Sunday, June 26, 2011

Grilled Steak Sandwich a la Elizabeth

Yep, two Please Note recipes in one day! Not only do Lorne and I love to cook when we can but we also love a good bargain, which we got on the price of the tri tip. What I like about this recipe for grilled steak sandwiches is that it's so easy and it gave Lorne a chance to demonstrate his meat cooking skills. He seasoned the tri tip with a salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika rub and broiled it in the oven. Check out:




I think the rosemary herb bread from Elizabeth's recipe would have been a better choice but we had french bread left over from the french toast this morning. Like I said, we like a bargain.

-Jessica

Cream Cheese and Raspberry Stuffed French Toast

I've been dying to try a new recipe from my friend Elizabeth's blog Please Note and I finally had a free Sunday morning with Lorne to try one out. Her recipe is for goat cheese and raspberry stuffed French toast but I was afraid that Lorne wouldn't like the goat cheese so I substituted cream cheese instead. Her recipe also calls for orange zest, but I used lemon zest with orange juice instead. (Again, I was sure Lorne wouldn't like the orange zest). It was actually pretty easy and tasted really good! Beware though, it's super rich. I think I'll skip lunch today! Take a look at the process and finished product:



Lemon zest orange juice butter.

My egg mixture has some lemon zest instead of orange zest, which I'm sure would be great too!


Lorne opted for some powdered sugar on his.

Lorne: "You ate all of yours?!?!" Me: "Yeah, of course."

-Jessica

Friday, June 24, 2011

Lazy Pizza Friday

Well, I'm finally back to the Pizza Friday offices and ready to work. Lorne was out with the boys tonight, so I took advantage of the most glorious night to myself and enjoyed a $1 frozen pizza, a beer, and Roseanne. This is what dreams are made of people. I promise that next week will be more elaborate and that Pizza Friday Today will be lavished with attention from here on out every Friday. But tonight, I'm just going to enjoy these three simple pleasures.

P.S. The Conners win the Illinois lottery in this episode.

-Jessica

Friday, April 8, 2011

Haus of Pizza Friday

You know you're in Southern California when a restaurant called Haus of Pizza is really just an Italian restaurant run by an old Vietnamese man. I guess it was wishful thinking to expect brautwurst pizza with sauerkraut on the menu. But after weeks of enthusiasm for this place from my very foodie friend Fatima, we decided to drive out to Garden Grove to check it out.

It was a real treat this particular Pizza Friday because Lorne's parents were in town visiting us for spring break and celebrating their 37th anniversary. As a side note, I feel incredibly lucky to be marrying into such a pizza-loving family. Lorne's dad once told me the story of how he knew Lorne's mom was "the one" when they were on a date at a pizza place and she snaked the last slice, but not before dipping it into and soaking up the last of the grease on the pizza pan. If that's not love, I don't know what is. ("It's gross is what it is," says Lorne).

We ordered the Haus Special pizza with canadian bacon, pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, bell peppers, onion, and extra cheese. We all thought it was good, especially the extra cheese.

We had such a great time that it's hard for me to judge if the pizza was really that good, or if it was just the company of good people that made it seem that way.

The Haus Special.

It was love at first slice.

This is the messy result of the really stretchy cheese.

This was the weird pancake spatula they gave us to serve the pizza with.

-Jess

Monday, March 28, 2011

Buono's Pizza Friday!


There's not going to be much to say about our experience at Buono's Pizza and the least of those things are very good. First of all, we didn't get there until around 8:30 and we were starving and cranky. This place is in the middle of nowhere (if you ask me) and has the worst layout and the biggest waste of square footage of any commercial space i've ever seen. This shouldn't have anything to do with pizza, but it bothers me and that's all there is to it.

We sat down at our booth and they brought us a bruschetta appetizer, which Lorne immediately converted to wet toast by dumping all of the "gross" tomatoes off of the top. Lorne didn't like it, but I thought it was really good, so I ate all of it (as usual). We then ordered the PizzAndrea from their gourmet pizza selection. It included mozzarella with marinated chicken breast strips sauteed with garlic, onions, mushrooms, and white wine. Topped with olives and feta cheese.

It took forever for the pizza and I don't think it was because we were so hungry. The pizza was actually pretty good. It was really different from anything we usually order and like. The service however, not as gourmet as the pizza. They didn't bring us any napkins or silverware and we never saw our server again. Literally. We had to flag a busser down for napkins and a to-go box, and he only met us half way by bringing us the napkins. Lorne had to go to the register for the box and pay for the check, which I can only assume did not include a tip.

So, that's it. As it turns out, bad customer service can ruin a good pizza.


-Jess

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Ferraro's Pizza Friday!

This was a Pizza Friday to celebrate my 27th birthday, so we decided to dine-in at an Italian restaurant called Ferraro's. For those of you that don't know, my first job when I moved to Long Beach in 2005 was at Ferraro's, but at a different location. The location I worked at has since closed down, mysteriously soon after I quit.

This was our first time to the other location and I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a former co-worker of mine from the other location. His name is Mike (the big guy) and he's one of the funniest people I've ever met, so I was really excited to see him again.

