PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — In this edition of The Dish, we’re having a pizza party with a mother-daughter team who added award-winning pies to the menu to compliment their staple: beer.
Dock Street Brewing Company is celebrating their milestone 40th anniversary, so we head on over to the women-owned brewery for a toast and, a lesson on that pizza!
In 1985, Rosemarie Certo celebrated the birth of Dock Street Brewing Company.
“It was a very, very boldly entrepreneurial thing to do,” Certo says. “It was a very gutsy thing to do.”
Rosemarie and her husband had bought an at home beer brewing kit and they were inspired.
“All of a sudden, a light bulb went out in my head,” she recalls. “We could sell this stuff!”
That same year, she welcomed her daughter, Renata.
“I always say that we’re twins,” laughs Renata Vesey.
Dock Street is now celebrating 40 years as Philadelphia’s first and one of America’s original craft breweries.
The mother-daughter duo runs the brewery, and brew pub, on Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia.
The secret to their success?
“Passion,” says Certo.
“Good beer,” adds Vesey. “I’ve basically been drinking it since I was born.”
Over four decades, they’ve made all kinds of craft brews, and there’s a special beer to celebrate the anniversary. They’re also serving and selling it at their second location, a tasting room in Fishtown.
Certo named the brewery after one of our city’s many historical claims to fame.
“The real Dock Street in Philadelphia, 200 years ago, was the largest beer producing area in the whole country,” Certo says. “Statesmen and pirates alike would come, like Benjamin Franklin, Washington, Jefferson.”
Their pizza is long regarded as one of Philly’s best kept secrets and we’re learning the secrets to the Renata pie, which features oven roasted grapes, goat cheese, creme fraiche, shredded fresh mozzarella, walnuts for crunch, and fresh mint to garnish.
Renata Pizza from Dock Street Brewing Company
Pizza Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:
– 1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
– 1/3 cup of semolina
– 1 tsp. sea salt
– 2 and 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (1 small packet)
– 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
1. Mix the flour, semolina and salt in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, combine the yeast, olive oil, and 1 cup of warm tap water (Make sure it’s not hot water or it will kill the yeast) and add to the flour/salt mixture
3. Hand knead it until it forms a dough, then let it rest, uncovered, for about 10 minutes
4. Knead it again for a couple minutes until it is springy – do not over-knead or it will become tough
5. Divide it into two and roll it into loose balls – this is enough dough to make two medium sized pizzas!
6. Place on a clean cutting board and cover with a clean cloth. Let it rest and rise, un-refrigerated, for 3-4 hours. Then, it’s ready to stretch and top!
7. Start by pressing it with your finger tips until it’s slightly flattened, like a lumpy pancake
8. Use the heels of your hands to stretch and turn it – stretch slightly, rotate about an inch, and repeat until it is smoother, flatter. From there, you can gently drape it over the knuckles of both your fists and turn it, moving your hands slightly apart to stretch it
Now your pizza is ready to add the toppings!
Renata Pizza Recipe:
Ingredients:
– Small handful of green and/or purple grapes
– Walnuts
– Shredded mozzarella
– Creme Fraiche
– Goat cheese
– Fresh mint
– Extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.
2. Roast your grapes on a small tray (Optional: marinate your red grapes in balsamic vinegar, and your green grapes in white balsamic for added flavor. To do so, toss the grapes in a generous drizzle of the vinegar of your choosing and roast on a pan at 500 degrees until they’re blistered – 20 minutes or so. Also, you can add the walnuts on a separate tray or a piece of foil for the last couple minutes to lightly toast them.)
3. Make sure the bottom of your pizza dough has a light dusting of flour on it (too much will burn in the oven!) and transfer it to a pan or a pizza stone
4. Brush a light coating of olive oil onto the outer crust of your pizza
5. Use the back of a spoon to spread creme fraiche onto the dough, leaving about a half inch for the crust
6. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella, and then add some small dots of goat cheese on top of the mozzarella
7. Evenly add your roasted grapes and walnuts to the top
8. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, keeping an eye on it and checking the bottom to make sure it is fully cooked and firm. If you try to lift up one of the sides and it flops or droops, the dough still needs to cook more.
9. When it’s ready, tear up some fresh mint for the top top the pizza, slice and mangia!
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