Pizza Throw Down

So, my friend and I had a cook off: who could make the best pizza. Our friends judged us- not something you usually want. However, in this case it was all in good fun.

And fun it was! Julio is an exceptional cook- while I blunder around the kitchen and the results are messy but, usually successful, he is strictly talented and competent in the kitchen. Therefore, our cooking styles in an improvised competition were well suited for the entertainment of our friends and competition.  

Messy vs. competent. Both results delicious, just with various amounts of dishes left over, as well as diverse flavors.

I of course had to make some of my Chicago deep dish.

Julio made a greek pizza- with lamb sausage and feta.

I mean... holy yum!

We each also made a second pizza. I made my favorite, an Italian inspired pizza that always goes over well, he made a Duck pizza with fig jam.

There's that greek pizza again...

My deep dish pan was new and too big for my crust amount. Plus, I balanced it poorly. The middle of my pizza was therefore a soggy soggy mess. A devastating blow in a competition. Luckily, my other pizza performed well!

Julio thought his Duck and fig pizza was too sweet. He was happy with his greek pizza though (and I thought both were amazing for the record)

All pizzas were in! The judges went into my room to calculate their decision and it was: 

Julio! By 1 point.

To be honest, just LOOKING at the pics, I think you guys can agree, he totally deserved the win. If you had been there to try one of each, I KNOW you'd agree. My first pizza was Chicago Pizza goo, ha. Not enough to keep me in the game. The fact that I lost by only 1 point was pretty much amazing in itself, I'm pretty sure it's just because the judges both happen to be my best friends.

Hey, I'll take a biase though ;)

We have already had a second throw down in the new house this past weekend! I am sure you'll be getting recipes and pictures for this newest round. And stories to boot.

In the meantime, you have GOT to try some of Julio's pizzas. They are TRULY amazing- I can't say enough how awesome all these flavors are. Give them a try for yourselves and post back any positive results! And if you guys start to have your own throw downs, I'd love to see those pics and recipes too! 

Love you all and Happy Cooking!!

Julio's Winning Pizzas:

#1

Crust

Garlic Thyme Duck Confit

Fresh Thyme

Goat Brie

Fig jam (which in Julio's opinion/the opinion of some tasters was way too sweet, suggested you cut it with tomato juice. However, I just want to say I thought it was amazing)

#2

Crust

Ricotta

Feta

Lots of olive oil

slices of lamb sausage

kalamata olives

Fresh thyme

Oregano (not fresh)

Last shot of our old kitchen! Will have to take some pics of the new kitchen at the house...

Love My Lizzo & Birthday Pizza!!

Yesterday was my birthday and for my birthday dinner, a group of friends took me out for some birthday pizza. We went to this AMAZING pizzeria called 2 Amys and I had their specialty pizza of the day which was sausage & artichoke, made in their famous Neapolitan style.

It was truly delicious, truly authentic, Italian fare.

And then I began to miss my best friend, Lizzo. And Chicago deep dish pizza. And Home.

Because, frankly, even with delicious delicious Italian pizza, my taste buds knew the pizza that was being consumed was great on the one hand. However, on the other hand, the hand of "best pizza to ever be eaten/made/enjoyed on the entire face of the ENTIRE earth", we have Deep Dish Chicago Pizza.

Look at that glorious glorious pizza pie!

These shots/recipes were found by my previously mentioned BF- Lizzo. One afternoon this summer (when I was being a slacker and didn't post anything), we made our own Chicago deep dish pizza, taking the time to make the dough and sauce from scratch.

It went by extremely quickly due to the fun and friendly chatter between us. And no injuries or accidents were caused by me! Shocking considering my usual clutzy cooking mantra. But with Liz, she always makes me feel proud and actually able to cook. We both did well at pretending we were able to do so with ease- no burns, cuts, or "oops" moments to speak of!

I know, guys. Very proud. We'll make an award later.

ANYWAY! So, if you have never had Chicago Pizza, you are missing out. As you can see, contrary to what one normally expects from a pizza, the sauce is on top, the cheese is melded to the crust, and wow! That crust is gynormous!

Yep. Gynormous. We make up words here in the clutzy kitchen.

