One More Week....

Talk about going outside your comfort zone. This pizza oven has been one hell of an experience. As I alluded to before, posts here on the blog have been few and far in between due to inordinate amounts of free time being dedicated to pizza oven construction.

The bottom line is that this has been one big learning experience. Since I've never actually laid brick, formed concrete, built domes or arches, built with metal studs, laid out a roof, or put down shingles; I have been in one big zone of discomfort for the past two months.

Getting ready for the roof

Things are now getting easier. After getting all of the fire brick laid for the actual oven, things like the roof seem comparatively easier. Right now I'm just waiting for this rain to get up on out of here.

Before I can use the oven, I've got to burn a week long series of gradually larger fires in the oven so I can drive out any of the moisture that is left in the fire brick - this process is called curing. With my trip to the East Coast being cancelled this week thanks to the Perfect Storm that is brewing in the Mid-Atlantic I will be able to complete these fires before I have to go out of town again.

I'm excited. These are temperatures that are going to allow me to do a lot things I couldn't do before. We're talking about temperatures that are capable of going above 900 degrees. That is an absolutely insane temperature, people. The missus and I have been excitedly discussing the possibilities. I can take my Big Green Egg up to some high temps, but as soon as you pop open the lid...POOF!....there goes 200 hundred degrees. This oven is going to be a game changer.

The Inspector was a real stickler, but she approved

I'm looking forward to cooking in this oven. Hopefully this whole thing will be cured, roofed, and insulated by next Sunday. One last big business trip for the year and then I think I'll be getting back on the blogging horse. Who knows? Maybe once I get this whole process somewhat figured out I can have some of you over for some pizzas.

NYC: Fornino

A project on Long Island (Nassau County) has made for the perfect jumping point for my full on assault of the Brooklyn portion of the Ed Levine/Rachel Rae Pizza 64 List.

Fornino was on the hit list tonight. Located surprisingly close to the highway, the DiFara-esqe trek through the Brooklyn side streets was a nice change for once.

I slipped into this popular pizzeria with one thing on my mind - a nice hot pizza. The day had been long and I needed to eat and get out while I was still awake enough drive. My waiter brought me a beer and sensed my urgency for sustenance.

The menu had a good variety of classics which they called First Generation, riffs on those classics Second Generation, and the more modernized meat and cheese-centric type pizzas called - wait for it - Third Generation. Since I was a Fornino virgin, I figured I might as well start things slow. Margherita please.

As I waited for my pie to come out a tartufo pizza was laid down at the table next to me. Smelled like absolute sex. Sure, a small will set you back 35 bones (a large 50), but can you really put a price on that? Maybe. I guess.

The crust on my pizza had a nice chew to the exterior while maintaining a softness inside that only comes from painstaking fermentation. The sauce was sweet and simple. The mozz and basil were as you would expect on such a classic rendition - pretty straightforward .

Pizza Margherita

There are no lines to worry about or hipster attitude to be had here. This small narrow pizzeria cranks out classic napolitana with friendly service at a price in line with others serving this level of pie. The dough here  reminded me a lot of Flour + Water in SF.

Does it belong on the list of 64? I certainly think they make a good case. New York's a tough one because there are so many good napolitana places. (not to mention NY slices and grandma style). I swear, next time I'm getting that tartufo, though.

Fornino
187 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 384-6004
http://www.forninopizza.com/

Believe it or not, I AM alive

You're probably wondering what the deal is with Dine O Mite! I can honestly say that I've been traveling like a fiend. In fact, for the first time in six weeks I get to sleep in my bed for seven consecutive nights! (Might I say, it feels damn good to be home.)

More importantly, I've been slaving away at the wood fired pizza oven in my backyard. Progress has been slow because I haven't really been around long enough to really work on it. This is going to be the week that this thing really takes shape though. I doubt I'll be able to top out the dome before I have to leave on Sunday, but I've heard that once I get it past the arch things will fly.

