Let's Talk Pizza
Pizza may not be an American invention, but it is certainly an American favorite and one of the most popular foods in America. According to statistics , 3 billion pizzas are sold every year (28 million slices on Superbowl Sunday alone). That's a lot of pizza. Of course, the options for pizza, from choice of toppings to pizza locations is seemingly endless. If there's a food you like, chances are it can (and does) go on a pizza. It is the ultimate comfort food and good anytime of the day. Seriously, who hasn't had a leftover cold slice of pizza for breakfast? It's almost as good as when it first comes out of the oven. Some might argue it's even better. Pizza is also good for any occasion: parties, sports events, family meals, and even general get together with friends. You just can't go wrong with pizza.
So what is your favorite pizza and/or pizza joint? Personally, being a passionate carnivore myself, I like a loaded meat lovers (with extra bacon) pizza from a real pizzeria, and not from fast food pizza places like Dominos or frozen pizzas. Although, I have been known to change things up and take a veggie turn in my pizza with a margherita pizza ( fresh basil is a must) or a veggie pizza with peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives. But, to each is own. On occasion, I also make my own homemade pizza: thick crust with stuffed cheese in the crust around the edge. It resembles a giant crater which can hold the mountain of cheese and toppings in the middle without overflowing the side. All washed down with an ice cold beer. Such decadence. So please share your own pizza faves and stories. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think there's a leftover slice of pizza in the fridge calling my name. 
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Pepperoni pizza is always a classic.
One of my favorites: The "Big Sur" from Pizza my Heart:
"40 Cloves of Roasted Garlic, Tomato Pizza Sauce, Pepperoni, Sausage,Portobello Mushrooms & Green Onions."
Then there's the "Hog Trough" at Mile High Pizza in Wrightwood CA. It's not really a "favorite" but it certainly is an experience...
" cheese and all 21 toppings! "
ANCHOVIES
ARTICHOKES
BACON
BELL PEPPERS
CASHEWS
CHEESE
CHICKEN
GARLIC
HAM
JALAPENO PEPPERS
MUSHROOMS
ONIONS
PEPPERONCINIS
PEPPERONI
PINEAPPLE
PINE NUTS
SAUSAGE
SEASONED BEEF
SPINACH
TOMATO
That sounds good. If you add mushrooms, it should always be portabella.
I always make my own pizza. A pizza stone, fresh dough, mozzarella and provolone mix with whatever topping strikes my fancy at the time. It's the only way to go.
I make my own on occasion. But sometimes, you just can't beat a good pizzeria. Piping hot pizza from the oven where the cheese is molten hot and runs like water.
Hope to get there some day.
I'm already there. I think. Only the shadow knows.
Pizza may not be an American invention, but it is certainly an American favorite and one of the most popular foods in America.
It's funny how different parts of the country, and the world, all claim that their pizza is the best, and that everyone else's pizza isn't even in the same category. I recently visited Naples, Italy, the actual birthplace of pizza, and they are probably the kings of this heady attitude. I found their pizza to be no better than anyone else's pizza. The fact is, it's hard to find bad pizza. 99.9% of the time it's either good or it's great, but finding one that is 'bad' is a challenge, even a frozen one from a box. I did manage to find the elusive 'bad' pizza though, at a restaurant close to my house called Pizza Blitz. I don't know how they did it, but they created a pizza not even worth biting into. The first time I tried it, everything about it was terrible. A couple years later I decided to give it another shot, figuring that maybe I just got them on a bad day or something. No such luck - it was equally horrible.
I like a thin crust pizza with peppers and onions. I'll throw pepperoni on there just to keep the other half happy. I don't have a favorite place but there's a place not too far from the house that makes a pretty good thin crust pizza. It's crispy like it's supposed to be.
Does anyone remember the Great Pizza War of 2017 at News Vine? It was hilarious
Thin crust with mushrooms, green peppers, and either pepperoni or ham.
Melting Pot in Front Royal VA has good thin Pizza
Yes, it does, but for some reason, my son doesn't like it. He ain't right.
I went to Front Royal many times when I lived in Warrenton VA, and they have a several eat good places to eat there,as well as Luray.
Melting Pot opened when i was in high school. Been good all these years, especially when i worked 2nd shift at the big smelly factory in Front Royal. Lot of good places to eat in the area
Two at the top of my list.
