Slow running, cured pork, and wood-fired pizza

A short run post, but I want to keep records of run times so that when I start running 6 minute miles (will never happen) I will feel a sense of real accomplishment.

Running

Friday I went for my 9.84 mile run and finished in 110 minutes which equals 11.18 minute miles.  That's slower than my half marathon run!? So somewhere between 7 miles and 13.3 miles I lose a lot of steam.  Or, maybe my twice a week interval training is knocking me down speed-wise.  This article definitely says you can overdo high intensity interval training.  It definitely feels like high intensity when I'm doing it.  Did I mention I hate interval training?

Culinary

I have a great culture of Penicillium nalgiovense growing on my curing meat:

I will weigh it in a couple of weeks.  Maybe it will be ready in time for my 50th birthday party?

Pizza

Tonight I'm making Pizza in the Primo ceramic cooker.  I have a bunch of almond wood that I use for creating a wood-fired type pizza.  Here is my recipe for my 70% hydration dough:

1.      600 Grams of flour

2.      12 grams of salt

3.      6 grams of sugar

4.      Water 400 grams

1 gram of active yeast 

I use "Redmill" bread flour for the dough.  I had to substitute with 200 grams of all purpose flour for this batch as I ran out of "Redmill."  I heat the water, salt, and sugar for about 45 seconds in the Microwave before mixing in the yeast.  I then add this mixture slowly to the flour in my Kitchenaid mixer and beat at medium for 5 minutes.  I then do the "slap and fold" on my counter top with this sticky mess for 10 minutes before dividing into two pizzas.

I think here dough is at a higher hydration level than mine, but the principal is the same.  The dough was made yesterday and put in the fridge.  Normally I would use the wine cooler, but it is currently occupied with the pork.  So I guess I could think of my pizza as "New York" style since they typically put the dough at refrigerator temperatures for overnight or longer.  If you don't have time to let pizza dough sit at least overnight in a refrigerator or wine cooler, then make something else.

For toppings I will be making a sauce from tomatoes and basil from the garden.   All the smoked pork is gone and the cured pork not ready, so I will just use garden peppers, commercial salami and olives.  Pizza for me is sort of like a cooking palette that has a few rules but allows for a lot of creativity .  I'll try and remember to take some pictures of the pizzas and Primo set-up for pizza making.