Between work travel and the oven there hasn't been a lot of time for much else. I will say that the Pizza Page - one of the tabs at the top - has been updated. There is a complete list of pizzerias from the Ed Levine / Rachel Rae Pizza Challenge list from 2010. This is really THE list I use when I'm traveling around the country. There are a lot of posts left to do in that realm. By my calculations I've got pictures for over half of the places on the list.

It's an exciting time for us around here. Hopefully this will be the end of the long lulls for awhile. I'll keep you updated on my backyard progress!

Slow and Steady

Cleveland: Hot Dog Joe's

Hillbilly blood runs through my veins; not all of them, just some of them. (It's a hillbilly thing - you wouldn't understand.)

Refined as my palate might be, I can't restrain myself from stopping at an out-of-the-way hot dog spot. (New Jersey is filled with places like this and Hot Dog Johnny's in Buttzville is king.)

While I was driving back from picking up some stone for my patio, I drove past Hot Dog Joe's in Kirtland. HDJ is just a small little storefront in a country strip mall. Since it was "about that time" I figured I would stop in for a quick bite.

As one would expect, it's a fairly straightforward interior. The cash register/food prep area takes up half the space, seating takes up the other half.

I ordered some type of Italian dog (hot peppers, onions, relish, and salami). As you might expect, the preparation of the tube steak took a scant few minutes to prepare. I ordered this little mixed meat delight "to go" because you just know a hot dog tastes better in your car.

 Dude, Where's My Dog?

After paying for the merch and saddling up in the auto, I opened the foil wrapper and exposed the weiner nestled in what can only be described as a voluptuous bun. (Think Kim Kardashian.)This was seriously the widest, densest, most voluminous hot dog bun I'd ever attempted to eat.

About halfway through my wiener I had to tap out. The bread was a behemoth. I cherry picked the rest of the goodies off the bread and had to shit can the rest. The bread : meat ratio was off the charts. And dense? Jaw exercises - that's all I'm going to say.

Sorry folks, they can't all be wein...er....winners. The place was clean, the people were nice, the service was prompt. I just couldn't get into the dog, dawg. I encourage all hearty appetites to apply, but the bun was just too damn manly for me.

Hot Dog Joe's
7935 Euclid Chardon Road
Kirtland, OH 44094
(440) 256-3294

Dee's Old Brooklyn Diner

Do you remember back in the day when a long lost toy would suddenly appear? Or maybe a crisp clean Andrew Jackson has peaked its head out the pocket of the jacket you put away last spring? In the midst of everyday activities we find these long forgotten treasures, jolting us from a normal state of mind.to a sudden burst of elation.

While cutting through Old Brooklyn on my way to 480, I happened upon an old gem from my youth. At first I was a little thrown off because the name had changed - the former Don and Judy's had been renamed Dee's Old Brooklyn Diner. I knew a chance meeting such as this required a reintroduction.

The name might be different, but - lack of cigarette smoke aside - the interior of the place has stayed the same. Dee's is a classic dinette type layout with 6 or so chrome stools bolted down in front of the counter and movable tables and chairs filling out the rest of the space. Thankfully, all cooking takes place along the back of the restaurant. Ample ventilation keeps you from taking on what I call "diner smell".

West Side 4 Life

Steak sandwiches reign supreme at Dee's. Delightful double patties of smooshed, crispy edged, bovine goodness are served on unseeded toasted buns, with lettuce and onion. I don't know which one I like more, the crispy burger edges or toasted buns, but combining the two is absolutely lethal. The burgers at Dee's are some of the finest in the city.

A cherry pop (and it is "pop" since this is Cleveland), hamburger, fries (nothing special), and tip ran me all of about eight bucks.

Old school rules the day at this little throwback restaurant. The zoo is nearby, and would be the perfect for a pre-zoo breakfast or after zoo lunch. I would warn you though, closing time is three o'clock.

