{Go there}: Hog and Hominy.

I'm going to be honest. I delayed trying out Hog and Hominy (the new-er restaurant from the owners of Andrew Michael Kitchen) because I'm not really a foodie. I'm a pretty picky eater and in reading their menu, I didn't think there was much there I could eat.

And yet everyone who went there clamored about it, down even to my students who couldn't get over the peanut butter pie (more on that later...). I had to figure out what I was missing and be in this "in", "hip" crowd going to H&H.

The opportunity presented itself in the form of a goodbye dinner. One of my friends got a fab job and is moving to Nashville (and she requested it be called a "see you later" dinner). We asked her what was still on her list of places to try and she mentioned H&H. So off we went!

H&H is on Brookhaven Circle - a booming little area of good restaurants tucked off Poplar near Mendenhall. The exterior is like a little home (like most of the restaurants in this area, they are situated in homes changed into restaurants) but the inside is very open and urban industrial chic, which is a huge contrast to Andrew Michael Kitchen, which is like eating at your fancy grandmother's house.

The menu is broken into small plates, pizzas, and farmers. The small plates could be little meals or appetizers, or you could have that and share a pizza. The farmers are sides.

Our table was right by the kitchen, which is open to the restaurant:

I liked their choice of tile/grout (same as our kitchen).

They have a fancy drink menu - here's what the future Nashvillian (Nashville-ite?) got:

There were lots of people engaging in post-work bar action. Seemed like a very happening scene.

We ordered three different pizzas and promised to share slices. Anjelica got the Red Eye, which has come highly recommended by several people. It has a fried egg in the center, which you are to smear over the pizza before eating.

I got the Quattro Formaggio, which has four cheeses (obviously), roasted garlic, and a cream sauce. It was for real the best pizza I've ever eaten in my life (OK maybe a tie with the vodka pie at Aldo's).

Sarah got the Sunshine State, which has arugula pesto and bacon.

All three were ridiculously delicious but if I went back (and I will), I'd get the quattro formaggio again.

Now back to that peanut butter pie. Since we were in celebration mode, we went for dessert. I got the peanut butter pie, as did Anjelica, and Sarah got the "Carol's Delightful Smile," which was a chocolate pie. Now it isn't that the delightful smile wasn't good (it was) but the peanut butter pie was just that much better. Like.. favorite dessert status. It has fresh banana as a layer on the bottom (I don't even like bananas and I liked it) and the peanut butter filling is light and fluffy. There are crushed butterfingers on the top.

Another note - the service was first class. Our waiter knew the menu, had great timing, was very polite and funny without being overbearing, and just was generally pleasant. After going to some restaurants lately that lacked in the service area, this was refreshing and a reminder of how a waiter should be. Way to go!

I will definitely return to Hog and Hominy and you should too - they have a great patio and even bocce courts (see, so hip). Parking is a little of an issue (we parked in a salon's parking lot since they were closed for the night) and I hear it can get crowded but I promise it's worth it - even GQ thinks so. They named H&H one of the 12 best restaurants of 2013.

In pizza and peanut butter pie,

{Make This}: Buffalo Chicken Pizza.

It all started when I texted Jake about missing Harley's birthday...

Jake suggested buffalo chicken pizza and so like that, plans were made. I stopped by Fresh Market and got our favorite frozen pizza dough (it comes in a ball, not the canned stuff).

We enjoy making our own pizza and the buffalo chicken was particularly delicious. To make this,

You'll need...
- pizza dough (we used wheat frozen dough from Fresh Market)
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast, boiled and shredded
- buffalo sauce (we used Target Brand "buffalo pizza sauce", which was basically plain buffalo sauce)
- mozzarella cheese
- blue cheese crumbles
- ranch dressing
*you could add celery pieces

You'll do...

1) Preheat the oven according to your pizza dough directions. Make your pizza dough.

