Cowabunga!
Jun. 29th, 2012 03:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Aw, yeah, I know how to make a damn fine pizza.

I am finding that good pizza takes a lot of practice. I keep trying different recipes--but the most successful one I've found for thin crust, like the one up there, is snagged from the back of one of those bullshit cozy mystery books I periodically shelve.* I did hit a bit of a snag when the recipe suggested that I use my portable brick pizza oven for best results. Uh, yeah. Look, I'm surprised I have a pizza stone.** But even with the recipes, it takes a lot of work.***
On the plus side, if my appetite for pizza continues, all this kneading is going to give me some serious Popeye forearms. Who'd have thought pizza could make you a badass? The Ninja Turtles were right all along.
*But didn't actually read, because cozy mysteries are Not My Thing.
**Also I have this, thanks to my brother. That's all I really need.
***Getting the darn thing from the paddle onto the stone, for example. Which is why I had the fight with the oven.

I am finding that good pizza takes a lot of practice. I keep trying different recipes--but the most successful one I've found for thin crust, like the one up there, is snagged from the back of one of those bullshit cozy mystery books I periodically shelve.* I did hit a bit of a snag when the recipe suggested that I use my portable brick pizza oven for best results. Uh, yeah. Look, I'm surprised I have a pizza stone.** But even with the recipes, it takes a lot of work.***
On the plus side, if my appetite for pizza continues, all this kneading is going to give me some serious Popeye forearms. Who'd have thought pizza could make you a badass? The Ninja Turtles were right all along.
*But didn't actually read, because cozy mysteries are Not My Thing.
**Also I have this, thanks to my brother. That's all I really need.
***Getting the darn thing from the paddle onto the stone, for example. Which is why I had the fight with the oven.
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Date: 2012-06-29 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-06-29 03:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 07:44 am (UTC)I'd be interested in the recipe for days when I'm feeling lazy and want pizza, though!
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Date: 2012-06-30 03:41 pm (UTC)In general, I'm with you on kneading and making bread by hand. I don't really consider using a breadmaker to actually be Baking. And like you said below since you've got to adjust for altitude, by hand is far and away the best for that.
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Date: 2012-06-30 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 05:54 pm (UTC)I do like the idea of a secret order of monks dedicated to the art of pizza, tho.
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Date: 2012-07-01 01:54 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-06-29 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-30 07:43 am (UTC)My favorite gimmick cozy was entitled Death by Sudoku. It said it was the first in a series, but I never checked to see if any more came out ...
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Date: 2012-06-30 03:14 am (UTC)Order of operations matters, though. I prefer to put the cheese on top of everything else, but sometimes you want certain ingredients to be a little broiled. And if you use a lot of fresh veggies, the pizza will tend to get a little watery.
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Date: 2012-06-30 07:40 am (UTC)Usually I just add some roasted granulated garlic, olive oil, and Italian seasoning to a can of Hunt's or Contadina tomato sauce. That seems to work pretty well. I dislike full-on pizza sauces from the store because they usually have too much sugar. (Also true of storebought doughs/crusts.)
My favorite toppings are straight cheese (mozzarella + parmesan with whatever else I feel like), pepperoni, and Hawaiian. I try not to cover the pizza with toppings because it's less likely to bake through.
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Date: 2012-06-30 05:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 06:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 06:38 am (UTC)Never did understand why it got such a bad rap. I think it's a pretty tasty combo, myself!
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Date: 2012-07-02 06:42 pm (UTC)One chain around here does a variation on a Hawaiian that they call a "Paia Pie", which also adds mandarin oranges. I was dubious but it works.
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Date: 2012-06-30 12:30 pm (UTC)Aha! I see that you are one of those strange and warped people who like OLIVES. Bleaugh. No, no, awesome pizza has no olives and requires mushrooms. :P :) (My husband, however, would love your pizza, being also strange and warped. ;D)
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Date: 2012-06-30 03:38 pm (UTC)Olives are OK, but not something I'd seek out.
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Date: 2012-06-30 04:46 pm (UTC)My own pizza was straight cheese. Classic.
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Date: 2012-06-30 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-07-02 06:22 am (UTC)Those are the wrong kind of olives though. :P
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Date: 2012-07-02 06:36 am (UTC)Mom is a combo fiend. She likes to pile ALL THE FOOD on top of her sandwiches, burgers, pizzas, everything. And she narrates while she does it. "I am putting on onions, garlic, green peppers, eggplant, jalapenos, goat cheese, spinach, tomatoes, olives, basil, feta cheese ..." "THAT'S NICE, MOM." "... what else do we have in the fridge?" "THERE IS NO MORE ROOM ON THE PIZZA."
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Date: 2012-07-02 06:50 pm (UTC)Green olives seem wrong for a combo though. I can see using them on a "greek" combo with feta and eggplant and such (not my favorite though), but not your basic pepperoni etc. type combo.
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Date: 2012-07-02 07:04 pm (UTC)And yeah, I do it with the conlangs, too. There are so many entertainingly different constructions to choose from!
The funny thing is, right now I'm working on a language that has a few things in common with English--and it winds up seeming totally counter-intuitive to me to put it in a conlang. Pre-nominal modifiers (including modifying nouns)? Relative clauses marked by relative pronouns? Tense/lax vowel distinctions? A copula? IN THE SAME LANGUAGE? That's ridiculous. No language does ... oh. Right.
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Date: 2012-07-03 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2012-06-30 05:37 pm (UTC)