Pizza...

[DWalt]

Anyone else remember the Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits from the mid-1950s? Where I lived, hardly anyone knew what pizza was, let alone had consumed any, and probably their first pizza experience was from the Chef. I think such kits are still available.

The kit was a package of dough mix, sort of like Bisquik, a can of pizza sauce, and an envelope of dried powdered cheese in a flimsy cardboard box. No toppings of any kind. That was my introduction to the world of pizza.

I had a high school history teacher who was an Italian, transplanted from Boston to the hills of Southern Ohio, named Pasquale Darone. Looked a lot like Tony Soprano. He opened the first pizza parlor in town. Take-out only, no room for any tables and chairs. He made big rectangular pizzas, cut into about 6" square slices. Your choice was cheese only or pepperoni and cheese. Pretty good as I remember. I think it was 15 cents per slice.

 

[Funflyer]

Anyone else remember the Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits from the mid-1950s?

I don't date back quite that far but do remember making pizza from those box kits. If I recall, they weren't too bad if you tossed all the ingredients in the garbage then spread ketchup on the cardboard box and ate that.

 

[ACORN]

Off topic.
I ordered from a small shop and arrived a little early.
I entered the shop just as the owner was taking my pie out of the oven.
This guy was huge. Not fat, but huge!
He has the box open on the table, takes the paddle and pizza and snaps it forward and stops suddenly to slide the pizza into the box.
Theoretically.
First time, nothing.
Second time a partial success.
Third time just a little harder, and the toppings slid into the box, leaving the naked crust on the paddle.
The guy freaks out. Picks up the box crumbles it up. Throws the box with me ruined pizza on the table, grabs it and throws it again. Finally crumbles it and throws it in a big garbage can.
He turned to me completely calm and says, "Your pizza will be just a few more minutes".
Cracked me up.
We now return to your normally scheduled programming.

 

[s&wchad]

Anyone else remember the Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits from the mid-1950s?

I remember first having them in the 60's. Our mom doctored them with lots of toppings. I also remember having La Choy Chow Mein kits and BK Whoppers (not at the same sitting). Those all seemed pretty exciting back then!

You made me feel really old... Gotta go lay down.

 

[SMSgt]

Anyone else remember the Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits from the mid-1950s?

My dad had a thing for those. I think it was because he felt like he made a pizza.

 

[Narragansett]

Well for sure, yours looks better, and the one you bought. That is nasty. I never buy a cheese pizza. First off it is not authentic, and it sweats grease onto the pie. Next, it clogs your arteries.

Having been fortunate enough to have an Italian immigrant Grandmother, I ate real pizza for decades.

I have a small pizza joint in town owned by immigrants. I go there to get my pizza. No cheese, add selected toppings, drizzle with olive oil then baked. When it comes out it gets fresh grated peccarino Romano from a 25 pound imported wheel.

The owner always comes out of the kitchen and waves to me

 

[kev74]

I live about an hour or so north of NYC. We're spoiled with tons of good pizza places. I tried a new place today and it was just ok - it was the first time that happened in several years.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Mom kept the La Choy Chow Mein kits around as quick "on the run meals".

It took four of them. One each for dad, my brother and me and one for my mom and sister to share.

 

[ACORN]

The sauce in Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits is very tasty.

 

[rockquarry]

Anyone else remember the Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits from the mid-1950s? Where I lived, hardly anyone knew what pizza was, let alone had consumed any, and probably their first pizza experience was from the Chef. I think such kits are still available.

The kit was a package of dough mix, sort of like Bisquik, a can of pizza sauce, and an envelope of dried powdered cheese in a flimsy cardboard box. No toppings of any kind. That was my introduction to the world of pizza.

I had a high school history teacher who was an Italian, transplanted from Boston to the hills of Southern Ohio, named Pasquale Darone. Looked a lot like Tony Soprano. He opened the first pizza parlor in town. Take-out only, no room for any tables and chairs. He made big rectangular pizzas, cut into about 6" square slices. Your choice was cheese only or pepperoni and cheese. Pretty good as I remember. I think it was 15 cents per slice.

The Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee packs required about the same amount of effort as making a pizza from scratch and from scratch is better.

 

[JH1951]

If you want to excite your tastebuds in the D.C. area try Broiler Pizza in Arlington, VA. Get it with pepperoni and sausage; simply outrageous. I always bring a few home with me because it is over two hours away.

 

[JH1951]

Anyone else remember the Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits from the mid-1950s?

I certainly do remember that. Later when my wife was pregnant, that was her craving.... the one with the little pepperonis.
Well that was 30 years ago, and we decided to get a kit for dinner a few months ago. The kit was hard to find, but finally one twrned up. No pepperoni, so I decided to live with plain.
Now the kit has one less ingredient - of all things, no cheese anymore! I read the box thinking I got a bad kit. Nope, cheese is now on the box as a 'suggested add-on topping'. The Chef lost a customer with that move. A pizza kit with no cheese - that just isn't right.

 

[ladder13]

Pizza snob am I.

When trying out a new place I order just a plain cheese pizza. If they cannot get that right I don't care what else they put on it to mask the flavor.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Some of the best pizzas I've had came from a bowling alley in Rantoul, Illinois when I was stationed at Chanute, AFB for tech school. The place was always busy.

Ya just never know.

 

[SMSgt]

Some of the best pizzas I've had came from a bowling alley in Rantoul, Illinois when I was stationed at Chanute, AFB for tech school. The place was always busy.

Ya just never know.

Hey, hey, hey . . . Pizza Pop!

 

[Funflyer]

So after all this pizza talk I decided to throw one together for dinner. Didn't have time to make my normal fermented dough but it came out very tasty anyway. This one had jalapenos, pineapple, kalamata olives and four different cheeses along with a drizzle of EV olive oil. About 3 minutes in the oven and it was delirious.

 

[cmj8591]

Well for sure, yours looks better, and the one you bought. That is nasty. I never buy a cheese pizza. First off it is not authentic, and it sweats grease onto the pie. Next, it clogs your arteries.

Having been fortunate enough to have an Italian immigrant Grandmother, I ate real pizza for decades.

I have a small pizza joint in town owned by immigrants. I go there to get my pizza. No cheese, add selected toppings, drizzle with olive oil then baked. When it comes out it gets fresh grated peccarino Romano from a 25 pound imported wheel.

The owner always comes out of the kitchen and waves to me

Of course you have had pizza chips from The Original Italian Bakery in Johnston?

 

[mrchick]

So after all this pizza talk I decided to throw one together for dinner. Didn't have time to make my normal fermented dough but it came out very tasty anyway. This one had jalapenos, pineapple, kalamata olives and four different cheeses along with a drizzle of EV olive oil. About 3 minutes in the oven and it was delirious.

Pineapple on pizza. That's about as controversial as locks on Smith revolvers [emoji1]

Nice pizza oven!

 

[Kaarde]

65 locations in the Tri-State that have become fixtures. Everyone knows the number (347-1111). By far our favorite pizzeria.



Buddy LaRosa.

Rusty, have you tried Marion's Pizza up the road from you in Dayton? I lived there for 10 yrs and we loved it. Have to stop in and get one anytime I'm close.

 

[Kaarde]

Anyone else remember the Chef Boy-ar-Dee pizza kits from the mid-1950s?



Oh yeah...that was our Sunday evening supper. After spending the day at my grandmother's house building forts in the woods and playing in the creek with my brothers and cousins, Mom would fix one of those and we would sit in front of the console TV and watch Flipper, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, and Disney. Now that was a childhood!

 

[Rustyt1953]

Rusty, have you tried Marion's Pizza up the road from you in Dayton? I lived there for 10 yrs and we loved it. Have to stop in and get one anytime I'm close.

I haven't tried it but Ruthie has. There is one 5 minutes from where she works in Mason, Ohio. She and the staff will order it occasionally. She likes it.

