Week #20: Massachusetts - New England Wicked Chowdah Pizza

State:  Massachusetts

Massachusetts is home to the shot heard around the world, Paul Revere, the Boston Marathon, Sam Adams Beer, and of course, New England Chowder.  I originally thought of doing a Chowdah pizza when I first started this challenge, so I had to follow through on this state.  I researched how to make a traditional clam chowder specifically to Massachusetts.  I am a very patriotic person and Boston has always been a place that I have wanted to visit.  I look forward to visiting this state and soaking in all it has to offer. I hope I did you justice on this Wicked Chowdah!

Ingredients Needed:

Soup:

1 8 oz bottle of clam juice

1/4 lb (3) Yukon potatoes

1 tbsp of butter

1/3 cup of chopped onion

1/3 chopped celery with leaves

1 bay leaf - chopped

1/3 cup of rice or tapioca flour

1 can of chopped clams, drained and juice reserved for later

1/4 cup half and half

1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper or hot sauce

1 Pizza crust - Pre-made or from scratch

1/2 cup of Mozzarella cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chowdah:

In a medium sauce pot, bring the clam juice and potatoes to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender.  Remove from heat.

Next, melt the butter in a large pot and add the celery, onion, and bay leaf.  Cook until onions are translucent and then add the flour. Stir mixture around for 2 minutes or so and slowly add in the reserved clam juice.  Add potatoes and juice mixture, clams, half & half, and hot pepper sauce or cayenne pepper. Cook chowder on simmer until all ingredients mix, stirring frequently.  Season chowder with salt and pepper to taste.

Meat:

Please see chowder section on how to cook clams.  For the bacon, add 1 tsp to a medium pan and cook the bacon on medium heat until brown on both sides.  Remove from heat and place bacon on a plate with a paper towel to drain excess grease.

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 400.  Cook crust for 5-8 minutes or until brown depending on the type of crust.  Take out of oven and with a ladle, start to add chowder on to the pizza crust.  Make sure that all of the ingredients in the chowder are spread out along the pizza crust.  Add a light layer of mozzarella cheese and bacon on top of the pizza.  Do not add too much of either, as you want to ensure the clam taste is still the highlight of the pizza.  Cook for 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted and remove for oven.  Allow pizza to cool before eating.

Pairing: 

When pairing a beer with this pizza, I had to go with a classic beer company in Sam Adam's brewery.  I paired the seafood pizza with the Rebel IPA from Sam Adams.  The hops paired very well with the seafood.  There are other great breweries in Massachusetts, like Harpoon, Clown Shoes, Night Shift, and Slumbrew.  I have only tried Harpoon, but I am not too familiar with the other ones.  For a wine pairing, my wife suggests a white wine such as a Torrontes.

Learning Moments:

This is the first time I ever made a clam chowder and it turned out very good.  I am pushing the boundaries on making pizzas.  I really enjoy cooking and making pizzas with ingredients you normally would not think of using.  I feel like every pizza I am growing and learning how to make new dishes, challenging myself to learn more.  I love it and the pizza turned out excellent.  I hope you enjoy it!!

Week #18: Louisiana - Dirty Rice and Andouille Sausage Pizza

State:  Louisiana

I realize after typing up these blogs that I do not travel too often, but I am sure you already knew that.  Okay, so what I do know about Louisiana is New Orleans, gumbo, the Saints, LSU, Cajun and dirty rice.  So for this challenge, I decided to do a dirty rice pizza.  I thought it would be interesting to do, because how many pizzas have you ever had with rice on it?  Exactly!  Why not be different and creative on this one?  I do have to tell you that surprisingly, this pizza turned out very well.  I didn't know what to expect, but the rice actually tasted really good on the crust.  So I hope you try this challenge or help it inspire you to do something else. 

