"Paul M. Cook" wrote:

OK this is not about cooking. After a mere 30 years hiatus without
frozen pizzas I was tempted to try some tonight, California Pizza
Kitchens were on sale for 5 bucks for a thin crust whatever.

As I recall, that brand has aluminum compounds in it
used in the baking powder to make it self-rising.
Although the link between aluminum and Alzheimer's
is widely seen as discredited, why take the chance?

Trader Joe's has a really great frozen vegetable
and pesto pizza that I ate a lot, before learning
that carbs were making me fat. They also have
an excellent frozen mushroom pizza.

Blinky the Shark wrote:
Paul M. Cook wrote:
OK this is not about cooking. After a mere 30 years hiatus without frozen
pizzas I was tempted to try some tonight, California Pizza Kitchens were on
sale for 5 bucks for a thin crust whatever. I got a chicken and garlic and
a Sicilian. Heated up the C&G then sat down with a bottle of Mondavi
Chardonnay.

OK, not entirely bad. Tasty, crust was flavorful and residual moisture was
good, a good garlic flavor - not bad. Perhaps I have been too hard on these
latter day frozen pizzas. When I was a kid we ate them out of sheer
desperation. They were terrible. So dry as I recall that it took a quart
of water to get one of those bitches down.

I've never had a bad KPK frozen. The first one I had was a Thai, and

CPK. No, I wasn't *trying* to say "Kalifornia".

that may still be my favorite version.


--
Blinky RLU 297263
Killing all posts from Google Groups.
Except in Thunderbird, which can't filter that well.
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

Blinky the Shark wrote:


But my main reason for posting is that Amy's makes a "Margherita Pizza".
I've seen that name tossed around regarding Trader Joe's, and I thought
it was a brand name. Guess it's a style. Can't be the ones from TJ's,
because these aren't promoted as being imported and the ones form TJ's
seeem to be Italian.

http://www.amys.com/products/images/400/00199.jpg

As long as I'm at the site, here are Amy's pizza 18 pizza offerings:

http://www.amys.com/products/categor...rod_category=3



Pizza Margherita is about the simplest and tastiest pizza you can
possibly have. It has a minimalist topping of tomatoes (not sauce),
cheese and basil. A good one will have some bubbles and a little
charring from the hot oven. I can't imagine how a frozen pizza would
compare to that.

On Aug 3, 8:30?am, Andy q wrote:

The TJ's pizza margherita is the traditional
tomato/cheese/basil (red-white-green) pizza.
No extra toppings.

I looked in my TJ's (Northern CA) about an hour ago.
The only pizza with broccoli was the pesto pizza. The
margherita was broc-free. Only speaking for my TJ's.

On Aug 3, 1:50?am, "Paul M. Cook" wrote:
OK this is not about cooking. After a mere 30 years hiatus without frozen
pizzas I was tempted to try some tonight, California Pizza Kitchens were on
sale for 5 bucks for a thin crust whatever. I got a chicken and garlic and
a Sicilian. Heated up the C&G then sat down with a bottle of Mondavi
Chardonnay.

OK, not entirely bad. Tasty, crust was flavorful and residual moisture was
good, a good garlic flavor - not bad. Perhaps I have been too hard on these
latter day frozen pizzas. When I was a kid we ate them out of sheer
desperation. They were terrible. So dry as I recall that it took a quart
of water to get one of those bitches down.

So of all the millions of these things available, which is worth it? I am
willing to experiment. I also got a couple of Di Giorno thin crust pizzas.
2 for 10 bucks. They seem to actually have real ingredients on them

Paul

Di Giorno's thin crust 4 Cheese is our choice for frozen pizza. We
add our own toppings - generally green onion, mushrooms, and black
olives (if I can sneak them past my DH) and a bit of salami, sausage,
or leftover chicken if we have it around. I dance a little basil or
oregano over the top and some freshly grated Parm. We cook it directly
on the oven rack & the crust crisps up pretty well. Scratch home made
crust would probably be better, but for us pizza is a fallback "Mama
really doesn't feel like cooking meal" and the Di Giorno's is a
perfectly adequate starting point.
Nancy T

On 2007-08-03, Blinky the Shark wrote:
notbob wrote:

Don't feel too deprived. They have some good things and some good
prices.....

Not mentioned is that you can actually walk out of TJ's having paid
*less*.....

Mentioned, but apparently not comprehended. Obviously ....at least to
me.... "good prices" translates to "less". Perhaps I assume too much.

nb

On Aug 3, 12:31 pm, Sky wrote:
Bobo Bonobo® wrote:

On Aug 3, 10:12 am, notbob wrote:
On 2007-08-03, Sky wrote:

Yeah, I feel very, very, very deprived! I've never been to a TJs (major
whine!). In fact, I never heard of TJs until I started reading RFC.

