Illinois Chicago Style Pizza

Chicago-style pizza, or deep dish pizza, contains a crust which is formed up the sides of a deep dish pan.  Ingredients are put in reverse order: crust, cheese, filling, then sauce on top. Deep dish pizza was purportedly invented and first served in 1943 at Pizzeria Uno, which is still operating along with its twin restaurant, Pizzeria Due, in the River North neighborhood.

Ingredients:

   * To make the pizza healthier I used Morning Star products as a substitute for meat

• 1/2 of a 12 oz bag of Morning Star Sausage-Style Crumbles
• 1/2 of a 12 oz bag of Morning Star Grillers Crumbles
• 1 packet of sliced pepperoni
• 1 14 oz jar of pizza sauce
• 2 large rolls of pizza dough (depending on the size of the pan you may need 3 rolls)
• 2 small bell peppers chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 2 cups Shredded Cheese
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 small can of sliced olives

 

Place oil in small frying pan and add onions and bell peppers. Cook till onions are softened.

Layer the bottom and sides of the baking dish with pizza dough. To make clean up easier I lined the bottom of the pan with foil and sprayed it with vegetable spray.

Layer the cheese, sausage crumbles and grillers crumbles. Then layer pepperoni to taste. Add olives.

Pour pizza sauce over the top. Make sure it is spread evenly over the pepperoni.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Add the remaining dough over the top of the of the dish. Roll the edges together to seal up the deep dish. (When I rolled out the dough for the top and realized I didn’t have enough for a thick top. It was on the thin side and some of the sauce came out).

Cook for 25 to 35 minutes.

It may not have looked pretty but it was really good. The kids devoured it. Things I want to try next time I make this…brush some oil on the top and sprinkle with garlic. Maybe some oil with fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. The possibilities are endless. This recipe is really easy to make and even taste better the next day.

The train, The train

July 25^th, 2010

The kids were so excited about going to Minnesota. No they don’t know anything about MN, they just know that we are going there to celebrate their birthday.  Gigi (grandma) will be there to help us all celebrate as well.

No surprise that they woke up early and were ready to go to Cloquet.

The weather was very nice when we woke up this morning so what happened to us on the road was very strange. We were pretty close to the Minnesota state line and when we hit the “Welcome to Minnesota” sign it started pouring down rain, like someone had flipped a switch. Was this an omen? I hope it was not a sign of things to come.

As we drove down the freeway you can easily understand how this place got its nickname – The Land of 10,000 Lakes (we actually found out that there are over 12,000). It is actually amazing that you could build anything as there is water everywhere. We drove into a cute town and noticed a lake. I know what a surprise but the place had a large parking lot so the trailer and my set-up would fit so we decided to have lunch at ‘Leech Lake’. The water was beautiful but we found out from a local that there can be leeches in the lake. Ok…I am a little scared now. After lunch the kids asked if we could go to DQ next door. Not a problem with me! We started talking about the trip and our favorite places we have been so far when Chase announced he wanted to take an ice cream tour of the US. Could we actually try? My standard answer, “we will see”. After the kids played at the lake for a while we figured we better get back on the road and find our campground.

Duluth KOA is not what I expected. Ok, I was scared as the campground is right on the railroad tracks. I was keeping my fingers crossed that the tracks were not used anymore. At first, besides the tracks, the campground looked really nice and the owners were very friendly. Then we got our site. We had this corner lot (wider in the back than in the front) with no sewer hook-up. We are going to be here how long? The owners explained to Rob that they would come pump us everyday –no problem. I am still trying to figure out why we are not in a full hook-up site. Then we had a bunch of tents next to us which wasn’t the problem. The problem…the car situation. We are trying to set-up all our stuff and move cars, etc. when one of the people staying in the tents was getting pushy about parking. We finally got everything in place and he parked in front of our trailer so that my car barely fit. Ok then. We ended up parking the truck in the front of the camp store and called it a night… or will we as I have a feeling a train will be going by.

Fargo wasn’t filmed in Fargo?

July 24, 2010

The kids were going stir crazy so they headed over to the playground while we were getting the trailers ready to hit the road. Soon the kids came back and Chase was in tears. Chase was on the merry-go-round and some kid spinned it so fast he went flying off, got the wind knocked out of him and he hurt his back. Poor thing, he ended up having a rough start to the day.

We are on the road again. Next stop Fargo North Dakota. When we picked Fargo as our stopping point I immediately looked up the Fargo movie on-line. Maybe there was some restaurant or some landmark we could check out for fun. Well guess what? The movie wasn’t filmed there so I guess not.

