Gimme Pizza

Bagby Pizza Company

I have driven past Bagby Pizza Company often, yet had not gone inside. So lunch seemed like a good time to try our their pizza. They are located across from Whole Foods. We got there around noon and it was not too busy. We ordered the Tennessee Honey Chicken pizza. As listed on the menu this pizza is: Grilled honey chicken, fire roasted peppers, roasted artichokes, mozzarella, and ricotta.


The pizza has a very thin crust with a crisp edge. The dough below the topping was a bit floppy. The sauce was very mild and we debated if it might have been just straight up tomato. The pizza comes with the cheese over the toppings, which is a good way of securing the topping on top. The toppings were chunky and seemed very fresh. The sweet honey of the chicken complemented the cheese nicely. The pizza overall seemed rich and was delicious.


We did not have to wait very long for our pizza. Bagby is self-serve, but they bring the pizza to your table. While we were eating, the place filled up with a lunch work crowd. The make your own pizza did not seem like a good deal. $/topping. They didn't have any crazy combos. Their pizza is a little pricey, but very filling.




7/8
Bagby Pizza Company
Harbor East
1006 Fleet Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

Pizza Everyday - Trinacria

A few weeks ago Sara and I had quite a time with some flat bread pizza "dough" from Trinacria . When I purchased the fresh dough balls mentioned earlier, I noticed these flat bread options but did not partake so was happily surprised when she showed up at my house with them in tow. There are two of them in a pack and we had hell of ingredients, so we made two pizzas. Sara doesn't remember how much the "dough" ended up costing, but we can only assume it was minimal.




The first had:
olive oil
garlic
onions
baby portabellas
asparagus
herb goat cheese or "chevre"



The second:
olive oil
garlic
onions
yellow and orange bell peppers
zucchini
feta cheese
horseradish cheddar cheese (locally made!)



While making and subsequently baking the pizzas we 1.) Danced to Rusted Root 2.) Watched the season finale of America's Next Top Model.

Both pizzas were pretty good and eating them was just as fun as making them, if not more. Well, maybe making them was the fun part because the eating was so/so. The "dough" is kind of pre-baked or something, so they cooked rather quickly. However, we decided that putting the flat bread in the oven for a bit before adding the toppings would have been a good idea, they could have been a little crispier. Also, the I enjoyed the horseradish cheddar, but Sara thought it was a little much. To each his own. That's what Pizza is all about: Options. Endless Options.




Emily: 6/8 and Trinacria's flat bread a 4.5/8
Sara: 6/8 and Trinacria's flat bread a 4/8

Sad Times

Had too much fun and forgot about the pizza! The result, a pepperoni pizza that looks like a brownie but tastes like a burning pig pen.

Cool?

Pizza to the MAXXX - A Tale of Two Pizzas (part 2)

I was in DC on business this week. (Fun to say, right? “In DC on business.”) And even though work would pay for my dinner, I opted instead to head over to Jen and Jonah’s house for pizza making. And what a treat it was! For a couple of hours I basked in pizza and pizza vibes and forgot that I had been hunched over a computer all day. (And—for the record—I take partial responsibility for Jen and Jonah’s roommate-dom, and hence friendship and cooking partnership, even if they don’t want to admit it.)

Unlike me, this was not the first time Jen and Jonah had made pizza (it was the third). But boy, were they fast learners. They had picked up some beautiful dough balls from an Italian store and we all worked on our pizza dough stretching techniques. The definitive best way to do it is a mix of pawing it like a cat, wrestling with it like a baby kitten and hanging it by the scruff of its dough-neck like a naughty cat. Jonah was in charge of sauce, and although the liberties he took with the traditional flavors worried me (rice vinegar? seaweed?) it turned out delicious. Jen was on topping patrol. The first pizza was pretty traditional: marinated mushrooms, four different cheese, basil and red peppers.

But here’s the best part: they put the pizza stone right on the bottom of the 550 degree oven. No rack!

When we threw the first pizza onto the stone in cooked in like three minutes. I waited just a second too long to take it out of the oven, so the crust was burnt, but otherwise, almost perfect. First zza: 6/8 slices.

To be honest, I was full enough after the first pie, but also REALLY wanted to make the next one. We all agreed on apple toppings and Jen suggested mixing some honey in with the ricotta. OH BOY! I have been dreaming about that honey-ricotta ever since. In spite of the fact that Jonah tried to douse the pie in vinegar, this was one of my top five pizza experiences ever. It was truly other worldly. 8/8 slices.

More pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenmiz/4643418691/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenmiz/4643418721/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenmiz/4643380347/

Pizza to the MAXXX - A Tale of Two Pizzas (part 1)

Let’s be honest, I live in the pizza capitol of the world. Really excellent pizza is never more than a few blocks away. And it’s one of the least expensive New York luxuries. So, it hasn’t much occurred to me to make pizza, and well, my own homemade pizza has never stood up to the pizza parlors.

But, the Baltimore Pizza Blog has been totally inspiring me lately with stories of so many delicious homemade pies. That recent New York Times article just pushed me over the edge. I HAD to make pizza. However, I clearly didn’t take the article to heart, because I convinced myself that I HAD to make pizza that night. I already had ricotta cheese in the fridge and some garlic and spinach, so I picked up some crushed tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. But here’s where I lost my way. I forgot about the tip about just popping into your neighborhood pizza shop and buying a ball of dough and instead picked up one of those weird prepackaged pizza crusts at the fancy-schmancy natural food store. All they had was a whole wheat crust (obviously) but, I figured if it couldn’t be too bad. I was on a mission after all.

In its favor, the crust was totally easy to make. However the flavor and texture was terrible. (I’ve empirically proven that crust is the most important pizza component. Remind me to tell you about my pizza data project the next time you see me.) The sauce I kept simple with just some garlic, salt and pepper. A layer of spinach and basil (from by window herb garden!) Then dollops of ricotta and mozzarella cheese. When it came out of the oven, I drizzled on a bit of olive oil, inspired by Mr. DiFara.

The zza was fine, but nothing to text home about. In fact, Mike and I didn’t finish the pie, or even the leftovers in the fridge. Alas, the crust was just too dense. Pizza lesson: it doesn’t matter how good your sauce and cheese are if the crust is bad. 2/8 slices.

-From Max, of the Baltimore Pizza Club New York Affiliate

Sad Times!

Spotted at the American Legion, on Mayo Rd, Edgewater, MD

Somebody get them some pizza!