San Diego Dining: Food is one thing, but cuisine is a fine art. Even the humble ‘ol pizza pie has taken new artistic heights in fine dining restaurants in the last few years, and recently I found a sharp casual restaurant portraying the pie with new delicious flair.

Pizzicato, in San Diego’s Banker’s Hill area, rolls out over 25 distinctly delectable pizza varieties daily. Local farm ingredients, paired with old-world style techniques, give each of Pizzicato’s atypical pies bold flavors. I loved the Chicken Thai pizza, topped with a caramel colored peanut sauce. Other guests are sure to fancy the Four Cheese pie, or as my guest did, the sesame marinated shrimp pizza. If you’re delight for the dough wears off, Pizzicato’s massive salads are a meal in themselves, and the Paninis are fresh off the grill.

-Just Luxe

The 25-year-old actress will engage in pizza eating, sipping champagne and a marathon viewing session of the cult TV series ‘The Twilight Zone’ with husband Ryan Reynolds which she has not been able to enjoy because of work commitments, Contactmusic reported.

“We’re both working on New Year’s Day anyway. So, we won’t do much. You know, pizza would be nice, a little champagne. Maybe watch the ‘Twilight Zone’ marathon. That’s always a favourite for me,” Johansson said.

The ‘Match Point’ star admits that she has gotten over big celebratory parties and would rather go for some quiet and peaceful time at home.

“Going from one party to the next and surfing to find the right thing, and being in a taxicab when the clock strikes – I’m so over that stuff. At the ripe old age of 25,” Johansson said.

-Indian Express

Thankfully, as detailed in New Scientist, a few mathematicians have been on the case for the past two decades and have finally devised a system for determining the portioning out of pizza when two people sit down to eat an entire pie.

Mathematicians Rick Mabry and Paul Deiermann, a professor at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, began dissecting the issue in 1994, after a casual discussion of how to ensure that a pizza was equally divided.

The formula for cutting up a pie is incredibly complicated because of the number of variables involved. A pizza is relatively easy to separate into equal portions if the initial cut is through the center — but what are the odds that a pizza chef or waiter will make that first pass in the exact center of the pie?

The likely outcome is an off-centered series of slices and the theory that if two people are splitting a pie, the one who gets the slice that runs through the center will either get more or less pizza depending on the total number of slices.

At 3, 7, 11 and 15 slices, the person who gets the center eats more in total. But with 5, 9, 13, and 17 slices, the person who gets the center eats less.

It took a head-numbing combination of geography and algebra to prove that concept, but it is one you can take with you the next time you share a pizza with a friend. Count the total number of slices and either grab or avoid the center piece accordingly.

It’s essentially the Pizza Hut equivalent of code breaking.

-The Pitch

“I think they’re probably critical to the success of what we’re able to do,” he said of youth organizations in Louisburg.

Take, for example, Broadmoor Elementary School. Its annual food drive officially began Nov. 20, but even before then, food items began trickling in — a can of green beans here, a few boxes of macaroni there.

Today, with more than a week remaining in the drive, what was at first a small pile of food is becoming a veritable mountain, as classes compete for that pinnacle of all elementary-school prizes: a pizza party.

“They’ll do anything for a pizza party,” Broadmoor Principal Chris McLean said with a laugh.

The fact of the matter is, McLean said, he’s not surprised in the least at how much food his students have managed to gather already.

“I would be, but knowing the kids in the families here, they rally behind everything and support pretty much everything you do,” he explained. “It goes to local families in a time of need that we have right now.”

Agape Food Pantry provides food to families in need within roughly the same boundaries as Louisburg USD 416, so many student groups make an effort to donate throughout the year. Recently, Louisburg High School’s LEOs Club — a student service club — decided to trick-or-treat for canned goods on Halloween and brought in several carloads of food.

Because kids attack these projects with such enthusiasm, Steck said, they frequently go home and tell their parents. What started as a food drive promoted by 400 students suddenly becomes one involving hundreds of parents and grandparents as well.

Publicity of that quality and scope is something the pantry never could achieve on its own, he noted, and it has a lasting effect on everyone involved.
“Once you involve the community, you raise awareness, and then you can fight the fight on more than one front,” Steck said. “People become involved, and they realize there’s more charitable giving needed.”

“I think charity says a lot about your character,” McLean added. “It’s a good lesson, and I think it’s one where these kids are realizing more and more that they know people in need. It’s going to local people, too, and I think it means a lot to the community. They like to help out their own.”

The Broadmoor Elementary School food drive will run until Dec. 11, at which point all proceeds will be donated to Agape Food Pantry.

- Herald-Online.

Seattle-based startup Order Mapper is tackling that problem with an iPhone app launched today called Order Pizza. You enter your contact information, pick a nearby pizzeria, select toppings and the size from a menu and press order through the app.

It then makes a call using Twilio, which has a powerfulapplication programming interface for phone services. The automatically generated phone call uses a recorded voice to read your details to the pizzeria. It sounds like a customer service phone tree, except the tables are now turned and the pizzeria has to listen to an annoying phone menu of your order. Payment is analog: you pay with cash when the delivery man gets to your door.