Jalapeno and anchovies on a "standard' crust and red sauce. Careful ordering from a place that doesn't know you, otherwise a magnifying glass is needed to find either of the toppings on your pizza.
A good white pizza with aged and pungent white, hard as a brick Italian cheeses. "Tons" of freshly crushed garlic, garlic oil, olive oil (almost dripping), then depending add sliced black olives, capers, spinach all on cracker (American cracker) thin crust.
Tasty.
That all sounds good except for the anchovies. I'm a lover of garlic too.
Now I'm thinking pizza sounds good for dinner tonight.
I know, I'm thinking of pizza too.
I love the fishy flavor of anchovies, and probably the curing process contributes to the flavor, but the saltiness is beginning to put me off.
If I make a pizza at home, I am tempted to substitute minced up sprats in place of anchovies.
Sprats have a milder flavor but, less salt.
It is on the to do list.
Freshly crushed garlic, love it.
I'm not a big fan of the saltiness either unless of course it is the salt around the rim of my margarita glass. lol
...and it has to be sea salt...
My neighbor's brother owns the local pizza joint and they will ask you ig you want garlic, once cooked they brush butter and garlic sauce on the hot exposed crust. He also does Garlic Knots soaked in garlic butter....we don't tell my doctor about that little treat..... Where I grew up, they had the large (huge) round pizzam thin crust, slice in 8 slices, have to fold them to eat them, still the best pizza in the world as far as I'm concerned. Toppings, on a regular pizza, Pepperoni, sausage and mushrooms. On the big round? Any or just cheese.
I've lived in various places around the world-in Turkey, they have a version of pizza, but nothing like what we are used to here. When in Virginia? The choices were Pizza Hut and Dominos. In San Antonio places advertise NY Style Pizza....it ain't.
Garlic makes everything better. Mmmm, garlic [insert Homer Simpson drool here]
You brought up one of my favorite things. Garlic knots! There is a place called Del Franco's in Florida and he makes the best ones I have ever tasted. I get his Caesar salad and garlic knots and I am happy. He also makes a stuffed eggplant parmesan that is fabulous.
I just read that sea salt is starting to contain microplastic - so maybe go easy on it.
The microplastics are everywhere these days.
I wonder what this means in the long term?
This reminds me of a "Jen and Brad" skit. They are a modern youtube version of Abbott and Costello. I'll post the link here. When Jen gets "frustrated" she sometimes exhibits potty mouth. It's pizza related, so I hope it is okay.
I just refreshed my memory; be advised she cusses like a sailor.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkqg6HE888A
I like jalapenos, especially if they're lightly sautéed (sometimes along with onions). I can do without anchovies.
Agree, sauteing can help bring out the flavor.
I was never an anchovie fan until I tried this combination. It was an instant match, at least for me.
When I make a pizza at home, I think substituting minced sprats will be worth a try.
It also works well with mushrooms and olives.
I've tried anchovies with a couple combos. Still not a fan.
Interesting.
I make a simple Hawaiian pizza. Chunks of ham and pieces of pineapple and onion topping a standard pizza sauce and mozzarella base. I could eat this all day.
At the store, there is a place called Palermo's in the neighborhood that has pizza with a unique sweet-spicy sauce.
People like to argue the merits of various Chicago pizza places.
They're wasting their time. Palermo's on 63 rd St. is, and has always been, the best pizza place in Chicago. Doesn't make any difference if you prefer thin dish or stuffed, Palermo's excels at both versions.
Their sweet sauce has been a family secret for 60 years. And whatever toppings you prefer, Palermo's piles them on,especially the sausage.
REAL Italian sausage that they make in-house from scratch. They cut no corners or take any shortcuts here.
Don't get me wrong, Chicago is home to many good pizza places, better than anywhere else in the U.S.
But Palermo's is the BEST, period. Not only in Chicago, but anywhere.
Why would anyone ruin a good pizza with fruit?
Hawaiian pizza
I know what a Hawaiian pizza is. Like I said, fruit on it ruins it. Without the pineapple, it's just a bacon or ham pizza. That's ok.
The point is Hawaiian pizza is not a fluke. It is pretty popular relatively speaking.
I think anchovies on pizza are an abomination. Everyone has their own opinions.
I didn't say it was a fluke and I know it's popular. Like you say, it's an opinion. The only think I dislike on pizza more than fruit is anchovies. But that's a great thing about pizza: the topping combinations is near infinite. So there's something for everybody. As I said, to each is own.
