MARCO IS COMING TO THE UNITED STATES!!!

Just a few days ago, I posted a blog about a new favorite chef of mine, Marco Pierre White. To my amazement, just as I'm watching one of my favorite shows, The Biggest Loser, I see an ad with none other than the great Marco Pierre White as I'm fast forwarding through the commercials! On the edge of my seat, I quickly rewound my DVR and watched the commercial from the beginning.

Afterward, I jumped up out of my seat and yelled gleefully about White's new show, Chopping Block. This is going to be an incredible show. Set up as a cross between Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef, Marco Pierre White is going to be the "devil in the kitchen" this time around.

This certainly is going to rival Gordon Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen". Ramsay is by far my favorite chef, but to tell you the truth, I know that Chopping Block will easily be better than Hell's Kitchen. On a side note, my favorite Ramsay show is easily the UK version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, but I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that Marco Pierre White is finally coming to the US.

Talk about excitement, White just looked incredible in the advertisement.


Here's a few articles:

Marco Pierre White to Host New Food Reality show Called The Chopping Block
Marco Pierre White Tapped For NBC's New Top Chef/Hell's Kitchen Killer
NBC puts White on 'Chopping Block'

Pesto Spelt Pizza

I've tried TONS of different pizza recipes and I'll tell you that simple is always the best. In Italy, they know this best, since most traditional pizzas from Naples are either marinara (just tomato) or Margherita (tomato and cheese).

This recipe is pretty simple, also. Growing up American, and having parents who would never purchase American cheese (and by American cheese, I mean cheese made in America, not the Kraft style American cheese you sometimes find on cheap burgers), I grew up with cheddar being a staple in my diet. And my parents bought sharp cheddar and NEVER mild. Whether it be on burgers, pizza, grilled cheese, tacos, cheddar does seem to have a sharp flavor that can cut through and add a little brightness and complexity to what it's being added to.

I really like the marriage of mozzarella and cheddar. I think they blend really well together and pair well together. I also really like the flavor of basil pesto with cheddar. I've even made this pizza with only pesto and cheddar to see if it was good, and it was. But nothing beats the melty-ness of fresh mozzarella, with it's beautiful subtle flavor.

Pesto Spelt Pizza

1 spelt pizza dough
1 ball fresh mozzarella
2 1/2 tablespoons pesto sauce
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

First thing you're going to want to do is preheat your oven to the highest temperature that it can possibly go up to, usually 500F+. Then you're going to want to take your fresh mozzarella and chop it into strips, rather than chunks (it melts easier). Then, place the mozzarella in a bowl and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Then add the tablespoon olive oil and mix the mozzarella in the oil to coat.

Next, take your pizza peel or cutting board and sprinkle it generously with white spelt flour. Take your pizza dough and lay it down on the peel. This is where things get pretty sticky. Try to rub the bottom of the dough in the flour so that it doesn't stick. Next, pick up the dough in your hands and try to press it with your fingers to make it a flat and level disc. Using the back of your hands (not your palms), gently pull the dough to stretch it out, laying it down against the peel/board covered in flour so that it doesn't stick to the back of your hands (or the peel). When you have a nice size, about 12" diameter, flour the board/peel and and lay the pizza on the board, floured side down.

Jerk the peel/board with your hand to make sure the crust slides around, not sticking to the bottom and also to re-flour the bottom of the crust. If the entire crust moves in unison without sticking, you've got it perfect. Next, place the pesto sauce directly in the middle of the crust and spread it out with the back of a spoon/ladle. Place the mozzarella on the sauced crust. Sprinkle shredded cheddar on top and bake in the oven for at least 6-7 minutes, 8 if you can, without having anything start smoking in the oven. Then voila, you have fresh pesto spelt pizza!

Pizza

I somewhat consider myself a "spelt pizzaiolo". To call yourself a pizzaiolo is obviously almost a sacrilegious term unless of course you've spent at least 10 years in Naples, making pizza hundreds of times a day (okay, maybe less). But I do think that when I add the word spelt to the title, I take it to mean that I have a real lifelong dedication to making authentic spelt pizza. Plus, it's okay because I'm treading in an area that hardly anyone's ever treaded in before.

Sure, you'll find a handful of spelt pizza recipes on-line, but nothing headed in the direction of the D.O.P. Neopolitan style authentic Italian pizza.

Having said all this, you have to realize it's pretty hard for me to try authentic style Neapolitan style pizzas because I have food allergies. So every pizza place I go to, I have to go with my wife and rely on her palete or with some of my friends or my brother. One place we happened to go to was A16, a pizza restaurant in San Francisco, headed by chef and honored pizzaiolo, Nate Appleman. Here's the restaurant...



He was actually on an episode of Iron Chef, where he faced off against newest-comer, Michael Symon. Too bad he lost...

Anyway, if I could go anywhere in America to have pizza though, it would certainly be Pizzeria Bianco, widely considered the greatest pizza in the United States. Here's a video of the great Chris Bianco making a pizza... More on him later!

Marco's Great British Feast

I must admit, I've not had much experience with British chef, Marco Pierre White, until yesterday. Sure, I've seen (and purchased) his Beka copper cookware at the greatest store of all time, TJ Maxx, and I've seen him interviewed, talking about Gordon Ramsay, but I've never actually seen him in his element, the kitchen.

I must say that I have come to realize that White is a complete enigma. I've been watching episodes of his show, Marco's Great British Feast and it's an absolutely incredible show. It really encompasses the best portrait of the person that Marco is today.

His brutal honesty is definitely comparable to his protege, Gordon Ramsay, but you'll notice that Marco really doesn't swear very often. He's also not as confrontational as Ramsay, but certainly has his moments. One moment in particular is when he receives frozen smoked eel on his show and begins to lose it. He immediately demands that the cameras are turned off as the camera crew keeps filming. "Do not film what I say, do not film me. Have some fucking respect. Do not push me. I don't think you understand what I am, I control myself very well", White warns. This, coming from the man who made Gordon Ramsay cry, seems like a pretty viable threat.


Anger aside, White is absolutely electric on the television. His personality is so eccentric, that his brilliance is absolutely magnetic, drawing you into the show. As soon as I started watching, I couldn't tear myself away from the show.

Lastly, the recipes are extremely varied. White cooks everything from fish n' chips to squirrel pie. A couple of my particular favorites are venison tartare and celeriac salad that he pairs with an aged ham that hangs in sacks from an ancient oak tree with a cage around it, to keep out the squirrels. In the show, White goes over great British classics, but makes them feel fresh, new and vibrant.

You can watch episodes of his show for free on Youtube:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

And to see a particularly interesting portrait of White (and Ramsay) from quite a while ago:

Marco Pierre White Cooks for Raymond Blanc