Refinement of Chicago deep dish pizza recipe

I've been making some modification to the Chicago deep dish pizza recipe I posted about quite a while ago, the main issue I had was that the dough was a bit too slack and wouldn't stay pressed up against the side of the cast iron skillet i use in place of a dedicated deep dish pan like I used to have.  Here is the new dough formula:

AP Flour    340.0g     100.0%

Water        180.0g      52.9%

Oil              80.0g       23.5%

IDY            9.0g         2.6%

sugar         4.0g         1.2%

salt             6.0g         1.8%

I used olive oil for this since that's what I had on hand, a 90/10 mix of corn oil/EVOO would be preferred as that imparts more of a buttery flavor.  All ingredients were placed in the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and mixed for 1 minute on low.  The bowl was covered and the dough allowed to autolyse for 15 minutes before being placed back on the mixer and kneaded for 2 minutes.  The dough should be allowed a long, warm fermentation to develop the best flavor (4-6 hours at room temp), but I didn't have time for that so I put it in the fridge until I could use it the next day.  

For the sauce I also used a new recipe...

1 28 oz can crushed tomato

1/2 TB kosher salt (Morton)

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp balsamic vinegar (good stuff from Old Town Oil)

1/4 tsp granulated garlic

1/4 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Mix well and allow to sit for at least a few hours for the flavors to meld.

The dough was pressed in to and up the sides of the oiled skillet.  For toppings I used Italian sausage from Bari Finer Foods, pepperoni, onions and green peppers then covered with the sauce and a sprinkling of romano cheese.  The oven was preheated to 425°f with a baking steel on the bottom rack.  The pizza was baked for 30 minutes on the middle rack, then moved  down to the baking steel for another 10 minutes to make sure the bottom crust was cooked through and the broiler turned on for the last 2-3 minutes.

This pizza turned out much better than the one I posted about in July 2016.  The dough on the side didn't slump down, but I still think a little lower hydration would be in order.  The sauce was something I made up on the fly and I was really happy with it, hope I didn't forget any of the ingredients I used but I think the recipe above is complete.  

Homemade Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

I've never had a good Chicago style deep dish pizza outside of Chicago.  When I'm visiting friends and relatives in other areas of the country they often want to take me to a local place that serves "authentic" Chicago deep dish, but it rarely delivers.  Most often they just serve a version a pan pizza, a thick crust topped with standard toppings baked in a walled pan.  Chicago deep dish is baked in a similar pan, but has a much thinner crust that's pressed into the pan and up the sides.  For some time I've been experimenting with my recipe for Chicago deep dish pizza, but because I don't want to weigh 300 pounds I have to take it a little slow.  Here is my latest attempt...

The pans used for deep dish pizza are usually made of blue steel and have to be seasoned, I used to have a nice blue steel one like this one from Ottinetti but at some point over the years it was lost.  Blue steel pans have to be seasoned, but once that's done they'll last for years and years as long as you take care of (and don't misplace) them.  Lacking an authentic deep dish pan I opted to just use a large cast-iron skillet.

I used the following recipe for the dough...

300 grams AP flour
174 grams water
70 grams corn oil
7 grams EV olive oil
9 grams IDY
4 grams sugar
6 grams salt

The sugar was dissolved in the water and the yeast sprinkled over top and mixed in.  After allowing that to sit for a few minutes all the rest of the ingredients were added and mixed for about 1 minute.  The dough was then put in the refrigerator overnight.  The next morning the dough was put out at room temperature and allowed to ferment all day while I was at work (about 9-10 hours), my theory on the buttery flavor in good Chicago deep dish dough is that the long, warm ferment allows for the formation of diacetyl which is a component of artificial butter flavor.  When I got home I pressed the dough in to the pan and up the sides.  The dough was a little too slack in my opinion, next try I'm going to cut the oil down by about 25% to try and get something a little easier to handle.

Slices of mozzarella were placed on top of the dough going up the sides, I also had some shredded mozzarella that I put on top of the slices.  Next came Italian sausage (from Bari here in Chicago), sliced onions, pepperoni and green peppers.  All that was topped with sauce and more cheese was sprinkled on top.  Normally the cheese on top would be a combination of pecorino romano  and parmesan but due to a recent refrigerator failure my food stocks are still a little low.

