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Showing posts with the label pizza making

Pepperoni and Giardiniera Pizza - Chicago Thin Experiments - January 2025

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Wintertime is indoor pizza time around our house.  That brings with it a dilemma:  What style of dough do I make that satisfies everyone.  You see...Nat and the kids prefer what we call 'outdoor pizza' - something that is probably described as "Neapolitan-adjacent".  A higher-hydration dough that has a large (or at least 'larger') cornicione that is typically (or ideally) covered in Leopard spots .  Some might say'Dough-forward'.   I prefer something closer to Chicago Tavern Pizza and/or Bar Pies .  Thin, crispy and 'toppings-forward'.  I even like 'stunt pizzas' - like BBQ chicken and more recently....a Buffalo Chicken Dip Pizza (that...in my mind... Nat 'invented'.) Since I'm stuck using the indoor/kitchen oven, I have to either make a choice (make one dough or the other) or....make both.  This past weekend, I picked one:  Chicago Thin.  And....due to travel, I ended up making a same-day dough (not ideal).   The sam...

AI-Generated Dorianell's Cake Shop Reimagined As Pizza Place - January 2025

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I've posted a photo of the original Dorianell's Cake Shop - the bakery operated by my grandparents where my Mom grew up (upstairs) that was originally located in the Back of the Yards neighborhood at 1114 W 51st Street, Chicago, IL 60609.  I asked ChatGPT - and their DALL-E GPT what the place would look like as an updated pizza shop.   Below are a couple of examples that were built via AI: The spelling of things like "CAKKE SHOP" and "CAKE SHORY" are sure tells that AI was the creator, aren't they? A funny thing happened - when I asked ChatGPT to update the pizza in the windows to be 'tavern cut' or cut into squares:  it wasn't able to do that.  It kept giving me back images with pie-cut pizza.   Here's the original Dorianell's Cake Shop - with awning: The next ask for DALL-E is to reimagine Dorinell's into a pizza farm.  That's for another post.

Focaccia Journey - Second Batch With Mixed Results - January 2025

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Last week, I included a mention of _Laceybakes_ - the focaccia baker on TikTok amongst other little pizza-related tidbits in a round-up post .   Her videos influenced me to make a batch of focaccia this past weekend.  I opted for a simple olive oil and garlic butter-topped bread. I was too impatient (and didn't plan well-enough), so I ended up doing a same-day dough - which lead to an underwhelming hole-structure.    Below are a few photos.   This is the second-ever batch of focaccia that I've made - with my original research back in 2022 .   Some notes:  I used the stand-mixer to do the initial incorporation.  That was a mistake.  Think I over-worked this dough.  I did about five-or-so rounds of stretch-and-folds.  That was probably fine.  I dimpled this focaccia *and then* let it keep rising.  Pretty sure...that I should have dimpled-it right ahead of the bake. Also, as I mentioned above, there was no cold...

Pizza Chronicles - Recent Stuff - January 2025

A few things pizza-wise that I've come across recently that I thought were worth noting: 1. Chris Kimball - Now on Milk Street -formerly from ATK.   Yogurt in his pizza dough . 2. Like a lot of other folks, I found and started to see in my FYP this focaccia maker on tiktok. Lacey from @_Lacebakes_ .    This one jumped out to me .  She also does a 'Will it focaccia?' series.  Fun.  She posts her 'overnight' formulation (she's talking about cold ferment), too.   Pasted below for posterity sake.  I will try this one soon. 3.  There were a couple of things in this Charlie Anderson video that jumped out to me .  They include:  naming things 'East-coast inspired' and/or 'NY elite'.  Not New Haven.  Not NY.  "East-coast inspired'.  Nice.  They also talk about higher hydration, hotter oven (650 degrees), shorter bake (than NY, longer than Neapolitan).  They also talk about Tomato Magic tomatoes ....

Pizza Oven - Buildout Tips - Counter Cutout

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I've documented a few pizza operation tips over the years here on the blog.  From what a pizza parlor could/would look like to the signage to the uniforms/tabletops to the *actual name* ( Dorianell's ), I've 'dreamed' a lot about the front-of-house.   But, I've also documented tips and tricks for the back-of-house.  Including how Aurelio's pre-pans their dough to the type of tomatoes and more.   This past Spring, Summer and...Fall...I built out my own wood-fired pizza oven.  (Note:  I REALLY need to finish those posts!).  So, I'm turning my attention to building out the rest of the oven setup; including prep tables.   The latest tip comes via world's best pizza guy - Chef Anthony Mangieri, owner of Una Pizza Napoletana in NYC in this YouTube video from Bon AppĆ©tit . Here, below, is the full video - but further down, I've taken a few screenshot stills from it that I wanted to call-out. First...he talks about setting up his layou...