Order Mapper’s co-founder Jim Bricker says about 95 percent of pizzerias the company has tested the service with have accepted orders, even if they had never heard of Order Mapper. The app is free and doesn’t add any extra charges for ordering pizza through the app. The way the company plans to earn revenue is by selling premium services to pizzerias, like their own branded apps or additional menu options. (Order Mapper only works with generic ingredients like pepperoni, so if you are a patron of an extra bourgeois pizzeria with Thai peanut sauce, you won’t be able to access those options.)

All of this begs the question — I can already order pizza from anywhere in the country through my phone, so why do this? This app is for the particularly lazy, the ones that don’t want to wait through a phone call or deal with customer service. Really, Order Mapper’s approach could be used in any generic, local service industry like calling a taxi. The company has eight employees and is at a seed-funding stage.

Article by: TechOat.com

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp jellied or whole cranberry sauce
• 3 oz cooked turkey, sliced thin
• 1-1/2 oz shredded provolone cheese
• 1-1/2 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 tsp fresh chives, chopped fine
• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped fine
• 3/4 cup jellied or whole cranberry sauce
• 3/4 lb cooked turkey, sliced thin
• 6 oz shredded provolone cheese
• 6 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 tsp fresh chives, chopped fine
• 4 tsp fresh parsley, chopped fine

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450F. Place the pizza crust on a baking sheet.

Spread the cranberry sauce on top of the crust up to 1/2 inch from its edge. Arrange the sliced turkey on top. Spread the provolone and mozzarella evenly over the top.

Bake the pizza until the cheese is bubbly and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, transfer to a cutting board, garnish with chives and parsley, and cut into slices.

This helpful recipes was from Ucook.com

Amazing! I don’t think I’ll ever eat something as big as the Carnivore Pizza Challenge.. maybe they should add some veges!

Ingredients

Sauce base:

• 12 ounces plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 1/3 ounces tomato paste
• 1/4 teaspoon olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Garlic powder, for seasoning
• 8 fresh basil leaves, torn

Vegetable Sauce:

• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1 small eggplant, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 roasted red bell pepper, sliced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 ounce pine nuts
• 1 small eggplant

Pizza:

• 24 ounces pizza dough
• 1/3 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into chunks
• 1 pound fresh buffalo mozzarella, cut into chunks
• 6 ounces cooked chicken, diced or shredded
• 6 ounces cooked tuna, diced or shredded
• 2 ounces grated romano cheese
• Cooked tri-color pasta, for garnish, optional

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

For the sauce base: Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to combine and set aside.

For the vegetables: In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, combine carrot, celery, zucchini, peppers, olive oil, pine nuts and the sauce base, and let simmer for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, bake the eggplant until softened, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly, then remove peel and mash flesh. Add to vegetables. Simmer until eggplant combines with vegetable sauce, about 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

For the pizza: stretch the dough out into a large pizza pan or baking sheet. Spread with the vegetable sauce. Top with mozzarella chunks, chicken, tuna and grated cheese. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes, then increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F and bake until bottom crust is brown and crispy, about 8 minutes.

If desired, garnish with cooked tri-color pasta.

Here’s a great Veggie pizza recipes for your Vegetarian friends!

Ingredients

• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry Ranch-style dressing mix
• 1 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped cauliflower
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Roll out the crescent roll dough onto a 9×13 inch baking sheet, and pinch together edges to form the pizza crust.
3. Bake crust for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Once finished cooking, remove crust from oven and let cool 15 minutes without removing it from the baking sheet.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, and dry Ranch dressing. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Arrange broccoli, tomato, green bell pepper, cauliflower, shredded carrots, and Cheddar cheese over the cream cheese layer. Chill for one hour, slice and serve.

Recipes by JANMARIE from AllRecipes.com

Perfect Pizza Rule #1:

There is a specific order of assembly:
Sauce, Cheese, Toppings, Cheese, Garnish.
Or:
Oil, Cheese, Toppings, Cheese, Oil, Garnish.

Two or three tablespoons of sauce are all you need for a small pizza. Spread it on with a large spoon. Apply oil to the dough with a pastry brush and drizzle a little more on the top of the pizza, if desired. (Watch out for chili oil, it’s hot.) Apply half the cheese over the sauce or oil, and half on top. Apply garnishes, if any, after the pizza is cooked.

Perfect Pizza Rule #2:

Spread sauce, oil and toppings only within the rim of the crust. Never cover your pizza dough clear to the edge; it’s just not done in polite circles.

Perfect Pizza Rule #3:

All ingredients on your pizza should finish cooking at the same time. If need be, pre-cook toppings that take longer to cook, like bell peppers. Likewise, pre-cook foods that tend to get watery, like eggplant and thick-sliced mushrooms, unless you want pizza soup.

Perfect Pizza Rule #4:

Cool all cooked ingredients before applying them to the dough. Hot toppings on pizza dough will ruin the dough. Again, pizza soup.

Perfect Pizza Rule #5:

Less is more. Avoid putting ‘some of everything’ on your pizza. As a rule, use only 2 or 3 well-chosen toppings. There are always exceptions, though.

Perfect Pizza Rule #6:

Bake your pizzas in a very hot oven. A 500° oven is perfect. A lower temperature is OK if your oven doesn’t go that high; just cook it a little longer. Crisp, restaurant-quality pizza calls for cooking it on a pizza stone. A pizza stone and peel set is recommended.

- Great Party Recipes