that no unnecessary injuries or burns occur. In the end you’re still cooking with fire, so paying close attention to safety is paramount.

The primary safety precaution a person can take is simple; wear protection. If embers from the wood fire are flying everywhere when you adjust or add wood then wear goggles to protect your eyes from being burned. When putting food in and out of the oven make sure you are wearing protective gloves that can stand the very high temperatures that some wood burning ovens get to.  Also, whenever you have a fire roaring in the pit keep at least one eye on the oven. It’s not necessary to watch it like a hawk; although if children are around you should, but make sure you are checking in often to make sure nothing goes wrong. Wood burning ovens are fun, but an accident or simple mistake can ruin everything quickly.