I think the best pizza near you is…

If this isn’t enough for you, I can also tell you the best Italian sub near you.

How to fix delivery pizza

Pizza is best when it is hot, straight out of an 800 degree wood-fired brick oven. Even most commercial deck pizza ovens that get to 600+ degrees can make a great pie. The problem is when you put it in a box for 30 minutes the magic fades. Even the best pizza is reduced to a soggy mess by the time it gets to you.

Let’s face it. You’re going to order pizza delivery. I know it. It’s ok. As long as you’re going to do it, here are some ideas to take your delivery up a notch.

Fire up the oven to 450!

This technique is great when you have four or more people and you know the pizza isn’t going to last more than about 15 minutes.

Most delivery arrives in 30 minutes. That’s just enough time to heat your home oven up to 450 degrees. So right after you place the order, turn on the oven. If you have a pizza stone, put that in the oven first. If not, put a large sheet pan in the oven. We want the pizza sitting on something hot.

When it arrives, open the box immediately to let the steam out. Carefully slide it on to the hot stone or sheet pan and back into the oven. Let it bake until you can see it get just a touch darker. It will probably take 5-10 minutes. By the time it darkens up just a shade, it should be crisp again, as it should be.

Crisp up the bottom, one slice at a time

For just a couple of people, this technique works great and gives you an amazingly crisp bottom without getting the top any darker.

After it arrives, heat up a large skillet over medium heat. No oil is required. Once the skillet is hot, add one slice (or more if it will fit.) Turn the heat to medium low and let it sit for 3 minutes. Check it every minute or so to make sure it doesn’t get any darker than you like. Personally, I let my slices get a little burnt. The slightly charred taste reminds me of coal oven pie.

If you’re starting from a completely cold or room temperature slice, you can put a lid on the pan to warm the top as well. Pizza is so thin that the heat from the bottom will make its way to the top in a few minutes anyway.

Pizza loves good quality parmesan or pecorino romano

I always keep a good quality grated cheese on hand for delivery pizza. A little sprinkle of parmesan can make a huge improvement in an otherwise boring pie.

The best quality parmesan and pecorino romano grate into the consistency of sand. Pregrated is fine, but watch out for the shredded type. Anything that looks shredded like cheddar is probably low quality or not aged nearly long enough. Of course, it’s always best to buy a good imported block and grate it yourself.

Pizza loves good quality extra virgin olive oil

I’m talking about the good stuff here. Expect to pay near $20 for a small bottle, but it’s worth it. Great olive oil can be fruity, spicy, peppery and is perfect for drizzling on pizza. You may think pizza is already greasy enough, but you’ll be surprised at how much depth a great olive oil can add. It won’t make your pizza seem greasier, but it will give it a beautiful kick. Here is a great choice from Amazon that is from Greece and is both fruity and peppery (and not too expensive).

Garlic adds depth, even dry garlic powder

I love raw garlic. When used properly it has a bright, aromatic kick that can wake up the flavors in a lot of foods. Delivery pizza is certainly one of them.

When I’m in the mood for a dark, roasted garlic flavor, I just add a shake of garlic powder to delivery pizza. Granulated garlic works best for this. The powder is too fine and you definitely don’t want garlic salt, since pizza is always salty enough already.

My favorite way to add garlic to delivery pizza is to crush raw garlic and mix it with a little olive oil. I then drizzle the oil and garlic on my slice. The raw garlic adds a little spiciness and a bright kick. Once you try this it’s hard to have a slice without it.

Hot sauce is great on pizza

It may sound strange, but most hot sauce is really good on pizza. Everything from Tabasco and Frank’s Red Hot to fiery caribbean habanero sauces works well. You don’t need anything super hot. The vinegar in hot sauce is really the star. It cuts through the richness of the cheese and sweetness of the tomatoes. The end result is more balanced and a bit magical.

You’re welcome. Now go order your pizza.

