Best Ingredient for Single Topping Pizza

Best topping for a One-Topping Pizza


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    11

bahngeist

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One of my favorite combinations is feta cheese and spinach, often in combination with fresh mushrooms and/or ham or Canadian bacon-- needless to say, I love Greek food also.

It has been years since I ordered or sat down to fresh pizza -- more often than not the crust is overly doughy/undercooked and the sauce is bland. What I do is buy DiGiornio or Freschetta four cheese, thin crust frozen pizza, and add the chopped spinach and other ingrediants once it has been half-cooked. Over the past five to eight years some frozen pizza has become edible to the point that it is often better than chain-store pizza; before then -- yuck!

Probably the best pizza I ever had was in Toronto where this little whole-in-the-wall place served original style pizza -- simple and yet oh so good.
 

sechs

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Why is it wrong to experiment? Is there some law that dictates what you can and cannot put on a pizza? This is a highly subjective issue, and it's silly to shove your preferences down the throats of others.
Actually, I'm trying to keep it out of your throat, so that's really a good thing!

There's nothing wrong with experimentation, but you don't repeat a bad experiment "because it tastes good."

I think that the Germans may disagree vehemently on whether there should be laws regulating the ingredients of beer. It's certainly no more subjective.
 

mubs

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There's nothing wrong with experimentation, but you don't repeat a bad experiment "because it tastes good."

Sechs, fella, I want the pineapple in my throat!

And you missed the point - pineapple may be a "bad experiment" for you, but it's a good one for a lot of other people here, it seems. What I said about tastes being subjective. What I said in my post above. You don't want it, fine, nobody's asking you to eat it. Why do you have to make it sound like we're morons because we like it?

Never mind, I'll leave this thread now.
 

Handruin

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mubs, don't leave me now!

Mmmmmmm suck it down. In the throat. sechs can be disgusted all he/she/it wants.
pizza-01.jpg
 

ddrueding

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Those look like they have a LOT of cheese in them; my heart is starting to labor just thinking about it. If they had sufficient ingredients, it could be very tasty.
 

mubs

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Damn, guys, stop posting pics, you're driving the rest of us crazy!

And Howell, I'm sexier without my skirt, so there, you're wrong!
 

Wavemaker

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Since when was homophobia allowed here?

Sophomoric behaviour would be correct. Homophobia is fear of homosexuals.

I recall seeing store-bought (frozen) pineapple and ham pizza back in the 1980s.

Speaking of those greasy store-bought frozen pizzas, it's not whether you want rodent feces in your pizza, it's how many feces can you tolerate. The solution is to make yer own damn pizzas! Learn how to roll out and spin that dough! Choose your own toppings! Anchovies! Hawaiian pineapple and ham! Mushrooms! Black olives! Besides, making your own damn pizza is an excellent excuse to start adding Italian expletives to your vocabulary.


 

LunarMist

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We had CPK restaurants in the 80s and they had plenty of available toppings like ham and pineapple. I don't recall any goat, however. :D
 

Wavemaker

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LunarMist said:
We had CPK restaurants in the 80s and they had plenty of available toppings like ham and pineapple...


I know of one locally that's been there for about 7 or 8 years. Never been in it. In any case, a very nice looking building with large palm trees.
http://www.californiapizzakitchen.com/menu/pizzas.aspx

Hawaiian
Fresh pineapple, Canadian bacon, Mozzarella cheese and our tomato sauce. Substitute pepperoni for Canadian bacon upon request.

Goat Cheese With Roasted Peppers
Mild goat cheese with roasted red & yellow peppers, grilled Japanese eggplant, Mozzarella cheese, carmelized onions, Italian parsley and our tomato sauce. Applewood smoked bacon added upon request.



A local pizza parlour that have been to -- actually dragged into by some friends -- back in the 1980s and 1990s (expensive, had to wade through too many super-caffeinated yuppees and hippees to get around) that served excellent pizza...
http://www.starpizza.net/home1.htm



 

mubs

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We had CPK restaurants in the 80s ...
Why the past tense? We still do. I was in one two weeks ago (Main Place mall) and had the yummy Tostada Pizza: Southwestern black beans, sharp Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses topped with chilled shredded lettuce, fresh tomato salsa, green onions and crispy tortilla strips with our garden-herb ranch dressing. Also available with grilled lime chicken (ripped from their website).

