Mellow Mushroom - Johnson City, TN and other foodie matters (land, kitchen)

[ljay42]

Originally Posted by rccrain

Is Chicago Red Hot a hot dog joint? Have you tried it? Sounds very interesting, and thanks for the heads up.

Yes, dogs and italian beef I think. I have not tried it unless this is the same guy who was mobile over in the Hooters parking lot last year.

I pretty much make my pizza at home these days from scratch on my pizza stone in the oven. It's not hard really and the cost for a couple of cups of flour and good ingredients is probably less than you'll pay for one beer at MM.

Ditto. I'm aging a batch of dough as we speak. Should be ready for stromboli, pizzas, and calzone by this time tomorrow. Takes 5 minutes and 4 or 5 ingredients that most folks probably have on hand.

[NorthernLights]

Seriously, I have no wish to put our local college kids out of work and you definitely need a night out once in a while so money becomes less of an object then, BUT if you're interested, buy a pizza stone from that irritating person in your office who is always trying to sell you Pampered Chef s--t then go for the Pizza Stone, [it's worth it], buy some really good beer, and try this recipe at home. Especially if you're feeding a family of four this is really cheap eats:

6 cups of unbleached flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast [throw the rest of the pack away if you want that good thin Matzo kind of pizza..don't use too much yeast unless you want thick Chicago Bread dough pizza. Then otherwise, go for it.Throw it all in.]
1 Tbsp Olive oil
*{I dump a ton of Italian Seasoning in to the mixing bowl too...you know, Oregano, Basil, Garlic, Thyme, Sage, Onion powder, Parmesan/Romano cheese...makes a great tasting crust.}

*Then add roughly 2 cups {very cold water}, added very slowly to the mixing bowl, You'll know when it looks like pizza dough. You'll know, trust me.

Mixed in a big bowl with a spoon or if you're not a masochist, in your Kitchenaid/mixer with a dough hook.

This makes enough dough for TWO pizzas. Split this in half and put one dough ball in a bowl on your kitchen counter to rise for a few hours and wrap the other dough ball up and put in your freezer. It will keep in your freezer for weeks. When you're ready to use that one put in a bowl on your counter for tonight and it will be ready by dinner time tomorrow.

Rub your rolling pin with oil so when you roll out the dough...well, you'll figure it out. Actually, Pizza making is something that is different in every kitchen in the world. You'll figure out the best method for your kitchen that will be different from every other person's kitchen. So just go for it!!! What works in my kitchen, might be very different from you kitchen. I would still advise that the the one constant is the hottest oven you can muster.

Buy good cheese, [end of discussion], make your own sauce if you wish [I do], although most brands of good spaghetti sauce works great!! Roll out the dough and put the sauce and everything you ever wanted to on to this dough, bake about 10 minutes at about as hot as your oven will get 450-500 temp is good.

[ljay42]

With the risk of continuing this OT:

Agree on the highest heat you can muster along with the pizza stone.


A few other tips:

1) A pizza peel is nice to have around but you can also run over to the kitchen supply store in JC and pick up some pizza screens for cheap money...few bucks last time I was there.

2) We make sauce but just as good in my opinion is a product hunts has in a can. "Diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano". You can buy that for 99 cents in any local grocery. Put it in your blender for 30 seconds and you have a pizza sauce that will be as good as any pizzeria. i always have a can or two handy for times I run out of sauce.

3) sams sells pre-sliced fresh mozzarella for around $7. thats enough for around 4 large pizzas. if you dont like fresh mozz, gregs pizza is very similar to a pizza place I prepped for 30+ years ago. they used a combination of vermont white cheddar and mozzerella cheese. shredded, mixed 50/50.


here's a before and after shot my son took of a pizza he did yesterday. you can see he has pretty simple tastes...a little fresh cheese and some chicken. the sauce here is the hunts (see above)..we had a pot of sauce on the stove but it wasnt ready yet. he likes to build up the crust edge but I just put sauce to about a half inch from the edge and the edge crust still rises nicely when baked. i'm not particular about the shape of the finished pizza either...round, square, odd shapes...it all tastes the same.

