Something Out Of Nothing.

Wednesdays, for us, are all about scraping the bottom of the barrel, or, to be more precise, getting as creative as possible with the skimpy selections in the kitchen. Our food-ship doesn't cruise in until Thursday, the CSA pickup day, when we have excess and plenty, which is why Wednesdays are magical, difficult and inspiring: Wednesdays, we make something out of nothing.

Right now in my refrigerator I have some wilting beet leaves, half a package of mozzarella and a paltry portion of long-ignored kale. Fortune favors the bold, however, and my backup staples are always waiting to assist me: flour, yeast, sugar, olive oil, milk, garlic, and thank goodness, half a lemon. It's the bare bones basics, but I think it will get us through another meal until tomorrow.

The big idea was pizza (with a white sauce, of course). Our tomato supply was diminished earlier in the day, half of our last tomato was divided into thin wedges and placed with care on toasted tomato-cucumber paninis (the cucumber is gone too). Therefore, the last option was a white sauce. Milk, garlic, butter and flour took care of that in a flash, and once the dough completed it's second rise, a pizza with kale, capers on a garlic white sauce was bubbling in the oven. The smell of it baking sent our hungry tummies into a shark-like feeding frenzy and, though I would be doing a discredit to all our other meals by saying this, turned into the winner of the week. Hey, it's pizza, what more can I say?

Tomorrow will bring fresh eggs, maybe even a twin yolk or two, vegetables, coffee, baguettes, shiitakes and so much more. We'll play, experiment, devour, taste, admire and cook to our heart's content. But Wednesday will sneak up on us again, driving us to scour our dwindling cabinet supply, which is why it's always important to have a Wednesday night staple. I guess to- die -for "bare bones pizza" will be ours.


The recipe for the dough is from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors. Since everyone's minimal food supply is different, (and I'm tired) I am supplying only the pizza dough recipe. If you'd like some tips for the white sauce, just ask and I'll freely oblige.

All or Nothing Pizza Dough

Makes two 12-inch round pizzas or one 12x16 inch pizza.

1 1/4 cups warm water

1 scant tbsp. active dry yeast (we use Red Star)

pinch sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed

1 tsp sea salt (or kosher salt)

1 tbsp olive oil

Put the warm water in a mixing bowl and stir in the yeast, sugar and 1 cup of the flour. Set aside until foamy 20 -30 minutes. Lightly oil a clean bowl for the dough. (Hint: if step one doesn't produce foamy results, start over, your yeast was inactive.)

Stir in the salt and oil, then start stirring in the flour until the dough is fairly stiff. When too stiff to stir, turn out onto a lightly floured counter and knead the dough until it is smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes. Add more flour as needed. put the dough in the oiled bowl, turn once to coat, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

Punch down the dough, making sure to release all the air and recover to rise again, this time it should take less time.

Divide into 2 or 4 pieces, shape loosely into balls, then roll out into thin circles. For one large rustic tart, roll into a large thin rectangle and bake it on a sheet pan.