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Agatha Christie's Greenway (Devon, England) - The House

I can think of two places that we visited where I enjoyed the house more than the gardens. The first was Greenway, not for the house itself, which was surprisingly small and cramped, but for the history behind it and the fascinating mementos on display. Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan were enthusiastic collectors. You can see their collections on display throughout the house - European and Oriental ceramics, pottery, African tribal masks, Egyptian artifacts, Tunbridge ware, china, trinkets, and books. The Morning Room has a portrait of Agatha Christie as a child and her doll Rosie, sitting in a chair - The Drawing Room was where the family would gather in the evenings. Christie would entertain guests by reading chapters from manuscripts of her latest books.  Agatha Christie's bedroom. Max always slept on a smaller portable traveling cot (you can see part of it in the foreground). It was his favorite bed and he carried it with him on all of his archaeological travels. N...

Cast Iron Pizza

 


We've had a lot of rain lately which means I've been in the kitchen a lot. I've been experimenting with pizza recipes and we've found one that we really like. This is from America's Test Kitchen (they have a video on YouTube demonstrating how to do it).  It is compared to the Pizza Hut pan pizza. The first time I made it, I used a regular sized cast iron pan and it was thick and tasted good. We like our pizza thin, however, and found a larger sized pan that is actually called a pizza pan. In this pan, the pizza is thin and just the way we like it. It is delicous!

Cast Iron Pizza

11 oz. bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant or rapid rise yeast
8 oz. water (105-100 degrees)

Whisk together the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water and mix until the dough just comes together. Knead in the bowl for a minute and form a ball. 

Place the dough in a pie pan (or similar) and spread it out into a 7 inch circle. Spray the top of the dough with oil spray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 12-24 hours.

When ready to bake, let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes.

Spread 3 tablespoons of oil over the cast iron pan. Transfer the dough to the pan and spread it out to 1/8 from the edge. Cover with plastic and let sit for 1.5 hours. 

Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cover the pizza with sauce and toppings and bake for 25-30 minutes. Transfer to stovetop and let sit for 3 minutes. Check the bottom of the pizza and if it needs more browning, cook on the oven for 3-5 minutes. 

The sauce recipe is available on the America's Test Kitchen website. However, we just use a bottled sauce and add the toppings we like.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

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