We ordered a medium half cheese, half pepperoni pizza, our signature default toppings. Mike also served us a bowl of pasta fagioli soup, an italian salad, warm bread, Lorne a Coke, and me a glass of white wine. The food was all really good, especially the pizza, and we had a really fun, romantic dinner. Lorne told Mike it was my birthday and he brought us a custard filled tart with fresh berries and cocoa on top. When Lorne picked up the bill, a look of pure joy that can only come from a true cheap-ass like Lorne indicated to me that Mike had indeed, to his word, hooked us up really good.

Needless to say, we'll be going back again when Mike is working.

I forgot my phone at home, so this is the only photo we got of the evening.

-Jess

BJ's Cheeseburger Pizza Friday!

What perfect timing to order a cheeseburger pizza! Only days after our cheeseburger foodie experience noted in the previous entry. Believe me, we've had cheeseburger pizzas in the past, but none of them have been worth mentioning. I was skeptical when Lorne suggested we order it, because of other less notable pizzas of its kind.

Let me just say this about our Pizza Friday experience at BJ's: we LOVE BJ's! We went to the location in our neck of the woods on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore. This location is actually kind of strange because it's so small and doesn't have a bar, but that's okay because they always seat us right away. On a side note, it was extremely loud and filled with what looked like high school aged kids, which made Lorne and I seem like an old angry couple (again).

I was a little disappointed at first because I went for my ol' faithful and ordered the Berry Burst Cider, but apparently they were out of it, so I pouted and ordered the Jeremiah Red Irish Style Ale instead. We then ordered a medium BJ's Bacon Cheeseburger deep dish pizza, which according to the menu is, "For the classic burger lover!" It came with ground Angus beef, red onions, Applewood smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes and chopped dill pickles. We made sure to 86 the drizzled signature burger sauce. We don't do sauce, unless it's Frank's Red Hot Sauce, but that's a different pizza and a different Friday to come (their buffalo chicken pizza is really good too).

OMG, the cheeseburger pizza was so good! It was a perfect harmony between two separately amazing foods: a cheeseburger and a pizza! And I actually really liked my beer too. But, I pretty much started to like everything once I got down to the bottom of my glass, but that's okay. The crust was so soft and buttery, the toppings were flavorful, distinct, and unique; in particular the dill pickles, which really made the pizza for me.

Bottom line, it sounds too weird to be good, but don't be afraid to try this one.


-Jess

Cheeseburger Sunday!

I know, I know...Finally! But we've been really busy lately; needless to say that's why we haven't posted anything in the last two weeks. But don't worry, we weren't too busy to eat! We're here to apologize and to catch you up on all of the foodie adventures we've been on since our last post.

Over the last couple of months, we've been frequenters to Abbot Kinney in Venice due to an amazing paper boutique called Urbanic, where we're getting our wedding invitations made. We could easily have gotten our invitations online and saved ourselves the drive up to LA, but the foodie adventures on this strip are just too much to pass up.

After our quick consultation at the paper store, we headed to the food truck lot across the street and found a bright pink truck called Baby's Badass Burgers. If you thought we liked pizza, you should see the look on Lorne's face when he knows there's a good cheeseburger in the vicinity. (To give myself a little credit in the cheeseburger department, my grandpa used to call me Wimpy when I was a little girl. You know Wimpy, of the "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today" fame).

Lorne wasted no time ordering the largest item on the menu called "The Bombshell" which is a 1/2 lb Maneater burger sandwiched between 2 bacon grilled cheese melts, topped with grilled onions. I ordered "She's Smokin!" as two Baby Burgers (sliders), which includes smoked cheddar, bbq sauce, crispy onions, and bacon. We also ordered a yummy side of "Pig Tails" which are their seasoned curly fires.

We took our burgers and walked down to the corner restaurant called Lemonade and ordered a large Ginger-Peach Lemonade and a Strawberry-Kiwi Lemonade, and washed down our tasty burgers.


-Jess

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Marri's Pizza Friday!

Slow week here at the PizzaFridayToday offices. With so little work, I may just start thinking they pay me too much for this job! This week we went to Marri's Pizza. This place has been recommended to us by a few people who said they have really good pizza, so we figured we'd try it out. This was actually our second trip to Marri's, the first time the place was packed. There were people everywhere and when I asked for a seat, they were very rude and refused to take our name down, so we left never to return again. Tonight we had originally planned to go to The Long Beach Pizza Co. but after they refused to accommodate us for parking (couldn't find a spot,) we headed to Marri's. We were seated immediately and began reading the menu. Their prices were very fair, topping out at $20 for a large with everything. They had a wide assortment of dishes, which I didn't know they had, not just pizza. Then I noticed the drink section. A warning said that each soda was allowed only TWO refills. The soda was $2.50 and came in a regular sized glass. I mean really? $2.50 for at most 60 cents of soda seems kinda steep, but whatever I only drank about a third of the last glass. That'll show 'em. Limit MY soda will they!