Pizza Parlance: Leopard Spotting

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I've been trying to get what everyone wants on their neo-Neapolitan pizzas - cooked outdoors, at high heat - leopard spotting.  On a recent bake, I achieved what is pretty close to it (at least for me) with these spotts on the pie below: My stretching game has improved quite a bit this past Summer thanks to an all-day class that I took at the North American Pizza and Culinary Academy in Lisle .   However, I continue to find what I call 'indoor' pizza more interesting; despite Nat and the kids all preferring these 'outdoor' pies each weekend. Full Pizza Parlance archive here .  Frico and Stunt Pizza are included.

Chicago Thin Progress - Bottom Blisters - March 2023

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The online pizza world is afire with Chicago Tavern pizza these days.  It seems to have culminated this past week when internet sensation (and...someone who can go by just one name) Kenji published his months-long research project into *real* Chicago pizza .  I've been working on what I call "Chicago Thin" for the better part of 10 years.  On-and-off.   It wasn't Kenji's piece that moved me, but the guy he referenced in the story - John from Crust Fund - is who has been my northstar on this Chicago Thin journey.  I wrote about my latest attempt here in early February .   Both Kenji and John use a method called 'curing' - where they roll out the dough into 'skins' and let it age.  Sometimes in the fridge, sometimes not.  What's the goal with curing?  A dry, blistered bottom.   I had a little bit of a 'blistering' breakthrough recently.  See below for a photo showing these little blister bubbles that I've been chasing f...

Sausage and Giardiniera Chicago Thin Pizza Progress - February 2023

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Thanks to John Carruthers at Nachos and Lager  (and Crust Fund Pizza ), I've made some progress on my thin crust Tavern pizza the past few weeks.  I call it "Chicago Thin", but it seems that "Chicago Tavern-Cut" has been the most widely-adopted in the pizza-making regions online.  I've been playing around with this on-and-off for about a year.  That includes cold curing.  And room-temperature curing.  The post that featured John and his recipe on Wordloaf was really good as it provided me with a few tweaks and some additional details.  It was also scaled down for two dough balls. I've settled into making a batch of dough for 2 14"(ish) tavern pizzas that first ferments in bulk in the fridge, then the day prior to baking, I ball and stick back in the fridge.  The morning of my bake: I roll out and cure the dough in between pieces of parchment paper.   They dried out and started to get a little-bit brittle along the edges this time, but I...

Low And Slow In Ooni Oven - Crispy Pizza - January 2023

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Thanks to a tip from the Santa Barbara Baker - who runs a great Ooni pizza oven-centric YouTube channel - I've changed the way that I'm using my Ooni Pro 16 outdoor oven.  Historically, I've used the burner FULL-BLAST, but he turned me on to low-and-slow .  I preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes to get the floor temperature up then, right before I slide the pie off the peel, I turn the temp down to like 1/3rd of the flame power.  This allows for a much longer bake and a crispy, flop-free bottom.  I then turn the burner back up to full power and finish the top off for 30 seconds or so.   I haven't quite figured out or solved the final cheese mix on these low-and-slow Ooni bakes - this one above is about 90% fresh mozz with a few little sprinkles of Fontina.   I've also totally abaondoned the Ooni Pro 16 door because it kept extinsuishing the flame from the burner - due to (I think) - the lack of oxygen.  Maybe...if I modify the door in so...

Chellino Scamorza Cheese - December 2022

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I've long talked about how pizza makers here in Chicago have access to a product from Chellino Cheese Makers in Joliet that is unique and available in grocery and specialty stores in the Suburbs.  Over the years, I've posted the details of where I've picked it up and have been (informally) tracking the price. This year, we bought the Chellino Scamorza Pizza Cheese from Pete's Market in Oak Brook Terrace.  See below for the cheese and the price tag:  $12.53.   What was it last year?  Here's a post from December 29, 2021 that shows a tag from Angelo Caputo's for the same Chellino Scamorza Pizza Cheese that (at that time) was costing: $6.99 . That's some price increase, isn't it?  Holy Cow.   That's $5.54 increase in 12 months.  80% increase year-over-year. December 2022:  $12.53 December 2021:  $6.99 November 2021:  $7.99 February 2019:  $5.99 February 2018:  $6.99

