October is National Pizza Month - Grilled Brick Oven Pizza

Okay, so it's not actually "grilled," but it is pizza and it was baked on a grill, so I'm going to call it that. This one comes from the BBQ Pit Boys and you're going to need a baking stone to be able to do. If you don't have one handy then you can try out Rob Barrett's cooking sheet method.

Ingredients
-Pizza dough (I used the leftover half from the pan pizza recipe)
-1/4 cup of cornmeal
-1/2 cup of pizza sauce
-1 1/2 cup of mozarrella cheese
-125 mL of olive oil
-Your favorite toppings


Directions
Step 1 - Lay down, knead, and shape your dough and throw a little bit of corn meal down on your surface. This allows your pizza to be able to slide on to the grill and it adds a bit of texture to the crust.



Step 2 - Add a layer of sauce to the dough.


Step 3 - Add cheese.


Step 4 - Add your favorite toppings (and a little more cheese).


Step 5 - Coat the crust with a very thin layer of olive oil.


Step 6 - The second you get your grill going you need to put your stone on it. Once it's heated up a bit slide your pizza on the stone. Bake until golden and enjoy.





The Verdict
The pizza ended up tasting wonderful but it took forever to make. Lighting the coals, waiting for the grill to heat up, and then the actual time it took for the pizza to finish was just an awful lot of effort. I'm not saying that it wasn't worth it, but maybe it'd be best to save this one for a Saturday afternoon when you don't have a lot going on.

October is National Pizza Month - Pan Pizza

Since I didn't have the best of luck with store-bought dough for the last two recipes I decided to make my own this time around following the steps from Pizza Therapy. As far as the pizza itself goes, I'm using Chef Sanjay Thumma's recipe for pan pizza. If you're a fan of Indian cuisine you should definitely check out some of his other recipes on his YouTube account.

Ingredients
-375 mL of warm water
-7 grams of yeast (1 packet's worth)
-2 teaspoons of sugar
-1 teaspoon of salt
-5 cups of flour
-250 mL of olive oil
-1/2 cup of pizza sauce
-1 cup of shredded mozzarella
-Your favorite toppings



Directions
Step 1 - In a small bowl mix together your yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of salt.


Step 2 - Add 250 mL of warm (but not hot) water to the mixture and let it sit for around fifteen minutes or until the yeast begins to activate and bubble.


Step 3 - In a separate bowl measure and pour in four cups of flour. Add in 125 mL of olive oil, 125 mL of warm water, and one tablespoon of sugar.




Step 4 - Add your yeast mixture to your flour mixture and stir with a fork until it becomes too thick to continue mixing by hand.


Step 5 - Put around half a cup of flour down on your counter, throw your mixture in there, and knead together until it becomes uniform and solid.



Step 6 - Fold the dough up into a ball, lightly coat it olive oil, place it in a Ziploc bag, and leave it in the refrigerator overnight. Make sure to leave a small opening in the bag for the gas that the yeast creates to escape.



Step 7 - By the next day the dough should have at least doubled in size. Punch the air out of the dough and then leave it out to rise a bit more on the counter. You'll only need half of it for this recipe so cut it down the middle and save the rest for later (it should keep in the fridge for another two or three days).




Step 8 - Throw down a little bit of flour on the counter and knead your dough back in to a ball before putting it in a pan.



Step 9 - Add a layer of sauce to the dough.


Step 10 - Add your toppings.


Step 11 - Add cheese.


Step 12 - Coat the crust with a very thin layer of olive oil.


Step 13 - Place your pan on top of your stove while it's set to a slow flame/medium heat for five or six minutes.


Step 13 - With your oven at 425 degrees, remove your pizza from the pan and put it on a baking stone. If you don't have a baking stone and your pan is heat resistant you can place it in the stove. Bake until golden and enjoy.




The Verdict
Homemade crust is definitely the way to go and so far this is my favorite out of the recipes I've tried out. After finishing the pizza I noticed that the box of the baking stone said not to use flour on it (because it burns) and to use corn meal instead, so next time I'll try that out and see how it works.

Next up, pizza on the grill!

October is National Pizza Month - Stromboli

A stromboli isn't exactly a pizza but since it's made up of the exact same ingredients I would think, if nothing else, that they're closely related. Anyway, today's recipe is a mixture of two different recipes. I'm using the dough, layering, and braiding technique found in Chef Ann Martin's recipe, but I'm substituting in a layer of pizza sauce for ham like in Howdini's recipe.

Ingredients
-1 roll of frozen white bread (1 lb)
-1/2 cup of pizza/marinara sauce
-2 cups of mozzarella/pizza cheese
-1 cup of cheddar cheese
-Your favorite toppings


Directions
Step 1 - Grab your favorite cooking sheet, oil it up, and then place your roll of bread on it and oil it up as well.


Step 2 - Cover the bread with either plastic wrap or wax paper and let it sit out for eight or nine hours.


Step 3 - After the dough has expanded to around four or five times its original size, remove its wrapping.


Step 4 - Flatten the dough out into a large rectangle and make sure that it isn't too large to fit on your cooking tray/sheet/stone.