I'm on team Gordy on the fruit thing. Fruit is full of liquid, and just makes a pizza soggy. As far as pineapple in general, I like the flavor, but I've always hated the texture. We have a guy at work that always whines to get pineapple on the office pizza. I want to strangle him.
I like pineapple on pizza. It's something about the tang and sweetness of the fruit offsetting the cheese. Yum.
Kinda like wine and cheese, I guess.
The only place I like anchovies is in Caesar dressing, where I don't have to see them when I eat them.
I was a beneficiary of the general distain of anchovies once. A local pizza place went ot of business some years ago and gave me a case of anchovies as they were closing down the business. They kept it in stock only for me.
That bonanza lasted quite a while.
Chicago pizza is like pizza stew in a bread bowl. In your opinion, it's the best in the world. But then again, you don't get out much.
That actually sounds quite good.
Sorry Spike, but there are literally hundreds of pizza places in the Chicago area that make and sell thin crust pizza. Could even be thousands. The idea that Chicago is all about deep dish is a media and tourist fabrication.
As far as the "best" pizza, of course that is a matter of opinion and general b.s.
I get lazy and we order two pizzas, my wife love Hawaiian on a cracker thin crust...I'm all over the board.
We have a good place in town and I go there when I crave a Sicilian wedding pizza (crust about 2" thick) with all the goodies except fish.
But I've discovered Domino's Brooklyn style and really like it as an extravaganza.
I make pizza and do it very well, but I only do it when I can get the neighborhood kids together. I show them how to make saices and different crusts. We have 6 pizza pans and the kids get to feed their families with their creations. We make parmesan knots and cinnamon twist knots.
It's about a 5 hour affair that exhausts the dog, blows up the kitchen and has seen every game played on my computer.
My wife cleans the kitchen without saying a bad word because she sees the smile of 6 kids and one Grandpa....they are how my neighborhood named me " poppa joe".
I've never felt so much love from a neighborhood I live in.
That is awesome! It's good to know somebody likes kids.
I've experimented a lot with sauces and my own personal taste go spicier than most and might include paprika, chili powder and a variety of peppers and have of course tried meat based tomato sauces and varying amounts of onion and even olives too but according to every taste test I have ever done, by far most people prefer a plain tomato garlic basil sauce with just a tiny bit of sugar if the tomatoes are really acidic though I don't really care for sweet sauces at all myself. Everything else goes best on top. What are your thoughts on pizza sauces?
I've seen a bunch.
In preference I have to say I go minimal on sauce, just enough on there to meld the toppings and hold them on.
After that, I love a good, thick tomato base with sauteed onions added and basil/oregano laced. Which is almost exactly opposite of how I like pasta. My favorite sauce there is almost a light stew and there's chicken, a small pork roast, and brociolli rolls.
I do like some white pizzas but it varies by so many restaurants that white pizza goes anywhere from a olive oil parmesan to an alfredo type cream sauce. If it's a nice olive oil with parmesan and a touch of garlic, I pile on the vegetables because they come out so distinctively in taste.
In Turkey they use whole kernal corn and it's pretty damn good.
I am convinced altitude and proximity to the ocean is the secret to a great pizza crust...
It is not just the water. My experience was you can't make a good thin crust at altitude.
Forty years I tried in Oklahoma and failed yet my crusts are NY perfect every time in NY.
Chicago must load all those ingredients on theirs to make them edible. Their crust suck.
It could also be the flour or the yeast. An Italian employee of mine says he can't make good crust with the ingredients here, but can when he (illegally) brings flour back from Sicily.
I use the flour they sell at ALDI in NY and it works great and I am pretty sure it does not come from Sicily...
It does make a difference. I know someone who makes his own pizza dough and he uses a higher quality flour and yeast.
When Mom was in grade school, Late 30's era, each day she traded her store bought white bread and bologna with an Italian immigrant girl whose mom sent her to school with rustic gourmet level Italian lunches she was, get this, ashamed of...
Yeast, a dash of sugar, warm water, 5 minutes, flour, salt and olive oil. Use the best ingredients you have...
Let the dough rise at least twice punching down each time for more elasticity and a better bite. Should spin.
Yeast is virtually the same, unless you like fast rising yeast. I used a poolish process and then let it rise on the fridge for 2 days. You can use a food processor if you don't have a stand mixer.
