A couple years ago my my family and I were on vacation in Napa on our way to San Franscico we stopped at the famed Chez Panisse restaurant that was founded by Alice Waters in Berkeley California. I had wanted to eat at Chez Panisse for years and it ended up being one of the most amazing meals I had eaten in my life anywhere in the World. I have a stack of Chez Panisse cookbooks that I use on a regular basis trying to re-create some of the fabulous food we ate there. I thought I would start a weekly workshop called “Cooking and Baking my way through Chez Panisse” where I would share some delicious recipes that you can make at home. The following information is adapted from “Alice Waters Chez Panisse” written by Thomas McNamee. It will give you insight into the World of Alice Waters and her impact on organic cuisine. After that I have included a delicious Calzone recipe. I hope you give it a try it is fabulous.

“Chez Panisse was founded by Alice Waters in 1971- at a time when it was nearly impossible to find a cappuccino or a croissant in this country, and goat cheese and mesclun were virtually unheard of- a Young Francophile named Alice Waters opened a small counter cultural restaurant called Chez Panisse in an old two-story stucco home in Berkeley California. Without an ounce of business sense or financial discipline, Alice and a motley assortments of friends and dreamers launched an entirely new food culture, incorporating ethics, politics, and the conviction that the best-grown food will also be the most delicious. Alice was also greatly influenced by the time she spent in France and she used that experience to help create the nuanced aesthetic she had experienced abroad. Chez Panisse became a place devoted to details: freshly cut flowers, dimly lit rooms, and luxuriously paced meals and delicious food. The restaurant was created in part as a tribute to Marcel Pagnol’s films, “where friends could laugh” argue, flirt, and drink wine for hours on end,” and it remains such a place today. From day one Chez Panisse has been dedicated to using the freshest ingredients and its kitchen has evolved to become the premier American exempler of the “market cooking” that Alice so admired in Europe. Committed to using seasonal, organic products from local sources, Chez Panisse has come to embody a cuisine that is as politically conscious as it is pleasurable. Though inspired by traditional domestic and international culinary practices, Chez Panisse boasts offerings that are unique, earning Alice the title ” the mother of American cooking” from the The New York Times”. Alice and Chez Panisse have grown and matured together. As advocates for fresh, mindfully grown food, prepared simply and eaten with awareness, they have revolutionized how we think about food, how it’s grown, how we cook, and how we eat.” ( adapted from the book Alice Waters Chez Panisse, written by Thomas McNamee)

CHEZ PANISSE CALZONE

2 ounces fresh Sonoma goat cheese
2 ounces French goat cheese, such as Bucheron or Lezay ( I only had one type of goat cheese and it worked beautifully)
7 ounces mozzarella
2 slices of prosciutto ( I used more)
2 tablespoons fresh chives
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 sprig each fresh thyme and marjoram
2 small cloves garlic
Black pepper
Pizza dough

Calzone is on the Cafe menu every day at Chez Panisse. The term actually refers to the form of the pizza: a turnover with the filling enclosed. This version is a combination of mild and tangy cheeses, prosciutto, garlic and herbs.
Crumble the goat cheeses and grate the mozzarella. Cut 2 slices of prosciutto, about twice as thick as you would serve for a sandwich or salad, into a julienne. Finely cut 2 tablespoons of chives and mince the same amount of parsley. Chop the leaves of a small sprig each of thyme and marjoram. Mince the garlic. Blend all of these ingredients together and season with some coarsely ground black pepper.
Roll the pizza dough in one large circle. 14 inches in diameter, or divide the dough in 2 or 3 pieces and make small calzoni. Put the filling in one-half of the dough, leaving an inch margin space at the edge. Moisten the edge with water and fold the other half of the dough over the filling to make the edges meet. Fold the dough at the edges up onto itself to form a sort of running curl, pinching as you go along to seal it tight. Put it on the floured paddle and slide it in the oven. Bake for approximately 15 to 18 minutes, until it is quite brown and crisp. Remove it from the oven and brush the tip with olive oil. Serve it whole and cut with a serrated knife at the table.

Pizza Dough
1/4 cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 rye flour
Let this proof and for about 25 minutes.

1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups unbleached-all-purpose flour

Mix the dough with a wooden spoon, then knead on a floured board. It will be soft and a little sticky. Use quick light motions with your hands so though dough won’t stick. Add more flour to the board as you knead but no more than is absolutely necessary. A soft moist dough makes a light and very crispy crust. Knead for 10 to 15 minutes to develop strength and elasticity in the dough. Put it in a bow rubbed with olive oil, and oil the surface of the dough to prevent a crust from forming. Cover the bowl with a towel and put it in a warm place. Let the dough rise to double its size, for about 2 hours, then punch it down. Let it rise about 40 minutes more, then shape and bake it. This recipe makes one 12 -inch to 14-inch pizza, or several small ones/calzones.
(recipe adapted from Chez Panisse, Pasta, Pizza and Calzones)
I do not have a pizza oven. I use a large pizza stone from William Sonoma that I heat in an oven around 400-450 degrees, I just slide my calzones onto and bake until golden and bubbly.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 14th, 2009.
Tags: alice waters, chez panisse, cooking, La Cuisine, organic eating
Posted in La Cuisine, La Cuisine - Desserts