More Suggestions Near You

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I believe the best Italian sub near you is at…

If you change your mind and want pizza instead, I can also tell you the best pizza near you.

What makes a great Italian sub?

As long as it’s delicious, there is no wrong way to make an Italian sub. But, having eating many, many Italian subs in my life I believe the following items are what make a truly great sandwich.

Freshly cut, high quality cold cuts

The best Italian subs use cold cuts that are sliced to order. After cold cuts are sliced, they dry out and lose flavor. I’ve had bad subs where the only problem is tasteless cold cuts. So disappointing!

It takes a lot of time to slice cold cuts just for one sandwich, so many shops slice ahead of time. Ideally, the cold cuts are sliced the same day. Most supermarkets slice to order at their deli counter, which is why you can get a surprisingly good sandwich from there!

There is a full list of common cold cuts in my Italian Sub Recipe.

Great bread

The bread is almost as important as the cold cuts. The ideal bread for an Italian sub is a roll that has a slightly crisp crust and tender inside. You want enough crust to hold up to wet toppings like dressing and tomatoes. But, if the crust is too chewy it will cause your fillings to squirt out when you take a bite.

French bread works well. Baguettes are a little too firm, but also work if that’s all you have.

Great dressing

The best dressing for an Italian sub is some combination of vinegar and oil. The vinegar provides a sour kick that cuts through the richness of the cold cuts. My favorite is an Italian dressing. Here is a recipe for my homemade sub dressing.

Mustard is also a great dressing because it also contains vinegar. I usually avoid mayonnaise because the cold cuts have enough fat, but it can help provide moisture if you have mostly dry ingredients.

Great toppings

Toppings can make or break a sandwich. I look for toppings that bring texture as well as taste. For example, pepperoncini bring a tart, slightly spicy flavor, but also a great crunch. My favorites are:

• Pepperoncini – Tart and spicy with a nice crunch. Best sliced thinly.
• Raw onions – Aromatic and sharp with a nice crunch. Best sliced super thin.
• Roasted red peppers – Sweet and juicy.

More Suggestions Near You

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I really love hot sauce. A few years ago I started making my own hot sauce from recipes I made up myself. I looked at a few sample recipes but mainly just experimented with the basic ingredients that make up hot sauce, which are really just:

• Chiles (dry or fresh)
• Salt
• Vinegar
• Water

Anything else you add brings extra flavor, which could be things like fresh garlic or onions, spices or even nuts or seeds.

I keep a notebook of recipes that I started numbering from #1. I would make up a new batch, number it, and then bring it to work for my co-workers to try. Some batches were great, while others were just ok. A few were really bad. A few of my closest co-workers got really hooked on the hot sauce and used to ask for more by batch number. One of the most common requests I got was for batch #19, which is based on fresh orange habaneros, onion, and carrots. It’s hot but really good.

After I moved to NYC in 2010 I stopped making hot sauce for a while since my kitchen was a bit smaller and I didn’t have good ventilation (which is critical!) I recently decided to make up a batch of an old favorite recipe, #27. That recipe previously involved cooking fresh orange habaneros on the barbecue until they were blackened. Since I don’t have any outdoor space or a bbq now, I used a cast iron skillet to get some color on the habaneros. I also couldn’t find orange habaneros in the fall so used green ones. They didn’t seem nearly as hot as the orange ones but still packed a lot more heat than a jalapeno. The final sauce was still really tasty!!!

Here is the rough recipe:

• About 30 orange or green habaneros (washed, whole)
• One sweet onion (peeled and cut in half)
• Four garlic cloves (peeled)
• One tablespoon of salt (to taste)
• Vinegar
• Water

Put habaneros into a cast iron skillet or on the barbecue until they start getting blackened a bit. Add the onion and garlic and cook until habaneros are soft and well charred. Onion should be soft. Garlic will still be firm but have a bit of charring. Remove stem and core from habaneros by pulling the stem with your fingers while holding the habanero with a fork or something besides your hands (since you want to keep skin contact to a minimum.) It should come out fairly easily. Don’t worry about leaving seeds or some of the core. Add habaneros, onion and garlic into a blender or food processor and add vinegar and water (50/50) until there is just enough for it to blend well. Blend until fairly smooth.