Ingredients:

Andouille Sausage: (Please note: I do not measure on spices.  This is a best guess estimate)

½ pound of ground sausage

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp of Garlic

1 tsp of Thyme

1 tbsp of Creole seasoning

¼ tsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of paprika

Dirty Rice:

1/2 cup of sweet or bell peppers – diced petite

1 can of petite tomatoes

1 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of minced garlic

1 tsp of paprika

1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning

1 cup of white Jasmine rice

1/3 cup of onion – diced

1 tbsp of Creole Seasoning (See below)

1 can of petite tomatoes

Creole Seasoning Mix:

1 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoons salt

1 tablespoons garlic powder

½ tablespoon black pepper

½ tablespoon cayenne pepper

½ tablespoon dried leaf oregano

½ tablespoon dried thyme

Sauce:

1 can of tomato paste

2 tbsp of half & half

1 1/2 cans of water from tomato paste can

2 tbsp of Creole seasoning

1 tsp of red pepper

Salt & pepper to taste

1 Pizza crust

1 cup of freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese

Dirty Rice:

For the rice, I decided to cook the rice separately in a rice cooker to save some time.  Traditional dirty rice methods focus on cooking in broth and on a stove.  Since I was pinching time after work on a Friday night, I made the rice in a rice cooker.  In a large skillet or large sauce pot, heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil.  Once pan is warm, add in diced peppers and onions.  Cook the vegetables until the onions are translucent or soft.  Then add in 2 tbsp. of olive oil and add the rice.  Add the can of tomatoes and the seasonings.  Stir until all of the ingredients are mixed thoroughly.  Turn off heat and set aside.

Sauce Base for Pizza:

In a medium sauce pot, add the 1 can of tomato paste and water.  Turn on medium heat and cook until mixture becomes like a tomato sauce.  Once sauce is mixed well, add the creamer or milk and seasonings.  Cook until sauce is cooked and like a soup consistency.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Meat:

Andouille sausage is a staple in Cajun cooking, so it only made sense to make it from scratch.  In a medium pan, heat 1 tsp of canola oil until warm.  Add in ground sausage and cook thoroughly until all the meat is gray in color.  There should not be any pink coloring on the meat.  Add all seasonings and mix thoroughly. Set aside and allow meat to cool.

Pizza:

Here comes the fun part!  First, I would cook the crust for 5-8 minutes depending on whether it is pre-made or from scratch.  Take pizza out and add a ladle full of tomato sauce for the base of the pizza.  Apply the amount of sauce at your discretion.  Secondly, add the rice mixture on top of the sauce and evenly distribute the rice along the pizza.  The rice should cover the whole pizza.  Next, add the sauce all over the pizza.  Finally, add the cheese on top of the pizza and spread out thoroughly.  The cheese is to compliment the rice, but not to overpower it. 

Pairing: 

So for this pizza, I found a great beer by NOLA Brewing Co, which was the Mecha IPA.  NOLA’s IPA is a great beer brewed with a hoppy flavor, which made this pizza taste much better.  This is my first time tasting a beer from NOLA and I really enjoyed it.  When pairing a wine, a good robust red wine like a Pinot Noir or Merlot would be great for this.      

Learning Moments Section: 

I barely prepared going into this challenge.  I was originally going to do a NOLA broil, but I didn't have all of the cooking equipment.  Usually, a crab and crawfish boil consists of cooking everything with a big steaming pot and burner.   Unfortunately, I do not have this as of yet so I decided to do something else.  Off the fly, I have to say that I was very surprised how good it turned out.  When you look at the pizza, it doesn't appeal to the eye as much, but it highly appealed to our taste buds.   The spicy and rich flavors of the dirty rice and sausage, with the cheddar made this pizza very good.   Sometimes making something simple is the best way to do it versus being all complex.  Top Chef has taught me this as well. Cook something that you can kill, versus making something with technical or skill importance.  Hope you enjoy! 

Week #19: Maine - Lobster Roll Pizza

State: Maine

You have heard this a few times, but I have never been to Maine before and all I really know is that it's the home of the lobster. There is a lot more to Maine, but when you think of the state, you definitely think of eating buttery Lobster.  After doing some research, the most common lobster dish is the Lobster roll.  The Lobster roll is usually served on a hot dog bun and has thick pieces of lobster hanging out of it.  I have had one before, but it was from some dive here in Tampa.  In order to save money, I did a small gluten-free crust pizza.  So here is my salute to you Maine.  I hope I did your state well.   