Dee's Diner

4326 Pearl Rd

Cleveland, OH 44109

(216) 398-1633

Dayton: Bill's Donut Shop

Old school donut shops are a favorite of mine. There's something about the distinct smell of donut frying oil and freshly brewed coffee that I find oddly appealing. Linoleum floors, chromed stools bolted to the floor, yellowing back lit signs with blue snap-in plastic letters, all take me back to the shops of my childhood.

Bill's Donut Shop is such a place.

Old School

If you look Bill's up on the internet, you're probably going to find claims like "the best donuts ever" or "I've lived all over the country and never found anything that comes close to Bill's". I suspect many of these declarations come from a place of nostalgia. Thousands of children brought up on these donuts. Childhood memories are a powerful thing.

The truth is that the donuts' at Bill's are hardly what I would consider unique. One could go to most old school shops around the country and they'd find many of the same things they sell here. There is, however, a HUGE selection and the prices are very reasonable (70¢ a piece).

So what did I get? If it's called "Red Velvet", I'll buy it - and I did. Essentially a chocolate cake donut dyed red with cream cheese frosting, the Red Velvet was one of the more inventive offerings they had here. I like it.

Bill's is open 24 hours, so if you're looking to miss the morning rush - and it is busy all morning - then you can stop in just about anytime of day. Even though the parking lot was full the counter is well staffed, very friendly, and moves with purpose. Lines don't last long here.While it isn't someplace I would go out of my way to get to, if you're in the area I would certainly give it a shot. I'll be the first to admit that this is not on par with Dynamo Donut in San Francisco, but then again it is about a quarter of the price, too.

Bill's Donut Shop

268 N Main St

Centerville, OH 45459 

(937) 433-0002

Cleveland: Vero Bistro

Vero Bistro is the newly incarnated pizza place in the old La Gelateria space on Fairmount. This is a very similar experience to the former tenant; the main exception is that the oven has been moved from the front to the back, and now there's an upstairs. I could be wrong but I don't recall there being upstairs seating before.

First let's start with the website. I was critical of Sweetie Fry's website and this one is no different. Nowadays most people look at a website before they ever think about going to a restaurant. It tells a story; a first impression if you will. Since websites are fairly inexpensive to produce, a hastily thrown together website that tells us very little is not the way to start things. Unless the place is old school and its reputation precedes itself, the bare bones approach doesn't really cut it for most customers.Some pictures of the decor and the food would be nice to see.

 I ordered a Margherita pizza to go ($9). With the high heat of the wood-fired oven it was done and ready to go in a matter of minutes.

 Pizza Margherita

Here's my assessment:

• Very small. If you're going to serve small pizzas, put them in small boxes. This looked like a two year old child that was sleeping in a queen-sized bed. The scale dwarfs the pizza and makes it look even smaller than it really is. I'm guessing it was 10". Buy boxes that are the size of your pizzas or vice versa.

• The sauce was actually very good. Simple and sweet. I also like the smaller basil leaves. Nothing sucks worse than have a huge basil leaf slide of the slice, hanging from you mouth.

• There was a perfect amount of cheese. 

• The bottom was straight up burnt. If the char was on top of the crust, it would be a little easier on the palate. A small bit of char on the bottom is good; I'm talking about spots that should be the diameter of a pea. The vast silver dollar sized char spots laid a coat of bitter burnt taste on your tongue, overpowering everything else on the pizza. Since the top was not all that charred, I have to believe the floor temp on that oven is just too damn hot. The debate of char on the bottom of the pizza is very subjective. See HERE.

 The char went too far

•  There was not a whole lot of lift or puff to the crust. With a high heat oven you've got the thermal power to pop a fermented dough into the stratosphere. If you look at the picture this crust is pretty flat. The hole structure is fairly uniform. Top notch pizza has a pretty good diversity due to a good fermentation.