Without the chicken, of course. The combination of toppings sends the tongue in a tizzy.
 

LunarMist

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OK, since the 80s. I very rarely go out to restaurants anymore, so everything is past tense for me. ;) I haven't had a CPK pizza since the early 90s, except in an airport or two.
 

Sol

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ddrueding said:
CPK pushes the limits of what even I, a pineapple-loving freak , would consider "pizza". Beans? Shrimp?

The strangest pizza I've come across was in Japan... Those people really know how to mess with cuisine, combos like squid and broccoli with beans and some vegetable that looks/feels/tastes like a pencil eraser.

Shrimp I can deal with on a pizza, not my thing but it makes some sense... Beans, really not... But I don't get beans in tacos either. If your tempted to use beans in any sort of junk food, substitute a meat, ground beef usually works... We can't let the purity of good junk food be contaminated with non-junk food...
 

Mercutio

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I still haven't gotten that pizza. I have not been anyplace where there is good pizza and I don't think it's worth the effort to drive to get it.
 

Mercutio

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Article on Regional Pizza styles.

There continues to be no good pizza where I live. In fact, I have to say that I have been to three local restaurants that, in successive weeks, have held the title of "Worst Pizza I have ever had in my life."

I'm not sure if it's a characteristic of the area where I live or just a fluke of geography, but the only restaurant in my area that will deliver food is a Jimmy John's sandwich shop. The Chinese places don't and the awful, awful pizza places don't. It's not like I live far away from these places or out in the middle of noplace where there are no restaurants. The restaurants just don't deliver. Weird.

Anyway I read that list and "Grilled Pizza" and "New Haven Style" both sound unbelievably awesome.

Well, anyway, I want pizza and I don't have any, so I guess I'll do the next best thing and get some cheese, hotdogs and bacon going...
 

udaman

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Article on Regional Pizza styles.

There continues to be no good pizza where I live. In fact, I have to say that I have been to three local restaurants that, in successive weeks, have held the title of "Worst Pizza I have ever had in my life."

I'm not sure if it's a characteristic of the area where I live or just a fluke of geography, but the only restaurant in my area that will deliver food is a Jimmy John's sandwich shop. The Chinese places don't and the awful, awful pizza places don't. It's not like I live far away from these places or out in the middle of noplace where there are no restaurants. The restaurants just don't deliver. Weird.

Anyway I read that list and "Grilled Pizza" and "New Haven Style" both sound unbelievably awesome.

Well, anyway, I want pizza and I don't have any, so I guess I'll do the next best thing and get some cheese, hotdogs and bacon going...

Ewwwww! So gross, now I've lost my appetite for dinner :p

Not sure how much of Merc's statement above is truthful, since his own reality distortion may be as far off as Steve-0 Jobs ;). There maybe good pizza in his area, and he may just be a whiner ;). Along with pr0n, Merc seems to get into these temporary insanity/obsessive modes with pizza and I guess other things?

Just so we don't have to hear you whine about it, I have a solution, albeit a weak solution that will only provide temporary gratification at best. At this time of year, it's cold enough such that all of us could FedEx Merc, via next day (actually 2nd day would work to, but you know, we run the risk of him getting sick) Air, pizza from all of our favorite local area restaurants in their original cardboard boxes (bet FedEx ends up folding some of them, smashing others) if stacked in twos and tapped together.

Other thought as has been elucidated before, Merc is just plain too lazy (and likes to whine as an excuse) to actually spend some effort to satisfy his pizza craving, or again too lazy, to attempt to make his own.

I don't think it was ever established exactly which town in Indiana Merc lives in, but just nearby localities. I forget where those are, but is Indianapolis more than 1/2 a days drive away, more than 50 miles in the winter...clear roads?

Indi has 2 Trader Joe's markets, where Merc could by some imported from Italy frozen pizza, some not too bad that I have tried.

