Sweet-Spicy Glazed Salmon and Thin-Crust Pizza

The first thing I made a few nights ago that was fantastic and extraordinarily easy is Sweet-Spicy Glazed Salmon. To make it, put up to 4 salmon fillets into a foil-lined pan (makes cleanup a breeze), season to taste with salt and pepper, and bake at 425 for 12 minutes. While that is in the oven, combine 3T brown sugar, 1T low-sodium soy sauce, 4t Chinese-style hot mustard and 1t rice vinegar in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and then remove from heat. After the fish has been in the oven for 12 minutes, take it out and pour/brush the glaze over it, then broil about 3 minutes or until it flakes easily. Makes an absolutely delicious and very easy dish that can be made in a hurry. I forgot to take a picture, so here is one from the recipe. From: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=549833

Next, I decided to try my hand at thin-crust pizza dough. After pouring over many different recipes and opinions on different methods, I finally settled on one. The recipe I chose goes into excruciating detail on every step of the process, but I simplified it quite a bit, and I think it turned out quite well. This recipe makes enough for 4-6 pizzas, each 10-14 inches round. For the dough, combine 4.5C bread flour, 1.75t salt and 1T yeast; then stir in1.75C cold water and 1/4C olive oil if you want. Combine, then kneed for 5-7 minutes or until smooth. Divide into 4-6 pieces depending on how big you want the pizzas to be (I did 4), form into balls, flour the outside and then wrap in plastic wrap. At this point, you can either freeze it and then refrigerate or just refrigerate it depending on how long until you are going to be using it. Either way, it should be in the fridge for a day or two before it is used to allow the gluten to develop. When you are ready to make the pizzas, take the dough out of the fridge and press into about a 1/2 inch thick disk on a floured surface, then let sit for an hour or so to warm up. At some point while the dough is warming up, begin preheating your oven to basically as hot as it can get (I just left mine on broil - it got to about 550 degrees F) with your pizza stone in the oven as well. If you really want to make fresh pizzas, I highly recommend getting a pizza stone, because it results in a much better crust and is not all that expensive; otherwise, a pan would suffice. Regardless, once the dough has warmed up a bit, stretch it into the size and thickness you want. There are many different techniques to doing this, but I like the gravity method, because it is pretty easy and less likely to make a mess. Making sure that your dough remains lightly floured, take your disk by near the edge and hold it like you would a washcloth you are preparing to hang up, then work your way around the edge, stretching it to make the circumference of the outer edge larger and letting gravity pull the center into shape. Watch carefully that you do not tear the dough in the center, and if you do get close, let it sit on the counter for a few seconds and retract, then work carefully to the desired size. One of the two that I did turned out more rectangularly than circular due to avoiding tears, but it had no impact on the taste. Once stretched to your liking, transfer to a flat pan that is lightly dusted with semolina flour or cornmeal, and spread on a thin layer of sauce(I included a picture of the one I used, which was delicious, if a bit salty) and any toppings you want. Keep in mind that fewer toppings can be better, and the crust is quite thin and not of structural integrity for an 'everything'; mine just had sauce and sliced fresh mozzarella. Once topped, remove the stone from the oven (if you are using a stone), and slide the pizza from the pan to the stone, then place the stone into the oven. You can tell when the pizza is done when the bottom of the crusts begins to get lightly browned and it maintains some rigidity when a corner is lifted with a spatula, about 5-8 minutes. Wait a bit after taking it out of the oven for easier slicing, and enjoy your fresh and delicious pizza! Based on: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001199.html