GEORGE'S RECIPE of THE MONTH.
 George has had a love of all things culinary from a very young age, and throughout his career, has worked with renowned chefs and food technologists. He discovered his passion for cooking at the age of five after spending time in his grandmother's restaurant. From then on, under his mother's guidance (who is a talented cook of her own accord) George recalls cooking anything his mother would let him, starting out with scrambled eggs and hamburgers and quickly moving on to fine Italian and French dishes.
After many years of honing and perfecting his culinary craft, George still enjoys what he humbly considers: "complimenting my family culinary experience," by taking courses in regional cuisines pertaining to the vegetable ingredient products his family specializes in, namely: Asian, French, Mediterranean, Mexican and Tex Mex.
Because of George's extensive knowledge and passion for food, he is a great resource to customers in helping them find the right ingredients for their recipe needs. "I need to understand what's happening in the kitchen," he explained. "If my client has an unfavorable flavor note, I need to be able to assess the situation to understand why." That extra level of service and care undoubtedly stems from his love of food and his work alike, which fortunately for George, go hand and hand.
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1/2 cup warm water (100-110F)
1/2 teaspoons dry yeast 2 tablespoons GC Farms' extra virgin olive oil 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 6 ounces bread flour (about 1 1/4 cups) cooking spray 2 tablespoons cornmeal 1/3 cup cream cheese (softened) 8 slices red onion (1/8-inch thick) 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes (sliced in half) 1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves 3 tablespoons blue cheese (crumpled) 6 ounces smoked salmon (cold, thinly sliced) |
  1 - Combine 1/2 cup warm water and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached; let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add oil and salt to yeast mixture. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sprinkle flour over yeast mixture; mix 2 minutes or until a soft dough forms. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; cover surface of dough with plastic wrap lightly coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate 24 hours.
2 - Position an oven rack in the lowest setting. Place a pizza stone on lowest rack. Preheat oven to 550°. Preheat pizza stone 30 minutes before baking the dough.
3 - Remove dough from refrigerator. Let stand, covered, 1 hour or until dough comes to room temperature. Punch dough down. Roll dough out to a very thin 14-inch circle on a lightly floured baking sheet, without raised edges, sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges to form a 1/2-inch border. Pierce dough several times with a fork.
4 - Slide dough onto preheated pizza stone, using a spatula as a guide. Bake at 550° for 4 minutes. Remove from oven; spread cream cheese evenly over dough. Arrange onion, spinach and cherry tomatoes over cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Top evenly with salmon, sprinkle with blue cheese and serve.
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                                                                                                                             JUN 2012
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