UPDATE 7/10/12
The Lex Wine blog is totally down :(
So I've reposted these articles here.
Thankfully I retained the rights to this project
___________
A
long time ago Billy Joel was better known for crafting tight, melodic piano
ballads than for driving his car into things. Repeatedly. Given the cultural
appetite for the lurid details of
our hero’s lives, it’s easy to lose sight of his remarkable talent. In this
installment of the Rock & Roll Cookbook we are going to explore his 1977
album The Stranger
and make a delicious pizza from scratch.
Born in the Bronx in
1949 to a German father and an English mother, music was always a part of Billy
Joel’s life. His father was an
accomplished classical pianist and the young Joel took his lessons from a woman
who also taught ballet in her studio. This led to much teasing in his early
years. So much so that he took up boxing, eventually fighting on the Golden Gloves
circuit.
Billy Joel went into the world
determined to make it as a musician come hell or high water. Upon leaving
school he commented “...To hell with it. If I'm not going to Columbia
University, I'm going to Columbia Records and you don't need a high school
diploma over there." Within six years he was, in fact, signed to
Columbia Records. Tenacity and dedication served him well. Though he didn’t
officially graduate High School when he left, he returned 25 years later to
finish his last English course and collect his diploma.
The Stranger is perhaps
one of Billy Joel’s best known albums, impeccably produced by Phil Ramone. A
violin prodigy who went on to produce acts as diverse as Luciano Pavoratti and
Clay Aiken, this was the first team up between the two. They went on to work on
all of Joel’s albums up until 1989 together. (This partnership lasted longer
than any of Joel’s marriages to date.) The interplay between Joel’s songwriting
and Ramone’s producing is thought to be the root of the power of these early
Joel albums. Four of the nine songs on The Stranger were Billboard Top 25 hits,
and the first track Moving Out eventually spawned a Broadway musical with
choreography by Twyla Tharp.
Upon entering the studio
though Billy had more rough ideas than completed songs. In fact the iconic whistling
on the title track was originally intended to be a wind instrument, but Phil
Ramone advised him that the whistling “was the Stranger.” Perhaps one of
his most iconic songs, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, was originally three
separate songs. Inspired by the second side of Abby Road, the three songs
merged into the 7 minute 37 second epic that spawned a thousand waiter’s
opening of “Bottle of white, bottle of red? Or perhaps a rose’ instead?” In
case you’re wondering, the Italian restaurant in question is loosely based on
Fontana di Trevi across from Carnagie Hall. Though Only the Good Die young was met with some
concerns over it’s perceived anti-Catholic content, Joel is always quick to
point out that in the end the girl refuses the proposition in question. Though
he hasn’t released any new pop music since 1993 Billy is constantly touring and
has premiered a few of his classical pieces in concert.
Onto the food!
Though
making pizza dough from scratch can seem intimidating, it’s actually a fairly
easy process. However sometimes we don’t have a day in advance and in those
cases pizza dough is usually available in your grocer’s cold case. There are
also the pre-baked crusts but I have always found those to be inferior to
starting with dough.
Pizza Dough
3/4 cup warm water about 10 degrees above body temperature
1 envelope active
dry yeast
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive
oil
In a small mixing
bowl combine the water and yeast, letting the mixture stand for about 5 or so
minutes.
Combine all of the
dry ingredients together and then slowly add the yeast mixtures and the olive
oil
The dough should
form a slightly sticky ball.
Take the dought and
move it to a flourerd surface, perhaps a larger bowl that gives the dough room
to rise
Knead the dough
until it is smooth. If the dough is super sticky feel free to add a little more
flour.
Lightly coat the
ball in olive oil and cover the bowl. Allow the dough to rise for and hour and
then punch it down in the center.
The dough is now
ready to be made into pizza.
preparati
Hackensack Heart Attack(ack
ack ack ack) Pizza
Being born in the town of
Hackensack, NJ and raised in the state I have a particular affection for this
song about “every kid trying to make it in America.” This pizza harkens back to
those evenings with my family all around the table. You may notice that there
aren’t exact measurements and ratios for the pizza toppings. If you love
arugula, pile it on. Can’t stomach prosciutto? What’s wrong with you?! I mean,
just leave it out...I guess. You’ll also note that I am not suggesting you cook
a pizza sauce persay but simply to use canned tomato. The intention here is to
let the natural flavors of the tomato ring through rather than to over sweeten
by the inevitable carmelization that occurs when one cooks a sauce and then
bakes it in the oven.
You’ll need:
-Pizza Dough
-Prosciutto
-Arugula
-One Can of Crushed or Diced
Tomatoes
-Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
-One can Quartered Artichoke
Hearts
-Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Pre-heat your oven to 425
degrees.
Spread out your dough on a oiled
baking sheet or a pizza stone if you have one.
Spoon on the tomato sauce, adding
by the tablespoon full until you get the coverage you desire. You may notice
that it is a little chunkier than your traditional pizza sauce, this is a call
back to the more traditional pizzas I ate growing up. Try not to put on too
much sauce, just a thin covering, other wise your crust will be soggy.
Sprinkle on a thin covering of mozzarella cheese over the
pizza.
Add the prosciutto in slices across the pizza, then evenly
distribute the artichokes.
Layer on the arugula, but keep in mind that it will wilt and
shrink significantly in the oven.
Add the fresh cracked black pepper over the arugula.
If you desire add just the slightest sprinkling on
mozzarella over the arugula.
WINE
Though Billy is a little more liberal with his wine pairings
than I am I might go in the direction of a red wine for this meal. A
Tempranillo, with it’s black plum flavors pairs well with the pork and the
notes of black pepper will create a taste bridge from the food to the wine
itself.
-Christa Pagliei
