DEEPENING

hey guys,
i find there's something slightly comforting
about the way i write out these missives
telling all about the meals that make the magic happen
from inside the hallowed homely halls of the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress.
formulaic prose isn't the worst thing you can read day in and out,
is it?
yikes.
i sure hope not.
and really,
when i'm tipppity-tap-typing this sort of spellcasting blueprint,
it's the template for worthy warrior paeans of pizza and power and appreciation,
for  all the really real Folk Life foodstuffs,
and the hard-styled new hottnesses of this woodsly goodness i reside in.
no jokes.
i love food, and i love writing about food.
everybody has to have their thing,
or, if you're an expert, you have several varied and specialized things.
too much is the right amount,
and we sure as heck doo-doo that sh!t up in here,
and these days, one of the highly-refined facets of our gastronomical gemstone
kaleidoscope of new hottness and delicious delights is pizza.
yep.
pizza is the boss like tony danza.
and more specifically, these last few weeks have introduced us to the Truth.
and the Truth is deep, duders.
SO DEEP.
first things first,
check the teleport:

DEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!
two kinds of pies,
two distinct regional regents of the best thing that happens anywhere.
neighbors,
my underchee' situation is getting kinda expert these days.
that's no joke.
after the initial batch of blarpity thickness,
there's the upgrade-
where i blend in soymilk and tapioca and fresh garlic!
that stuff goes to eleven so hard.
and the blops of that fresh-type mozzarella dropped on top, or underneath??
you need it.
first off,
we got the windy-city pretty picture circle of sexxxy inverted stacks on stacks.
mmmmmmmmm.
teleport:

friends,
that's the stuff huh?
go ahead,
take a closer look:

c'mon!!
garlic-cashew underchee';
daiya mozz;
caramelized onions and leeks;
homemade from-scratch spicy chik'n roast, cubed and sauteed;
baby spinach;
MORE daiya mozz;
crushed tomatoes,
and green onion sprankles.
kaBOOM.
hey!
does that crust look good to you?
yeah.
it does to me, too.
i put even more butter up in it this time.
yeah.
i mean, rules IS rules, yknow?
the results are impressively expert,
if i do say so...and i do say so.
the crunch of the crispity crust,
plus the fluff of the buttery sides,
and the exxxtra-butterish i basted the pan with didn't hurt a damned thing, either.
if i'm 'nout to beat up some deep'n,
i'm gonna bring the heavy cumulonimbus thunderclaps to the party with me.
real talk.
which brings me to that hard hittin' brooklyn bombardier we baked up.
teleport:

that's that old school recess jauns right there.
i mean,
for realsies.
the heavy duty booty shaking magic-makin' earthquake of pizza time dopeness
is all up in this b!tch, and that's an honest-to-woodsly-goodness true story.
g'head now,
get up in there and appreciate the thickness:

right?
o.g. underchee' underneath,
and the black-pepper crusted hot thin sliced roast laid out on that,
covered with caramelized onions,
blasted with a big thick spread of daiya mozz.
that alone would've been pure fire,
but you know how we doo-doo that deep'n business up here, don't you?
yeah.
we OVERdo it.
a big ol' half a can of italian crushed tomatoes, new haven style,
followed by a LOT of the new garlic cashew cream-saucy mozzarella-burrata big action,
and then, custom hard-hearted smoked paprika pepperoni slices, in abundance,
and a tight finish with those parsley sprankles.
yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup.
we don't play, y'all.
this is not a joke.
deep dish is for keeps.
***********
pizza sometimes almost takes too long.
what?!?
no, it does.
like,
when you're cold proofing your dough because it always tastes better when you do,
but then you get home late,
and that cold-A* dough needs to warm up before stretchin' out?
time-consuming.
when the onions and leeks aren't enough for two pies?
that's a whole second onion caramelizing, because wimping out is never on the menu.
or how about when you're blending your exxxtra-garlicky goodness in,
and the ratio of wet to dry is jussssssst a little off, so you fine tune it twice.....
no big deal, unless you're adding it on to an already belated dinner timeline.
and guys,
it's always a good idea to switch the pies from top to hot hearth stone,
so they all get the good traditional crisp buttery crust on the bottom.
little things add up, and before you realize it's been an hour,
you're eating dinner in the dark,
and going deep(dish) into a fatbelly food coma.
there are worse things, but that doesn't mean i wouldn't prefer something better.
the situation as it stands is that late pizza is way more awesome than NO pizza,
but early pizza is a clearly superior pizza time.
i make the most of what i've got,
and i make the most pizza all of the time.
this is What Is,
and it's the whole reason i tell these stories.
i hope you enjoy them,
and i hope you're eating some pizza;
never quiet, never soft.....