So far, it looks like nobody's gonna get pissed in the hamburger thread, so I thought I'd take a chance on pizza.
Like with burgers, it's high-quality basics and minimalist for me, and so far you can only get this at my house:
Crust has got to be thin and flexible, but crunchy at the edge. Never oily. It's gotta hit you with, 'geez, that's good' when you bite in. It's NOT a vehicle for delivering a huge mass of toppings into your pie hole -- it's THE centerpiece.
Tomatoes, not a Marinara sauce. I use 6-In-1 crushed tomatoes with just a dash of white wine and red pepper flakes, and it's NOT cooked.
Cheese is usually a blend of fresh mozzarella and dry.
Basil from the garden and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
That's it. Trust me, it's damn-near perfect food.
I'd really like you Aussies to weigh in. After what I read about what you do to the hamburger, I can only imagine...Crust on top, cheese on bottom? :D
ness: I was raised in the Newark, NJ area in a very Soprano like environment. My mother (full blooded Italian) has family in the pizza business. I was raised in some of the best pizzerias on earth. I have a video at my link below about how I make pizza. I made it for my sister who moved to PA and can't find good pie. The vide is made in my special education classroom. We sell these pies faster than we can make them. They never tasted stuff like this in central Ohio. We just got done making 5 for lunch orders and I sat down with a slice and saw this post! We are having a new school built next year and my room will be a complete commercial kitchen, including a real pizza oven. We already have 20/30 quart hobart mixers that we use for doughs over 6 pies and our homade dog biscuits (selling faster than we can make them). Up to 6 pies we use the kitchen aide. Star Tavern is one of my favorites. It beat the top NYC area pizzerias out for top prize. I was raised a walk from it. Here is a link. Walter
http://www.startavern.net/ ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
what i didnt say in the burger thread is that i own a pizza shop in northeastern ohio. a pizza shop with a full broiler and fryer line.
cappspizza i know its not the greatest website, but you can look/download our menu..
i love origional pizza as much as the next guy, but have been eating it regularly for 17 years.. so, we at my shop have created more than a few unusual pies..
a few:
the chili dog: yep, dough topped with chili sliced hotdog, onion, mozz and cheddar cheese..
chicken marsala: dough topped with chicken marsala mushrooms and cheese
the big mac: douch sauced with (believe it or not) ketchup and mustard topped with burger onions bacon and american and mozz cheese.. after baked, we all mayo lettuce and tomato
philly steak pizza: says it all..
there are many more, but those are a few of my favorites.. i like original pizza, but it gets old when you are around it everyday..
i would like to make a trek to NJ/NY to try some of theirs, but alas i have no time for that.. ---------- Marty we're no GOD (Greenwood)
That sounds extremely cool, Walter. I can't watch that here at the office, but I'll definitely check it out at home.
And, that's the kinda stuff I'm talking about -- NY style. No good examples of that here in the midwest unfortunately.
That said, I do love a good Chicago-style too. But it's a completely different thing, and people seem to love it or hate it. My fav for that is Lou Malnati's.
Marty: When you come down to Granville we can make some pies!
GermanHarpist: Thanks!
ness: I hope you find it informative. Use King Arthur bread flour. It is the best. I only make thin crust pies. Ones you can fold and eat. I will put, reluctantly, pepperoni on as a topping. I prefer to put good sweet/spicy italian sausage, or mushrooms on. With a thin crust, you can't load them up too much. The pepperoni I can get around here is terrible- tons of grease and not much flavor.
I buy a case of DALE red clay tile (nothing but baked red clay) for as much as you would spend on a pizza stone and the case will line about 10 ovens. Once I left NJ/NYC I realized how special the pies are there. Once when on tour out west we were going through palm springs. Our a/c died in El Paso and in august that was a hell of a hot ride! My wife got heat stroke going through death valley (about 115 degrees), so we stopped in palm springs for the night on our way to SF. I got to talking to the doorman at the hotel and he was from Jersey. We started talking pies and he said Sinatra brought his favorite guy out and he had a shop across the street. I went over there and had the only real NJ pie outside of Jersey in all my years of traveling. He said Sinatra even had the water trucked in. Most shops in the NJ/NYC area will cite the water as a major factor.
I was able to work in pizzerias as a kid and learned the basics and have been honing them for the past 35 years. Using my home oven is a drag. The tiles help alot, but it is hard to get it right in a home oven. I would say my pies are about 90% accurate to a good NJ one. Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
walter, im planning on bringing you a slab of my ribs to try.. as i know you love BBQ too.. but im sure i can figure out a way to bring a pizza.. not sure it will match up well with what you grew up with, but it is a good ohio pizza...
old dog, pineapple, ham and bacon on pizza is awesome.. i like it with a teriyake glaze for the sauce, on a thin crust.. soo good! ---------- Marty we're no GOD (Greenwood)
Marty: I would love to try your pie and ribs! I learned texas bbq under the mentorship of Stubbs. When I want to learn something I go the source. I did this with learning to play music and everything else I want to learn. I need to learn in the real environment. This kind of learning involves all the senses. The video mode of learning is one dimensional and lacks the real meat of the experience IMO. Stubbs was a fixture on the austin scene. He was stevie vaughn's favorite and amoung others, George Bush senior. Stevie would fly stubbs in to places all over the world with a cooler full of his cooking. Stubbs catered Bush's ignaguaral presidential picnic in DC. Stubbs loved music and always had a small stage in his bbq place (locations changed often). I would hang out in the kitchen with him. When he died, some business minded people bought his name and now his products can be found on grocery shelves all over the country. Sad because during his lifetime he was always near broke.
