Pizza

[Timsup2nothin]

I stopped eating iceberg lettuce years ago, because it's essentially filler. It has no taste either, so might as well use something like spinach instead, as long as you're looking something green to fill a space

Iceberg isn't for flavor, it is for texture. Adds crunch to such things as spinach salad and others that are more flavorful but can be somewhat limp. It's also ideal for the "I love salad dressing but look silly drinking it straight from the bottle" crowd, since as you say it doesn't have any flavor of its own to interfere.

 

[onejayhawk]

You people have made me decide on something important. Sometime before the end of the year I'll buy some yeast and make my own pizza.

Good luck. First rule of pizza dough is keep it cold. Also use less yeast than for bread and mix it into the flour. Use cool (even ice) water. Less yeast and lower yeast activity is important. Bread flour or high gluten flour is better, but it takes longer. You need to make the dough a day ahead and let it rest overnight in the cooler. Up to three days is possible but several hours are necessary to allow gluten to start breaking down. All that said, let the dough rest at room temp for an hour before shaping.

Do people actually believe this? This is blowing my mind. Have you never actually eaten any of these? there's so many different kinds of salad out there, how could you possibly think iceberg lettuce is the only salad?

That looks like endive, escarole, arugala or spinach, radicchio, and watercress. Toss with green onion, some sort of dried fruit and some nuts. Serve with a vinagrette.

I like chunky salads. Half a head of cauliflower and three heads of broccoli cut into smallish flowerettes. A bunch of chopped green onions, including all the tops. For the dressing mix 30 cc mayonaise with 30 cc grated Romono or Parmasan cheese. Add to 150 cc yogurt.

1/2 kilo grated carrots, 120 g shredded coconut, 75 g dried fruit. Dress with frozen orange Juice concentrate to taste, about 30-50 cc.

Then there are grain salads
600 cc cooked quinoa or other grain
200 cc chopped parsley and/or mint
2 cucumbers, seeded and diced
200 g cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
40 cc olive oil
juice of three lemons
S&P to taste

I won't start on fish or cabbage salads.

J

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I like iceberg precisely because it has no taste. I find most other lettuce types have a distinct wang I can't stand.

 

[Synobun]

I like iceberg precisely because it has no taste. I find most other lettuce types have a distinct wang I can't stand.

I too am not a fan of wang.



I get lettuce whenever I eat sandwiches from restaurants. It meshes well with just about everything, and I certainly don't eat it for the nutrition.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I like iceberg precisely because it has no taste. I find most other lettuce types have a distinct wang I can't stand.

Sounds like you may be eating the wrong part of the lettuce...

 

[Disgustipated]

iceberg lettuce is just water basically. Romaine lettuce is the only way to go. I love spinach on salads as well. Not sure I'd put it on pizza though.

 

[warpus]

Iceberg isn't for flavor, it is for texture. Adds crunch to such things as spinach salad and others that are more flavorful but can be somewhat limp. It's also ideal for the "I love salad dressing but look silly drinking it straight from the bottle" crowd, since as you say it doesn't have any flavor of its own to interfere.

Yeah I get that. My favourite salad is a caesar salad, and a part of why is the texture of.. well, all parts of it, but including the lettuce. But I don't eat that many caesar salads. In all other dishes I eat the crunchiness part of the texture (if there is one) comes from other ingredients, like bacon. So when I'm at subway I always substitute lettuce for spinach, and same if I'm making any other type of salad (which granted almost never happens)

 

[Arwon]

Do people actually believe this? This is blowing my mind

Have you never actually eaten any of these? there's so many different kinds of salad out there, how could you possibly think iceberg lettuce is the only salad?

My family grows every single one of these in their garden with the exception of radicchio and chicoree. It is very common here to have salad and other greens in your garden, obv not just one kind. What do you guys plant, HFCS and imitation cheese?

I like all of those I recognise and the looks of the others. I just don't like rocket! It's a peppery garbage weed.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

iceberg lettuce is just water basically. Romaine lettuce is the only way to go. I love spinach on salads as well. Not sure I'd put it on pizza though.

I like romaine (for flavor) mixed with iceberg for the crunch. The leafy top part of romaine can be a little too limp for my preferences, but I can't be one of those "I eat the heart and throw the leaves away" people.

 

[Takhisis]

We don't agree on a lot of things, but when we do, boy do we agree... I've been refining my pizza dough recipe for years now. You ever tried using a very slight amount of beer? It gives it a better rise and a slighty more yeast-y taste, if you're into that. Obv you only substitute like 10% of the water used for beer.

But you add yeast anyway?

Salad means lettuce, not leaves that look like they blew off a tree across the parking lot.

‘You don't make friends with salad’ is a quote from The Simpsons.

Diced fresh tomatoes.

Added before or after putting the pizza in the oven?

The basic pizza is spinach with alfredo sauce. I add the tomatoes and spicy Italian sausage to that. Unfortunately, alfredo sauce isn't one of the sauces available when customizing one's own pizza, nor is spinach one of the available regular toppings.

Sounds nice.

Good luck. First rule of pizza dough is keep it cold. Also use less yeast than for bread and mix it into the flour. Use cool (even ice) water. Less yeast and lower yeast activity is important. Bread flour or high gluten flour is better, but it takes longer. You need to make the dough a day ahead and let it rest overnight in the cooler. Up to three days is possible but several hours are necessary to allow gluten to start breaking down. All that said, let the dough rest at room temp for an hour before shaping.

Yes, yes, I know. I've been making pizza for a long time, but I haven'tmade any in a year. And now I want to make some again.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Sounds like you may be eating the wrong part of the lettuce...