Ingredients Needed:

2 Lobster tails (Suggest 3 tails)

1 small pizza crust 

1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese

1 tbsp & 2 slices of butter

2 tbsp of freshly chopped Italian Parsley

2 strands of diced green onions 

Mayo:

1 large egg yolk

1 tbsp of Dijon mustard

1 cup of canola oil

4 tsp of white wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional)

Sauce:

The lobster roll is mixed with a mayo, so I made one from scratch!  Mayonnaise is very easy to make and you can alter it for someone who has food allergies.  First, combine the egg yolk only and mustard into a bowl.  Whisk together until well blended. Whisking constantly, add a thin stream of the oil until completely blended together.  The mayo should become thicker and it should be a thick consistency.  Whisk in the vinegar and add salt/pepper to taste.  To bring a little heat in, add 1 tsp of cayenne pepper. Stir together and set aside.

Meat:

This step of the process is the most crucial, as you never want to overcook lobster.  Once you do, it gets rubbery and loses its flavor.  You can cook lobster two different ways, which is to bake it or steam it.  I have a steamer, but I decided to bake it.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a baking pan, add 1 cup of water and lay both lobsters in.  See photo for reference.  When I purchased the lobsters, they already had the cut in the top of the shell.  If they do not, you will need to cut a slit down the top of the shell all the way down near the tail.  Once you do this, pull up on the meat to bring them closer up.  I actually did not do this step to the full extent, because I had another idea.  Take the 2 slices of butter and put inside the shell at the top.  The butter will melt throughout the lobster making it taste really good.  Cook the lobsters on 375 for 20-25 minutes.  The shells will turn orange pretty quickly, but you have to look at the meat to see if it is cooked thoroughly.  It should bubble up and look cooked, versus the gooey raw texture.  Once cooked, take out of oven and allow meat to cool.  

Once meat has cooled, remove from shell and cut into bite sized pieces.  If you only cooked 2 tails, you may want to cut a little smaller in size.  In a bowl, combine parsley, salt, pepper, and desired amount of mayo.  I did a smaller amount, just to ensure the taste of the lobster is not compromised.  Mix together and set aside.

Pizza:

The pizza is fairly easy to set up once you have the ingredients ready to go.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Add a thin layer of olive oil on the crust and allow to bake for 5-6 minutes or until crust starts to brown.  This will depend on what type of crust you use.  If raw, you may want to allow 8-10 minutes for it to cook.  Take out of oven and add the remainder of butter to the crust.  This will give the crust a nice buttery flavor.  The butter should melt quickly, so spread it out thoroughly to ensure all areas are covered.  After adding the butter, place pieces of the lobster mixture on the crust and spread out accordingly so each slice will have meat.  Next, sprinkle additional parsley and add Mozzarella cheese on top.  Cook for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted.  

Pairing:

When pairing a drink with this pizza, it is always best to go with a light wine or beer.  I decided to go with an IPA for a beer.  When thinking of breweries in the state of Maine, Shipyard Brewing Company comes to mind.  Shipyard has produced some excellent beers over the years and I would recommend many of the great beers.  Shipyard makes a great Black IPA, or a copper IPA such as Monkey Fist.  For a wine, a great chardonnay would pair well with this pizza.  

Learning Moments:

Making the lobster roll pizza, I learned a few things.  First, whenever you make a lobster pizza of some sort, it is expensive.  Not to mention, you really have to get a big lobster with a large tail and claws to make anything bigger than a personal sized pizza.  I purchased two 5 oz tails at the store and after cooking them, it looked enough for two slices.  The key to this pizza is to spend the money and get a whole lobster, because the claws would really help add a lot more meat.  Secondly, I learned how to make my own mayonnaise, which is really good.  In this new venture, I realized that real mayo is not white.  It is yellow!  So when you eat mayo from Hellman's or one of the other brands, they add an emulsifier to make it a white color.  Insert the "More You Know" theme song here. LOL.  Overall, this was a great tasting pizza.  You cannot go wrong with buttery crust and chunks of lobster.  Yum!  Hope you enjoy! 