Dump the blender into a strainer and pass the mixture through to remove any remaining seeds and skin. Press this well with a spoon to make sure you get all the good stuff. Add vinegar and water until the remaining mixture is about the consistency of hot sauce. It will thicken a bit when it sits so it can be on the thin side.

Now comes the fun part. Add about a teaspoon of the salt and taste. It’s going to be hot. Keep adding salt until it tastes slightly salty. Keep some cold water or milk handy while you’re doing this. It’s going to be a lot hotter right now than it will be in a week so just hang in there. You might also need to add extra vinegar if you like it a little more sour. Once it tastes right, bottle it and keep it in the refrigerator. There should be enough salt and vinegar to keep anything from growing in it, even at room temperature, but it will likely last longer in the fridge.

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I love baking bread but haven’t been doing it much because I end up eating way too much. I did bake a loaf this winter when it was nice and cold outside, and a bit chilly inside my little NYC apartment (which I love). I’m not going to say what I think it looks like. I’ll let you decide. Needless to say, there are a lot of jokes waiting to happen. Feel free to post them.

I used the no-knead technique that everyone has been talking about (ad nauseum) for the past few years, ever since Mark Bittman wrote about it in the NY Times. I don’t blame them, as it’s probably the single easiest way to a spectacular loaf of bread. I’m not going to say anything more about the technique other than to say that if you haven’t tried it, try it. Here is the original video from 2006. If you watch the video, you’ll see why it’s easy to end up with a funny shaped loaf. Even one that looks like a…

More butt loaves

Apparently butt bread is a thing. Especially Corgi Butt loaves which looks like it’s popular in Japan. I found lots of butt loaves on Google Images. Enjoy!

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Formula cooking is the idea that behind every recipe there is a formula.  The formula dictates what kinds of things go into a recipe and roughly what’s done with them.  That formula might be the same for literally hundreds or thousands of similar recipes but with each combination of specific ingredients yields something unique.  The easiest way to illustrate is with an example.

Here is a recipe for Macaroni and cheese:

• 1lb elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
• 8oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2cup milk
• 2T flour
• 1t salt
• 1cup seasoned bread crumbs

Mix first 5 ingredients and pour into a small baking dish.  Cover with bread crumbs and bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

This is a simple recipe but specifies exactly what goes into the dish and in what order.  Here is a formula for Macaroni and cheese:

• Some kind of pasta
• Some kind of cheese
• Some kind of sauce
• Some kind of seasoning
• Some kind of topping

Mix in some order and heat until all ingredients are cooked.

With this formula, you can create a practically unlimited number of dishes that could be called macaroni and cheese but are distinctly different from the first recipe.  You already do this when you happen to be out of cheddar cheese and substitute monterey jack instead.  Now, think about every part of a recipe being replaceable and your now using formula cooking.  This flexibility will allow you to create your own variation that might be:

• Healthier
• More suited to the tastes of your family
• Easier to prepare
• More interesting
• Better matched to another dish that this will accompany
• Best of all… Less expensive to make!

Now let’s say that I’m planning to make a Cajun meatloaf for dinner tonight.  The meatloaf is already in the oven and I need to make a quick side dish.  There are some chopped vegetables left from making the meatloaf.  I have some left over rotelli pasta that’s already cooked and some mild cheddar I got on sale because my family doesn’t like sharp cheddar.  Why not make a Cajun macaroni and cheese to go with the Cajun meatloaf?  Here’s what I come up with.

