We got sunchokes from the farmers' market this weekend; the lovely folks at Veenstra's Vegetables had a recipe box too, so I grabbed a page that had a bunch of ideas for using them. After reading up a bit about them, it sounds like sunchokes are very easy to maintain and propagate, so I'll consider buying extra this week and planting a small bed of them.

The flavor of a sunchoke is earthy but crisp and refreshing. It really brightens the flavor of a rich comforting soup like a chowder.

( recipe for Cheese & Sunchoke Chowder )

We've been drinking this new pizza beer lately and really like it. It's infused with lots of common pizza flavors: garlic, oregano, tomato, etc. and of course tastes awesome with pizza and pasta. Actually, I've found that it tastes good with lots of foods. Give it a try if you see it in the store, it's a local microbrew too, produced for them by Sprecher.

I really liked the oven-fired thin crust pizza I got on the street at Halsted Market Days and have been craving some ever since.



Used the same dough as I did for the flour tortillas. Divided into just four balls (instead of 8) and rolled oblong pieces which are thick for tortillas but thin for pizza crusts. After baking the crusts on the lowest rack at 500F for ~5minutes, we topped them with pesto, thin-sliced portabella mushrooms, sautéed japanese eggplant, cheese, and fresh herbs from the garden. Top-broiled for just a few minutes. Yummuy!

So no yeast or rising with this crust, just the baking powder and moisture to make it puff up a little. Lighter tasting and possibly not as heavy in the stomach. I think if I rolled slightly thicker pieces and top-broiled for a couple minutes each side I'd have a decent approximation for naan.

We went to Boone's post happy hour yesterday, only to find out their kitchen closed at 9p. Fortunately, Pizza Machine was nearby and open until 1a. I phoned in a pickup order and brought the pizza and Bosco sticks (mozzarella-filled breadsticks) back to the bar. Their thin-crust pizza is really good. I ate the leftovers for breakfast. >_> Also, the place is a little crazy inside so I hope we can get our big group over their in a couple weeks for a little food and fun.

Today we went to the "old hood" down south to check out Lake Pointe Grill. First off, I was amazed by the completely full parking lot. It's in a strip mall with Snap Fitness, one of the convenience-type mini gyms we checked out last fall, and the new location of El Presidente Burrito, along with I think a Smoothie place and maybe one more joint. I think everyone was there for Lake Pointe and with good reason. The menu is large and varied, the food is very tasty, and the prices are reasonable. pt got a tomato and artichoke pizza. Excellent example of a thin crust baked hot and fast in a wood-burning oven! I got a shrimp po boy and tried the breaded portabello slices. Also very good. Wanted to compare the mushroom to the recipe my brother does. Slightly different takes and I like both equally. I was a little pizza'd out, but was close to ordering the creole pizza. I'll save that for next time, we're definitely going back.

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Originally uploaded by straightedge217.

Pizza Machine is just a mile east of our home, in the same building as Holy Land diner and not too far from Boone's uptown bar and grill. I've been wanting to check this place out, but I kinda think we need a big group to go there and get one of their 40-inchers. I hear there's some sort of crane or conveyor belt to transport the huge pizzas to the tables.

Update: Pizza Delivery System!!!

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Originally uploaded by straightedge217.

Good news, there's an IMO's pizza in Springfield. Yummuy!