I've had a great life...its been a roller coaster ride....but backwards...super exhilarating on the uphills and terrifying on the downhills ...this is the tale of that experience on planet earth
Next up we went back to the menu from PDX of Portland, a passion project of Chef Miriam, a NYC raised chef with good ideas. The pizza we chose to make was her Yum Yum Hawaiian which we modified by using a spicy tomato sauce, and peperoni (which we had in stock) rather than salami. We also used the jalapeno’s from the pineapple pickle and finished with hot honey. It was so delicious that we will make it again, but this time with Salami instead of peperoni.
Ingredients:
Fresh mozzarella,
Romano, fontina
Spicy tomato sauce
Fresh oregano
Fresh basil
Crisp Pepperoni
2-week pickled jalapeƱo pineapple
A bit easier to see the ingredients before the bake
We made the “Jersey Girl”, this one is inspired by the ingredient list on the website of Yum’s of Portland, including Imported East Coast Burrata, romano, tomato sauce, garlic, oregano, extra crispy pepperoni, basil, hot honey. It’s a real winner. Really good.
Ingredients:
Burrata
Romano
Tomato sauce
Garlic, oregano
Extra crispy pepperoni
Basil
Hot honey
Here it is before the bake. Note that I crisped the fresh peperoni before we made it. You can also see the way we tried not to overload it.
Our next effort took us in a totally different direction. Heather wanted to try the pizza she calls “Figgy PIggy Pie”. It’s a fig jam base with mozzarella, thin prosciutto, and finished with Feta. For me, its a tad too sweet, although the saltiness of the prosciutto carries it quite well. Next time we make it, we will add lemon juice to the fig jam to add the acidity I think it needs.
One of the joys of meatballs, esp that there are two of us, and the recipe makes 20 meatballs, is that we get multiple meals! We are both meat sandwich people, so as soon as we chose to make meatballs, Heather said, “Meatball Sandwiches!” we pretty much do everything the same in preparing the meatballs, that is to give them a sauce bath for 3 minutes to finish cooking them, and we toast the rolls too. FIrst we layer a thin slice of mozzarella onto the toasted bun before slicing 3 meatballs per person in half, placing them on either slice. We cover them in sauce, then layer another thin slice of mozz on top before putting them under the broiler! What you have is a delightful open face sandwich.
As the sauce ages in the fridge (about 4 days is the limit,) and as we get to the end of the meatballs, the best thing to do to finish it all up is another round of meatball sandwiches. This time we used the mini-baguette’s and only a slice of provolone on top (caramelized under the grill.) Once again, absolutely moreish!
The next pie we chose to make was the Lady Zaza, created by Ann Kim and served in her restaurant in Minneapolis. We are blessed to have access to SE Asian foods here in the PNW, so sourcing the ingredients was easy. This is a Korean spicy sausage pizza with Kimchi and a couple of other hot ingredients. It has serrano peppers, a hot kimchi, sesame oil, gochujang and a blistering hot Korean Chili Sauce, tomato sauce as well as scallions and both white and black sesame seeds to finish. It is without a doubt, one of the most delicious pizzas I have ever tasted. It is the definition of moreish. Both Heather and I said that even though it was so hot, we could not stop eating it, and, because we now have a few of the ingredients, we will be making it again next week. The best words for a chef to hear are, “Put that in regular rotation!” This was one of those pizzas!
Ingredients:
Korean spicy sausage
Napa Kimchi
Serrano peppers
Sesame oil
Gochujang a
Tomato Sauce
Hot Korean chili Sauce
Scallions
Both white and black sesame seeds
Considering that we failed to use all the ingredients the first time we made it, because the pizza was so hot (spicy) we went back to the original recipe, and realized that we had not used tomato sauce in the base, but instead, we only used hot chili sauce. Oops! So, we went again, this time making a spicy tomato sauce with hot chili sauce to offer a little acidity and sweetness. The result was MUCH better, and in fact, this is the best pizza we have made so far!
It looks so great before it goes in the oven!
I cannot overstate how wonderful this pizza is. The Lady Zaza by Ann Kim is truly a special pizza. It’s spicy, and really delicious. If you make pizza at home, make this one! It’s already one of our go to pies.