2) Chop your shredded chicken to small bits

3) Spread your buffalo sauce on your pizza crust, then top with chicken, your cheeses, and thinly drizzle the ranch dressing

4) Cook your pizza according to directions and serve.

Enjoy!

{Make this}: Flour Tortilla Pizzas.

When I was at the beach over spring break, our host made these pizzas and I knew as soon as I ate one that I'd have to try the recipe out for myself. So the other night when we were making a last-minute meal, I suggested the flour tortilla pizzas.

Inspired by my friend's dad at the beach, here's our version....

You'll need:

2 large flour tortillas
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cooked & shredded
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (we used the garlic and herb kind)
shredded mozzarella cheese
minced fresh garlic
handful of spinach
Cavender's greek seasoning
olive oil

You'll do:
1) Pre-heat your oven to 350 and cook your chicken

2) On a greased cookie sheet, build your pizzas. Take your tortillas and brush them with olive oil. Put tomatoes on as a thin layer (make sure the juice has been drained). Add chicken, spinach, garlic, and cheese. Shake greek seasoning on top.

3) Cook for 10-15 minutes (until tortillas are crispy and cheese is melted)

Serve! We used a pizza cutter to make 4 slices on each pizza and it fed the two of us quite well. You could take this idea and run with it - maybe a party where each person has their own toppings?

In pizza,

{Go There}: Aldo's Pizza Pies.

For a few years now there has been rumbling of another restaurant opening up under the same owner as our beloved Slider Inn. Finally it was true - Aldo's Pizza Pies opened recently on Main Street here in Memphis. Jake and I went for dinner last weekend and loved it so naturally it's time to share here!

This week has been crazy busy for me (thus the lack of posting for a week) and I've had these pictures ready to go for most of the week. I kept feeling like I was getting kicked in the pants because each Memphis blog I read would post about Aldo's and I just felt like I was losing more and more of my legitimacy. But then I remembered I'm not legitimate. I'm just a girl blogging about her world. And all was right again.

No but really, check out the fab reviews:
Dining with Monkeys goes to Aldo's
Memphis Foodie does Aldo's
Hungry Memphis covers Aldo's

and more.

So back to our dinner. It was delicious. I consider myself to be a pizza connoisseur and therefore was very excited to scout this place out, which had been buzzing with great reviews. In fact, I was really worried about getting a table - thank goodness Jake talked me into going that night. There was a wait but since there were just two of us, we got a table right away.

Aldo's is across the street from another favorite of ours, Local Gastropub. This area of town (Main Street right off Peabody Place) has turned into the happening area and I love it! People were walking up and down the street, eating at the restaurants, going to the bars, and enjoying the pretty night. Aldo's has a patio but it wasn't being used that night - it rained earlier but I'm not sure why they didn't set it back up. You can tell from the picture above that the inside of Aldo's is quite large, especially for a downtown restaurant.

We sat down, looked at our menus, and decided what we wanted. A few weird things - the website listed on the menu doesn't exist. Here's their facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aldos-Pizza-Pies/334407356640822 . Also our waitress was very nice but kind of spacey. We ordered the garlic knots and a 12 inch pizza (everyone says get the garlic knots) and we never got our knots. They weren't on our bill and our pizza filled us up so it was fine but sort of strange. Growing pains, I suppose.

I loved the urban chic feel of the restaurant. There is a huge bar in the back with 30 beers on tap. There are lots of long booths for big parties (a good thing given how hard it is to get a table together for a big party it seems) and I especially loved the light fixtures. Not sure if you can tell but the ceilings are very tall and the light fixtures are industrial. It just felt cool.

So after not so long, our pizza came. We got the vodka cream with pepperoni. Words cannot express. Freshly sliced pepperoni. Vodka cream sauce. Perfectly crafted dough. It easily shot to the top of our pizza list. It was the freshest, most tasteful pizza I've had in a long time.