Week #17: Kentucky - Hot Brown Bourbon & Bacon Pizza

State:  Kentucky

Here comes a shocker....I have never been to Kentucky before!  I know, I am sure you know me by now. Either way, I did plenty of research on the state.  I know that Kentucky is known for Bourbon, Moonshine, Baseball bats, NCAA basketball, and great food.  When researching signature dishes, I came across something called a "Hot Brown."  After reading the recipe, I am so eager to try out this pizza.  Remembering how good Idaho was with the cheesy cream sauce, I thought this might be another amazing pizza.  

Ingredients Needed: 

1 Pizza Crust
8 - 10 slices of Pork or Turkey Bacon - depends on size of pizza
1 sliced Roma Tomatoes in halves
1 tsp or splash of canola oil (Avoids food allergies)


Turkey:
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 lb of Turkey Breast
Salt & pepper to taste

Glaze:
1 tbsp of Kentucky Bourbon (Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, or Wild Turkey)
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
2 tbsp of maple syrup

Sauce Mixture:
2 tbsp of All Purpose Flour or Brown Rice Flour for Gluten-Free
2 tbsp of Butter or Butter spread
2 cups of Fat Free milk
1/3 cup of Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese - yellow or white
1 tsp of garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

Topping the pizza:
1/3 cup of fresh Italian or Flat Leaf Parsley (they are the same)
1/2 cup of cheddar cheese
2 strands of green onion
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:

On medium heat and in a medium sauce pan, make a roux.  Heat the butter until melted and add in the flour.  Stir until the mixture becomes a roux and turns a golden brown.  Slowly add in milk and whisk until mixture thickens.  If mixture does not thicken right away, allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes.  It should thicken at this point.  If not, add a little more flour until you get your level of consistency.  It should be a little thick, but not too much. Think of this as a gravy style consistency.  Add in the Romano and cheddar cheese, as well as the salt & pepper to taste.

Meat: 

First, add a splash of canola oil to a large pan.  Once warm, add bacon and cook until crispy on both sides.  Remove from heat and place on paper towel covered plate.  Save pan and grease for cooking the turkey. 

Combine bourbon, Dijon mustard and maple syrup together.  Whisk together until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  Set aside.

Next, coat all sides of the turkey with olive oil and sprinkle with salt/pepper.  On medium heat, place turkey in pan and cook in bacon grease.  Sear on both sides of the turkey and cook meat until there is no pink color.  The bacon grease will add more flavoring to the turkey.  While cooking, bring your glaze over to the pan and with a coating brush, add glaze to top of the meat.  Flip over turkey and add glaze to the other side of the meat.  Repeat process 1 more time to thoroughly glaze turkey.  Allow just enough time to ensure turkey is coated.  Remove from heat and check temperature, which needs to be around 165 degrees.  Set aside and allow meat to cool.  Cut turkey into bite size pieces.

Pizza: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Coat bottom of crust with a thin glaze of olive oil.  Next, add turkey slices and spread meat out along the pizza, ensuring enough space for every slice.  Then, add slices of tomato and space appropriately for each slice.  Add cream sauce mixture over top of turkey, tomatoes and crust.  Then, add a layer of cheese over top of the sauce.  Ensure all sauce is spread out over the pizza and is not near the edge of the pizza.  The sauce will drip over the crust and go into the oven, which will burn and stink up your house...Lol.  Seriously, it happened to me.  :)   Finally, add the bacon strips along the pizza.  I did them in long layers to look like the Hot Brown sandwich, but I would recommend cutting them into bite size pieces.  Cook in oven for 10-15 minutes depending on the crust.  When crust is brown, remove from heat and set aside.  Sprinkle with green onions and parsley.  Allow to cool and then eat.  SEE LEARNING MOMENTS SECTION.

Pairing:  

For this pizza, I paired a Kentucky Bourbon Red Rye IPA from Kentucky Bourbon Brewing company.  It had a really good hoppy flavor and bourbon taste that paired well with a pizza.  For a wine, I would go with a dry red wine like a Cabernet or a Merlot.  

Learning Moments: 

Make sure that the pizza cools before you try to eat it.  The sauce will burn your tongue or mouth very quickly.  Luckily, I took my time before taking the first bite.   This is the first time I ever cooked with Bourbon and made this type of dish.  The Bourbon really brings out a great flavor with the maple syrup, so next time I would use this for the base of the pizza instead of the olive oil.  The taste gets a little lost with all of the cream, bacon, and cheese over powering the pizza.  This was a really good pizza and I realized that simplistic will usually turn out really amazing.  Sometimes it is all about working with simple ingredients.  I would highly recommend this pizza.  