Don't feel too deprived. They have some good things and some good
prices on average things (milk prods), but they aren't all that. A
lot of it is yuppie/healthnut hype hiding a few exceptional items. We
finally got a store in our town and I can only think of about half a
dozen things I buy there with any regularity. Their pre-made salads
are iffy, while some of the frozen foods approach inedible. Breads
are good, but produce is a max-pac rip. In short, it's a crap shoot
and alternative shopping option rather than a replacement for a good
supermarket.

Yeah, as he said, "Don't feel too deprived." We have one about 2
miles away, and almost never go there. Now, not having a close
Penzey's is a different matter

nb

--Bryan

Oh man! This is pure torture G. I never heard of Penzey's either
until I started reading RFC. I just want to say I've been there, if
only once (with regard to TJs). I'm sure I'd love to shop frequently at
Penzey's In a way, it's a good thing there isn't one in my neck of
the woods - I'd be tempted to spend more $$ than I should!

They're not really expensive. You can order online, and I think if
they don't have a presence in your state, it's sales tax free, so that
cuts a bit off the shipping cost. One advantage to having one close
is being able to taste/smell the spices at the store. I recommend the
Aleppo Pepper. I used a tiny pinch in the zucchini I'm making for my
wife tonight. I also used a tiny bit of garlic and black pepper, and
French sea salt. The zucchini is sauteed in EVOO, and served tossed
with linguine.

You can buy 4 oz of good bay leaves from Penzey's for $6.49. That's
not expensive.
http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penze...bayleaves.html

Sky

--Bryan

notbob wrote:
On 2007-08-03, Blinky the Shark wrote:
notbob wrote:

Don't feel too deprived. They have some good things and some good
prices.....

Not mentioned is that you can actually walk out of TJ's having paid
*less*.....

Mentioned, but apparently not comprehended. Obviously ....at least to
me.... "good prices" translates to "less". Perhaps I assume too much.

Less price. Not less quality.


--
Blinky RLU 297263
Killing all posts from Google Groups.
Except in Thunderbird, which can't filter that well.
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

Knit Chic wrote:
"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Sky wrote:
Oh man! This is pure torture G. I never heard of Penzey's either
until I started reading RFC. I just want to say I've been there, if
only once (with regard to TJs). I'm sure I'd love to shop
frequently at Penzey's In a way, it's a good thing there isn't
one in my neck of the woods - I'd be tempted to spend more $$ than
I should!

Sky

Penzey's is heaven Just walking in your senses are innundated
with herbs
and spices. There are samples set out everywhere for you to "taste"
and recipe cards hanging all over the place, free for taking. I
have to stay away from Penzey's otherwise I'd be buying all kinds of
herbs and spices I actually have no use for!


(sigh) Not everyone has a Penzey's within a 200-300 mile radius.
yes yes i know i know .... online ordering and all that.

Trust me, it's not the same and I feel for ya'. It took a long time to get
a Penzey's near me

Blinky the Shark wrote:
hahabogus wrote:
Andy q wrote in :

You could add some extra toppings to it before, during or after
baking
I
suppose.

I paid $4/ea. iirc. 12" pizzas.

Enjoy,

Andy



If you are going to add stuff to frozen...why not make one from
scratch?

There's quite a difference between perhaps spending one minute cutting
up and tossing some extra sausage and peppers on a frozen pizza and
making a pizza from scratch.

I don't eat pizza often enough to want to deal with making the dough, making
the sauce, chopping the toppings, etc. I've made pizzas from scratch, sure,
but since I'm not a big pizza fan why bother? I usually get those "deli"
pizzas from the grocery store (not frozen) and doctor them up. They often
come 2 for $5 for a large pie; I freeze the 2nd one for later.

Jill

jmcquown wrote:
Blinky the Shark wrote:
hahabogus wrote:
Andy q wrote in :

You could add some extra toppings to it before, during or after
baking
I
suppose.

I paid $4/ea. iirc. 12" pizzas.

Enjoy,

Andy



If you are going to add stuff to frozen...why not make one from
scratch?

There's quite a difference between perhaps spending one minute cutting
up and tossing some extra sausage and peppers on a frozen pizza and
making a pizza from scratch.

I don't eat pizza often enough to want to deal with making the dough, making
the sauce, chopping the toppings, etc. I've made pizzas from scratch, sure,
but since I'm not a big pizza fan why bother? I usually get those "deli"
pizzas from the grocery store (not frozen) and doctor them up. They often
come 2 for $5 for a large pie; I freeze the 2nd one for later.

Sounds good to me.

I don't think I've ever made a scratch pizza, other than probably
helping my mom forty or fifty years ago.


--
Blinky RLU 297263
Killing all posts from Google Groups.
Except in Thunderbird, which can't filter that well.
The Usenet Improvement Project: http://blinkynet.net/comp/uip5.html

Blinky the Shark wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
Blinky the Shark wrote:
hahabogus wrote:
Andy q wrote in :

You could add some extra toppings to it before, during or after
baking
I
suppose.

I paid $4/ea. iirc. 12" pizzas.