Detroit-Style + Sfincione Research - Pizza Project - December 2022

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I'm not *exactly* sure how I recently came across this new (to me) pizza style, but it sure has my attention.  What style is that?  I suppose the widest birth name-wise I can give it is: Sfincione.  It is a version (most often) of something similar to a Sicilian or Grandma pizza.  Tweaked.  Kenji @ Serious Eats has done his thing with it and calls it "New Years Pizza" .  It is characterized by a light, hole-filled dough that is crisp/fried on the bottom.  Sauce on top.  And...finished with the crunch of breadcrumbs.  That recipe is, however, NOT where I started on this pizza journey rabbit hole.  Nope.  It was earlier this year when I read that a pizza pop-up from Nashville (of all places) was coming to town to participate in a Chicago pizza festival.  That place is St. Vito Focacceria.   Well...that's interesting, I thought.   I didn't attend said fest. But, I've been sitting on this Instagram po...

Pequod's Clone - Pizza Making Progress - September 2022

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If you ask ten people who lived on the northside of Chicago what their favorite pizza from that time in their life was, I'd bet that 8 of them will tell you one place:  Pequod's .  It is a place that serves a distinct version of Chicago Deep Dish that features what they call a "caramelized crust".  What it really is a well-done whole milk mozzarella edge.  Not quite a frico , but more an 'edge'.    Is it my favorite?  No.  But, I'm a thin-crust-always-kinda-guy.  We've been to Pequod's.  Both the city location, but also the original up in Morton Grove.  Here's my post from a visit there in 2015 .  And here is our first visit to the suburban location (the original started here by Burt Katz) in 2011 .  Also note...we did eventually make it to Burt's Place before Burt Katz passed away .   But, back to Pequod's and why I bring it up.  One of our neighbor's requested a Pequod's-style pizza recently.  I haven...

My (Alternative) Pizza Cheese Blend - Bar Pie - February 2022

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I've been a proponent of a low-moisture cheese for pizza making for a number of years.  A special cheese, specifically:  Chellino Scamorza Cheese .  It isn't smoked and is most-similar to the traditional low-moisture Mozzarella that you find at the Jewels or Marianos.  But, I've been experimenting with a different set of cheeses with my Bar Pies.   I took that class with the OG Pizza-online-guy Adam Kuban last year where he talked about his "KuBlend" where he talked about how he blends a couple of cheeses for Bar Pies.  For some recent Bar Pie experiments , I've moved away from the Chellino Scamorza and have begun to trial this 2 parts Whole Milk Mozzarella (low-moisture) and 1 part Fontina.   Fontina has been on my radar for a bit as the folks at Via Napoli in the World Showcase at EPCOT Center use it (see this post from 2017 that shows a few cheeses they use including: Robiola, Parmesan, Provolone and Fontina.) Below are the two products ...

Pizza-Making Tip: Drain Your Giardiniera - January 2022

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I have just recently (in the past three-or-so months) started to utilize hot giardiniera on my bar pies.  Here's a photo of my "Nice Cups" pepperoni pizza that is half-topped with olive-free hot giardiniera .  A funny thing has happened with my ability to handle hot/spicy foods recently - my tolerance has dropped significantly.  But, in an interesting coincidence, Nat's tolerance has only grown.  So, I've gone from "extra hot peppers" at Potbelly's to "light hot peppers".  With that going on, I mostly make my giardiniera pizzas for a crowd and not ones that we eat at home by ourselves, but I still want to take the time to get my utilization dialed in.  Here, below, is a photo of the latest tip that I picked up:  draining the giardiniera in a colander to remove the excess oil.   I mean...the idea is simple and logical.  In order to control the top-oil level, the right thing to do is to remove as much of the giardiniera oil as possible....

Stunt Bar Pizza: BBQ Chicken Pizza With Cheddar Frico - January 2022

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I make exactly ONE "stunt pizza" at home.  It is a BBQ chicken pizza that I call the "Orange Bird" that features chicken and double application of a store-bought sweet bbq sauce.  First I apply the sauce to the chassis and then, post-oven, I squeeze on a drizzle (it is, I suppose, *more* than a drizzle, but less than a full slather) on top.  I've added this post-oven drizzle after I found the pice a little dry but that the sauce burns pretty easily when put on top pre-bake.  In this case, (once I de-pan the pie) I put down (first) a heavy hand of post-oven Romano scattered on top, then after waiting a beat, I put down this sauce which finishes with the heat off the top of the pizza.   Btw....you might be wondering what a 'stunt pizza' is?  Urban Dictionary has an entry that sums up the term pretty well , but that's not where I picked up the term.  It was from Pizza Blogger Adam Kuban - somewhere along the lines of following him online in various p...

