'Ode to Amarillo' Pizza

In class tonight, the second night in the kitchen, our assignment was to make a pizza (dough and sauce provided) using ingredients found in the refrigerator and cost it out. In an effort to move out of my comfort zone (and due to a lack of ingredients), I opted to create a southwestern style pizza.
Before I get into the details, I will admit that the professional kitchen intimidated me. I certainly did not know my way around and had trouble getting my head wrapped around it all. Working with 17 other people, prepping ingredients, sharing ovens and tools, planning the pizza, and just trying to figure which piece of equipment was oven, definitely left me running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I openly admit that everyone finished dressing their pizza before I did, but I gave it my best and was relatively happy with the results. Thankfully, our head chef is very friendly and approachable, so he humored me and answered all my questions, showed me how to use the professional oven (Hobart double door, hot, hot oven) and even shared a few tips.


Two tips from our head chef tonight:

Is there a secret ingredient in pizza sauce? Outside of basil, tomatoes, olive oil - the secret to making your pizza sauce not taste like marinara or spaghetti sauce, might be the addition of fennel.

Want to avoid a soggy crust in the middle? When you are adding the tips, leave a 1" to 2" diameter circle of exposed crust in the middle. Do not put sauce, toppings or cheese in this area. As the pizza bakes, the toppings fill in the center area.


My ingredients:

• Roasted red and green bell peppers ($0.50 green bell; $1.50 red bell)
  
• Jalapeno peppers (2 at $1.50)
  
• yellow onion ($1.00)
  
• ground beef w/ garlic powder and ground black pepper ($2.00 <>
• mozzarella cheese ($1.50 <>
• cheddar cheese ($0.75 <>
• Barbecue sauce (or an attempt at it since we didn't have any) - I mixed ketchup, spicy brown mustard, worcestershire sauce, and ground black pepper and mixed it with the pizza sauce to give it a smokier flavor ($2.00)
  
• dough ($2.00)
• Total: $12.75 for eight slices (I think this might be a little high for grocery; restaurants who order this in bulk could probably make it for $6 - $8)

Other ideas I did not have the chance to develop: red pepper flakes, bacon instead of ground beef, green chilies, and/or cheddar jack cheese.

Review: Not a bad first attempt. If I make my 'Ode to Amarillo' pizza again, I will use my favorite barbecue sauce, Cattlemen's, to mix with the pizza sauce, consider swapping bacon for the ground beef and using a slightly spicier cheese. Seeing 25 pizzas laid out in a row and tasting several made for a nice end to the evening.


Cost Exercise
As we prepared our pizzas, the head chef instructed us to write down every ingredient we were using and to estimate the cost. If you look at my ingredient list above, I have a dollar value next to each item. I based my prices on grocery store values, so keep in mind that if you worked in a restaurant, you would purchase goods in bulk and therefore pay even less than shown above. My pizza had approximately eight slices.


To end the day, I brought some of the pizzas home for Go Blue Dad to eat. He enjoyed them!!!