Step 5 - Add a layer of sauce to the dough. You'll want to leave a little bit of room on the edges for later.


Step 6 - Add one cup of mozzarella/pizza cheese.


Step 7 - Add a layer of toppings.


Step 8 - Add one cup of cheddar cheese.


Step 9 - Add an additional layer of toppings.


Step 10 - Add on a final layer of mozzarella/pizza cheese.


Step 11 - The last part of preparing this thing (which is optional) is to braid the dough. I'm not even going to try to explain how this works but if you watch this video you'll get an idea of how to do it.




Step 12 - Set your oven to 350 degrees and bake until golden.



The Verdict
I don't know why I didn't learn my lesson from the last time, but store-bought crust is obviously not the way to go. It gets the job done but it just doesn't have much flavor to it. As far as the actual stromboli itself goes, it was a lot of fun to make but the finished product was just so-so. I'm not a big fan crust to begin with so eating a pizza that was covered entirely in it wasn't exactly great.

Next up, pan pizza!

October is National Pizza Month - Stuffed Crust Pizza

Someone mentioned to me awhile back that October is National Pizza Month and since I've never actually made a pizza myself (even though it's pretty much my favorite food in the world) I figured that this would be the perfect time to learn. So for the rest of the month I'll be celebrating by going through and cooking up some of the different recipes that I've found on-line and sharing my results with all of you kind folks.

First off is Howdini's stuffed crust pizza recipe. Everything in the recipe is already put together and store-bought so hopefully this'll be an easy enough introduction to pizza-making since I've never actually done any of this before.

Ingredients
-1 can of refrigerated pizza crust
-7 sticks of string cheese
-1/4 or 1/2 cup of pizza/marinara sauce
-2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese
-Your favorite toppings


Directions
Step 1 - Unroll your dough.


Step 2 - Line the outside rim of the dough with your string cheese.


Step 3 - Fold the edges of your dough over the string cheese to create your crust.


Step 4 - Add sauce and cheese.


Step 5 - Add toppings (and maybe a little more cheese to go on top of them).


Step 6 - Set your oven to 450 degrees and bake until golden.


The Verdict
So it turns out that I didn't pinch the crust down well enough after adding the string cheese and they all melted out on to the pizza (which actually didn't taste too bad). I was actually pretty surprised at how good it tasted considering how easy it was to put together (apart from the crust which was sort of bland and didn't have a very good texture).

Next up, stromboli!

Words of Wisdom from Tracy Jordan

Aaron Cohen over at Unlikely Words apparently spent his free time this summer watching a lot of 30 Rock because he's managed to write down every single word that Tracy Morgan's character, Tracy Jordan, has ever said on the show season-by-season. I've posted some of my favorites below but if you have the time you should definitely check out his posts since there are a lot more gems in there to read.

Season One

"Let me ask you a question, everyone at this table. Did he just say the word ‘pumpkin’ to me?"

"Affirmative action was designed to keep women and minorities in competition with each other. To distract us while white dudes inject AIDS into our chicken nuggets."

"Let me just say, I’m excited to be here. It’s an honor for you to meet me."

"This round, Texas Doozie. Face cards are wild. Threes are jinx. Fives are twos."

"You and me, it’s not gonna be a one-way street. Cause I don’t believe in one-way streets. Not between people, and not while I’m driving."

"Dress every day like you gonna get murdered in those clothes."

"I can’t read Liz Lemon. My shameful secret is out. Now you know why I’m always running into the ladies bathroom. I can’t read! I sign my name with an 'X!' I once tried to make mashed potatoes with laundry detergent! I think I voted for Nader! Nader!"

"It only looks like I’m walking out of a Starbucks, when actually I’m doing the robot going backwards INTO a Starbucks! And I don’t even know whose dog that is! Yes, I steal dogs."

"Me and my wife like to play rape. She go in the bathroom and do her hair. Then, I put on a ski mask..."

"I like to walk around my house naked, to remind my oldest son who’s still got the biggest ding-dong."

"What else? What else is on my mind-grapes? I could talk about how the moon is a spy satellite put there by Oprah and Minister Farrakhan and not the Minister Farrakhan you’re thinking of. Who's that dude?"

"I wanna hold a mirror up to society and then win the world record for biggest mirror."

"As Professor Martin Luther King said, ‘I have a feeling.’"

"How would you like it if I did an impression of you, Liz Lemon? 'Hi, I’m Liz Lemon. I like to wear man shirts. Watch me skateboard.'"

"It’s like this, Pete. I love my wife. I love her. We’re a team. That’s why eight times a week, I go to the strip club. It brings me energy which I bring back to her."

"When you been married 17 years, you have to keep it spicy. That’s why me and my wife roleplay. She put on a Girl Scout outfit and a box of cookies and I answer the door in my boxers. Or I rent out a wheelchair and she pretends to be my caseworker."

"I’m not familiar with about half the words in that sentence."

"You know the Army be messing with the sun. That’s why I keep my junk covered. Once that stuff gets in your head, you’re done."

