Pizza Dough

Everything with me lately has been dough, dough, dough. I'm trying to perfect my pizza dough for no apparent reason other than that I need a project...and pizza dough led me back to foccacia, which I was obsessed with baking quite a few years ago. As I type this I have some dough proofing in the warm draft-free confines of my oven. Book club ladies beware, sun-dried tomato foccacia is on the menu for tonight.

We ended up with a beautiful pizza the other night thanks to Giada DeLaurentiis and her terrifically easy pizza dough. It was crisp and slightly chewy and fit my needs perfectly, as I did not have instant rapid-rise yeast on hand. You can top it with just about anything, but I kept ours simple: a light coating of homemade tomato sauce, parmesan, fresh basil, and turkey pepperoni.

Pizza Dough
3/4 c. warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 c. (or more) all purpose flour
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
3 T. olive oil

Pour 3/4 cup warm water into small bowl; stir in yeast. Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil; process until dough forms a sticky ball. Transfer to lightly floured surface. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is very sticky, about 1 minute. Transfer to prepared bowl; turn dough in bowl to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. Roll out dough according to recipe instructions. (Start in center of dough, working outward toward edges but not rolling over them.)

Pizza Bella

I had made up my mind that I wasn't posting again until we went to Pizza Bella. I had my heart set on it, much like a petulant child gets their heart set on a new toy. I've had plenty of yawningly average meals that I could've posted about, but I was uninspired, uninterested, and unmotivated. I was on strike until I could get my butt down to 18th and Baltimore.

Today, I am happy to report, was an inspiring day. Pizza Bella is beautiful and the food is worth the raves I've been hearing. El Dorado architects did a lovely job with the space - it feels modern inside without being alienatingly modern. It exudes a certain warmth that isn't just radiating from the wood-fired ovens, which are churning out delicious crusts beneath inventive topping combinations. I used to belong to the school of thought that held that no pizza should have more than three toppings - more than that and the crusts can be overwhelmed, the balance can be easily lost. But there are deft hands behind the counter putting these pizzas together, and there is just enough of everything on pizzas that could be overdone by the overzealous.

Let me just say, in case you need to direct your browser elsewhere: YUM. That is the long and the short of it.

We started with a crispy brussel sprout antipasta, which was perfectly dressed with a pancetta vinaigrette, hazelnuts, dried cherries, and pecorino romano cheese. We shared two pizzas - the sausage (made with delicious fennel sausage) and the potato (with a perfect balance of creamy gorgonzola cheese and bitter radicchio). The crust was exceptional. It had the perfect smoky flavor from the wood, and the texture was incredible. It held up well against the toppings but was delicious all by itself. A little rye flour in the dough made for a pleasantly complex flavor.

The Crossroads is turning out delicious food these days. It makes me excited for what downtown is on the cusp of becoming.


Pizza Bella
1810 Baltimore Ave
816*471*PZZA

Sun-Thurs 11am - 10pm
Fri & Sat 11am - 12am

Pizza 51

Since moving out of the South Plaza area over eight years ago, I don't frequent my old haunts as much as I thought I would. I found a new Peanut to call my own, a coffee shop other than Muddy's, I'm frequenting the northernmost Bo Ling's, and aside from dropping in at the Mixx and Accurso's, I mostly drive quickly through the area to get to my people in Brookside or Waldo. But on a recent warm night we found ourselves pulling up outside Pizza 51 to enjoy a little al fresco pizza.
I'm sure there are times when the place is crawling with college kids, but summer means the place is crawling with the younger set. Yelling, galloping, and making chalk drawings on the concrete patio, these kids were having a good night. Mixed in with the young couples, families, and big parties, the vibe on the patio was lively and fun. Ordering at the counter was easy, our table service was quick and attentive, and the pizza was fairly good. The crust had a crispness and chewiness that was very pleasing, but lacked a little in the flavor department. The toppings were plentiful, however, and the side salads were made even better with the addition of their house herbed vinaigrette, which was more like an herb paste and was wonderful for dipping my pizza crust in.

Pizza 51
5060 Oak Street
816*531*1151
open 11am-10pm daily

small bites

• One of my most favorite recent bites was the Jalapeno and Cheese Tamales at Tarahumara (1001 W 87th Street in Overland Park). Perfectly moist and surprisingly hot and spicy. Sooo good.
  
• Enjoyed last week's KU game at the Tower Tavern on Martini Corner (31st and Oak in KCMO). Lots of TVs, excellent soft pretzels with beer cheese dip, and really good 12" pizzas. The pizzas had crusts that were both crunchy and chewy, great toppings (BBQ Chicken pizza with cream cheese and applewood smoked bacon...yum), and one was enough for two people, when paired with their excellent salads.
  
• Arun Thai Place (7th and Walnut in downtown KCMO) was home to the spiciest meal I've eaten in recent memory. You know how you order something "hot," expecting something less than hot, and then it comes out exactly as hot as it should? It was a deliriously endorphin-inducing experience. My Phad Kee Mow was incredible...and even hotter as leftovers the next day.
  