So bottom line. Pizza was amazing. Service was ok. Atmosphere was trendy. I'm hoping they keep up the momentum. We will definitely be back. There are lots of other speciality pizzas worth trying (I hear their bbq pizza uses Tops and has cole slaw) - something for everyone.

You should go there.

Aldo's Pizza Pies
100 South Main
Memphis, TN 38103


(Sidenote: it is funny to me that I wrote the blog post for Slider Inn on August 23rd, 2011. A year and a day later, I am writing one for their sister restaurant.)

In pizza pies and trendy new restaurants,

{Go there}: New favorite pizza from Trolley Stop.

I am very much obsessed with Trolley Stop on Madison at Orleans. It features fresh food and has the cutest little marketplace. They have a revolving menu based on what the farmer suppliers have available and post their menu for the night on their facebook page (you don't have to be on fb to see it, mom!).

Jake goes more than I do because it is walking distance from school for him. I go often for girly breakfast club but don't get there much for lunch or dinner. So when I heard that they had new specialty pizzas on their menu, I knew it was a must-try. We were off for "Spring Break 2" round these parts Friday so Jake and I were civilized real adults and lunched together.

And that is where my new favorite pizza from Trolley Stop comes in. We were going to try the chicken-gorgonzola pizza (doesn't that sound fab?!) but they were out of gorgonzola (oh the horror). So we got their potato rosemary pizza and added sausage and feta.

Oh goodness. This pizza. You'd think potatoes wouldn't be good on a pizza but let me tell you from experience - to.die.for. We had half for lunch and then took the rest home as leftovers (their pizzas are HUGE! we got the small!). Next time we'll definitely get it again and add garlic to the add-ons.

You definitely need to go to Trolley Stop and try this pizza.

{Life}: Date Nights at Garabaldis.

There are a few things to know about me:
1) I love pizza.
2) Once I find something I love, I will eat it/order it over and over. I don't grow tired of things.
3) I am a pretty casual person
4) I enjoy spending time with my hubs, Jake

With these things in mind, I'll let you in on a little tradition Jake and I started up about a year ago. Once a week, usually a Sunday night, we go to our favorite pizza place in Memphis - Garabaldi's on Walker at Highland. We like it for a lot of reasons. First, we can get a 16inch pizza and a pitcher of beer for $22. Second, there are TVs so Jake can watch sports. Third, it is never crowded and the staff is very nice. Lastly, it is just freaking delicious pizza.

With Jake in school, we don't get to spend as much time together as we'd like. So this is our chance to carve out a little dedicated time to talk and hang out with each other. It is a little tradition that I love and hope to continue doing. 

So there are our date nights. I'm pretty easy to please - just take me to get some pizza.

In pepperoni pizza,

Go there: High Point Pizza.

I love pizza. Blog about it a lot. I had heard about High Point Pizza before but had never gone since we sort of have our pizza staples (mostly our weekly trip to Garabaldi's). But the other day when my friend Ellen got her new dog Lily, we were visiting in her new house and got the hunger. She lives in High Point so we decided to walk over to High Point Pizza (side note - pedestrian neighborhoods with little strips of business = wonderful).

High Point Pizza is a small little neighborhood spot on (of course) High Point Terrace in East Memphis. Their crust is ridiculous - it has some sort of garlic butter flavoring to it. We got our standard (pepperoni with mushrooms on half) and loved it. Ellen and Matthew got the Cajun Chicken. They report it is very delicious.

I definitely recommend going if you're in Memphis. It only has a few tables but doesn't seem to get too busy so you should be ok. They've got a website (here) and their menu is on there.

In pizza as a part of the food pyramid,

Recipe Update: Potato Sausage Pizza.