Cajun Stove top Mac & Cheese

• 1lb Rotelli pasta, cooked (pasta)
• 6oz mild cheddar, grated (cheese)
• 2T flour (sauce)
• 2T butter (sauce)
• 1/2 cup milk (sauce)
• 1/2 cup onions, chopped (seasoning)
• 1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped (seasoning)
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped (seasoning)
• 1/4 cup andouille sausage, diced (seasoning)
• 2t Cajun seasoning salt (seasoning)
• 5 dashes Tabasco (seasoning)
• 1/2 cup stale goldfish crackers, crushed

Cook the butter and flour over medium heat in a large sauce pan until the flour turns lightly brown.  Add the onions, bell pepper and celery and cook about 5 minutes or until soft.  Add the andouille and seasoning salt.  Add the cheese and milk and stir until it forms a sauce.  Add the pasta and tabasco.  Turn off the heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes for it to thicken.  Sprinkle with the crushed crackers.  Serve with Cajun meatloaf!

I’ve never made the above recipe, but bet it would be good!  It’s just an example to show how when you use the formula you can come up with something completely different that you can be pretty certain will still be recognizable, and probably delicious.  Next time you’re looking at a recipe, see if you can figure out the formula.  If you do that, I bet you’ll immediatly come up with ideas to make your own version that’s probably even better!

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The article offered up some great general tips for making frugal food choices.  I’ve summarized them here.  A link to the full article is below:

1. Choose less expensive cuts of meat like whole chicken and whole pork loin
2. Add grains and legumes to stretch out a meal
3. Go vegetarian a few times a week
4. Stick with simpler recipes and avoid buying spices that you won’t use again
5. Cut down on food waste by freezing and cooking leftovers into new recipes

The full article has a lot more detail along with some frugal recipes at the end.

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NPR ran an article this weekend (11/8/2008) about how celebrity chef and UK national hero, Jamie Oliver, is now advocating healthy and frugal cooking. Jamie is also commonly known as the Naked Chef from his popular cooking series on the Food Network.  I’ve seen the show several times and like his simple style that was already fairly frugal.  In case you were wondering, I’ve not seen a single episode where he was actually naked.

The heart of Jamie’s frugality seems to be getting more people into the kitchen and cooking for themselves instead of eating out.  This is definitely a start in the right direction considering how much money most people spend on eating out and how badly overweight so many people are.  Now if only we could get some mandatory nutritional education in schools.  Hmmm…

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I just received the Nov 2008 issue of Chile Pepper magazine (yes, I actually do get a magazine called Chile Pepper) and found an article called “Embracing What’s Left” that has recipes for using left overs to make some spicy dishes.  I’ve been getting Chile Pepper magazine for many years and this is the first such article I can remember.

The recipes included are pretty straight forward but have some good ideas for different ways to use up left overs.  Here is a summary of the recipes:

• Hot and Sweet Asian Leftover Salad – A hot, sweet, sour and salty dressing over leftover turkey, chicken or ham with shredded cabbage, glass noodles and vegetables.
• Leftover Stuffing Hash – This is more like a stuffing frittata with onions, bell peppers, leftover turkey and stuffing sauteed and then mixed with eggs and cream and finished under the broiler.
• Wild Rice and Leftover Salad – Wild rice and left over turkey with dried cherries, pecans, chiles and vegetables drizzled with a dressing of cranberry sauce, dijon mustard, champagne vinegar and olive oil.
• Leftover Pot Pie – Just like it sounds using a prepared pie crust.  Personally, I’d make the crust myself.
• Leftover Mish Mosh – Pureed cooked brussels sprouts and root vegetables with an egg as binder started in a skillet and then transferred to the oven.

The specifics of the recipes aren’t that important.  Take the ideas and make your own variations on these using ingredients you already have that you know your family likes.

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Recycle it!

If it’s still Halloween, take the candy your kids bring home and hand it out to trick-or-treaters. Just don’t let your kids catch you. This is a good reason to take your kids our trick-or-treating early (and finish early)!

Take it to work

Let your coworkers finish it off for you. Put a bowl out in the kitchen and it should be empty by the time you leave the office. Just think of all the calories and cavities you just saved! It’s a good idea to sneak it into the kitchen so you aren’t labeled as the one making everyone else fat.