Lorne noticed that they had a Family Special on the pizza menu, which included a large pizza, large salad, pasta with choice of sauce, and garlic sticks for $23.99. Typical Lorne and Jessica move to assume that this was a completely normal amount of food for two people to order, and so we did. I don't know what we were thinking, it was WAY too much food! Like comically too much food! But that's okay because we love leftovers. We ordered the Marri's Special pizza, which included peperoni, sausage, and mushrooms. And this pizza looked amazing! The first thing I noticed was that the cheese was on top and was nicely browned to a well done perfection. A single slice was literally heavy with all of the juicy, chunky toppings loaded in between the crust and the cheese. It reminded me of a  Chicago style pizza (minus the extra layer of crust like a pie). It tasted really good, but this crust was nothing to write home about. Also, because the cheese was on top, the toppings in the center were not cooked well-done enough to our liking. We each only ate ONE slice because we were so full. Just to give you a frame of reference, Lorne and I used to finish an extra-large pizza all by ourselves in the early days of Pizza Friday. So white flag, pizza won. And then we we asked for a box to go.


Family Special for two.
Cheese on top, toppings underneath.
So full!
Happy camper!
Can you believe that this was what was left!?!? We barely made a dent!


Saturday, February 26, 2011

Canadian Pizza Friday

Welcome all to the first Pizza Pizza Friday! I have talked to others about pizza and Canada and a few have commented on how they didn't think Canada had much pizza. Well let me tell you; Canada has the most pizza placed per cubic foot than any country I have ever been to. A major chain there called Pizza Pizza, whose logo font looks exactly like Little Caesars (not to mention their slogan), are located right next to an actual Little Caesars Pizza. While driving through Canada, I would usually see one to two pizza places in each shopping center. So needless to say, Canada likes its pizza. Which is good to know since Canadian Pizza on 4th and Almond Ave. in Long Beach has great pizza.

We ordered their house pizza called the "Canadian" which comes with Pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, Green Peppers, Sausage & (Olives or Feta). When ordering, the guy on the phone said he'd give us both toppings for the same price because I "have a nice voice" (Jessica).  We also ordered the "Meat Lover" which comes with Pepperoni, Sausage, Ground Beef, Canadian Bacon & Ham. The most noticeable difference in their pizza is the crust. It's like a good baguette; its super crispy on the outside and incredibly soft and moist on the inside. Even the bottom crust of the pizza is crispy and sturdy. It also has a unique texture where flaky bread crumbs cover the entire crust, including the bottom of the pizza. The toppings are hearty and bold and just taste really good. There's not much in the way of seating at the store, so Canadian Pizza is best consumed at home while watching a movie.

It was steaming when we opened the box, even though we were late picking it up.

Meat Lover and Canadian.

Well cooked...just the way I like it!

This is the kind of pizza that makes us look forward to Saturday (leftovers). -Lorne and Jessica

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Welcome friends and fans of Pizza Friday!

For those of you who are wondering, the Pizza Friday of today all began from an unspoken McCarty family tradition. It consisted of a Friday night, a Little Caesar's Pizza, and and a VHS tape from Stage 1 Video. Lorne and I have continued the tradition over the years in a questionably obsessive way, but none the less, look forward to sharing our good eats with you!

I would like to thank Phil Samartan for giving us the idea of starting a Pizza Friday blog. I was hesitant at first because of my obligations to school and planning a wedding, but Lorne took the idea and ran with it before I could object. So now, when Saturday rolls around at work and I'm asked the questions; "Where did you go for pizza on Friday?" and "Was it good?" those questions will be answered here on Pizza Friday Today!

Sausage Moday!

To think the first post at PizzaFridayToday wouldn't even be about pizza, but it is a pizza topping!That's right I'm talking about SAUSAGE. One of the greatest foods to be invented, or put on a pizza even.My first choice of topping when they think pizza is of course pepperoni, a sausage. Most of the classic meats on a pizza, pepperoni, salami, Italian sausage, are sausage for crying out loud. Anyways, Wurstkuche. Located on 3rd and Traction Ave. in Los Angeles makes the food in question, sausages. After waiting in line for 20 minutes, I received a Duck and Bacon with Jalapeno exotic dog. My partner in crime Jessica had the Sun Dried Tomato & Mozzarella gourmet wiener along with caramelized onions and sweet peppers. To go with the tube-steaks we also ordered a Groot(large) Belgian Fries with Chipotle Ketchup and Sweet and Sassy BBQ dipping sauces. To wash it all down we had a Reeds Spiced Apple Brew and Reeds Cherry Ginger Beer. The food was excellent if only a little under-sized, the biers on the other-hand were huge. So if you're looking for a fun place to spend some dough on wieners, Wurstkuche is your place. wurstkucherestaurant.com

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Welcome

Hey everyone and welcome to Pizza Friday Today! Every Friday we go to a different pizza place and dine on their best/worst pizza they can make! We will try to go to a different place every week but you can bet we will be back to our favorites! Also we will be posting about any other excellent meals we may happen upon throughout the week as well, including but not limited to, Cheeseburger Sunday and Pho Monday.

Hope you all can join us!

Lorne