I feel the pizzas need to be larger. The 12" pie is about as perfect as it gets in a wood-fired oven. Is it going to cost more? Sure, but I could have easily eaten two of these pizzas. Vero Bistro has only been open for a month or so. As they settle into a groove and better understand how the dough and the oven are interacting; I expect the product will get better. This isn't the last these guys have seen of me. I'll be coming in every so often to see how they're coming along. The owner is a young guy and he's going to learn from his mistakes. I have no problem updating this post to reflect an improvement over this past visit.

Vero Bistro

12421 Cedar Road

Cleveland, OH 44106

(216) 229-8383

verocleveland.com

New York: Sigmund Pretzel Shop

As a former resident of Philadelphia I can say that I enjoy a good pretzel. So imagine my delight when I read an article in the New York Times about a little handmade pretzel place in the East Village called Sigmund Pretzel Shop. Since I obviously don't live in NYC, I made sure I marked it on my New York Google map so I could visit the next time I'm there.

Fast forward to the present. Always looking for something that isn't so filling that it ruins dinner, but enough to bridge the gap from morning to night - I headed over to Sigmund's.

Lina Kulchinsky's small pretzel shop is a light and airy space with folding windows. Sitting on the east side of the street, the afternoon sun floods the entire shop. Inside there is no shortage of handmade pretzels. From breakfast type things sprinkled on top (cinnamon and raisin) to the afternoon snack-like truffle and cheddar, Sigmund's offers up a good variety.

Looking for something for lunch? Not a problem. Kulchinsky also offers up turkey, ham, smoked salmon, or caprese on a pretzel roll to knock down your lunch time hunger. I actually went with the Shaller and Weber hotdog topped with spiced kraut. Since I was on vacation and not on my lunch break, I was able to wash it down with a Spaten.

I thought the place was pretty cool. There were, unfortunately, out of the traditional German pretzels that have are really fat and bready at the bottom and thin and crunchy at the top. Overall, I thought you paid for what you got. Sometimes I think the prices of these little shops can be completely out of line simply because they don't move enough product and need to make money. I think it's certainly unique to what NYC, which in itself is pretty hard to do. Sigmund is worth going out of your way to visit.

Sigmund Pretzel Shop

29 Avenue 

New York, NY 10009

(646) 410-0333

sigmundnyc.com

Since I love trying to make the very things that I enjoy eating, here is a link to one of Lina's recipes on the Martha Stewart website. It's obviously not the traditional hardcore method using lye, but I'd be interested in trying this one out.

It's Been a Rough Go

If you're a regular reader - and I doubt there are many left- you will notice that the last couple of months things have been pretty quiet around here. The fact is, that even though the blog has been quiet doesn't mean my life has been.

In the middle of May I suffered from the most debilitating back pain I've ever experienced in my life. I've had bouts from time to time where I have to spend a couple of days in bed, but this was different. After going on a rather lengthy bike ride, my back began to tighten up. As the day wore on it felt worse and worse. By the time I had come home from a dinner out I could not sit or stand. I laid down in bed and remained there for four days.

Thankfully, I had my frenchie Seamus and pug Ladybug to keep me company. For those four days they basically laid in the bedroom with me, only leaving for the occasional drink of water. It always amazes me how loyal and therapeutic these wonderful animals are. They made me laugh. They made me feel better. Once I was able to actually walk, they motivated me to walk farther and farther each day.

On Sunday, June 10th Seamus started having trouble walking. Every now and then he would yelp with pain. After a Monday vet visit, steroids, and more yelping we ended up at an animal hospital in Akron at 3:30am. With a very grim prognosis we had to make the extremely difficult decision to put him down. On June 12th - our wedding anniversary - we experienced the saddest day of our thirteen year marriage.

So what does this have to do with my silly little blog?

Well, Seamus was my constant shadow - and that definitely included the kitchen. He loved sitting in front of our oven because the excess heat was exhausted down near the floor. He'd just lay right in front of the vent until we had to open the door. He was also the vacuum that instantly sucked up any excess crumbs that might make their way to the floor. Our boy was also a foodie in his own right. An aficionado of carrots, blueberries, and especially green beans; the only time that dog ever left my side was when he heard his mom making her lunch in the morning. He'd hear the clinking of the glass bowls she put her blueberries in and would bound down the stairs in search of two or three fruity treats.