She says that if I'm a good boy she will bring a few home for her, me and the boys.

Looking forward to it.

 

[SweetMK]

A different aspect of DIY pizza,,
Decades ago, my wife purchased a pizza "stone"
it is the big, round, ceramic thing that you preheat in the oven to assist in making pizza,,

Well,, on Amazon, a guy is selling a "STEEL" pizza stone.
it is simply a piece of hot rolled sheet steel,
they come in three thicknesses,, 1/4, 3/8,, and 1/2 inch.

The guy states what is different about steel, compared to the "stone",,

faster heat transfer, greater heat storage,, etc,,,

If we ever get off the diet, and go back to making pizza, I will try steel.
I have plenty of steel in the shed, even 3/4" thick,,
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm,,,

For me, this would have to be DIY,, he gets like a hundred bucks for a piece of steel.
I can do that,,

Has anyone ever tried making pizza on steel??
It sure seems like a fast way to bake the crust!!

 

[lkabug]

If you want to excite your tastebuds in the D.C. area try Broiler Pizza in Arlington, VA. Get it with pepperoni and sausage; simply outrageous. I always bring a few home with me because it is over two hours away.

Ledo's in Maryland (fear the Turtle) and the Broiler at Columbia Pike and Glebe Road in Arlington. You just wouldn't understand if if you wasn't there in the early 60's. And let's not forget Mario's Pizza on Willson Blvd.

 

[Golddollar]

I tried experimenting with a recipe for pizza baked in a cast iron skillet. it turned out pretty well but the commercial crust dough put my blood sugar through the roof.

Now I'm using thin crust flatbread pizzas from Walmart, with a few custom modifications. Open a 4 oz. can of mushroom slices/pieces, drain and spread over the pizza. Sprinkle well with Tony Chachere Original Creole Seasoning and then add a layer of shredded Mexican cheese blend and bake according to the directions. With the thin crust it keeps my blood sugar from skyrocketing and with the variety of flavors it tastes pretty good.

 

[s&wchad]

Has anyone ever tried making pizza on steel??

I use the Lodge 15" cast iron pizza pan. I put it in the oven, preheat it to 525F and cook the pizza for about 8 minutes. It does a fine job.

I used an Italian pizza stone for years, but it split in half the last time I washed it. I got it cheap at an estate sale. When I priced a replacement, I decided to go with something less fragile.

 

[URIT]

My wife and I like thin crust pizzas. We've had a lot of great pizza from many different shops around the world.

Today, we don't eat out much, so we pick up a Marketside thin crust pepperoni or meat trio pizza from Walmart. We do add a few toppings to create our ultimate favorite.

For a quick personal sized pizza, we discovered using garlic Naan for the crust. Heat it for a one minute on a hot pizza stone, take it out of the oven, brush with EVOO, add sauce and toppings, and bake until done to perfection. Goes great with a small Ceasar's salad.

 

[johngalt]

65 locations in the Tri-State that have become fixtures. Everyone knows the number (347-1111). By far our favorite pizzeria.



Buddy LaRosa.

Sadly, nothing like it here.

 

[llowry61]

Ahhh, I recall the Chef boy Ardee pizza mixes from the 60's. Mom would buy them, and my sisters and I would get to make one and watch Chiller Theatre which had a double feature on Friday nights. Those are good memories huddled around the little black and white TV watching movies like Creature of the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, Count Dracula The Blob and on and on. That was a routine for many years.

 

[ditrina]

So after all this pizza talk I decided to throw one together for dinner. Didn't have time to make my normal fermented dough but it came out very tasty anyway. This one had jalapenos, pineapple, kalamata olives and four different cheeses along with a drizzle of EV olive oil. About 3 minutes in the oven and it was delirious.

There are no Pineapples in Italy!!

Sumbody git a rope!!

 

[DWalt]

I just remembered another pizza story from many years ago. One of my mother's friends used refrigerated canned biscuits, the kind in a paper tube that pop open when you twist, rolled out, as pizza crust. It was pretty good as I remember.