Chicago Thin Frico - Bar Pie Adaptation - January 2022

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Applying the formulation with a 51% hydration factor from last wee k and a 190 gram dough ball yielded a nice result.  Laying on a ring of Vermont White Cheddar lead to a nice frico.  Notes:  I used ZERO bench flour and was able to roll out the ball to a something close to 12".  Using Crisco as the sort of 'paste', I was able to stretch the skin out and it didn't snap back. This one has Roni cups and a heavy hand of post-oven Romano.  No baking steel involved, but I think I need to go back to putting the steel on the rack above to provide for that refractory heat in order to get the top just.right (well done).  

Chicago Thin From Bar Pie Chassis - January 2022

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For the better part of 2021, I have been making (exclusively) Bar Pies at home to the exclusion of just about any other type of pizza.  I've made the occasional Detroit-style, but for the most part, it has been 12" round Bar Pies for 10+ months .  However, Bar Pies have a specific provenance - that of the east coast.  New Jersey.  Massachusetts.  Those places make "Bar Pie".  What do we make in Chicago?  Something called Tavern pizza.  Or Tavern-style pizza.  Or, just Chicago Thin Crust.   Bar Pie isn't too far from Chicago Thin, but it is a bit different.  So, I've decided that 2022 is going to be my Chicago Thin/Bar Pie hybrid year.  My maiden voyage down this path was this past weekend when I took a Chicago Thin recipe that I found on YouTube , modified it to be a little bit *more* like my base Bar Pie formulation in some ways, dropped the hydration down a bit and then, finally did a couple of downsizing from a 14" for...

Chellino Scamorza Cheese @ Angelo Caputo's - December 2021

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Up at Angelo Caputo's in Addison, they're selling pizza cheese for a full buck cheaper than Frankie's Deli in Oak Brook Terrace .  Cheapest I've come across was at Nature's Market in Westmont, but that $5.99 price is (now) almost four years old.      For tracking purposes, I shredded six of these #1'ers, but ended up using probably four of them across 10 bar pies and 2 skinny Detroit pies on Christmas Eve.  Also, four white Cheddars was probably 50% too much, too.  Next year - with the same amount of bar pies, I could factor 4 scamorzas and 2 white cheddars. They bill it as "Cheese for Pizza" from The Chellino Cheese Company, Joliet, Illinois on their packaging.  And that's how we use it.

Tracking Chellino Scamorza Cheese at Frankie's Deli - November 2021

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I've long held that this Chellino Scamorza cheese - out of Joliet - is the best pizza cheese for home bakers.  I started buying it when we lived in Elmhurst and picked it up at Angelo Caputos up in Addison.  Since we moved to Downers, the sourcing of the cheese has been spotty.  They have it at Angelo's on 55th here (shared in 2018) , but I had a bad experience with flavor and don't love that store.  I've since gone back and have had no problems.  I also tracked the price at Nature's Best Market in Westmont where they were selling it for $2 cheaper than Angelo's at $5.99 .   I haven't settled on a source, but buy it where I can when I need it.  I recently picked up a meal at Frankie's Deli in Oak Brook Terrace (near my folk's place) and noticed they carry the stuff.  Here's the tag below showing their price:  $7.99. I haven't done enough of a close examination of the price of Chellino Scamorza Cheese over the years, but I think $7.99 i...

Nice Cups - Bar Pie - October 2021

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A week later and another Bar Pie shot below.  Last week, I showed a photo and talked about my Bar Pie Progress with a sausage and giardiniera 12-incher (well done, of course) where I talked about what I've been working on since early Spring this year.  This is a 12" bar pie loaded with cupped pepperoni.  I didn't run out for the *right* cheese, so I used what was on hand.  Learned a little bit there - and will go back to my traditional blend.  This one, however, created a little bit of frico that you can see on the bottom right of photo below. Nice Cups. Loaded with Pepperoni. Base chassis of: Crushed Tomatoes, cheese blend. Finished with a heavy hand of post-oven Romano and basil .  Hot Giardiniera added (pre-oven) to half. Menu-wise, I haven't quite figured out how to talk about adding giardiniera to the base bar pie names.  Does it become a different pie? Or should all the base menu pizzas be offered with giardiniera as a 'plus-up'?  Alon...