Antonio's

Sandwiches named after famous people crack me up. Sometimes it fits, sometimes it doesn't, but it takes a bit of imagination to pair a famous person with a food item. And not only do you have to decide if that particular sandwich is what you want, but you have to decide if you feel comfortable ordering that particular sandwich. It's not about what you chose, but whom. Are you truly an "Ally McBeal" kind of guy?

We had really excellent sandwiches named after the famous today at Antonio's down in the River Market. I may not be Barbara Streisand's biggest fan (how many times can someone retire??), but I do enjoy her sandwich: a soft hoagie bun filled with avocado, turkey, lettuce, cheddar and sliced green apples. Despite having no idea who shot him, or why, my husband ordered the J.R. Ewing wrap: a sun-dried tomato tortilla stuffed with turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato and salsa ranch dressing.

I know, they're most known for their pizza (it's the "Original Antonio's Pizza" from the corner of 43rd and Main), and their pizzas have their share of clever monikers as well. But I'm always a fan of a well-built sandwich with a little thought behind it, be it in the name or the ingredients.

Antonio's Pizzeria & Deli
527 Walnut
816*283*8045
Monday-Friday 11am to 10pm
Saturday 11am to 3pm

Tarantino's

eggplant sandwich
Originally uploaded by noodletown.

We've been eating at Tarantino's and telling other people to eat at Tarantino's and I haven't gotten around to posting about it here because I can't seem to take a picture that is as good as the food in the picture. I've finally just given up on the artistic end of it because, well, the food is good and you should go eat there and see for yourself just how good it is.

The hand-rolled calzones are my absolute favorite. The crust is chewy, slightly doughy, and golden brown. It almost makes the interior irrelevant, except that the ingredients inside are good, too. And the little cup of sugo on the side is just exactly what you wanted to dip your bits of crust in. You'll be licking your fingers.

Of the sandwiches, the "New Yorker," one of their signatures, has been the cause of repeat visits to Tarantino's in the same week. Served on a toasted onion bun, the Capicola, salami, and pepperoni are layered with roasted peppers, pepperoncinis, and melted provolone cheese. The Eggplant sandwich is another hit - lightly breaded, crisp, and smothered in sugo and provolone.

I've already programmed their number into my phone. It's located right above my Mom's.

Tarantino's
Gourmet Pizzas and Subs
601 McGee St
816*421*0043
hours:
Mon-Thurs: 6am - midnight
Fri-Sat: 6am - 3am
Sun: 3pm - 10pm

Record Bar

We go to the Record Bar for the music, not the food, as I am usually not one to mix my drinking establishments with my eating establishments. It seems like when I go out with friends, we typically hit places where the food is horrific at best, merely passable at least. McCoy's Public House is the bright shining exception to that rule - and I guess the exception list just doubled now that I've had pizza at the Record Bar.
The pizza was a do-it-yourself affair, with a great list of ingredients that you can apply to making your own antipasti platter, sandwich, pasta, or pizza. Of course, there are three pizzas on the menu to choose from, if you're more comfortable leaving your choices up to someone else, but with ingredients like capicola, gongonzola, or pepperoncinis...you might as well get creative.
The '45s are the perfect size for one, and mine - with grilled chicken, pepperoncinis, and red onion, was loaded with ingredients on an excellently chewy and flavorful crust. Try it out on a Tuesday night, when they have the Honky Tonk Supper Club with Rex Hobart, which starts at 7.

Record Bar
1020 Westport Road
816*753*5207

Papa Keno's

There are few pizza places in this city that I haven't tried, mostly due to the fact that I live with a person who is slavishly devoted to pizza. We eat homemade pizza, frozen pizza, Costco pizza, deep dish pizza, big chain pizza, Mom and Pop pizza, free pizza...well, you get the picture. Pizza is a thing here - but my favorite thing, naysayers be damned, is thin crust pizza. I like crust that's thick enough to not get gooey under the weight and moisture of fresh veggies, but thin enough to be crisp and a little bit chewy. I even like thin cracker-style crusts. My ideal pizza is a thin crust with a thin coating of tart and fresh red sauce with cheese and onions. Now if you'd hand me the hot sauce, please, I'll be your friend for life.

Anyhow. I digress.

Papa Keno's, somehow missed in my millions of slices of pizzas eaten, is really awesome pizza. I went for the first time at the beginning of June and now it's one (giant) slice of pizza I actually crave. I've had my standard slice with onion - I've even tried the Colombo (Roma Tomato, Extra Cheese, Extra Sauce, Roasted Garlic and Romano), because the only thing, for me, that competes with onions on pizza is roasted garlic. A hot slice of pizza, a cold beer, and post-pizza garlic breath. That's heaven.

Papa Keno's
417 Westport Road or
7901 Santa Fe Drive in OP,KS