Pizza

Pizza.  That doesn't sound very inspiring does it.  Well, after the day we have had and our plans for this evening, it was the perfect choice.  The day started early with a trip down to Holbeck to help set up for Holbeck Gala.  Plenty of furniture moving later, I was back home in time to freshen up so that we could head out for a pub lunch.

Our destination was The Roundhay Fox as we were planning to spend the afternoon at Tropical World.  I had called ahead and booked a table for the four of us.  Gary* had told me that there was a large party in over lunch time so there would be a delay in food orders but that didn't put us off.  Perhaps I should have heeded Gary's advice.  Our wait was so long that we were given complimentary drinks, which was nice.

When the food did turn up it was good.  I have been complaining about a lack of seafood on restaurant menus so felt honour bound to order the Grilled Plaice.  It was well cooked but it was missing the prawn, lemon and parsley butter that should have been its sauce.  Z had Spanish chicken and Mum had the steak and ale pie.  All were eaten with gusto but the happiest diner was R who devoured his scampi and peas.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Tropical World.  I was mainly chasing after R, while he chased after butterflies and discovered the amazing game of running back and forth through the plastic curtains that divide the rooms.  We noticed a thermometer at one point that was registering 43 degrees which would explain why I was so hot and exhausted by the time we left.

After a big lunch and fun and games with the meerkats, pizza was exactly the right early evening meal.  We still had some of Z's home made pizza dough in the freezer which we defrosted and rolled as thin as possible.  Pizza number one was a vegetable feast with peppers, courgette, artichoke, passata and mozzarella**.  The second was a meat feast with salami, chorizo, Parma ham, passata and mozzarella.

With our stomachs suitably lined and R asleep, Z and I took the opportunity of a live-in babysitter.  Leeds is full of great bars and there seem to be new ones opening up all the time.  We ended up in Dock Street Market where I had some great beer by Flying Dog and Z had one of their superb cocktails.  Then we moved onto Friends of Ham for more craft beer, fino sherry and a tasting plate of wonderful meat including finocchiona which you have to try!  I'm just left wondering when I'll be able to try it again.

*the extremely chatty employee of The Fox who took our reservation.
**Britain's second favourite cheese after cheddar.

Pizza

Way back in April Z made pizza from scratch using a Jamie Oliver recipe.  The quantities of the recipe made more than enough dough for two fatties to gorge themselves on pizza and still have leftovers.  Jamie insisted that the dough could be frozen, so frozen it was, until today.

I'm always a bit wary with frozen cakes and bread.  I'm never convinced that they will defrost all the way through without being spoiled.  I had the same misgivings for the pizza dough, but I shouldn't have worried as it thawed perfectly.  Once defrosted, the dough rolled as thin as possible, covered in ham and three cheeses, it was baked in as hot an oven as was possible.  Home made pizzas are the future and so much better than anything you can buy in the shops.

Friday Night Take-away - Pizza

Z has been doing the cooking all week and she pulled out all of the stops for our Friday Night Take-away.  We quite often pimp a shop bought pizza with additional toppings but today Z made the whole thing from scratch.

The dough was made following a Jamie Oliver recipe.  Z made this during the day with a little help from the boy.  It was rolled as thin as possible and topped with tomato sauce, parma ham, salami, mozzarella and parmesan cheese and baked for 10 minutes with our oven turned up to 11.  The only way it could have been improved would have been to turn the oven up to 12, but it doesn't get that hot.

Friday Night Take-away - Pizza

Z was late home from work tonight.  I could hardly begrudge her some post work drinkies as one of her best friends is leaving Leeds for a life down under.  I was sad not to be going along but somebody had to hold the baby.  By the time she got home from The Adelphi, R had had his supper and was ready for bed and I had made a quick tomato sauce for the base of two pizzas.

We had pimped a shop bought pizza for a quick meal last weekend and fortunately, we had some of the salami left over.  This, along with olives were the star of the first pizza.  The second one was veggie with peppers and char-grilled artichokes.  Just in case there wasn't enough bread on offer I baked off some dough-balls as pre-pizza nibbles.

Pizza and Party Snacks

Since the arrival of our bundle of joy we haven't been the party animals we once were.  We were never into the club scene.  We were habitual pub/bar bunnies and as such we found Leeds to our liking.  No matter what mood you're in Leeds has a bar for you.  Cosy and intimate, wacky and off the wall, dark and brooding, you name it, it's out there.

We were also in the habit of hosting and attending random house parties.  These were not just a group of mates hanging around a kitchen*, they were always themed and fancy dress wasn't optional. We are to this day the proud owners of a fancy dress cupboard that is still being added to.  Tonight we managed to arrange a baby-sitter so we could once again don a costume and make merry.

The party itself is a house warming party, pretty standard reason for having people around for drinks and nibbles.  The hostess is renound for coming up with imaginative themes for her parties and tonight is no different.  Anybody ever been to a Rubik's Cube party?  Neither had I.  The idea was to arrive wearing the six colours of the 80's puzzle and over the course of the night swap clothing so that you are wearing just one colour.

No party is complete without a table bulging with snacks to soak up the booze.  Because we are out of practice Z and I shared a pizza before we set out.  We needn't have bothered as there was plenty to go around, including more pizza, but not too much to stop the twister championships.

*All house parties end up in the kitchen, its the law, tradition or an old charter or something.

Friday Night Take-away. Pizza.

It had been decided, well in advance, that tonight's adventure into the Take-away at home would be pizza.  Had it not been for Christmas Shopping, I would have considered making my own base from scratch.  Alas time is finite.

I am not adverse to frozen pizza, some of them are great.  A lot of them however, are a whole lot worse than the pizzas you can order from the take-away joint at the end of your road.  Making your own, even if only pimping a bought Margarita with the toppings of your choice, is so much more satisfying than dialling that number for delivery.

Fortunately, one of my chores for the day, was to visit Millies to pick up cheese for Christmas Day.  Whilst stood at the counter, ordering Port soaked Stilton, I noticed some glorious parma ham.  Then and there I knew what we were having.

Too often, pizzas struggle under the weight of too many ingredients.  Tonight the ham was the star.  A simple tomato sauce topped with mozzarella, parma ham and basil served with a rocket salad, was better than anything you could choose from a menu pushed through your letter box.