The food thread

Bad news, Scott: you'll have to get by without Wagyu when you come visit. :D

Good news: no frosts yet, so we're still harvesting heirloom tomatoes. The Black Krims and Beefmasters have been particularly good. Cynthia has been making her own mozzarella. Caprese heaven.

I hope you can do better than Papa John's, stunning how bad industrial food can get, the garlic salt taste stayed with me for hours. Nothing like grandchildren's birthday parties. Like Kraft they spend millions telling you it's real food.
 
I suspect we can.

Cynthia and I tried all of the multi-state chains that would deliver to us in Austin, with the idea of doing a web article reviewing them. Papa's was in the lower-middle of the pack, which shows you how awful the general standard is. One recurring problem was sugar in the sauce and crust for many of these.

Our dog was delighted by this survey, since she's crazy about pizza and got far more than the usual leftovers. My favorite was one Southwest chain that came in at the bottom of our rankings- C and I took one bite each, chewed and swallowed with great difficulty, then put the rest in the dog's dish. She came running, tail wagging furiously, took a sniff, then looked at us accusingly and walked away looking pretty peeved.
 
My glucose level skyrockets. Not so with what we make at home.

You were polite enough not to ask the name of the chain. :D Checking their website, it appears that they've metastasized uncomfortably close to us (Indiana locations). There's a lot of really, really bad pizza out there...

We'll use a little honey when proofing the yeast, but it's maybe a teaspoon for 2 cups of water and 3 cups of flour.
 
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Generally it's the big 3 chains (PJs, Ds, PH) that get the glucose level to bump up quite a bit. Since I rarely eat sweets now, it is all too noticeable.

Yeah, I saw C's recipe for pizza dough and I'll give that a shot. I noticed the amount of honey is so small I should be just fine. I also discovered by leaving the dough in the fridge that you get some great flavor. The kids can still enjoy the big chain stuff but K and I avoid it and our real enjoyment comes from the smells hitting us from the kitchen. drooool...
 
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Like Kraft they spend millions telling you it's real food.

How many millions did Dominoes spend to tell everyone how they revamped their recipes. Even the images on the TV didn't look that great.

But every time I watch Rick Steves in Naples and they are sliding those pizzas out of the brick oven, I get very hungry!

Oh, and Blessed are the Cheesemakers!!! :D
 
Most of our pizza places are one-offs. I don't know anyone who orders from Pizza Hut, Boston Pizza, Domino's, Little Caesars or Pano's. Papa John is not big here but is one of the better ones actually. There are some truly awful so called pizzas from the above but OTOH, if you're willing to pay, you can have a pizza that you'll be talking about the next day. Mostly though we just make our own, like SY.
 
Never cared for PJ pizza. There's a newer chain locally that's also better than PJ's... Yaghi's New York Pizzeria. Just one location here in SA but apparently HQ'd in Austin; it may have had an appearance in the SY household pizzathon. I'm not sure if they have Indiana stores. I didn't see any on the website.
And that gubment cheese doesn't make too bad a grilled cheese sandwich, cooked up in a cast iron skillet. Mmmmmm....
 
> No that's REAL cheese just ask Kraft over-dey.

I don't know the source, and as a rule would agree with
your apparent distain for American cheese ..... BUT
A (wellfare) girlfriend of mine used to get big chunks of
American cheese as part of a food program that was
delightfull ........
That government dole cheese makes great mac n cheese........

Most highly processed cheeses contain cellulose powder or chalk, which are inert ingredients. But, try to find mass produced packaged cheese that does not have 'mold inhibitors' such as Natamycin or some other anti-fungial additive. --:no: And don't ask what is in Taco Bell cheese......or have they changed their recipe yet? :spin: and more :spin:

Cabot cheeses are pretty good for large scale produced cheese. I have a mild addiction to the Seriously Sharp white cheddar....the one in the plaid packaging. :p
 
There's a newer chain locally that's also better than PJ's... Yaghi's New York Pizzeria. Just one location here in SA but apparently HQ'd in Austin; it may have had an appearance in the SY household pizzathon.

No, we required a wider distribution than that to qualify for our abuse; at the time Yaghi's was only in the Austin area, and only two or three locations. Agreed, though, it was pretty decent.
 
Talking about meat, I had one of those of 1Kg. each steak for dinner.
 

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The best "slice" I had was at a little shop under the Third Ave. El in the Bronx. -- The El and pizzeria are gone. You could get a slice for a quarter in the late 1960's.

Not even gin will get rid of the taste of garlic or onion powder.

Even I, of the hoi polis with ill breeding and low manners will no longer eat Kraft yellow cheese, but I really like the taste of their parmagiano. Regiano Parmagiano is for breaking into chunks between slabs of soprasetta. (and by the way, Parma IT is a nice town to visit with surprising little tourist traffic, Parma OH is the town the ghoul used to mock for its pink lawn flamingoes).
 
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We do have one place in this little town of Vancouver that has a good pizza. Problem is, you have to lay down more than $30 for it. Just a regular, all dressed kind, nothing fancy.

$30? There's something about that that makes my oregano wilt. Good? Oh ya, best in town, but... we are talking pizza and this is only Vancouver.

That's why I make mine at home...

...and spend more than that. :scratch:
 
Anyone here like tommy juice? I don't have a tomato juicer so this is what I like to do.

Go to the 'uglies' section of the veggie market and find a few bags, say 3 or 4 with around 8-10 tomatoes in each. Bring them home, cut up and blenderize. Put them in the 'big pot' and simmer for about half an hour. Let cool overnight then force through the sieve, add coarse salt and chill.
 

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