Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Pizza - Cheeseburger in Paradise... really, sing along


Look Close, you know the words, sing along...



Cheeseburger PIZZA
in paradise 

Medium rare with mustard 'be nice 
Heaven on earth with an onion slice
I'm just a cheeseburger 
PIZZA 
in paradise 

I like mine with lettuce and tomato 
Heinz 57 and French fried potatoes 
Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer 
Well good god almighty which way do I steer for my 

Chorus: 
Cheeseburger in 
PIZZA 
paradise (paradise) 
Makin' the best of every virtue and vice 
Worth every damn bit of sacrifice
To get a cheeseburger 
PIZZA 
in paradise 
To be a cheeseburger 
PIZZA 
in paradise 
I'm just a cheeseburger 
PIZZA 
in paradise 


And there you have it... All the song ingredients are here.  And, I must say this is a WONDERFUL pizza.Really and truly does taste hamburger-ish.  The mix with the mustard and pickles is spot on with the hamburger.  I will admit, it started out as a goof, just a pizza challenge when I had a little extra time on my hand, but is now in my regular rotation.  Even planning a party around the idea now.


Highly recommended.


Here's what I did...



While I did indeed enjoy a "cold one" with the finished product, I decided this deserved a BEER BREAD PIZZA CRUST!  It's my goto recipe for a thick Chicago style pizza pie.  I also made this in a cast iron skillet.  The trick to all pizzas is HOT.  I had all my ingredients ready to assemble while I preheated the skillet to 500 degrees.  It lost a lot of heat during the less than 5 minutes it took to assemble the pizza (and I had to be careful to avoid burning my fingers while I spread out the dough, but it did what cast iron is famous for, retain the heat.  Thus, the crust had a crispness that I would not have gotten without a HOT skillet.


For the beer bread pizza dough recipe, go HERE.


Next, a very important step when making any Chicago thick pie, always line the bottom with cheese slices (in this case, provolone).  That helps to keep the crust from getting soggy.


And now, time to start singing the song... I like mine with Lettuce...


French Fried Potatoes


Really, fried some up ahead of time and lined the bottom.



The Hamburger was a no brainer, instead of an onion slice, I caramelized a few onion slices and mixed them with the burger.



I made a fast PIZZA marinara sauce from canned tomatoes.  Click HERE for that recipe.




Heinz 57
and
mustard 'be nice





Big kosher pickle (slices)



And what's a cheeseburger (pizza) without a little white Cheddar Cheese


Do all that quickly and get the cast iron skillet back in the 500 degree oven as quick as possible.  Now, it took about 15 minutes for the dough to cook.  I used my handy dandy instant read temperature probe.  Bread is done at 190 degrees.  Thick Chicago style pizza dough is ready at 190 degrees.


And for presentation purposes, Garnish with a hamburger bun top.


That may be one of the oddest things I have ever written here (and I try my best to write odd things just for fun, hoping one person sees the oddity).  So, let me repeat this...


The garnish is a HAMBURGER BUN!!!





I was in paradise... And yes, deserves a starring role in my PIZZA 2011 Project!!!






...

7 comments:

  1. I will be singing this for the rest of the week, thank you very much. Actually, I don't mind...I'm in a Jimmy Buffet kind of mood, anyway ;) This looks really awesome- can I have a slice to go with my cold draft beer, then?

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  2. You are too funny, Dave.

    Great execution for such an odd inspiration. Was the lettuce annihilated after the baking?

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  3. Wow, what a masterpiece! You are too much, cher! My son and his friends would love this pizza and would devour it in 5 minutes! Love the song and the hamburger bun topping, too! Fab!

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  4. That is one LOADED pizza. It looks almost like a real pie!

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