Make a Halloween pinata

You can make a pinata out of paper mache and then stuff it with all this leftover candy. Pinatas are also great stress relief. Make one for your kids and another for you to beat the heck out of when no one’s around.

Maybe even better… turn the pinata into a craft project with your kids. Fill it with all the leftover candy and then insist it should be for NEXT Halloween. Tragically, it disappears at some point later in the year.

Bake Halloween candy cupcakes

M&M’s and Red Hots are great baked into cookies.  Bite-sized candy bars can be baked into cupcakes.  There must be a recipe that calls for Candy Corn?!?!

Who would have thought there would be so many recipes for making homemade candy corn. I’m having a hard time believing it would be worth the effort.

Decorate with it

Use Candy Corn to decorate cakes, cookies, cupcakes or a gingerbread house.  Candy Corn makes good scary teeth (in more ways than one).  Between #4 and #5 you could make one heck of a dessert!

Melt it down

Chocolate candies can be melted down and used in making brownies, cakes or new candy.  I’m not sure what happens if you try to melt down a Butterfinger or Peanut Butter Cup, but now I’m dying to find out.

Make Halloween candy ice cream

Mix candy into store-bought ice cream, just like Cold Stone or Marble Slab.  Better yet, mix it into homemade ice cream.  Give it a cool name like Black Cat Crunch (chocolate ice cream with chopped Butterfinger and Heath Bar.)

I hope you find a good use for all that candy (that doesn’t involve you eating all of it.) 

The post Happy Halloween! Let’s do something with all that candy! appeared first on Frugal Cooking.

Personally, I have no problem with McDonalds or any other fast food chain.  They make (relatively) inexpensive, (usually) quick and (arguably) tasty food.  It’s certainly not the healthiest food on the planet, but it’s also not their responsibility to control what I eat.  The goal of nearly every restaurant is to make their customers happy and 99.9% of customers want the best tasting food possible regardless of calories, fat, cholesterol, etc…  McDonalds does that for cheap and they are successful for it.  Good for them.

So, to be fair to McDonalds, I offer these five frugal reasons you SHOULD eat at McDonalds and another five reasons you SHOULD NOT eat at McDonalds.

Top reasons you SHOULD eat at McDonalds:

1. Your body completely rejects anything with fiber, vitamins or nutrients.  You’re completely safe at McDonalds.  Feel free to eat anything on the menu.
2. You have a rare metabolic disorder and need mass quantities of empty calories just to keep your present weight.  You’re at the right place!
3. Your doctor told you that you don’t eat enough foods from the “fatty meat” and “deep-fried” food groups. Again, anything on the menu will work.
4. You’re training to be a competitive eater but on a very tight budget. I don’t even think Takeru Kobayashi trains at McDonalds.   What does that tell ya?
5. You love McDonalds and only eat there on RARE occasion. Go for it!  It’s a pretty frugal way to treat yourself.  (Sorry McDonalds, this is the only REAL reason.)

Top reasons you SHOULD NOT eat at McDonalds:

1. You think McDonalds is the cheapest way to get a hamburger. Every frugal cook knows that there is almost nothing that can’t be made at home for less money.  This is no exception.
2. You eat at McDonalds often enough to know exactly how much a meal #3 costs with tax. Take the money you think you’re saving on food and get some better health insurance because you’re going to need it.  Better yet, life insurance.
3. You want to teach your children good eating habits so they grow up to live long, healthy lives.  This is actually a reason TO take them to McDonalds- just make it once or twice a year (not weekly!)
4. You would like to get to use your social security benefits one day. Eating fast food regularly will shorten your life.  You could easily cook food at home that is even worse than McDonalds, so watch it!
5. You have this crazy hang up about feeling good and living a long time. The old saying “you are what you eat” is totally true.  Eat good food and you’ll feel good and live long.

So now that you have some good reasons on each side, where will you eat today?

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