No it's not that. It's a wang that I can detect in lots of other vegetables. I wish I could identify it or had a more complete vocabulary to describe it.

I have actually been meaning to post a rant about this but I have a really good sense of smell. Like, really, really good. Which sounds like a great thing but it actually freaking sucks. I smell everything and I think this plays a large part in how much of a picky eater I am.

My house is full of scented candles, wax warmers and air fresheners. If you thought they were the Mrs' you would be wrong. I am the king of the froofroo scents

 

[Takhisis]

My house is full of scented candles, wax warmers and air fresheners.

Eurgh! How can you cook properly then?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I generally don't have them on/lit while I'm cooking. And I could smell how the food is cooking despite them if I had to. It's my cross to bear.

No but seriously it really sucks being able to pick up every hint of b.o., every bit of fungus growing in a room, etc.

 

[Takhisis]

Yes, yes, I have a very keen sense of smell myself, which is why I find it annoying when there are foreign smells in MY kitchen (pronounce the ‘MY’ as when David Schwimmer said ’MY sandwich!’) which distract me from my cooking.

 

[Oerdin]

You were talking about Papa John's here, right?

They don't use a lot of sugar in the crust of St Louis style pizza that I can tell.

Papa John's puts sugar in both their sauce and their dough. A lot of sugar. A disgusting amount of sugar. Sorry, but good pizza doesn't need more added sugar than a candy bar and at that point you are just trying to cover up something.

Papa John's also will not release a full ingredient list probably because they are embarassed by the garbage they are using. When even McDonald's and Taco Bell will do that but Papa John's won't then I have to assume they know they are selling an inferior quality product. Even Subway eventually released their full ingredient list after they got caught putting a rubber emulsifying chemical in their bread.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

But you add yeast anyway?

‘You don't make friends with salad’ is a quote from The Simpsons.

Added before or after putting the pizza in the oven?

I don't know, because it's takeout. The tomatoes are fresh, and I think it's only reasonable that the sausage should be fully cooked/baked/whatever it is they do so it's not raw.

Sounds nice.

Yes, it's my current favorite (and I used to be someone who wouldn't budge from ham & pineapple). Every so often I absolutely crave tomatoes and spinach, and was really upset when they took the bruschetta cheese sticks off the menu.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I like all of those I recognise and the looks of the others. I just don't like rocket! It's a peppery garbage weed.

Fair enough my man, I agree it's somewhat of an acquired taste and not everyone has to like peppery greens

But you add yeast anyway?

Yes, I add yeast anyway, just reduce the amount of yeast ever so slightly. I find J's recipe for pizza dough honestly perfect. Agree on every single account. I let mine rest in the fridge for a day if possible, too, but it's not necessary.

No it's not that. It's a wang that I can detect in lots of other vegetables. I wish I could identify it or had a more complete vocabulary to describe it.

I have actually been meaning to post a rant about this but I have a really good sense of smell. Like, really, really good. Which sounds like a great thing but it actually freaking sucks. I smell everything and I think this plays a large part in how much of a picky eater I am.

My house is full of scented candles, wax warmers and air fresheners. If you thought they were the Mrs' you would be wrong. I am the king of the froofroo scents

If you can tolerate scented candles your sense of smell can't be THAT good. Speaking of sense of smell.. My girlfriend can tell if I've eaten cress from 10 meters away, if I open my mouth.. She can distinguish different price grades of green tea by smell.. It's so weird, like a superpower that never actually does anything useful. Imagine how much **** I get for smoking occasionally

 

[Oerdin]

Pizza Pizza is reportedly the Canadian equivalent pizza to Little Caesers, though that may have more to do with their marketing conflict than actual pizza recipes. It is notable though that you say their one redeeming feature is their garlic dips, and the same redeeming feature is pretty much all that Little Caesers has going for them. There may be a reason that when Little Caesers started out in the Detroit area they chose "Pizza Pizza" as their slogan. They probably lifted everything else from their Canadian neighbors as well.

The logo Pizza Pizza is because for 20-30 years Little Caesar's offered two pizza for the price of one. It was really low quality stuff but parents would buy ot for their kids birthday parties.

 

[Sommerswerd]

What a fun thread.

I've come to realize over the years that the grid-cut thing we do in New England is not something that is done everywhere else. Most other places I've lived only cut their pizza in triangles.

Papa John's is trash... but nothing is worse than Dominoes... especially pre-reboot dominoes (90s-2010s) that stuff was like cardboard. Pizza Hut is OK, although its more like a fried pastry than pizza. Overall I liked the style of pizza they serve in Italy the best, followed by New York style, followed by Philly style... not Philly-tomato pie, though... that's basically cheese-less pizza... which is just wrong.

I do like a well sugared sauce though.

 

[Takhisis]

Fair enough my man, I agree it's somewhat of an acquired taste and not everyone has to like peppery greens

Green peppers> peppery greens.

Yes, I add yeast anyway, just reduce the amount of yeast ever so slightly. I find J's recipe for pizza dough honestly perfect. Agree on every single account. I let mine rest in the fridge for a day if possible, too, but it's not necessary.

Oh, I don't think letting it rest in the fridge for a day is that necessary.

If you can tolerate scented candles your sense of smell can't be THAT good. Speaking of sense of smell.. My girlfriend can tell if I've eaten cress from 10 meters away, if I open my mouth.. She can distinguish different price grades of green tea by smell.. It's so weird, like a superpower that never actually does anything useful. Imagine how much **** I get for smoking occasionally

She should work at a tea shop.
But hey, let's see, if you smoke you'll a) have cancer and b) get nagged by your girlfriend. So why do you smoke?