Trader Joe's IN
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Created on Apr 6 - Updated Aug 29
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Trader Joe's Castleton (671)


5473 E 82nd St Indianapolis, IN 46250 Phone: (317) 595-8950 Trading Hours: 9 am - 9 pm

5473 E 82nd St
Indianapolis, IN 46250
Phone: (317) 595-8950
Trading Hours: 9 am - 9 pm

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Trader Joe's West 86th (670)


2902 W 86th St Indianapolis, IN 46268 Phone: (317) 337-1880 Trading Hours: 9 am - 9 pm




though probably different from what he's used to eating. If you had an aluminum wire-mess round pizza rack, you could reheat one of this pre-cooked pizza in your oven and have a pretty decent crust.

They call them 'screens' from the place I bought mine, but you could buy other styles that let the crust receive heat of the oven while cooking such that they get nice and crispy:

https://www.surfasonline.com/productlines/151.cfm?startrow=33

Trader Joe's also sometimes sells pre-made, ready to cook, pizza dough in the refrigerated deli section, should you wish to hand stretch/roll your own. Trader Joes TBD ('to be determined') $5 2006 Zinfandel blend red wine, would be what I would drink with any such pizzas- highly recommended by me :).

In fact I'm so annoyed by Merc's whining ;), I'm going to walk to my local TJ's right now and get some...hope it doesn't rain on me as it's been sprinkling on and off all day here in lala land.

Tomorrow I will do a once or twice a year, 'rounds' of the local dim sum establishments to get takeout dim sum from 3 or 4 (4th one being a freeway drive of 35+mi away from the westside where I live) of my favorite dim sum service Chinese restaurants before the Chinese New Years crowds come around this CNY's Feb.8th, year of the Rat. That means tomorrow I'm driving RT ~80mi, and spending ~3hrs driving back and forth to pickup takeout orders, collecting it all up, before returning home, where I re-heat in the toaster oven, the deep fried items to perfect consistency and temps (paper towel some of that grease off of them), and then carefully use the bamboo steamer to get the steamed dumplings back to perfect consistency (sometimes the noodle wrappers fall apart, but they do that in the restaurants also, so i don't lose much in quality/perfection by bringing it home and serving at optimum temperature, which cools rapidly and also get to drink and enjoy wine at my own pace).

That's what I do when I want to maximize my enjoyment of dim sum, and I always buy enough so there is left over to put into the frig, and do it again the next day...just like a pr0n star, lol. Does Merc even bother to expend that kind of energy even once or twice a year???

There's this dumb TV series on ABC, 'October Road' (what's that chick's name from the current box-office 'godzilla meats blair witch project' movie...who also stars as the current g/f 'Aubrey' of the main character in OR), where this skinny 'geek' guy who has a phobia of never leaving home (forget what it's called), has himself a pizza delivery g/f, that is what Merc needs to get himself, lol.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/octoberroad/index?pn=index

Wow, Armand Assante has hit rock bottom in his career if he's a guest cameo on this series.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/octoberroad/index?pn=index
 

Will Rickards

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You could make your own pizza merc. We do that. We just got one of those stone things from pampered chef. Then we buy frozen pizza dough in the food store, some shredded cheese and some pizza sauce. I like the tombstone stuff. Add toppings to your tastes. I personally like bacon or sausage. I'm not a big pepperoni fan. It usually is semi decent pizza.
 

Mercutio

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I've not found a dough I like well enough to do the make my own thing.
California Pizza Kitchen frozen ones are pretty good though. I like the Megherita one best.
 

blakerwry

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Merc, have you ever made a yeast dough from scratch? I used to make my own pizzas from scratch once a week or two when I first moved into an apartment.

I like grilled chicken and tyme as a topping, but any of the lighter pizzas are great, including basil and mozzarella, margarita, etc. I don't mind thin crust, but I dislike crackery crust.

