Favorite Kitchen Gadgets

[donnay]

For those who have had stuffed or deep pizza pies in Chicago and want to make them at home, as someone who has done it many times, I cannot recommend enough using those and these:

I thought most of Chicago has the really thin crust? When I was in Chicago that's really all I could find. New York they serve Sicilian Pizza (deep dish).

 

[acptulsa]

I thought most of Chicago has the really thin crust? When I was in Chicago that's really all I could find. New York they serve Sicilian Pizza (deep dish).

I don't believe you can get a whole pizza in any of the five boroughs that weighs as much as two slices of this:

 

[tod evans]

Stuffed pizza;

http://www.nancyspizza.com/

It's ALL IN THE STUFFING: The history of Nancy’s Pizza dates back to 1971 when Italian immigrants, Nancy and Rocco Palese, opened their first pizza parlor, Guy’s Pizza, in Chicago. They were known for their thin crust pizza, but as business fluctuated, the Paleses began experimenting. Rather than imitate, Rocco modeled his new pizza creation after a family recipe for ‘scarciedda,’ an Easter specialty cake made by his mother. The end result was the first stuffed pizza in America, which is now a staple in the pizza industry. The invention and success of the stuffed pizza led to the opening of Rocco’s new restaurant in 1974, Nancy’s Pizza in Harwood Heights, IL. This was the first of many Nancy’s Pizza locations.

THE DOUGH KEPT RISING: What began as a family owned sit-down pizzeria, expanded locally through franchising, receiving multiple accolades, including “Best Chicago Pizza” from many local media outlets. In 1990, Dave Howey of Chicago Franchise Systems, Inc., purchased the rights to Nancy’s Pizza after having been a licensee of the brand since 1977. Nancy’s has expanded beyond Chicago to Atlanta and California with multiple new locations on the horizon.

 

[acptulsa]

Stuffed pizza, Chicago style:

Make a crust and put it in a deep pan or (preferably) a cake ring on a baking stone (floured or treated with corn starch). Fill with at least a pound of cheese (varies with size, fill to a depth of two inches if grated and loose) preferably mixing your mozzarella with provolone, romano and/or parmesan. Add cooked meat or fresh, uncooked leaf spinach (try it, it's delicious) within this cheese, as desired. Put another crust over this (a thin one) and perforate thoroughly so you don't get an expanding air bubble underneath it. Spread any peppers and mushrooms you intend to use on this upper crust, then fill with a thick marinara, preferably using a tomato puree as a base. If serving someone with a tomato allergy, or for a change of pace, substitute Alfredo sauce. Use just enough sauce to cover the peppers and/or mushrooms. Trim the excess crust so it no longer drapes over the sides of the pan or ring. Bake at a minimum of 400 degrees for every bit of half an hour. If a deep pan is used, let it cool long enough for the cheese to harden a bit before attempting to remove pizza from pan.

The first step in slicing the pizza is to hold the vertical crust upright and cleave it.

Serves three times as many people as a normal pizza the same diameter.

 

[helmuth_hubener]

Call me old-fashioned but I still cut stuff with knives. A good sharp knife and a bit of technique and you don't need those plastic things.

Believe me, I was skeptical of this thing. It was a gift, and I thought "we didn't ask for this! Why did this person send this?" But the Chop Wizard (or equivalent square metal grid press-cutter) really does save a lot of time, if you have a dishwasher. And time is time, it's not coming back. Unless it's therapeutic to you to chop things old-fashionedy on a cutting board, this offers a clear benefit to your life. At least it does to mine!

 

[CPUd]

Because just about every stock picture of these things uses a steak:

 

[tod evans]

Believe me, I was skeptical of this thing. It was a gift, and I thought "we didn't ask for this! Why did this person send this?" But the Chop Wizard (or equivalent square metal grid press-cutter) really does save a lot of time, if you have a dishwasher. And time is time, it's not coming back. Unless it's therapeutic to you to chop things old-fashionedy on a cutting board, this offers a clear benefit to your life. At least it does to mine!

Sharp steel passing through food or wood is a visceral experience for me so I suppose it could be considered therapeutic...

Besides it's very seldom that I want just one sized slices or dices of something.......I guess fries would be a good use of such a gizmo but I generally fix fried taters-n-onions instead of fries.....

 

[Danke]

Believe me, I was skeptical of this thing. It was a gift, and I thought "we didn't ask for this! Why did this person send this?" But the Chop Wizard (or equivalent square metal grid press-cutter) really does save a lot of time, if you have a dishwasher. And time is time, it's not coming back. Unless it's therapeutic to you to chop things old-fashionedy on a cutting board, this offers a clear benefit to your life. At least it does to mine!

It doesn't look much different from what I posted, just less leverage.

 

[opal]

*seconds the immersion blender

and my fave thing is my flexible cutting board..pick it up.. let it bend and pour stuff in a pan.

and I like colorful things

 

[amy31416]

Because just about every stock picture of these things uses a steak:

Heh. It won't make anyone eager to come over for dinner, but I saved my breast pump for this purpose.

 

[Suzanimal]

Ice cube trays...

 

[phill4paul]

Yep. I get all of mine from Pampered Chef.

My ole lady got some for hosting a party. What the hell is up with these? It takes no energy to clean them. No scrubbing, no elbow grease. We've baked all kinds of dinners in them. Baked Manicotti. Lasagna. Enchiladas. They clean easier than glass.

 

[Suzanimal]

My ole lady got some for hosting a party. What the hell is up with these? It takes no energy to clean them. No scrubbing, no elbow grease. We've baked all kinds of dinners in them. Baked Manicotti. Lasagna. Enchiladas. They clean easier than glass.

I have no idea but I love them.