Flour can make a great difference. Some people like Caputo OO flour from Italy but I didn't think that it was worth the cost. I like King Arthur bread flour, mixed with 1/4 white whole wheat flour for extra flavor. If you make your own dough let it rise for 2-3 days in the 'fridge because the longer rising time makes a huge difference.
A preheated pizza stone is necessary if you like a crisp crust. Turn the oven up as high as it will go and let the stone heat for 20-30 minutes.
The flour from Aldi which I love for high gluten bread types is a great pizza flour.
King Arthur bread flour is the bomb though.
You can also buy a gluten additive to add to the general purpose flour and it helps immensely with the texture.
I use olive oil for my shortening and a bit of sugar. The olive oil crispens the crust more like a stone oven does and the sugar browns the crust nicely.
Water is essential! NY water supplied is almost all spring water. I grew up in Syracuse and we drew all our water from spring fed lakes. NYC has actually got a reputation for excellent city water.
My area now is well fed and heavily mineralized. We have a triple tank system I actually initially tested by making different doughs.
Back when I could eat pizza I loved anything with mushrooms, olives, ham/bacon and pineapple was good as well. Last one I had was a little neighborhood (can't remember the name) joint in Germany that was amazing, that was a little over a decade ago and none since.
You can't eat pizza? That's a far greater tragedy than my 35+ year inability to eat ice cream (recently cured).
Lol yeah I'm diabetic, so bread bad.
I can sneak in sugar free ice cream every now and again, but there's not a lot of temptation as sugar free is awful
. Why couldn't you have ice cream and what changed?
I became lactose intolerant after I contracted an antibiotic-resistant strain of Giardia and that intolerance lasted until I got butt-scoped for the first time in my mid-50s. I tried probiotics in the form of Kefir after the scoping and it unexpectedly cured my lactose intolerance.
I eat 'em both!
And probably should be the last guy doing so.
I don't keep ice cream in my house because I'm an ice cream crack head.
Good for you, I wish I could have something like that happen too (LOL preferably without the butt scoping).
One thing that makes a pizza is good Italian sausage, ie one with a proper balance of spices including anise. In my experience few Americans have ever tasted that but in the town I grew up in we've got a great Italian meat market which makes their own sausage. Places like NYC and Chicago also have excellent Italian markets.
Arthur Avenue in The Bronx puts Manhattan's Little Italy to shame. It is an unheralded neighborhood.
Most of the great Italian restaurants in Manhattan have to go to Arthur Avenue to get the good stuff...
I should not advertise this as I eat on Arthur Ave all the time while parking is still easy in the Belmont neighborhood.
There were two great Italian deli/Markets in "Little Italy" in San Diego. The both made their own sausage and Prosciutto, as well as many other Italian goodies.
My favorite pizza is Pepperoni, but many times, I will add bacon bits to it. My favorite Pizza place is a little place in Zion, PA called Brother's Pizza. Sadly, the guy who owned it and whom I always joked around with was killed in a car wreck several years ago. As far as I know, his widow still runs the place.
I don't like store made or frozen pizza. The sauces are canned or modeately made. And the crusts and toppings are not to my liking.
I learned to make my own pizzas from my ex-Father-in-Law who was from Sicily. I make my own sauce and crusts, which I also leaned to make from him. I grate my own cheese and slice my own pepperoni, both of which I buy from an Italian deli. The other toppings I add are whatever I am in the mood for at the time.
The sauce is the one ingredient that can make a good deal of difference in the taste of the pizza. The difference between Northern Italian and Southern Italian and Sicilian sauces is the tomatoes.
The tomatoes that are grown in Northern Italy are normally rather bitter in taste, due the amount of acid in the soil from the layers of volcanic ash that gathered there over the many years from Mt. Vesuvius eruptions. Thus, in order to compensate for the bitterness of the taste of the tomatoes, sugar is normally added to the sauce. Other crops are also affected by the acid in the soil and also need to be compensated for the bitterness.
The tomatoes grown in Southern Italy and Sicily are not bitter, and the sauce does not need to be sweetened.
Also, they types of tomatoes used for the sauce makes a difference in the taste. I use the Roma tomatoes, as they provide the best taste and texture.
The types of herbs and spices also makes a difference. I don't like Oregano, so I use additional Thyme instead, but, that is just my personal preference.