If you are going to add stuff to frozen...why not make one from
scratch?

There's quite a difference between perhaps spending one minute
cutting up and tossing some extra sausage and peppers on a frozen
pizza and making a pizza from scratch.

I don't eat pizza often enough to want to deal with making the
dough, making the sauce, chopping the toppings, etc. I've made
pizzas from scratch, sure, but since I'm not a big pizza fan why
bother? I usually get those "deli" pizzas from the grocery store
(not frozen) and doctor them up. They often come 2 for $5 for a
large pie; I freeze the 2nd one for later.

Sounds good to me.

I don't think I've ever made a scratch pizza, other than probably
helping my mom forty or fifty years ago.

I made this one several times; a deep dish pizza from the 1985 Culinary Arts
Institute Cookbook. It was very tasty, but waaaay not worth the hassel
(again, pizza isn't my best loved meal). This is my version, toppings
adapted from the original which just called for sausage and cheese.

Beer Drinker's Deep Pan Pizza

Crust:
1 c. warm beer (110-120F)
4 Tbs. olive or salad oil
1 Tbs. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. active dry yeast
2-3/4 - 3-1/4 c. all purpose flour
2 Tbs. cornmeal

Topping:
12 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded or thinly sliced
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/2 c. beer
2 tsp. (dried) oregano
1 tsp. fennel seed (optional but I recommend it, crushed)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 lb. raw bulk Italian sausage, broken into chunks to scatter on the pizza
1/4 lb. sliced pepperoni
1/4 lb. chopped ham
1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan cheese

For crust:
Combine in a large bowl the warm beer, 2 Tbs. of oil, sugar, salt and yeast.
Add 1-1/2 c. flour and beat until smooth. Add 1-1/2 c. flour; beat until
smooth. Gradually stir in enough additional flour to make a fairly stiff
dough.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic
(about 5 minutes). Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to
grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place, about 85F (in the oven
with a bowl of warm water on the rack below will help), about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down. Using 2 Tbs. oil, coat a 14-inch round deep pan pizza
pan. Or use two 9-inch round cake pans. Sprinkle the pan with cornmeal.
Pat the dough into the pan(s), pinching up a firm dough around the edges of
the pan(s). Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about
30 minutes.

Topping:
Mix tomato paste, beer, oregano, fennel seed (I crushed the fennel seeds
using a pestal & mortar) and sugar. Cover pizza dough evenly with
mozzarella cheese. Evenly spoon on the tomato sauce mixture. Sprinkle with
sausage (and whatever other meats/veggies you decided on, you can certainly
add diced peppers, sliced mushrooms, olives at this point). I added a few
more very thin slices of fresh mozz. then topped with freshly grated Parm.

Bake at 450F for 15-20 minutes or until crust is browned and sausage and
other toppings are cooked.

Serve with a very nice chilled beer.

Jill

Makes 1 large or 2 small pan pizzas. Serves 6

"Blinky the Shark" wrote

I don't think I've ever made a scratch pizza, other than probably
helping my mom forty or fifty years ago.

Making dough just isn't my thing. The supermarket sells their
own pizza dough, frozen, in one pound pieces. Making pizza with
that is as close to scratch pizza as I go.

nancy

"Nancy Young" wrote in message
...

"Blinky the Shark" wrote

I don't think I've ever made a scratch pizza, other than probably
helping my mom forty or fifty years ago.

Making dough just isn't my thing. The supermarket sells their
own pizza dough, frozen, in one pound pieces. Making pizza with
that is as close to scratch pizza as I go.

I also usually use frozen dough when making my pizzas. Pretty easy, and the
results are yummy.

Mary

In article b%Bsi.27275$Ya1.3138@trnddc06,
"Paul M. Cook" wrote:

OK this is not about cooking. After a mere 30 years hiatus without frozen
pizzas I was tempted to try some tonight, California Pizza Kitchens were on
sale for 5 bucks for a thin crust whatever. I got a chicken and garlic and
a Sicilian. Heated up the C&G then sat down with a bottle of Mondavi
Chardonnay.

OK, not entirely bad. Tasty, crust was flavorful and residual moisture was
good, a good garlic flavor - not bad. Perhaps I have been too hard on these
latter day frozen pizzas. When I was a kid we ate them out of sheer
desperation. They were terrible. So dry as I recall that it took a quart
of water to get one of those bitches down.

So of all the millions of these things available, which is worth it? I am
willing to experiment. I also got a couple of Di Giorno thin crust pizzas.
2 for 10 bucks. They seem to actually have real ingredients on them


I like my pizza, so I don't like white wine with it. A cheap red works
well.

I'm not sure what "Mondavi" means. The family had quite the legal
battle some years back. They owned the Charles Krug Winery. Some of
the family wanted to make higher quality wine, and some didn't. Robert
left and formed the Robert Mondavi Winery, which makes more expensive
wines. The rest of the family stayed with CK. But in retaliation, they
brought out a new label, CK Mondavi, which sold jug wines.