FridayNightSlice: DailyWaffle Deluxe

If you're a Trader Joe's shopper, you know some items don't stick around long. They appear on the New Items shelf one week and a month later, they might be gone, not popular enough to keep their shelf space. I worry that the Hot 'n Sweet peppers are going to be one of those items, especially around here, where most people ask for 1-star spicy at restaurants. These little peppers are fan-freaking-tastic on pizza and they're one of the items on today's #FridayNightSlice -- the DailyWaffle Deluxe.

ByMichelleJune 20, 20140Comments

Cooking Pizza Recipes

Friday Night Slice: Kale, Calabrian Chile & Mozzarella Pizza

You know who really needs Spring Break? Adults. Teacher friends, you were smart to get into education. It’s a job I know I could never do, let’s face it, unless I taught 1st or 2nd grade, all the kids would be taller than me. But more than that, you get breaks! We’re just back from some time in Hawaii for the annual escape to sunshine, hence the radio silence around here. The one thing we didn’t have for the duration of our trip was pizza. Hanalei Pizza Company is gone, about to be replaced by a Puka Dog. So, for the first time in ages, we went 10 days without even a slice of pizza. Since we had nothing else in the house, pizza was our first meal back. And whaddya know, my first post back is a Friday Night Slice. Today’s slice is a vegetarian Kale, Calabrian Chile & Mozzarella pie with thinly shaved garlic.

ByMichelleApril 18, 20140Comments

Cooking Pizza Recipes

Friday Night Slice: Pineapple + Jalapeños = Pineapeño

No one has really committed to Spring yet. We’re still in the rainy season and our grill remains bundled up, still in its winter slumber, but this week's Friday Night Slice is one you can make today and carry into the summer barbecue season. I can’t say I know exactly where this one came from. Was it a craving for island breezes and sunshine? Or just a passing thought about the pepperoni and jalapeño from Pizza Port? Maybe both. This week’s slice is a vegetarian pizza I’m calling a Pineapeño.

ByMichelleMarch 28, 20143Comments

Cooking Pizza Recipes

Friday Night Slice: Whether You’re 8 or 38 Pizza

The crappy pizzas of childhood scar us all. Forgettable as they may be, greasy slapdash cardboard slices from Chuck E. Cheese or Peter Piper form our first experiences with pizza. They create the far end of your spectrum, so that when you come back to that end of the scale around 2 a.m. in your…

ByMichelleMarch 21, 20140Comments

Cooking Pizza Recipes

Friday Night Slice: Soppressata Styles

We’re almost a week into Daylight Savings Time and I still haven’t quite adjusted. 7 am, when it’s just getting light, feels like the right time to get up. Any earlier, it’s pitch black and I just don’t want to roll out of bed, not even for coffee. This week’s Friday Night Slice falls on Pi(e) day, so if you happen to not be fan of flaky-crusted sweet or savory pies, or you just don’t have the time or inclination since we're all in a bit of a haze, a slice of pizza pie is here to mark the occasion. So let’s get to this week's topping inspiration – Fra'Mani soppressata, red onion and cherry tomatoes.

ByMichelleMarch 13, 20141Comment

Cooking Pizza Recipes

Friday Night Slice: No Red Sauce? No Problem.

The thing about pizza it's easy to fall into a toppings rut. You can never go wrong with a good, basic slice of pepperoni with red sauce, but what about when you don't have any tomatoes or jarred marinara on hand? No sauce? No problem. Open the fridge. You got some jam or fruit butter in there? Now hold on, I'm not suggesting we go all peanut butter and jelly on this pizza, though I did have it once in the '80s at a place in Pacific Grove, CA. No, this week's Friday Night Slice is uncured Columbus Genoa salame, mozzarella and fig butter. You get a bit of the sweet from the fruit butter and a little salty from the salame. Top it after baking with some grated parmesan and a sprinkle of chopped Italian parsley.

ByMichelleMarch 7, 20141Comment

Pizza Restaurants Travel

The #3 Pizza in America is in Phoenix?

Who doesn’t love a good list? The DailyMeal just came out with the 101 best pizzas in America, and as you might expect, roughly one-third of them came from New York state. In its analysis, The DailyMeal says, “…most of America’s best pies are still in New Haven, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Phoenix.” {record scratch} Phoenix? Pizzeria Bianco’s Marinara pie ranked THIRD overall on the list, single-handedly putting Phoenix on this pizza map.

ByMichelleOctober 23, 20131Comment

Main Course Recipes Side Dishes

It’s All About the Butternut, Baby

One of the best things I've eaten in an airport was a roasted butternut and feta sandwich in Melbourne. Simple, earthy and salty all at the same time. We're no strangers to the virtues of butternut squash around here, and in fact, my grinchiness about pumpkin this year has sent me straight into the arms of butternut squash. Roasted, it makes great soup, salad, risotto, pasta, even pizza sauce. Even with a good, sharp peeler, it may feel like prepping a butternut is taking your life into your own hands, but it's worth the effort.

ByMichelleOctober 15, 20130Comments

Pizza Recipes

Damn Near Perfect Whole Wheat Pizza

I’ve been, let's call it what it is, short my entire life. On my tallest day, coincidentally, the day I got my driver's license, I was 5'1. So when you find a pair of pants that fits without needing alterations, you buy three pairs in black and never look back. It’s the same thing with pizza dough. When you find a dough recipe that works, you just keep on with it. For me, that’s been the Food Lab’s NY-style pizza dough. But after awhile, you start to need another pair of pants. What I really wanted was a whole wheat crust. So I started tinkering with my tried and true. Tinkering until I got the Food Lab’s NY-style pizza dough to go whole wheat.

ByMichelleJune 24, 201311Comments

Recipes Salads

Dinner for One: Cherry Arugula Salad

Today, it's been eight days since I’ve seen my husband. I’ve eaten five dinners on my own, if granola and snack mix on the plane home from Austin count as “dinner.” Cooking what I like, only for myself, usually that’s totally liberating. I get to eat all the things I like and he doesn’t. I see myself leaning against the stove in a crisp white shirt (mmm, very practical), sleeves rolled up, stirring a pot with one hand, contemplating my day while leisurely sipping a glass of red wine. Like in a movie.

ByMichelleJune 14, 20130Comments