Why I buy Organic Milk
I'm still not fully convinced that the organic movement is taking hold. I don't think that middle America is quite ready to go full-out organic. In my opinion, you either do it or you don't. Well, that was the case until I discovered organic milk. I just started buying only organic milk because of its generous shelf-life.
Typically, standard pasteurized milk has a shelf life of about 6-10 days once it hits the grocer's shelves. With my lifestyle and travels, I'm on the road far too much and end up pouring milk down the drain after the expiration date passes. This is not only a waste of money but a waste of resources...that poor cow suffered through the automated process of having her utters drained so I could enjoy a bowl of cereal in the morning and here I was, throwing most of it out.
Organic milk, is exposed to ultrahigh temperature processing (UHT), which brings the milk to 280 degrees for 2-4 seconds killing any bacteria spores in the milk itself. Standard milk is heated to a much lower temperature killing much, but not all of the bacteria. You can buy UHT non-organic milk which doesnt require refrigeration and is great in a pinch. There is a slight difference in the taste (UHT milk is sweeter) but with a 3-4 week shelf-life, this chef-on-the-road will only buy organic or UHT milk from now on.
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Vermont Dijon Bacon
For a delicious twist on regular bacon, try this old Vermont Dijon recipe.
Yield 10 side portions.
Pizza Night
It was pizza night at Shell Beach tonight. Fresh dough made with bread and 00 Italian flour, salt, olive oil, water, yeast and my Italian sour dough starter. The dough was retarded in the fridge for 3 days which later developed into a beautiful crispy crust. I slowly caramelized shaved white onions in olive oil mixed with cans of San Marzano imported whole plum tomatoes; a touch of sea salt and fresh grated Regianno. The dough was hand stretched into a lightly greased sheet pan (I like my pizzas to be square), topped with the tomatoes, fresh shredded whole milk mozzarella and sliced smoked bacon and baked in a hot 500 degree preheated oven. I always start my pizza placed on the bottom (hearth) of the oven. Once the crust has set up (3-4 minutes later), I move the pan to the middle of the oven until the cheese is bubbly, the bacon is cooked and the crust is crispy. Seriously delicious umami-esque pizza almost as good as Sallys Pizza in New Haven (almost).