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe:
1 cup luke warm water (warm water lets yeast rise, hot water kills it)
3 cups flour (all purpose is fine)
1 tsp salt
1 package of yeast (quick or regular)
2 Tbsp oil (Veg or olive)

Combine ingredients in a large bowl, being sure not to leave dried flour at the bottom or sides of the bowl (you want clean sides). Take the dough and knead for 5-10 minutes on the counter or in the bowl (you can watch tv while you do this, but you need a lot of force to knead properly). Form a ball, coat lightly in some more oil, put back in the bowl, cover and let rise 30 min in a warm place.

After rising, the dough should be roughly twice its original size. Punch down the dough and then flatten/spread into pizza crust shape on a cookie sheet/pizza pan.

Add a bit of sauce (don't over do it) and mozzarella, top and season to taste. You'll want to bake @ 450 for about 10 minutes or until it's done. ;- )
 

jtr1962

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New York is the undisputed pizza capital of the free world. Maybe I'll get a pie at the local pizzeria and ship it to Indiana so Merc can see what he's missing. The Sicilian style is especially good.
 

Gilbo

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New York is the undisputed pizza capital of the free world. Maybe I'll get a pie at the local pizzeria and ship it to Indiana so Merc can see what he's missing. The Sicilian style is especially good.
While I don't doubt that, anyone who visits Ottawa, Canada, needs to check out the Colonnade on Metcalfe & Gilmour. Amazing.

In Halifax, the K.O.D. (King of Donair - as seen in Trailer Park Boys) makes a pretty amazing BBQ Chicken pizza. Absolutely terrific. And Rassy's will give you a 30" pizza for $30... They have to strap it to the roof of the delivery truck, and turn it sideways to get it through your front door. Those made for good Superbowls.
 

Pradeep

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I find the Wegmans bbq chicken pizza to be very pleasing to the tummy (the one they make for you, not the frozen wegmans brand). Plus you can call ahead and pick up on arrrival.
 

udaman

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I take it like last time Merc went away from SF for a few weeks, he's busy driving all over the place in Indiana & S. Illinois lookin for the best pizza?

Trader Joes' ran out of 2006 TBD (which is a blend of somewhat over-ripe Zinfandel from any where in Calif, and Petit Sirah), but I did get dim sum that weekend :D. It's back in stock, but I think it's a different blend as it's now 14.3% alc, whereas a month ago it was labeled as 14.5% and tasted riper/more lush fruit.

TJ's often runs out of stock on the items you want most. Buffala Mossarealla, the real deal from Italy, can be found sometimes (more often than not, but you have to call ahead to make sure) for $5.99 a 200g tub, cheapest price I know of and it's usually fairly fresh... in my local. Buffala is the best, has more flavor than crappy imitations.


Just like the traditional Sicilian capresse salad Merc got nauseated looking at (what, not used to all natural ingredients not processed and shapped for consumption such that you'd never know what it came from, like that disgusting artery plugging cheese wiz, hot dog, bacon deep-fried nightmare Merc linked to?), tomorrow for Chinese New Year's I'll be out on my rounds of dim sum takeout with the potential for stopping a 5 different restaurants this time (assuming I start early enough).

Some pictures (link to slideshow at bottom), better than mine, from Hong Kong (I wouldn't order many of these items as they just don't taste all the good, I stick to steamed dumplings and some of the deep-fried items, avoid all the rest) on this blog. Merc will, I'm sure, conger up nightmarish fantasies of what these strange looking items are, lol. Just eat them damn it! ;)

http://chaxiubao.typepad.com/chaxiubao/2005/02/the_sum_of_hong.html



Last year, only one place had any additional items on the menu for 'specials' to celebrate CNY's. The one I bought was the dumplings you see here, there's one canned oyster sitting on top of the 2 dumps @right, but the way they come to the table, there's supposed to be one on top of each dumpling. Dark green stuff is sea moss, doesn't have much flavor, a bit salty like seaweed, just different texture.

CNY's special

usual things I get @EHS

more of same

highly compressed, street location (Google Maps is probably just as good) for EHS
 

Gilbo

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Wine & Pizza is even more awesome than Pizza. I'm hungry now.

Bluesfest in Ottawa was last night so I'm a little hungover and sleepy too...
 
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