Feeling emboldened, we made the choice to foray into fusion foods. Having recently made a wonderful chicken mole, we decided to make a Chicken Mole Pizza. We used mexican cheese, mole sauce, shredded chicken, fresh mozzarella, a little fetta, red onions and fresh avocado as toppings along with fresh garlic chives. Let me say this about that. WOW! What an amazing pizza!
We next made an old staple. Pepperoni and Pineapple. This is Heather’s creation. It’s play on the classic Hawaiian Pizza, but instead of Canadian Bacon, she prefers the tang of pepperoni, and like I told her, as regards the pineapple on pizza,, like with the “I need more cowbell” SNL skit, we need more pineapple!
Ingredients:
Grated Mozzerella
Pepperoni coins
Chopped fresh pineapple
We ironed out the bake time (between 7 and 12 minutes) for the new dough, and now we are on a roll! We also have to try this with various other cheeses. Swiss and fontina come to mind as does smoked Mozzarella
You can see that we are getting the bake on the pie perfected now, and yes, its delicious bite!
In the Seattle area, there is a pizza place called Pagliacci, and they are among our favorite pizza locations. They make interesting pizza’s and have a wonderful crust. Among the best of their pizza’s from our perspective is the Agog Pizza. This is a garlic infused olive oil base pie with roasted garlic, mushrooms, kalamata olives, Goat cheese, Fontina cheese, mozzarella cheese, parsley and fresh tomatoes. It’s consistently a great bite of food. The brininess of the olives, the funk of the goat cheese, the umami of the garlic, the chew of the mushrooms, the acidity and freshness of the tomatoes and parley, this pizza has it all. Except sauce!
Ingredients:
Garlic infused olive oil
Roasted garlic
Sliced mushrooms
Kalamata olives
Goat cheese
Fontina cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Chopped parsley
Chopped fresh Roma tomato
This was our first bake with the new dough, I was still learning how to use the pizza stone and gauge the new oven temperatures, so this pie was a little under. The flavors were there, but we have to try it again with a proper bake.
We chose to revisit the Agog, making sure this time, to get the bake right. It is a really great pizza! Unfortunately, we were out of fresh tomato when we took another stab at it.
One of my very favorite pizza’s is the Classic Margherita. According to legend, it was invented by Chef Raffaele Esposito of Pizzeria Brandi in Naples in 1889 for the Queen of Savoy. It is such a great pizza that it has stood the test of time. Made simply with tomato, mozzarella and basil, it’s always a magical flavor profile.
Ingredients:
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh ripe Roma Tomatoes
Fresh ripe Basil
I lost track of time and this one was, lets say, a little crisp! Next time we make it I will replace the image.
What encouraged us to make this pizza is that the ingredients, as described by chef Blanco, “create alchemy!” The Rosa Pizza inspired by Chris Blanco, the founder of Pizzeria Blanco in Arizona, is without a doubt, rated one of the best pizza restaurants in the United States. Chris said, “garbage in, garbage out,” and watching his commitment as he searched for and found excellent local ingredients, especially the hand made stone ground flours inspired me. His quest for the perfect pizza crust steered me in the direction of Hayden Flour Mills. With all that in mind, and feeling inspired, we set out to make the Rosa Pizza. What makes this pizza so yummy is that it is actually a very simple pie. It has Parmesan, Thinly sliced red onions, fresh rosemary, and it is finished with chopped pistachio nuts that are introduced part way through the cook. It is a stunning pizza and I am sure we will make it again and again. As Chris Blanco says,”Alchemy!”
Ingredients:
Fresh sliced Parmesan
Thinly sliced red onions,
Fresh rosemary
Pistachio nuts broken with mortar and pistil
Finished with olive oil
Our second version of the Rosa, from Chris Bianco’s restaurant in Phoenix, was a big improvement on the first. Better dough, better bake, better understanding of ingredients and so on As Chris puts it, this pizza is alchemy. Red onions and rosemary on parmesan, with a roasted garlic olive oil base (my addition) and then finished with pistachio nuts added with about 2 minutes of the cook to go. It is a beautiful bite of food. The fragrance of the rosemary, the sweetness of the onions, the crunch of the pistachio nuts and the bite of the dough is just yummy! It hits all the notes and as we clean our plates we say something to the effect of, “I really enjoyed that!”
My Life: A Memoir 