His spot in front of the stove

For most people this is just a dog. I get that. I actually used to be one of those people. I can say that after losing a dog like Seamus you're changed. He was my constant companion, and was never more than 10 feet away while I cooked the very things you see on this blog. In fact, he was more than likely laying under my desk as I wrote many of these posts.

It takes serious wind out of your sails when something like this happens. After spending a week in NYC and Philly, I can say that I'm reinvigorated. It isn't that I'm "over" Seamus. You never forget a Hall of Famer like him. I'd like to think that I have taken on some of his zeal for life. It's the same zeal that made him pull me around one particular corner on our daily walk, so he could see what was on the other side of the hedge. It's with a Seamus-like zeal that I hope to pick up where I left all of this off.

Dessert: Passion Fruit Cream Tart

One of our favorite cookbooks - and bakeries - is Tartine. I've purchased my fair share of books that proclaim to let out the secrets and throw you the keys to the kingdom. Many don't, but Tartine, Craft of Baking, and Bourke Street Bakery do.

Excuse me if I wasn't surprised when Food 52 cited Tartine's 'Lemon Cream' as one of their Genius Recipes. As I read through the comments section of the post, I noticed someone said they'd subbed out the lemon for passion fruit.

Passion fruit?!?!?! Oh hell no!

Fresh off our Hawaiian vacation, the tang of passion fruit (they call it lilikoi)was still on our tongues. Oh what a treat a passion fruit cream tart would be - if we were in Hawai'i. You see, passion fruit grows in Hawai'i like crabapples grow in Ohio. They can't give away these things in Hawai'i. Ohio? $1 a piece (yields about two or three tablespoons including seeds). [below is a picture showing them (lilikoi) being sold for a dime.]

Fruit is about the only cheap thing in these parts.

Needless to say, buying individual passion fruit would be a very expensive proposition in the Midwest. Luckily Premier Produce & Specialty Foods carries passion fruit puree for around $15. After calling just about every Mexican and specialty grocery in town, this was pretty much the only place that had it. Great people and very helpful, BTW.

Passion Fruit Tart with Toasted Coconut and Macadamia Nuts

I'm not going to crazy copying the recipes for these posts. Here's the link to the Lemon Cream recipe. They don't include the sweet tart dough recipe that Tartine uses, but there is a link for Paule Caillat's Brown Butter Tart Crust.

Notes:

• The substitution for passion fruit to lemon (or any fruit juice) is 1:1. Pretty self explanatory, right? I thawed out the puree before I used it, but realistically I don't think it makes much difference.

•  Err on the side of the water simmering too low, rather than too high. If you take the temperature up too quickly you are most definitely going to end up with what looks like smalls shards of egg white in your curd. While it's probably going to be chopped up by the blender anyway, take a few more minutes to heat it up. What's the big hurry?

• If you're doing the lemon version, used freshly squeezed lemon juice. I tried to pass one over on the boss and got called out on it. Me: 0 Boss: 1 

• Freestyle on the accouterments to compliment whatever juice you're using. We went with the Hawaiian theme on this particular version. Most every dessert in this island paradise has one, if not all, of these ingredients.

• Read the whole recipe first and have everything at the ready. Once this ball starts to roll, there isn't a lot of time to pull out extra bowls and utensils. Lay the whole thing out first and know what steps you have to take. Nothing sucks worse than having hot curd and realizing you haven't even taken the butter out of the fridge yet.

• Use a blender. I normally like using a stick blender, but this goes much easier if you just get it in the blender and drop in the butter from there. I've tried it both ways, and as much as I hate cleaning a dirty blender - it's way easier. In the long run.

• If you have a dough you like - use it. I wouldn't recommend a flaky dough, though. Any shortbread-like sweet dough will do.