For the crust, I use a combination of wheat and white flour. It provides a more stable crust for the sauce, and a great taste.
So, these are all factors that are part of making a great tasting pizza.
Just my own thoughts on pizza.
I think if America would just go one whole month without a damn school shooting we should all have a PIZZA PARTY /s.
Great thoughts on dough and sauce, by the way. No doubt about it, homemade is damn hard to beat regarding pizza...
I have been experimenting with breads lately. I should have made pics of the loaves I baked yesterday. Old Age Rocks.
I make one sauce that fits all. Pizza, Spaghetti, stuffed stake, Eggplant Parmesan, stuffed Manicotti, Meatballs, Chicken Cacciatore, Lasagna, and a few dishes I made up of my own. That is the way the old Italians did it, a they didn't have time to make various sauces for all the different types of dishes they would make at one time. So they made one sauce, along with the meatballs in it and link sausages, and simply add a little different spices or herbs to the sauce they would use for the different dishes if needed. The meatballs and sausages would be served separately as side dishes.
And of course, the dessert of choice of most Italians, Cannolis. I made my own shells and filling for years, but, now I buy the shells fresh from an Italian Deli and still make my own filling.
While I don't have family to cook for anymore, I often prepare Italian dishes for Friends for special occasions.
I've made hundreds of thousand cannoli shells when I worked at a bakery that supplied 2 Italian restaurants with cannoli shells, but now that I moved I can't find any place that will sell me the shells. prefilled cannoli get soggy after an hour or so because the filling seeps into the crisp shell.
Do you use all ricotta in the filling, or do you mix mascarpone and ricotta cheese?
I hate deep fat frying at home because of the mess that it makes.
I use all ricotta cheese for the filling. And yes, buying the cannolis prefilled is rather worthless if they are not going to be eaten right away, as like you said, the shells will become soft and often lose their flavor. I also use white wine in making my cannoli shells instead of red. The cannoli forms I use are 1-1/2" x 5" wooden dowels sanded very smooth, so as to allow the shells to slip easily off the dowel once browned. I also add shaved dark chocolate on the ends. This give it a little elegance. During the Christmas holidays I will put a small piece of cherry on the ends along with a small slip of fresh mint for holiday cheer.
As you used to make the cannoli shells you know that some can be easily broken, so handling them is often a real chore not to crack or break them in pieces. And they must never be put in the fridge. They will soften and just tear apart trying to fill.
We quickly adapted to use the broken cannoli shells as the base layer for cheesecake once they are ground fine in a food processor.
Yes, I've done that as well, and crushed them in with graham cracker crust mixture for puddings and strawberry and lemon pies. I have also used them crushed sprinkled as toppings for pies as well.
I liked to take a few broken ones home and use them to garnish hot fudge sundaes with whipped cream.
Your idea with the lemon pies sounds delicious.
It really is good. But, I don't like the Meringue, so I would crush the broken cannoli shells and sprinkle then on top of the lemon filling. It was also really good.
There's a new place around the corner where you can call out all your toppings. The crust is the thin, cracker type which I love.
I order the following :
marinara
mozzarella,
pepperoni,
italian sausage,
red onion,
pepperonchinis
one raw egg cooked on top
Bellissimo !
Tough seed to run across just before midnight! Craving pizza now!
Rural Tennessee and pizza are not compatible, not even distant relatives...unless Pizza Hut or Dominos is considered pizza.
Deep dish pepperoni from Lou Malnati's and thin crust pepperoni & bacon from Connie's are favorites when visiting Chicagoland.
Ummmm.....I've had both.
Nope.
They're not. I tried a Dominos once. it tasted more like salt than pizza.
Does anyone know the history of pizza coming to America? The American soldiers in Italy during WW2 discovered it, and brought the concept back to the USA.
My favourite would be thin crust with slices of mushrooms, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, pepperoni and anchovies - pretty standard although I know not many like anchovies.
Dear Friend Gordy: As famous chef Wolfgang Puck once observed, Pizza crust is a canvas.
You can create the artwork of your choice with various color, flavor and texture ingredients.
Mrs. E. and I favor Captain Tony's Pizza Emporium Pizza Prima Vera.
It is a whole grain NY Style crust.
Quatro Formaggio (four cheese) pizza with marinara sauce and the following veggies.