 Friday night last week we had Jake's family over for dinner. His parents and sisters came over (Josh was missing - something about a little football game he had to watch versus Arkansas?) and we made four different pizzas. I've raved about the Fresh Market frozen pizza doughs, so of course we stopped by FM to get some dough and ingredients.  Here's they are:

We made a margherita pizza, a sausage/pepperoni/mushroom/garlic pizza, a pepperoni and pepperoncini pizza, and my favorite - the potato sausage pizza. People are always scared of that one and then love it when they eat it. I wanted to share the recipe again since the first time I didn't document well.

Side note - I'm in love with my kitchen (which is a good thing considering the time/money). We spread everything out on the island and were able to cook and talk at the same time.

Part of the process was prepping everything. To make it easier/faster, we cut/chopped/pealed everything before they came over. In this picture, the potatoes for the potato pizza are thinly sliced and sitting soaking in olive oil in the little dish in the back:

And so here are our results. I didn't get a chance to document the full pizzas of the second set because they were gone before I could get a picture, but that lets you know they were GOOD.

So now for the recipe for the potato sausage pizza. Last time we made it, I blogged about it very poorly here. And so hopefully this one is better.

You'll need:

pizza dough
potatoes (we used small Yukon Golds this time and that worked well - they need to be thinly sliced)
sausage (Italian is best - you'll ground it/cook it prior to putting it on the pizza)
mozzarella (fresh please, in balls)
tomato sauce/pizza sauce
garlic (minced)
spices (red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, salt, pepper)
Cavender's Greek Seasoning*

*we used this for the first time on the pizza this most recent time and I really think it was a game changer. Can be found on the spice aisle

You'll assemble your pizza by
1) laying out your dough - with the Fresh Market dough, I roll it in flour, flatten it out, then brush with olive oil and put parmesan cheese on it
2) spoon out your pizza sauce. we usually just use tomato sauce for this
3) lay out toppings - potatoes, sausage, mozzarella, garlic
4) add seasonings - red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, salt, pepper, Cavender's Greek
5) cook according to dough directions

Enjoy!

Ten for Two Challenge: Round Three

Back again! Our next night of cheap eating brought us to a perennial favorite, pizza. This one was a bit of a cheat because we had most everything but hey - still cost us less than $10 for the meal. 

We had frozen Fresh Market pizza dough in the fridge from a few weeks ago, had left over cheese for the pizza from a meal a week or so prior, and had canned tomato sauce in the pantry. 

So, I bought:
- pepperonis (2.59 for the package - contemplated turkey pepperoni, maybe next time?)
- mushrooms for Jake's 1/2 ($.50 ish, based on weight and not many mushrooms)

For the sauce, I took a can of tomato sauce and our jarred minced garlic, plus Italian seasoning and combined it all in a bowl.

And a tip I read on the interwebs - Microwave the pepperonis in a paper towel for 15 seconds to de-grease them and make them crispy before putting on pizza to bake.

Here's to another budget meal - in saving our pennies,

Fresh Market Frozen Pizza Dough is Amazing.

Our pizza life has been revolutionized. I read (on someone's blog... I forgot who) that Fresh Market had a frozen pizza dough and so when we were running errands this weekend, we got two as a trial. It is my duty to tell you now that you must use this dough. (Unless you make your own and then la-di-dah fancy pants). If you're like us and use the pre-made stuff, upgrade your life and go to the frozen section of Fresh Market. You'll thank me.

 You set the dough out at room temp. to thaw, then you roll it out on a floured surface.

 You then put it on a well-greased baking sheet (I'm sure a pizza stone would work, we just don't have one) and add toppings. This one was chicken, feta, spinach, garlic, and capers.
Here it is before it went in the oven:

 And here's the final product. Best thing about this dough? It holds up to heavy toppings and lets you still eat it as a slice instead of falling apart.

I'm going to need you to get some....

Eat there: Big Ed's Pizza, Oak Ridge, TN.

After my Pizza Hut experience the night before, my training group let me drag them for real pizza today - we went to THE place in Oak Ridge, Big Ed's Pizza.

