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!

The Return of the Frozen Pizza Chronicles

Last night some bomb ass frozen pizza was eaten during a t-shirt swap. The two pizzas were Freschetta brand pepperoni and four cheese. The dough rises when you cook it, the ingredients are "fresh" and awesome AND it was only $6 a pizza (on sale). If you like a bit of spice in your sauce and a bit of satisfaction in your stomach, I say go with Freschetta.

7/8 slices (may be skewed by extreme hunger)

Pizza Everyday - Psychodelic Pizza

We ate pizza at Viccino's. It wasn't exactly a religious experience, so this picture is a bit misleading. It was, however, only $2.12 a slice. Aran got a pepperoni and two white slices with vegetables. I got one white with vegetables. As previously noted on our Turp's post, Viccino's white pizza is hellsa greasy but has a good flavor... I could have dealt without the canned spinach though. Apparently the grease on the pepperoni slice was more tolerable, because that is what one expects. The slices were "not remarkable". I think we said 5/8.

Public Pizza - Corner of Guilford and 25th Street

Pizza News - Homemade Pizza

New York Times - Tips for Making Pizza at Home

New York Times - The Slow Route to Homemade Pizza

Thanks for the links friends, keep them coming!

Maxie's Pizza Bar Grille

This pizza place opened up not too long ago in the old xando location in Charles Village. I was interested to try it out and excited by all their pizza by the slice options. This could have been a great experience if the pizza was even relatively fresh. Even though they put the slices back into the oven, heat does not trump freshness.


It wasn't the worst pizza i've had, but it was very generic mall pizza like. It is pretty much a Sbarro's. Perhaps this would have been different if we had ordered a pie, but buying it by the slice has more appeal when you want to try more than one pizza. A friend of mine went another time and had a really great experience.



2 out of 7 slices.

Maxie's Pizza Bar Grille
3003 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21218

Papa John's - Sausage Fest

We had had an action filled evening of art opening hopping and seeing Iron Man 2 and Joe and Rufus decided to order a large Papa John's pizza with sausage. When I called in the order the Papa John's employee on the other line informed me that our street was "really blowing up" with pizza orders that night, apparently we live on Late Night Pizza Alley. Cool.

After an overly enthusiastic pizza delivery man dropped off the zza, exclaiming "It's nice and HOT!!!", Joe, Rufus and Stephanie dug in.

It was rated a 6 out of 8 and considered "not gourmet shit but good". There was no garlic sauce, which is Papa's signature... a mistake that cost them at least half a point. Also, the pizza had a "good layer of cheese."

In conclusion, when it's after midnight and you want something hot, call Papa (ewww.)

Pizza News - Corpse Pizza

Burnt coffins 'fuel Naples pizza ovens'

By Michael Day

Tuesday, 18 May 2010

Investigators believe some pizza restaurants in Naples are using wood from stolen coffins to bake their famous pizzas.

The southern city's favourite dish is said to rely on smoke from wood-fired stoves for its celebrated flavour.

But police think many restaurant owners across the notoriously lawless port are purchasing cut-price wood from a gang of coffin thieves operating in the city.

"A real suspicion hangs over pizza, one of the few remaining important symbols of the city, that it could be cooked with wood coffins," said Il Giornale, the daily paper which belongs to the family of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. "Not only the pizza, the bread, too, may have been cooked with the wood."

Naples prosecutor Giovandomenico Lepore is leading an investigation into the suspected racket.

Andrea Santoro, president of the city's cemetery commission, said: "It's no wonder these things are happening given the state of the cemeteries. There are graves uncovered, thefts and vandalism."

Il Giornale even claimed, without citing evidence, that there was now "a daily spectacle of uncovered coffins and human remains abandoned in the streets as if they were garbage".

Two years ago the city made headlines worldwide, again for the wrong reasons, when a refuse collection crisis saw tens of thousands of tonnes of stinking rubbish pile up on its streets.

Breakfast Pizza 2.5

Jen Miz of the BPC, DC Affiliate has the following to say about Smitten Kitchen's Breakfast Pizza:

A note:
That smitten kitchen breakfast pizza is totally where it's at.
We've been having monthly brunches at our house and our friend Ann brought 2 of them - on homemade dough - and they were off the chain.

This is how I felt about it before, and this is how I feel about it still:

Jonah: !
http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/03/breakfast-pizza/
you will love this write up of breakfast pizza
for reasons that will be immediately obvious
me: LOL
Jonah: yep
breakfast babies
me: yesssssssss
WHOLE EGGS ON PIZZA
this is fucked up
Jonah: fuck yeah it is!
Here is a pict of our breakfast pizza, alongside a little bit of St Paul street.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenmiz/4482731209/


Stay tuned for more DC "zza" antics!

Technically Pizza - Doritos Collisions

During my lunch break I took a little springtime stroll down to 7-11 and ended up picking up bag of Doritos Collisions - Pizza Cravers/Ranch. They were something else. The pizza chips looked like regular nacho cheese Doritos and kind of tasted like them, with a bit of spice and "pizza flavor". The ranch chips were INSANE, I think they went a little overboard with the mystery ranch powder... it was like eating a mouthful of Ms. Dash or something.

Doritos has rarely disappointed me with their wild flavor concoctions (their Late Night series is off the hook) and I think this pizza/ranch deal is well worth the $.99, but you may want to have some potables handy.

Oh, and check out the Doritos website. What the hell?!?!