Week #16: Kansas - Wizard of Oz Pizza

State:  Kansas

As usual, I have never visited the state of Kansas before.  The only thing I know about Kansas is from Wizard of Oz, there is a city named Topeka and Wichita, and the University of Kansas Jayhawks.  Researching the state, popular foods are BBQ, Steak, fried chicken, meatloaf, and a lot of mid-western comfort food.  For this pizza, I decided to go with steak and BBQ.  I made everything from scratch and the goal was to make it look like a Wizard of Oz yellow brick road style pizza.  I was going to make a Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion, Toto, and Tin Man on the pizza, but it looked a little immature for the pizza idea.  The taste was really good, but this pizza might be eligible for a redo because of the brick road..LOL.  

Ingredients Needed:

Steak Rub:

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp of garlic powder

1 tbsp of sea salt

1 tbsp of chili powder

1 tbsp of black pepper

1 tsp of ground cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon of dry mustard

BBQ Sauce:

1 cup of ketchup

1 can of tomato paste

1 can of water – same can as tomato paste

3 Tbsp of brown sugar

½ cup molasses

2 tbsp of red wine vinegar

½ tsp of garlic powder

½ tsp of onion powder

1 tsp of paprika

½ tsp of cayenne pepper

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of black pepper

Collard Greens:

1 pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tbsp of olive oil or a splash

1 bunch of collard greens

salt, pepper, and garlic to taste

2 strips of raw bacon

Pizza:

1 cup of shredded cheese – (Change to block slices if you want the yellow brick road straight)

½ cup of processed cut colored peppers (red, orange, yellow)

¼ cup of processed cut green pepper

¼ cup of yellow onion

1 pizza crust

Sauce:

Take all of ingredients in mix together in a medium sauce pan on medium heat until boiling and lower to a simmer.  Cook for 5 minutes until smooth consistency, turn off heat and allow sauce to cool.  This will be used as a base for the pizza.

Greens:

Cut up greens to small sizes and put in a medium sauce pot.  Add water to fill halfway of greens.  Cut up bacon into small pieces and add into pot.  Add seasonings to taste and cook on medium heat.  Cook until boiling and then reduce temperature on low, cover and cook for 20-30 minutes or until soft. 

Meat:

For the rub, blend all ingredients together.  For this steak, I just used the shoulder steak which turned out really well.  Cut the steak into small pieces and coat the meat with canola or vegetable oil.   Roll the meat pieces into the rub, ensuring to coat all sides thoroughly.  In a large pan, add canola oil and cook until all sides are seared.   

Pizza:

Preheat oven to 415.  Add olive oil to crust to create a base and then add a layer of BBQ sauce to the base.  Place steak onto pizza and spread out thoroughly.  Then add the collards onto the pizza and the bacon if you want.  With the cheese, create a spiral yellow brick road.  Start from the center and work your way around the pizza like spiral.  Then add the mixed peppers and onions around the outside to make it look like flowers and grass.  Please see “Learning Moments” section for suggested update on how to make the yellow brick road. 

Pairing:

For this pizza, it was hard to find a beer from Kansas.  I was however able to find a beer from Kansas City, but in Missouri.   I had the 80 Acre Hoppy Wheat from Boulevard Brewing Company.  If I was able to get a beer, I would try one from Free State Brewing Company.  A good hoppy beer will offset the BBQ Tangy flavor.  For wine, go for a great Pinio Grigio or a white wine. 

Learning Moments:

For this pizza, I made everything from scratch and did not get lazy on the sauce or rub for the meat.  My skills in cooking are getting better.  Going into this pizza, I wasn't really sure what I was going to put on it until right before I started making it.  So I felt a little rushed going into making this pizza, but it all worked out.  The flavors of the collards, sauce, and meat rub tasted really good.  If I was going to do something different, I would have made the crust bigger and would have used "block cheese" slices to make the yellow brick road more precise.  With grated cheese, it spreads and didn't resemble the brick road I was going for.  All in all, it was a good pizza.