"I love this cornbread so much, I want to take it behind a middle school and get it pregnant."

"Look, I am old school. Growing up, when you were mad at somebody, you just breakdance at ’em."

"If you get rich off of this stuff, just take care of my family. I don’t want my kids to have to go to college."

"I believe the moon doesn’t exist. I believe vampires are the world’s greatest golfers, but their curse is that they’ll never get to prove it. I believe there are 31 letters in the white alphabet."

"I need a loan to finance my Thomas Jefferson movie. It’s gonna be at least $30 million with all the claymation sex scenes in it."

"I’d rather die famous than live for a hundred years like this! Carrying plastic bags, sitting on benches, brushing my own teeth. This is unsuitable."

Season Two

"Yo, Ken, I’ma use this whole kitchen area as my bathroom, spread the word."

"So Labor Day weekend I see this young she-dude at the dumpster by the 40/40. I pull over and I say you don’t have to live your life like this. You can be a freaky-deaky and do data entry. What about court reporting? Believe in yourself."

"Angie got me up at 7:30 today. Did you know in the morning they have food, TV, almost everything? It’s pretty good."

"I’m sorry, Liz, this is who I am. You can’t ask a bird not to fly. You can’t ask a fish not to swim. You can’t ask a tiger not to turn back into a Chinese dude at midnight."

"All a hot party needs is mystique, a buzz. See, people are like lemmings. Harvey Lemmings, my lawyer, who never misses a party."

"Somebody on my block is making waffles and it’s making me horny."

"I get it. Romeo and Juliet. Capulets and Romulans. Mmmhmm. I been there. I’m black, she’s white, I’m black, she’s light skinned black, I’m black, she’s 17."

"Tell her that you want her privates and your privates to do a high five."

"You can’t wear blue in Knuckle Beach, which is hard because jeans go with everything."

"Would you call what we did last night sex?"

"I spent two days making that movie from my home and what did I get out of it? A million dollars, a yellow Bentley, and nothing."

"I spent nine months in Japan shooting Samurai Iamarai. I fell in love with their culture, especially sharking. It’s when you run up to a lady on the streets and pull her tubetop down while your friend video tapes it. It’s considered a crime here. Thanks a lot, Puritans."

"Shelly Long, you’re truly an inspiration to me, I know that."

"You let Jenna take off in the middle of the day? If she gets to do that, then I’m doing this week’s show as my alter-ego, Professor Cosmatothis."

"The holidays without drinking is rough. Turns out football is boring, my wife’s sister ain’t as cute as I thought she was, and I can not play the guitar."

"This is New York, the big easy, live a little! Boundaries are made to be tested, that’s why my wife and I stopped using a safe word."

"Hey, slow down there, Ken. Coffee is not like alcohol, it’s pretty addictive."

"Hell no. Black people supporting Republicans? Does hot support cold? Does rain support the Earth?"

"My fellow black Americans, Dr. King once had a dream, a dream that we all share, to build a 200 foot high wall to keep Mexico out. And he also hated the estate tax."

"I get it, the Republican party means less taxes, more guns, and the end of the gun tax."

"I got to do something important so that my children will respect me like be a senator or a wizard."

"My genius is come alive. Like toys when your back is turned."

"Liz Lemon, do these look like wizard nipples to you?"

Season Three

"I’d like to thank everyone involved for making my video game the most profitable thing since the war on terror!”

“I watched Boston Legal nine times before I realized it wasn’t a new Star Trek.”

“White people stole jazz, rock and roll, Will Smith, AND heart disease. Now they think they can take my hard earned money.”

“If it weren’t for your people I’d still be in Africa. Gorgeous, politically stable, Africa.”

“I haven’t seen Oprah since she did that episode about the worst celebrity dads.”

“That’s not me, that’s the Tracy Jordan Japanese sex doll. You can tell us apart because it's not suffering from a vitamin deficiency.”

“[Crying] We’re not really best friends, we’re just good friends!"

“Well, if all you want is a hug from a black person, maybe you should just host the Price is Right.”

"I owe you, Jackie D. When I’m on my deathbed frenching my wife, I will think of you.”

“There’s no link between diabetes and diet. That’s a white myth, Ken. Like Larry Bird or Colorado.”

“I’m saying the Disneyfication of New York is over, everyone. At the stroke of midnight, your Lexus is going to turn back into a hot pile of rats fighting over a human finger.”

"Love, peace, and hair grease!”

"You’re all so amazing. And to think I was just calling ya’ll a bunch of racists.”

"I do not apologize, America. I did not even write that apology. I am advertiser Tracy Jordan and I approve this message."

“This is better than a family. No one around here asks me for my damn bone marrow.”

"I was just thinking about how weird it is that we eat birds.”

"Friendship and trust in the entourage is the most important thing. Like that HBO show, John Adams.”

“Dotcom, that is a great idea. If you want everyone to think I own a gay lion."

“Come on in, Jack, I’m just practicing sitting.”

“I might hug people too hard and get lost in malls but I’m not an idiot.”

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM TRACY JORDAN

Seasons 1-3 | Season 4 | Season 5