SA, Last Restaurant/Place You Ate At (San Antonio, Fredericksburg: contemporary, features)

[BenjaminNicholas]

Originally Posted by rynetwo

After never being able to find a deep dish I flew in Lou Malnati's from the Windy City and it was awful....

Like I said in another post, it's the oven. Don't have the right oven and you don't have the magic.

Even the inventor of deep dish, Unos, tastes like crap when you get it frozen and put it into a conventional kitchen oven. I've tried it. I was so sad.




BN

[bg2ntst]

Originally Posted by rynetwo

After never being able to find a deep dish I flew in Lou Malnati's from the Windy City and it was awful....

Check this out so you can make Malnati's at home.

Malnati Deep Dish with Semolina

[Pancho-Villa]

Guy above said it was all about the oven. Unless you have the oven, it's a no go.

[JuanValdez]

Originally Posted by BenjaminNicholas

Halcyon in Southtown (Blue Star Arts Complex)

Can you explain to me like I'm 5 years old exactly where Halycon is located? I was just in the area and didn't notice anything new.

It took me 2 trips to find Overtime Theater... signage is lacking in that complex...

[BenjaminNicholas]

Originally Posted by JuanValdez

Can you explain to me like I'm 5 years old exactly where Halycon is located? I was just in the area and didn't notice anything new.

It took me 2 trips to find Overtime Theater... signage is lacking in that complex...

No worries. With the construction on S Alamo, the detours and Blue Star's owner having some kind of vendetta against signage, it's a real PITA to find things there...

It's immediately as you turn into the complex from South Alamo. Right on the corner. Large patio and now has a banner along its rails. They also, oddly, painted over (black) what used to be the 'Blue Star' logo on top of the front building. It was the only signage letting you know you were there. Really dumb idea if they don't replace it.




BN

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by BenjaminNicholas

No worries. With the construction on S Alamo, the detours and Blue Star's owner having some kind of vendetta against signage, it's a real PITA to find things there...

It's immediately as you turn into the complex from South Alamo. Right on the corner. Large patio and now has a banner along its rails. They also, oddly, painted over (black) what used to be the 'Blue Star' logo on top of the front building. It was the only signage letting you know you were there. Really dumb idea if they don't replace it.

BN

There's a HUGE banner hanging above the porch now, saying "Halcyon Southtown." Except they are closed today due to an electrical issue. Should be resolved by tomorrow.

[JuanValdez]

Ah well, he's obviously making money hand over fist. The voters approving bonds to improve the facilities for him can't be hurting, either.

[bg2ntst]

Originally Posted by Pancho-Villa

Guy above said it was all about the oven. Unless you have the oven, it's a no go.

If you want to make pizzeria style pizza at home, including Chicago style, you need to first create a "deck" in your oven like I've done. Don't buy an expensive pizza stone. Go to a tile store (I went to Associated Tile on Broadway) and get 8 very inexpensive unglazed clay tiles (8" X 4" each). This will create a 16" X 16" deck in your oven by just putting them side by side on one of the racks (4 in the back and 4 in the front), preferably in the middle of the oven. Once you're done making the pizza and the tiles have cooled, pull them out until the next time. And, no need to season them. I set my oven to it's highest temp, which is 550, when making pizzas.

Go to Acemart or a similar store and get a wooden pizza peel to build the pizza on (you can also us a pizza screen to put the dough on rather then the peel if you want). If you want to make Lou Malnati's pizza, you'll also need to get a deep dish pan. Here's a good source for pans - it's where I get mine. If you buys pans from here, get the Tuff-Kote pans. Commercial Baking Pans - Professional Baking Pans - LloydPans

If you build a pizza on a wooden peel, first dust it with some flour, build your pizza, shake the peel a little bit to make sure the pizza is loose and will slide around, then slide it off onto the hot stones. Jerk the peel back a little bit at a time (several times) to let the pizza slide off. Don't try to slide the pizza off with one jerk or you're likely to smash it against the back of the oven and that will be a huge mess.

For sauce, I recommend using Classico crushed tomatoes (only sold at Walmart here in S.A. as far as I have been able to tell) right out of the can for your sauce - no need to cook it. I add some salt and oregano to enhance the flavor a little - you can add other spices if you want. The Classico brand is almost identical to "Escalon 6 in 1" which are one of the most popular tomatoes used in pizzerias. I've done a taste comparison and couldn't tell the difference and they're packed in the same plant (and are likely even the same tomatoes). And they have no citric acid added for preserving - which is a good thing for taste.

For cheese, I suggest using only whole milk mozzarella that you grate yourself. Trader Joe's low moisture WM mozz in 1# blocks is a very good option. Don't use part skim mozz and don't use pre-grated mozz. Pre-grated has an additive on it to keep it from clumping together and you don't want that on your pizza. If you know someone who can get you Grande aged, low-moisture mozz, I'd go with that as it's probably the most popular cheese used by the pros. Unfortunately, it's also only sold to them, not to consumers like me. You can also experiment with other cheese to your heart's content. Provolone is a good alternative either by itself or mixed with mozz. I also sometimes mix in a little smoked mozz which adds a unique flavor. You can try fresh mozz, too, for something a little different. It's what you often see on Napoletana style pizzas (like Dough here in S.A.). It has different melting properties than aged mozz and I'm not particularly a fan of it because I don't really care for it's melting properties. But a lot of people like it.