Big Ed's is one of those places you hear about from everyone. I posted on fb that I was going to Oak Ridge and had several friends tell me to go to Big Ed's. I'd actually been last year (when I came to this same training) but didn't really remember whether it was good or not (probably because I was so stressed about teaching a new class). So I'm glad we went back this year because it was DELICIOUS.

 Big Ed is no longer with us, but his restaurant has been going strong for many decades. It is a hole in the wall type place, cash only. I had heard such great reviews that I was pretty surprised that some people online didn't like it - said it was too greasy, etc. Well it is greasy but that is part of what makes it good. I'm a pizza expert and I can tell you this isn't your regular ole pizza. 

Side note though - don't go to Big Ed's expecting customer service. The waiters and waitresses don't really care about you or your needs. It is a place that gets a lot of people in and out so you're packed in there and the waitress doesn't check on you much. In fact, gross story... the people next to us had 4 kids under the age of 5 and one on the way (no lie). We noticed a strange smell after they were gone and looked over to see a dirty diaper on the floor. We told the waitress and she shook her head and walked off, not picking it up. I mean I don't blame her. But really. Some people. 

Poopy diaper aside (still gross), Big Ed's pizza is a must if you're in Knoxville or Oak Ridge.

Make this: Provel-style Pizza

My friend Eric has family from St. Louis and he would always tell me how wonderful the Provel cheese they put on their pizzas was, used especially at Imo's Pizza. One day when I was in our grocery store (Schnuck's on Union for you locals) I saw Imo's pizza sauce and figured I might try it out. Well, later that same trip, lo-and-behold (love that phrase!), guess what kind of cheese Schnuck's sells in the deli? Provel! We bought a small block of it and headed home to make a St. Louis inspired pizza. 


Now real St. Louis pizza would have a thin, flaky crust but around here, we use the canned stuff (it happens). But, nonetheless, St. Louis inspired. We shredded the Provel, laid out the crust, added the sauce, put the cheese on, and then added pepperonis, sausage, and pepperoncinis. One thing we did different this time with the pepperonis that I really liked was we threw them in the skillet with the sausage just a minute to make them crispy prior to cooking the pizza. 


Here's the result:

Provel has a very different taste to it - it is smooth, goopey, and a bit smokey. I loved it. I'm still going to use fresh mozz usually but for something different, I'm definitely going to turn to Provel cheese. 


You know you want to get your own Provel,

Go there: Trolley Stop - Get Pizza.

I have mentioned several times how much I love Trolley Stop. I love the feel, I love that it is a Midtown/Downtown establishment, I love that they use fresh, local products, I love (mostly?) the market with goodies to peruse (can get dangerous...), I LOVE the pizza. 

Most recently, Jake picked up a large pepperoni pizza for us one night:

Absolutely delicious. I also had the Margherita recently and really recommend that as well - check out the picture of it in their pizza case on their facebook page. Ridiculous. So yes, Go there. Really.

In a never-ending love of pizza, 

Sausage, Feta, and Spinach Pizza.

In the spirit of Lent and my promise to be more diligent about cooking dinner at home, in my fabulous new kitchen, with the company of my wonderful husband, we set about making our third meal in of the week, a family staple of pizza. 

As I mentioned, I had purchased 12 items to make three meals so the same types of ingredients are in this pizza that were in the Breakfast for Dinner meal of the prior night... but they are things that we love so we're ok with that!

Our love affair with making our own pizza continues and we always try to think of fun new ways to do our pizza. Wednesday night's pizza had:

- spicy sausage
- thinly sliced fresh tomato
- spinach
- feta
- garlic
- tomato sauce
- pizza seasoning

And the best part? Preparing it on our new countertops:

 Check out all that room on our island now thanks to the media center on the other side. We're loving all the prep space (now to keep it clutter free...). 


And our pizza out of the oven? Divine.

In finding even more things that involve feta and spinach to get my moneys worth of those ingredients,