While Chicago deep dish doesn't necessarily fit the image one has for a pizza, it is a triumphant change on the norm. In my opinion, it is the crust that makes a deep dish go from okay to "ooooooooooooooooooooh, wow. kay, what a first bite!". If you have a legitimate deep dish pizza, it will have cornmeal in the crust. This creates crunch, and almost a buttery/flaky quality to the crust. This crust has to be as huge and sturdy as it is in order to support whatever bad-ass toppings you're going to add. This pizza is a beast, it doesn't mess around, you want to load it UP with toppings! If you are just going to do cheese, make it a proper layer of cheese. This pizza isn't topped with cheese, you need to layer it, in large LARGE quantities to the crust. It'll melt and adhere to the crust and then, when you top it with sauce, it'll seem as though your dish was stuffed with cheese and toppings.

Doesn't that just sound amazing? I promise, it's amazing. I hope you all have been to the Chicago area and have had top notch pizza such as Giordano's or Lou's at least once in your life. It's quite an experience. If you check out the web pages- you can see for yourself: drool worthy pizza.

Okay! That is quite enough rambling. I am merely sincerely missing home and, when missing home, you miss the comfort foods of home. This is all of Chicago's comfort food. I hope you too will find a feast within this recipe. Make and enjoy :)

Homemade Pizza Sauce

-2 tablespoons virgin olive oil

-5 minced garlic cloves

-1 (28oz) can San Marzano Tomatoes

-1/2 tsp kosher salt

-1/2 tsp dried oregano

Heat oil in medium size sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute, crush tomatoes then add all ingredients to pan. bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Deep Dish Crust

-1 c. water

-1/4 c. shortening

-1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

-1 tsp. salt

-1 1/2 pkg. active dry yeast

-1/2 c. lukewarm water

-3/4 c. yellow cornmeal

-3 or 3 1/2 c. flour

-yellow cornmeal

Heat 1 cup water, shortening, sugar and salt until shortening melts. Cool to lukewarm. Soften yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Combine yeast and shortening mixtures in large bowl. Add cornmeal and flour to shortening mix and knead until smooth and workable. Oil pizza pans with olive oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cornmeal makes it nice and crunchy, don't be afraid to add more to the bottom/sides. Press dough into pans (deep dish pans required, press crust up sides) and pierce with a fork several times. Bake in 425 degree preheated oven for 7 minutes. Remove and add your favorite pizza toppings and bake for additional 20 to 25 minutes.

Don't forget the layering order:

Crust

Cheese

Toppings

Sauce

ENJOY! :)

Italian Inspired Pizza

I'm clearly in a "I miss Italy" mood.

This is my take on Italian pizza. I don't bother to make my own crust, I like Baboli's thin crust and, while making from scratch is MORE delicious, I'm a person who thinks that pizza is pizza and, to a certain degree, it should be easy to make and easy to eat.

Spending a LOT of time and energy on a phenomenal pizza when I could call and order one that's also delicious doesn't make too much sense to me. 

So, I pretty much never make my own crust. Unless I'm in the mood to really get into cooking that night while also craving pizza. But with a premade crust or at least premade dough, tossing some delicious toppings of your own making on is simple, quick, and phenomenal.

Plus, people get impressed for no reason. All you've done is chop and top and yet, people will rave for your pizza.

And yes, I do realize this pizza has no sauce. It has a LOT of chopped tomatoes though so, I just think of it as sauce in the raw. 

Enjoy!

Italian Pizza

-Pizza Crust

-Proscuitto 

-Hard, corrto, salami

-Artichokes

-Asparagus (optional, I put it on the pizza picture because I had some on hand and thought it added nice color and flavor but, easily can go without)

-1 carton grape tomatoes

-Shredded Mozzarella

-Olive Oil

-Italian Spices

(I like: rosemary, oregano, garlic, thyme, majorm. Or, McCormick's salt free italian seasoning)

-Salt/Pepper

-1 egg

First, layer meats on crust. Then add vegetables, diced to bite size, tomatoes cut in half. Use ALL the tomatoes if you can, will add rich but light flavor of a sauce without having a sauce. Drizzle entire thing with olive oil. THIS IS IMPORTANT IN CHANGING THE FLAVORS! DO NOT WORRY ABOUT THE FAT CONTENT, DRIZZLE LIGHTLY, DON'T DROWN IT, AND THEN DON'T WORRY ABOUT CALORIE COUNT! Add cheese to your liking (as you can tell by the image, I like and recommend extremely light cheese on this pizza because I don't want to drown the other flavors). Add spices. Break one egg over center of dough. Bake at 400 til Egg is cooked to liking- that's when you know it's done :)

And sure you can lose the egg. But egg adds a lot to the pizza flavors, especially if you cook it slightly runny so you can dip each piece and smear. It's delicious and a fun way to cook. The kids I nanny for get a kick out of an egg on their pizza. Just be a brave soul and give it a whirl.