ROCK CITY!

detroit-style deep dish pizza.
do you know about it?
the dough is fat, but it's also light.
the edges are crispy,
and there's a whole mess of cheese under everything else.
dudes,
it's cooler than robocop.
and he's the coolest thing in detroit.
yeah.
i made some, from scratch, as soon as i got home from work,
for a super saturday night pizza party,
and my main mango, nate, came through for a shark-gluttonous powerhouse pig-out
and together, we took down an epic acre of expert rectangular action.
word.
check the motor-city-madman-type teleport:

daaaaaaaaaamn.
if i were the type to count calories,
i'd be feelin' pretty flippin' badly about myself right now;
but since i'm NOT, i'm feelin' on top of the world,
in a greasy-rimmed garlic sprankled righteous right-angled corner-slicin' food euphoria.
that's real.
the dough is dope,
and the pan was buttered,
and oiled,
and ready to rise up and crust somebody.
good bread makes better people,
and good bread makes for deeper doper detroitier dish pizza, too.
lemme let you know about this dough, bro:
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*
PIZZA PAN CAESAR SEIZURES!
-
2 1/4 cups a.p. flour;
3/4 cup semolina flour;
2 tsp salt;
2 tsp sugar;
1/4 cup olive oil;
1 pkg yeast (2 1/2 tsp);
plus:
scant cup warm water, w/ 2 exxxtra tsp bloomed bread machine yeast,
and a squeeze of agave to activate the hottness.
-
knead it all in your stand mixer for eight minutes, on low;
or by hand, only that means you'll be at it forever,
possibly because you love having popeye forearms.
cover it and let it rise for 15,
then drop it into a rectangular 10" x 14", greased, and press it to the edges,
so it can rise inside the proper form.
...it's thick as heck, man. and it's fluffy, too.
you're going to want a HOT oven for the baking part.
i had mine reppin' 480℉ with convection circulation.
that's hot, and that helps.
-
i also used two different daiya non-dairy cheeses.
mmhmmm.
i minced up some provolone-style jauns,
which comes in slices to begin with (i used 4 slices).
i also minced up some shredded mozzarella,
because it's much better when it's even smaller.
yup.
rules is rules around here, and that's one of 'em.
i also drizzled olive oil around the crust where it touched the buttery pan,
and i dusted a teaspoon of nootch on it, to.
one of the things about detroit deepness is the burnt chee' rim.
i don't have brick cheese, i don't want brick cheese, and i don't need brick cheese.
i did, however, toss some haphazard mozz againt the edges, just to see what'd happen.
and you can see that it was good.
like, really good.
the crust was airy inside, soft at the chee' top, crusty af on the sides,
and crisp like you read about on the bottom.
*
i got kale on top.
and braised broccolini.
that's right.
naturally, there are caramelized onions, too.
they're on there in abundance,
because those muthas are what you need on some expert pizza.
also,
browned and burly baby bella mushies made their mark.
mmmmm.
you gotta precook 'em to deslime the surfaces.
nobody likes rubbery wet nibs, neighbors.
it's not a good look.
the fried garlic spranks do their duty, as does cracked black pepper..
and what's a deep dish without crushed tomatoes on top?
it's wrong.....that's what.
i got a little fancy, kids.
i did.
and i tossed on some little bitty basil leaves, for color and flavor an' that.
awwwwww.
i think those lil exxtras are pretty cute.
yeah, that's right, i said it;
and don't you dare judge me for wanting to munch up on adorable food, man.
*
sooooo,
full disclosure-
i have NO idea how long i baked this big baddie for.
nope.
i put it in, turned it once when the crust was getting golden,
and let it run until the darkness was deepening,
and the chee' was bubbling,
and the whole house had that garlic aroma flicking at the edges of our brains.
y'know?
like when you walk outside, then come back inside, and the smells are so awesome
you almost get sad that your brain had gotten so used to them?
so, you go outside and back in again, just to recharge the appreciation....
uh-huh.
i do that.
***********
pizza night is always good.
i trust in pizza, and it's never misplaced.
trust, however, is usually otherwise pretty hard to come by.
it's no longer in my nature to initially put my faith in other people.
i mean, i trust in pizza,
but i'm also the mutha-'ucker making the pizza;
so mostly, i'm just trusting myself.
that's a hard style.
especially since my life overlaps with others,
and those intersections require cooperation and communication and consideration.
which is no easy endeavor if you're counting on all of 'em letting you down.
damn, guys.
that's not very optimistic, is it?
don't i know it.
here's the thing:
we can all only exert proactivity on our own productivity.
creating worth-a-sh!t experiences that should attract like-minded warrior poets.
i'm not letting anyone down.
we'll see where that takes us.
i trust in pizza, and i'm willing to share it.
i trust in myself, and i'm willing to share that, too.
i don't trust none of y'all tho.
nope.
if our interests run parallel, i'll be seeing you.
if they're divergent, i'll be heading out to points north.
there's got to be more that just pizza out here.
although, i've seen little evidence to suggest that;
never quiet, never soft.....