Eggplant, sweet bell peppers, olives, mushrooms and marinated artichoke hearts.
Once a year, I take Brian, the head chef there out to lunch at Jay's Diner. My treat.
Then on to the local Harley Davidson Dealership.
He now has a Harley hat, gloves, side saddles and leather jacket.
What ever it says on the menu, we get what we want on a pie.
One hand washes the other.
Enoch, Wiping Red Sauce off My White Dress Shirt.
That's a good way of looking at it. If pizza is a work of art, then I am a patron of the arts.
Indeed, and love to experiment with hit as well. My Father was a great Pizza creator, using whatever was available in the house at the time. There were always containers of homemade sauce ready in the freezer, so all he had to do was make the crust and add the toppings. He started out as cook when he first joined the Army and learned a lot about how to be creative and make do with what rations were available at the time. After the war started he was transferred to the Infantry for the duration of the war. He was serious injured when his unit was bombed during an enemy air raid of their location.
When he was discharged from the Army after the war, his first jobs were as a short order cook, which he really enjoyed. But, the pay was low and he decided to join the police dept.
But, cooking was always his first love, and I was the one who became his asst. cook at the age of 4 y/o, learning the basics of cooking and baking, as well as learning to love to cook. By the time I was 6 y/o I was able to help my Father and Mother with everyday cooking, and I took after my Father in my love to experiment. Not all of my experiments were edible, but, the more I experimented the more the results were edible.
And Pizza is the greatest way to experiment. (smile)
Dear Sister Raven Wing: Can you imagine how yummy a three sisters pizza on fry bread crusty would taste?
It boggles the mind.
Enoch
Once a year, I take Brian, the head chef there out to lunch at Jay's Diner. My treat.
From what I’ve heard about Jay’s Diner, I’m not so sure that shows appreciation.
Ah, but it does toughen up the stomach Hal. If you can eat the food at Jay's, you can eat pretty much anything.
"The best pizza is the slice you have in your hand" - ANON
Who doesn't love a good piece of pie? I tend to cook what I'm in the mood for and my palate is far and wide. I made this pizza during Hurricane Sandy:
Base crust coated with garlic EVOO, dill, capers, farmers cheese, basil and topped with smoked salmon. Serve with lemon wedges and a sturdy Shiraz or Zinfandel.
That looks good.
Basil, I always forget to mention that. Good on most pizzas, a must white pizzas.
Basil is probably good on anything.
No arguments.
I KNOW I would love that one.
Dear Friend T. Fargo: Looks amazing.
E.
Seems as though Gordy may have tripped over something that still binds us all together.
Who doesn't like a good pizza?
Indeed. We are all just the toppings on the pizza pie of life.
This thread inspired me to make a pizza for dinner.
Enjoy. Let me know how it turns out. When in doubt, extra cheese.
And it's inspired me to order one! Bet yours will taste better though...
Pepperoni, sausage, yellow pepper rings and crimini mushrooms, plus fresh herbs from my garden. I'll use provolone, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
It makes a difference to shred your mozzarella instead of buying bagged pre-grated cheese. The grated cheese has starch on it to keep it from clumping, and that starch changes ther way that it melts and tastes.
My oven isn't hot enough to use fresh mozzarella, which has a lot of moisture in it, so I buy the drier aged mozzarella in a block.
This forum is heaven for pizza geeks,
Ooh, that sounds really good. :P
It was very good. I used 2 hot sausage links, 1/4 lb of pepperoni, plus a small carton of brown mushrooms. Today was the first time that I used fresh basil because my plant is now big enough to harvest from without harming it. I also have rosemary, oregano and parsley. I might have used a bit much garlic but he didn't complain. On the upside, we are now free of vampires.
Strangely I ran out of bread flour when I was making the crust and had to use 1/2 AP flour. I somehow forgot to add olive oil but the crust was still soft and chewy. I'm trying to figure out how that could have happened because it should have been tougher without the oil.
There is no such thing.
Agreed!
Ok, I would be remiss if I didn't educate everyone about pizza's secret weapon, the one topping that absolutely MAKES a pizza, any pizza. Green olives.
It’s hard to find a place that offers green olives as a topping where I’m at, but I agree totally. We settle for black ones, but I find them much less flavorful.
Don't know about it as a pizza topping but I always have a bottle of em around just to snack on.