What can I say about the KOA-Fargo-Moorhead campground, well let’s just say I am glad it was an overnighter. How can this be a KOA? While reading the campground map it stated that it was owned by a local RV Dealership so maybe that had something to do with it. Not to sound snobby but you pay “money” to stay at KOA’s so I expect something for the dough that is forked out.  It was pretty dirty and right on the freeway. While we were setting up the kids went to go play in the playground as there was a bunch of kids. Lindsay came back to tell me that there was broken glass all over the place. To my surprise there were some kids in bathing suits and no shoes.

On a side note: I watched a bunch of guys walk to the entrance of the campground carrying an ice chest. They were busy talking, laughing and pulling out beers. Of course I was intrigued. Twenty minutes later a limo pulled up next to them. They started screaming and laughing loudly. I was still curious. I mean how many times do you see a limo pull up to a campground. Never. As the limo pulled away and headed down the road I could see some writing on the back window. Mystery solved. A bachelor party.

Rain, Rain go away…

July 23, 2010

Rain, Rain and a little more rain. After having such nice weather yesterday we are a little bummed because we have a reservation to take the Lewis and Clark Riverboat Cruise. I just called and they will not let us cancel our reservation. What to do?

Well we couldn’t justify wasting all that money, especially since we paid for the dinner cruise, so we decided to go. Just getting to the car was a challenge. The campground seemed to slant to our corner and so when we stepped out of the trailer the mud was rushing over our feet. Needless to say our mood was not the best. That quickly changed though. As we entered the drive down to the docks…the sun came out. Everything looked so fresh and shiny. When we got to the ticket office we were getting the stink eye. Oops! We were late and everyone on the cruise was waiting for us. We took our seats and the cruise was off. Chase saw a railroad trestle so he grabbed the camera and watched to see if a train would go by. Well he lucked out and he got some nice shots. As the cruise made its way down the river they started serving dinner…Mexican food from a local restaurant. I paid how much for ‘tacos’. The cruise was nice but I feel it was really overpriced for a fake river boat and a taco supreme.

When we got off the cruise we noticed on the other side of the parking lot was a cute park with a metal statute of Lewis and Clark. The kids ran over and decided to “strike a pose.” After being stuck in the trailer all day it was nice to be outside and enjoy the nice weather.

An 1800′s Soldier with a Cell Phone?

July 22, 2010

I woke up this morning with a “let’s go learn something” feeling. After some research and discussion the kids and I decided to go to Fort Abraham Lincoln. As you get out of your car you immediately step back in time. A tent is set-up with two people dressed in period costume. We learn that the ladies were brought to the Fort to clean laundry. It is starting to warm up so it is actually cooler to due laundry outside. We wait for our tour guide and read more about the Fort on our guide book; “As the Northern Pacific Railroad advanced west across Dakota Territory, the US military kept pace. When the railroad reached the Missouri River in 1872, Fort McKeen was established on the west bank of the river as a small infantry post. In November of that year, Fort McKeen was renamed Fort Abraham Lincoln. Fort Abraham Lincoln was expanded to house six companies of the 7th Cavalry under the command of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer in 1873. Their mission was to further the advancement of the Northern Pacific Railroad and guarantee the westward expansion of the American frontier. By 1874, Fort Abraham Lincoln was the largest and most important fort in Dakota Territory, housing a combined 650 cavalry and infantry soldiers. The fort was also the starting point of the 1874 Black Hills Expedition undertaken to confirm rumors of gold in the area. May 17, 1876, the troops left Fort Lincoln on the Centennial Campaign, which took the 7th Cavalry into the valley of the Little Big Horn. They were attempting to force non-treaty Indians back to their respective reservations. Outnumbered, outgunned, and out-maneuvered, over 260 men were killed during the ensuing battle, including all five of Custer’s companies.” Our guide requested that we ask him questions as if we were in the 1800’s. So when he pulled out his cell phone from his military attire because he couldn’t find the key to the front door of the house, we all had to laugh. The tour of Custer’s House was interesting; the house actually had some nice features for being in the middle of nowhere. On an interesting note : after the fort was closed and settlers moved to the area they found that wood and supplies were sparse so they stole the wood and even the stones in the foundation in all the out buildings. After exploring the barracks, the kitchens, commissary and storage barns we made our way to On-A-Slant Village. Mandan Indians had a thriving society for hundreds of years. We toured 6 restored earth lodges and learned about their life of farming and trading. Sad to say that the tribe was almost wiped out by war and white man diseases.

While touring Custer’s House our guide told us about a play he was in that was that evening in the storage barn. The kids were really excited about seeing it so we quickly went to get some gas and tried to get some cash (the gas attendant didn’t know how to work the credit card machine) because I had a feeling we would have to pay cash for the play. We rushed back to the barn and I was right –cash only. I knew the kids were really disappointed so I had to find something to make up for it. I noticed on the park map that there was a campground on site. We drove in and they had a really nice playground. BINGO. The kids made some quick friends and had fun playing.