September 2007 Archives
They're not perfect, but one of the neat things that using Boboli's mini crusts as a base makes doing quick pizzas very easy. It also makes it easy to experiment, since, if the experiment goes awry, it's not like you've got a lot invested in the project. Plus, it's easy to let the kids help, since the main task is assembly. It was just Kev and I at home for dinner, so we made two pizzas, one a classic pepperoni, the other a variaion on a muffeletta pizza.
For the pepperoni pizza, we started with the pizza crusts, Ragu sauce, shredded cheese, and pepperoni:
For the muff pizza, we went a bit different. Same crusts, but instead of regular tomato-based sauce, we used olive salad from Progress Grocery. Progress Grocery was located just a few doors down from Central Grocery, on Decatur Street in the French Quarter. They moved out of the Quarter in the 1990s, opening up a commercial (no retail) facility in Metairie to sell and distribute their product. I think their olive salad has been superior to Central Grocery's since I was in college. In addition, we used a three-cheese crumble from Kraft, parmesan, provolone, and feta. I originally was going to make this a veggie pizza, but when we saw that there was enough pepperoni for both, we put some on this one as well.
Assembly was quick. Here's the pepperoni pizza:
And here's the muff:
We tossed them both into a 350F oven for about half an hour, and here's the finished products:
I like baristas and bartenders who realize that a little bit extra in some situations goes a long way...
Photo from the www.bayoucoffeehouse.com
Located at 326 N. Jeff Davis Pkwy in Mid-City, Bayou is a neat little house converted into a cafe. It's very unimposing from the front, but don't let that fool you; there's lots of space inside, and an absolutely gorgeous deck in the back. I've stopped at Bayou several times since school has started back, but I decided to actually eat breakfast there last Friday. I ordered the #1 breakfast, two eggs, bacon, grits, toast, and a cup of coffee. When the gal gave me back my change, I had to look twice--all that was four bucks plus tax, for a whopping outlay of $4.36!Yup, it's their Monday-Friday breakfast special. And it was pretty good. The eggs (over easy, please, were cooked just right, and the bacon was nice and crunchy. The grits were a bit thin, but not terribly so, and the wheat toast was just fine. The coffee was your basic coffee-and-chicory, which needs no introduction or accolades. It's simply wonderful. The atmosphere of the place is very community-oriented. Mid-City is working hard to come back after the storm. While it didn't suffer the total devastation of Lakeview and Da Ninth, parts of Mid-City got 4'-5' of water. City services have been sluggish to return, but the people in the area are busting their butts to bring the neighborhood back. You get that sense of community at Bayou, as people recognize each other, stop and chat for a while, then go on about their day. One of the neatest aspects of Bayou is the building itself. It's a house built on pilings rather than a slab foundation, so the floor creaks and vibrates like all raised houses do. It's a total contrast to a slab-foundation place with antiseptic acoustics.
Come out and support Mid-City businesses, Bayou Coffee House would be a great start! (this article is included in my CanalStreetCar (dot com) weekly newsletter.)