I'm not a fan of olives, green or (to a lesser extent) black. But they do work well in a combo with onions, mushrooms, and peppers. Minced garlic on top is a must.
Garlic yes, anchovies no. I tried anchovies several times but just cannot warm up to them. On the other hand, I am a garlic fiend. There's no such thing as too much garlic on a pizza. Or cheese too.
Or on just about anything else for that matter.
I always at least double the garlic in any recipe.
This is true.
Garlic and spinach I can handle. Anchovies, not so much. Add some fresh cut tomatoes, sautéed onions and black olives (or mushrooms ) with the spinach, and you have a winner. Extra points for including fresh picked basil.
You can't go wrong with that.
Shhhhhh. Anchovies are shunned here.
That's okay, more for me.
With you on the garlic. I'll take the anchovies.
You can have them.
Thank you sir. What's your favorite beer? I'll order a round for you.
You are too kind. A dark lager always goes well with a pizza.
How about a Dunkel. Not bad.
Then again a good doppelbock really hits the spot
I like a good dunkel.
This is the best one I've tried:
Thanks for the info. I'll have to keep an eye out for it. I know of a large liquor store that carries lots of different micro brewery and lesser known beers. If I find it, I'll give it a try.
I had it at the Andechs monastery many years ago and only recently learned that one of the big local liquor stores now carries it. Tonight sounds like a good night to crack open one of the four I've got in my fridge.
ENJOY IT
Have one for me. Enjoy.
That looks pretty good.
Optimator has more the flavour of a freshly baked loaf of a whole grain bread. It is normally used as a special treat.
I had an Optimator in a german restaurant about 30 years ago. That beer is very strong.
I can't drink beer because of anxiety meds that I take. I do miss the occasional Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold before my Dr changed my meds.
I used to love the Trappist ales when I could get them.
Yes it is a little strong. That and as each bottle is fairly high in calories are reasons to limit how much to have at a time.
The Dort looks good. If I am back in that area I will try to look for it.
Around here a local brewer came up with with a rendition of beers the first Maryland colonies may have made. It is actually an ale called 1634. It is also dark and has that bread flavor, though light in body than Optimator. It and Dunkel are my "light beers".
Originally brewed in 2009, our 1634 Ale was commissioned by Historic Saint Mary’s City to celebrate the 375th anniversary of Maryland’s founding. Lacking any historically documented recipes, our brewers developed the 1634 Ale using malted barley, malted wheat, malted rye, molasses and caraway; ingredients known to be available to brewers in the austere conditions of early Colonial Maryland.
I'll have to try that sometime. The first time I had this dopplebock the monks served it with 1/2 loaf of bread and a hamhock.
The strongest beer that I can remember was either Celebrator Doppelbock or Heavy Seas Small Craft Warning. The latter had me tipsy and giggling before the bottle was half empty. My boyfriend was laughing at me because I was such a lightweight.
One brew that has a nice kick and flavor is Arrogant Bastard Ale from the Stone brewery.
I checked that. It has the sa,e alky content as Optimator. Yes,it will have a kick.
The site discussed described the complexity without getting into details, but really didn't describe it's flavor. How would you describe it?
BTW, I think I have seen it here. Looking at the coverage map, it is supposed to be in Maryland, so maybe I actually have seen it.
Oh, that can happen easily, especially if you are not used to it. When the sun starts going away, I tend to lose interest in pretty much any alcoholic drinks. Then when the sun begins to return, my interest in a good beer returns. Requires caution and care at this point if jumping straight to Optimator at this point.
That sounds like a good experience. Where did this happen?
It's been several years since I tried it, as the liquor store I go to stopped carrying it for some reason. But they carry other varieties of beer from the same brewery. Go figure. I remember I enjoyed the flavor, as it was stong for a dark beer, but also smooth, a nice hops (hoppy) flavor. It's the kind of beer you want more than one, but the alcohol content sneaks up on you later (in a good way). I can't really articulate the specific of the flavor. It's something that is best experienced first hand. So I recommend you try it if you get the chance. I first tried it out of curiosity and was not disappointed. The only drawback is it might be a little pricey for a 6-pack.
Then next time I think I see it, I will make note of the price and plan to pick up a 4 or 6 pack at some point.
Thank you.
No problem. If I happen to come across it again, I'm going to stock up.
At the Andechs monastery in Bavaria.
Hand tossed with onions, green peppers and mushrooms - OR - Pizza Margherita