I have my own smoker and do traditional Texas BBQ. We are moving in a month or so, mainly because our next door neighbor complains when I run the smoker. I can't live without my bbq!!! We are moving a mile out of town and I will have a dedicated building for my recording studio too. I can see it now- music mixing, bbq smoke whisping by the studio window.... I think I am going to build a wood fired brick pizza oven outside as well. Life is good with good food! Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
The trick to a good crust is to make the dough and let it sit in the refrigerator for 24 to 72 hours. The dough develops flavor that way (and it keeps longer once baked)
I also like slab pizza. That's just the dough with a thick, rich tomato sauce on it. No cheese. Montreal Italian bakery style.
Last Edited by on May 20, 2010 10:46 AM
arzajac: Do you cook it on parchment paper? At what temp? On a stone? I agree with letting the dough rise in the fridge at least overnight. I love to throw the dough up to the ceiling for effect. People outside of the NYC area seemed real impressed with that - always a showman I am :-) Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
Has anyone read about the latest scam in Naples? Apparently there's so much demand for wood for the pizza ovens that people are digging coffins from the graveyards and selling them to the pizzerias! ---------- Kinda hot in these rhinos!
Old dog: Though I said I like it minimalist and traditional, I can't deny the ham & pineapple is a great combo. Though I usually prefer Canadian bacon -- same idea.
Walter: I'm with you on the toppings -- keep it light. If your crust can hold a ton of stuff, it's crappy crust. I too love Italian sausage and mushrooms. Pepperoni? It curls up and turns into a grease reservoir. Blech. Pepperoni's ok -- just not on pizza.
Did somebody say BBQ?
Let me just say first: I'm from Kansas City, and we don't have a lot to brag about. We're kinda touchy, and we're proud of our BBQ.
Walter, if your neighbor was complaining about your Texas BBQ, it's understandable. Try the traditional KC BBQ wood blend of hickory and oak. Neighbors will flock to you. You'll save moving costs, a REALTOR commission, and a lot of hassle. Oh, and there's the possibility of great food at the end of it all, if you do it right. ----------
ness: My neighbors would complain no matter what wood you use. I use oak, mesquite, hickory, fruit woods depending on whats available. Texas BBQ can hold its own anyday against anybody. In texas they don't drown the meat in sauce. They say if the meat can't stand on its own it ain't worth eating :-). I do love KC BBQ too! I have been to that famous joint there many times........
We are excited to move. Our house in right in the village and the house is a beautiful turn of the century affair, but lacks space for my studio. We will have a 30'x30' Structure complete with everything to live in for my new one. It will be one room with great natural acoustics. Now I am in a 12'x12' room and it is so tight I can barely move. Plus the cost of the house will set us back about $500 a month in mortgage and taxes. Easy living! Walter ---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
Arzjac: I ferment the dough at least overnight and ideally 3 days. It sure develops a lot of extra flavor in the dough that you just don't get in a quick/warm rise.
Walter: I've got a neighbor like that too.
And, I kinda like the bitterness Mesquite adds and the totally dry, choke-it-down quality of of Texas BBQ -- occasionally :D
I don't know where that 'drown the meat in sauce' thing is coming from. We know it's all about the meat, and the sauce is just a condiment. :D ----------
Thick crust or thin? Just like LP and TB, both have their place. (Oh No! Did I say that out loud!?) ---------- I used to be young and foolish. Now I'm not so young.
I love pizza. My preferred pizza is one made in a gourmet pizza restaurant. The pizza is topped with Morrocan Lamb.
But, there is a place in the high country in Victoria that has a great bakery & they make a Pizza -Pie. It's a great meat pie that is topped like a gourmet pizza. Fantastic when you are hungry and its freezing outside.
My Standard order is 1 skinny poofter at my local pizza shop, i always get a thin an crispy meat eater with a dick fashioned out of meat balls cut in half on top:)
it's cool they understand my Humor 2 gay couples own the joint but they make a very good Pizza:)
i dig a place in LA called L'monicas. rhymes with harmonicas. wierd huh? L'monica is a right coaster and sells his dough- not money laundering- to other pizza joints. it's that good.
Yeah, I think they call it a Fiorentina in Britain (if it's got spinach on it too). Just crack a raw egg on top before putting it in the oven. ---------- Kinda hot in these rhinos!
I mentioned egg in the burger thread. They call it "The Australian" down under. It's basically a lot of chopped bacon with an egg cracked and spread at the center. It was me and my mates' staple after-drinking fix at 3am on a Sunday morning walking back home from the pub. Eat it straight out of the box, half cut from too many bevvies, burning your hands holding the box. Yum.
My favourite is Napolitan. Olives and LOTS of anchovies. Double/triple extra anchovies. Damn it, just make me an anchovy pie and we'll call it Pizza Putanesca.
Andrew, I agree, red wine and pizza. A hearty, bold Australian Shiraz. None of that French cat's piss. Or a Lebanese red from the Bekaa Valley. Just as hearty as an Aussie.
Let me guess, Dog: Black Douglas, Johnny Walker? Yuck.
If you're going to be a "real man" then drink Talisker, Oban, Laphroig, Glenmorangie non-chill filtered... or other single malts, NEAT - no water, no ice and definitely without some poofter softdrink mixer. You can drink that stuff in the ladies lounge, toots.
Justerini & Brooks, i drank that JWR when i wanted a hard edged Whisky hit drinking & Partying with the Hard men, some strange reason my Bro's i grew up with happend to be the top dealers in town and rode motor sickles,
JWR gave me that Yeha Hit when i had a slug and a hit of Cocain it balanced out well no fizzy drink strait from the bottle 2 sometimes 3 but spaced out well,
but now water and 3 diet colas a night, some high grade hydro grown by some of my old Crew:)
Ev630 ya slute
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Fuck ya still scrolling down:) ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?HA HA i was tugging your chain about the wine comment i did like Mc Gwigans white Port:)