The sauce was simple, just a can of 6-in-1 crushed tomatoes seasoned with a a few teaspoons kosher salt, a clove of garlic (minced), 1 teaspoon of greek oregano and a little sugar to taste.

The pizza was baked at 400°f for 30 minutes, then the oven temp was lowered to 350°f and baked for another 30 minutes.  Once removed from the oven it was allowed to cool in the pan for ~ 5 minutes before being de-panned and put on a brown paper bag to wick away excess oil.

A pizza wheel isn't much use for this type of pie, a long chef's knife can be used but I prefer a rocker style pizza cutter.  The dough cooked well, but the excess slackness caused the edges to be a little thicker than I would have liked, reducing the oil in the recipe (to 50 grams corn and 5 grams EVOO) should remedy this problem the next time.  Flavor was spot on but I might go for a fennel or hot Italian sausage for the next go.  Still a work-in-progress but getting very close to where I want it to be.

Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen

For quite a while, Old Jerusalem at 1411 N. Wells has been the only middle eastern restaurant within walking distance of our home.  It is OK, but I can't say that I'm a real fan of the place.  I'd often drive all the way up to Pita Inn in Skokie (3910 Dempster) instead of walking the 3/4 mile to Old Jerusalem when I wanted my shawerma fix.  So last year when I heard that Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen was opening a second location in the neighborhood at 1625 N. Halsted I couldn't wait for it to open.  But I waited, and waited, and waited.  The original opening date was scheduled for March, but that came and went with the windows still papered up and no evidence of work being done.  But work was being done, I guess the build out just took a little longer than expected.  Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen has finally opened their doors, and last night we walked through the rain to give it a try!

The restaurant is well decorated on the inside and much larger than you would expect from the street.  Everything is wood and earth tones.  Walls are adorned with middle eastern art along with a wooden shelf supporting various pottery and metal vessels.  The wooden tables and chairs sit atop hardwood flooring and the restaurant is well lit with pots and lamps hanging from the rather high ceiling.  All in all, a very attractive space.  Even the bathrooms (at least the one I went in to) are well decorated, they owner obviously put a lot of thought in to how he wanted this space to look.



  


I haven't seen anything advertising that the restaurant had opened and their website still says "Opening Soon", so there weren't many people there when we arrived.  A lot of restaurants do a "soft" opening like this to work out the kinks that are inevitable at any new establishment.  We were seated immediately and out drink orders taken.  No alcohol is served, but our waitress did tell us that they are BYOB is anyone wants to enjoy an adult beverage with their meal.

When our beverages arrived, we were ready to order.  My dining companion ordered the Hummus with Portobello (Diced and sauteed mushrooms on a bed of our famous hummus served with pita) and I ordered and appetizer of 6 falafel (Chickpea fritters highly seasoned and fried to golden perfection) and a combination plate.  The falafel was very good, crispy on the outside with a moist, flavorful interior.  My dining companion reported that the hummus topped with the sauteed portobellos was also top notch.






 
The combination plate is a little different that what is listed on their on-line menu.  Instead of the fixed selection on that menu, the menu at this location allows you to select either two or three items from a list to create your own combo.  The list of options has about 10 items to choose from, I asked for beef shawarma, chicken shawarma and lamb kebob.  They apparently didn't have the lamb kebob, so I opted for the beef kebob instead.  I didn't get a list of the other items available, but they did have various kebobs (chicken, shrimp, salmon, kufta and chicken kufta are ones that I remember off the top of my head).  The combo comes with basmati rice, grilled veggies, pita bread, a salad (romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, mint and a tahini (I think) dressing)  and two types of sauces (a tahini sauce and a thicker garlic sauce).  I thought all the items in my combo were well done, the chicken shawarma (which in many places is dry and overcooked) was tender and juicy.  Same for the beef shawarma and beef kebob. 


Both of us really enjoyed our meal at Dawali and I'm sure we will be returning soon and often.  Hopefully next time we will save enough room for a desert or two, but the portions are so large that it may not be possible!  As it was, we took home enough food for another meal tonight.  This stretch of Halsted is becoming one of our favorite areas for restaurants in the city, made even better by the fact that it is within easy walking distance of our home.  Besides the new Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen there is Landmark Grill, Boka, Alinea, and (a couple blocks north) Taco Joint.