Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza

My husband and I met in the Chicago suburbs. I had lived in the region for my entire life, and my husband is from a military family, so after years of moving around the world, they settled there when he was in high school. Needless to say, the local treats of the area were a regular part of our daily lives. So now that we have been away for about four years, we are experiencing withdrawal symptoms. It is basically impossible to find Chicago style deep dish pizza in the pan handle of Florida. Dominos is fine for a quick fix, but we needed the real deal. It was time to get to work.

The pan seemed like it was going to be the biggest hurdle. I believed incorrectly that I would need an overpriced specialty pan. Then as luck would have it, while searching through dough recipes, I found that spring form cake pans were perfect for the task. I was also pinched  for time, so while I made the dough from scratch, I let the bread machine do the hard part. The recipe I used is found here on Food.com. Once the bread machine had finished its work and the rising part had completed, we simply shaped it into the pan. I cheated and used a rolling pin to get the process started, but finished by gently pulling the dough to the correct shape as often recommended.

This done, we began layering in our ingredients. This included a pound of mozzarella, onions, green bell pepper, mushrooms, and mini pepperoni slices. Stop this we added our sauce. We like ours chunky and so added a can of red pepper spiced diced tomatoes to the store bought marinara. I finished this off with fresh basil from my window ledge garden. The final topping was a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

After about 40 minutes we had ourselves a pretty good dinner. As this was an experiment, there are a few changes to be made next time. We may add ground beef. Also, I will perform the veggies a bit. I also really need to practice with dough. All in all though, this was good. Furthermore, it ended up not costing a lot since it easily made 6 individual meals. I'm definitely keeping this on our menu.

It got a little lopsided, but that's my lack of skill with dough showing.

Meals in 20 - Roast Beef Sandwich with Au Jus

Cooking is a major hobby for me. I can't think of many things more rewarding than watching the look of joy pass across the face of someone who has just tasted one of my creations. That being said, lengthy, complex meals are not always possible. Several days ago, Dear Hubby and I spent a good deal of time running errands ending in a grocery store trip. By that time we were exhausted and starving. We could have ordered take out, but the truth is we had a craving for Italian Beef sandwiches, and living in the panhandlers of Florida, they are impossible to find. When we were in Chicago, there were countless restaurants that served or one could find tubs of the stuff in nearly any store. The correct way to make it requires hours that we were unable to wait through. Then Hubby came up with a plan.

We started with good roast beef from the deli. You know the kind, perfectly pink in the middle, not sliced until you order it. We had them slice a pound and a half on the second thinnest setting. We also picked up beef broth, mushrooms, and hoagie rolls. In retrospect, a fresh clove of garlic and fresh oregano would have been good too.

This is the "doneness" we wanted. It cooks more in the au jus. 

To assemble the sandwich, we wanted the broth adding Italian seasoning, garlic pepper, and a beef bullion cube to boost the beefy goodness. This also eliminated the need to add salt. Next we added the mushrooms to flavor them and warm them. Lastly, we added the roast beef to give it more flavor and warm it. When everything was hot, it time to begin building. Slit open the rolls, and add the beef being sure to get a little of the au jus to soften the bread. Then add  the mushrooms and enough mozzarella (or whatever cheese makes you happy) and close top the sandwich. The hot meat should melt the cheese. Dish up a little of the au jus for dipping the sandwich, and chow down.

I only use Kräft cheeses. They are largely lactose free meaning they are the only choice for me. 

This is one of my favorite meal hacks because it can be personalized in so many ways and it is so quick. Not too expensive either - the roast beef was the most pricey bit. Of course we have leftovers which is always my goal. It was a great meal for a lazy night. Can't ask for much more.