[NorthernLights]

I apologize for the earlier digression but I have to agree with ljay...it's actually hard to beat a pizza at home even using Prego or Ragu to restaurant/store bought and I've tried pretty much all the joints in the area that people recommend but like i said earlier, going out for pizza and some brews is fun and usually a cheap night out. With the money you save you can buy the best mozzarella and romano [the cheap stuff is oily and you have to blot your pizza with paper towels], I make my own sauce though starting out with store brand .69 cent tomato sauce [what could be cheaper eats?], and I grow greek oregano and basil in my garden and you can freeze the Basil in your freezer with great results...much cheaper than buying store bought herbs.
If you want to bother to learn the simple methods to making great pizza at home [in my experience it takes about six tries to get it down to a science, your mileage may vary], I do recommend buying a good thick pizza stone for your oven from some reputable kitchen supply. I've bought three of the cheap ones and they always crack. The one I bought from a Pampered Chef pimp I used to work with is thicker and has lasted for over six years now where the others failed in two or three months. An added bonus; I had an old electric oven back in MD with a misbehaving thermostat and the appliance repair guy recommended leaving a thick pizza stone in the oven all the time to help keep oven heat even...it does...he was right on about that. Makes lots of things cook better, cakes, bread, roasts....
My buddy back home uses his pizza stone on his charcoal grill and makes some of the greatest 'za ever.
ljay, I'm loving the before and after shots of your son's pies. I'm a thin, [almost Matzo thin], crust guy myself these days. but then again. I'm [kinda'], watching my waist line more these days so I'm more about the toppings than the crust [laugh!!]
Your son looks like he's never going to go hungry if he's making pizzas that look that good!!

[Beretta]

Pizza dough flour: King Arthur Perfect Pizza Blend - 3 lb.

[NorthernLights]

I've used King Arthur unbleached but didn't know "Artie" had a specific Pizza Dough blend. Where do you find this potentially, covetous item? Online only?

I find any unbleached flour works better than the standard flour or bread flour, I've recently used flour from my aforementioned trip to Trade Mill with very good success.

Regular flour will work fine too when pressed. But...we all have our favs. Like I said earlier, what works great in my kitchen...is different from your kitchen. Pizza is a fun thing to make with your kids and chop up fresh veggies and watch the dough rise. It's a cool project that everyone can 'sink their teeth into.'

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by NorthernLights

I've used King Arthur unbleached but didn't know "Artie" had a specific Pizza Dough blend. Where do you find this potentially, covetous item?

<sigh> Online only........

[NorthernLights]

Hmmm, interesting. But I've had pretty great success with King Arthur's regular unbleached flour and some other unbleached brands for pizza making. It's different for everyone's tastes and like I said, I like a less leavened pizza crust so...TEHO

If someone out there writes in that it's "da Bomb" I'll pursue it. For my money...I;ll spend the coin on good cheese. I find buying a little slab of cheese, like romano, etc. and grating it myself and putting into a mason jar is better than the Kraft stuff. Same with mozzarella. Buying some good cheese and chopping it up. Big difference.

That reminds me, I think good lasagna needs at least three, if not four cheeses...but that's another topic...so I'll step off.

[ljay42]

My current bag in the kitchen is KA unbleached bread flour. Works as well as their pizza flour imo. But I agree that in a pinch, any flour works. I'm going to give this product a try soon but unless it is remarkably better then what I'm using I won't be buying it in bulk at amazon.

Yeah, the boy will be a senior at UTK this fall and finally will be getting into an apartment so he is psyched about being able to do some cooking again. (He's not a fan of most of the prepared foods on or around campus)

[Beretta]

I only use KA flour as well. I usually only use Penzey's spices. I have been using Amish or Land o Lakes butter but am looking for a high fat butter in the Tri Cities (for my pastries/desserts). What do you all use?

ljay, would love your dough recipe! And, congrats on your son becoming a senior at UT. We have sons the same age! My younger one is at ETSU in an apartment and he loves home cooking. Let us know how the pizza flour turns out for you.