Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
In Wisconsin we can vote early, so yesterday I went to Town Hall and flexed my civic muscle with the scribble of a pencil. It was lots of fun because voting is always fun but the city workers seemed rather perturbed at the steady influx of early voters and I hate to admit it but that made it even more fun. I voted early because I’m not working on election day, instead I’ll spend the day helping to get out the vote for Barack.
Today I happily bring you a favorite of Chicagoans everywhere. I suggest you bake one up for your election night dinner…it is easy, absolutely delicious, and satisfying…that way even if your candidate loses you’ll still find some satisfaction in a good meal. I blogged about this recipe earlier this year when I was guest blogging at Accidental Hedonist and because I’ve improved the recipe and because it is such an easy meal to make I thought I would show it off again. I’ve had authentic Chicago pizza at Pizzeria Uno and Gino’s and I think my pizza has better flavor and texture. I recommend using a instant read thermometer to take a reading on the crust; it should be at 210° and there is more than enough space to jab the probe into the side crust to get a reading…I’ve never been disappointed using this technique.
Chicago style deep-dish pizza
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Dough
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of white whole wheat flour
1 + cups of all-purpose white flour
Toppings and sauce
1/2 pound of bulk Italian sausage
1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 lb. grated mozzarella
Italian seasoning, minced garlic, salt, pepper
Put the first 7 dough ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed and gradually add the 1+ cups of all purpose flour until the dough clears the side of the bowl. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle attachment with a dough hook. Mix with the dough hook for 5 minutes or so, gradually adding flour until the dough comes to a consistency where it barely sticks to your fingers for just a moment and then it releases.
Put the dough in bowl greased with olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in the refrigerator overnight, or even for 3 or 4 days (my longer storage method involves a plastic bag rather than a bowl).
Pull the dough from the refrigerator and smoosh it out into a thick round circle. Drape it over a well oiled cast iron skillet and nudge it about until it rests on the bottom and against the sides with no gaps or tightness. The edges will need a trim so roll a rolling pin across the top of the pan to sever the dough exactly at the top. Let it rise while you prepare the sausage, cheese, and sauce. Preheat the oven to 375°.
Shape the Italian sausage into loose, little nuggets about 1″ in diameter, and brown them in a skillet over medium heat. Season the crushed tomatoes with a pinch of Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and minced garlic.
The first layer of the pizza is the grated mozzarella, followed by the sausage, followed by the sauce. I usually cover the crust with a foil tent to keep it from becoming burnt. Bake in a preheated 375°it for 25-30 minutes or until the side crust reaches a temperature of 210°.
Let it cool a bit, slice into wedges and eat.
Laughing it up in Chicago
Could there be a better place to be this weekend? I think not. The Cubbies clinched their division, the weather was summerish and delightful, and the food and comedy were superb…oh, and some shopping was done with you in mind.
Let’s begin with Friday evening. The moon over Lake Michigan was huge and irresistible. We all sat on the sofa and soaked in this view for quite awhile. Of course we were stuffed senseless with hotdogs and fries served up at our favorite joint, Portillos.
After a good sleep we headed out to a excellent brunch at Bistro Zinc. Their brioche french toast with vanilla mascarpone cheese might as well be called crack toast…it’s so damn addictive. Suffice to say all plates were practically polished when we finished and no, we did not lick the plates, but we wanted to.
We continued south to Sur La Table, my favorite cookware store in the midwest. I acquired a set of brioche molds, silcone cupcake cups, and a plastic knife that made GH happy (you may recall his fear of knives). So look forward to some tasty baking coming your way soon.
Next stop was MCA which is celebrating its 40th birthday with 40 days of free admission and cupcakes…I love free especially when accompanied by cupcakes. This morsel is a red velvet cupcake topped off with a dollop of cream cheese icing. It was created by Swirlz Cupcakes and it was spot on perfect. MCA has an absolutely killer exhibit on the art of rock and roll since 1967 and it was a blast to view it with the boys. The next stop was the Jazz Record Mart so GH could add to his collection. Then, with worn out feet, we cabbed back to the apartment for a nap.
By 5:00 we were well rested and finally hungry again. We headed for the Lakeview neighborhood to dine at La Tavernetta on Broadway at Wellington. All of our food was delicious but I think Dexter got the best dish, the gnocchi with sausage and broccoli. The food was good, Chicago Italian, like Aunty Sarah would make, and the service was great. There’s nothing trendy looking about it…but go,go, mangia!
We ate such an early dinner because we had tickets for Mark Birbiglia Comedy Central show at the Lakeshore Theater. It was a blast and we laughed for 2 hours…all the comedians were great but we especially loved Jeff Tate and Mark Birbiglia…check out his blog. We also stumbled on to this great music store called Reckless Records…so fabulous…Dex got some AC/DC and some Jimi, I got some new Iron and Wine, Matt Pond PA, Badly Drawn Boys, and some classic Allman Brothers, Alex got a Japanese Samurai movie. Loved it!
Now I’m back home, hoping you’ll understand that although I have some great chicken pot-pie photos from last week I haven’t written the recipe up yet, but I’ll post that on Tuesday. Until then eat some good food and laugh…it helps. Go Cubs.
Chicago…a tangy, cheesy inspiration
We spent a long weekend in Chicago, arriving on the heels of a gigantic storm that ripped up ancient trees and downed power lines. Although Friday afternoon was steamy and hot, Saturday and Sunday were clear and sunny. This is the view from the apartment we stayed in, thanks to the gracious kindness of GH’s sister… it was great!
On a walk down Astor Place we passed this secret garden, locked up tight, but the view was free for the taking. Check out the little aqueduct that flows past a pair of sphinx.
I love to take photos of ornamental stonework…this sandstone example reminds me of thistle leaves.
We browsed a farmers’ market on Divison between State and N. Clark. There were lots of peaches for sale but I wasn’t buying…I didn’t want to carry them all day. I have yet to eat a peach this season but I hope to fix that situation this week.
We ate so many fabulous meals …excellent sushi, an absolutely perfect brioche french toast with mascarpone chese, chicago hot dogs, lobster rolls, cannollis. Saturday night we went to Second City to see Pratfall of Civilization. It was a hilarious revue of our crazy culture and I laughed so hard at the comedy terriorist skit (they tell jokes that bomb) that I had tears in my eyes. Before the show we ate a delightful middle eastern meal at Old Jerusalem. They serve a salad of tomatoes, cucumber, and onions dressed with yogurt, lemon juice, and feta cheese. It was good at the restaurant and when I got home today I saw all the ingredients (except cucmbers) sitting in my refrigerator waiting for me to recreate it’s fabulousness. So after a few hours of pulling gigantic weeds from my flower garden I went inside and prepared a quick dinner of leftover curry with jasmine rice and a side salad ala Old Jerusalem. It’s tangy and cheesy…I love it.
Old Jerusalem Salad
4 small tomatoes
1 small onion
handful of basil
1/3 cup of plain yogurt
juice of one lemon
1/3 feta cheese, grated
Chop the tomatoes and onion in a large dice, salt lightly. Mix the yogurt, lemon juice, and feta in a bowl. Add the tomatoes and onions. Stir and top with the chopped basil.
Click here for the recipe.
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