Lastly, join or at least explore pizzamaking.com where you can find forums that address every aspect of making pizza, including recipes for most every style of pizza made in this country (dough, sauce, cheese). It's a phenomenal website for anyone interested in pizza. One of the moderators (Pete-zza) is incredibly, maybe even amazingly, knowledgeable about pizzamaking from a technical perspective. His posts are very enlightening in many ways, plus he has developed many recipes, including product clones of some big time players in the pizza business.

Sorry for the long post, but making pizza is one of my favorite hobbies, so I'm inclined to "ramble" on about it sometimes (as my wife often comments!). Hope to open my own pizzeria here in a couple of years when I retire from the current job.

[BenjaminNicholas]

Originally Posted by bg2ntst

If you want to make pizzeria style pizza at home, including Chicago style, you need to first create a "deck" in your oven like I've done. Don't buy an expensive pizza stone. Go to a tile store (I went to Associated Tile on Broadway) and get 8 very inexpensive unglazed clay tiles (8" X 4" each). This will create a 16" X 16" deck in your oven by just putting them side by side on one of the racks (4 in the back and 4 in the front), preferably in the middle of the oven. Once you're done making the pizza and the tiles have cooled, pull them out until the next time. And, no need to season them. I set my oven to it's highest temp, which is 550, when making pizzas.

Go to Acemart or a similar store and get a wooden pizza peel to build the pizza on (you can also us a pizza screen to put the dough on rather then the peel if you want). If you want to make Lou Malnati's pizza, you'll also need to get a deep dish pan. Here's a good source for pans - it's where I get mine. If you buys pans from here, get the Tuff-Kote pans. Commercial Baking Pans - Professional Baking Pans - LloydPans

If you build a pizza on a wooden peel, first dust it with some flour, build your pizza, shake the peel a little bit to make sure the pizza is loose and will slide around, then slide it off onto the hot stones. Jerk the peel back a little bit at a time (several times) to let the pizza slide off. Don't try to slide the pizza off with one jerk or you're likely to smash it against the back of the oven and that will be a huge mess.

For sauce, I recommend using Classico crushed tomatoes (only sold at Walmart here in S.A. as far as I have been able to tell) right out of the can for your sauce - no need to cook it. I add some salt and oregano to enhance the flavor a little - you can add other spices if you want. The Classico brand is almost identical to "Escalon 6 in 1" which are one of the most popular tomatoes used in pizzerias. I've done a taste comparison and couldn't tell the difference and they're packed in the same plant (and are likely even the same tomatoes). And they have no citric acid added for preserving - which is a good thing for taste.

For cheese, I suggest using only whole milk mozzarella that you grate yourself. Trader Joe's low moisture WM mozz in 1# blocks is a very good option. Don't use part skim mozz and don't use pre-grated mozz. Pre-grated has an additive on it to keep it from clumping together and you don't want that on your pizza. If you know someone who can get you Grande aged, low-moisture mozz, I'd go with that as it's probably the most popular cheese used by the pros. Unfortunately, it's also only sold to them, not to consumers like me. You can also experiment with other cheese to your heart's content. Provolone is a good alternative either by itself or mixed with mozz. I also sometimes mix in a little smoked mozz which adds a unique flavor. You can try fresh mozz, too, for something a little different. It's what you often see on Napoletana style pizzas (like Dough here in S.A.). It has different melting properties than aged mozz and I'm not particularly a fan of it because I don't really care for it's melting properties. But a lot of people like it.

Lastly, join or at least explore pizzamaking.com where you can find forums that address every aspect of making pizza, including recipes for most every style of pizza made in this country (dough, sauce, cheese). It's a phenomenal website for anyone interested in pizza. One of the moderators (Pete-zza) is incredibly, maybe even amazingly, knowledgeable about pizzamaking from a technical perspective. His posts are very enlightening in many ways, plus he has developed many recipes, including product clones of some big time players in the pizza business.

Sorry for the long post, but making pizza is one of my favorite hobbies, so I'm inclined to "ramble" on about it sometimes (as my wife often comments!). Hope to open my own pizzeria here in a couple of years when I retire from the current job.

Nice post! +1





BN

[BenjaminNicholas]

Originally Posted by JuanValdez

Ah well, he's obviously making money hand over fist. The voters approving bonds to improve the facilities for him can't be hurting, either.

I'm sure he's doing fine, but the construction currently happening has nothing to do with the bond money that was voted on. Everything happening now at BSAC is from his pocket, as well as the pockets of those who are now leasing those new, reconverted spaces.

The voters allowed him additional funding for Big Tex, which hasn't even really broken ground yet and remains somewhat of a mystery to those around the area. Based on Blue Star Contemporary recently (and publicly) pulling out of a new space there, I'd say that the likelihood of Big Tex happening sooner than much later is slim to none.




BN