The Unexpected

So it happens that I got hooked on to a TV show called "Man vs. Food". It's amazing to see how a mans quest to survive against the food is captured for the idiot box. From Hoagies to Sausages, from Burgers to Pizzas, from the beautiful surrounding of Yale campus to the picturesque St Louis, it's food everywhere and one guy is standing tall to show what being MAN is really about. I wish he has a great medical insurance policy and an equally satiating membership to some top notch GYMS in the country

A perfect evening to dine out and I came up with the idea to experiment with food. Inspired from the pizza episode on TV, I decided to create my own version of Chicago style deep dish pizza. The only difference being that I had never tried something like this and did not know if my better half and son will like it or not. Plan B was always on the cards.... calling Papa Johns.

I hurried to the nearest grocery store and got the perfect sized baking dish. Ok, I'm not too good at baking desserts, but this is Pizza we are talking about. How different can it be from baking a cake or pie? Regardless, with an ambition as tall as empire state building, I came back home with all the required ingredients. In no time, I was Chef-de-cuisine from the show of the past "Yan can cook" with the punch line, "If Yan can cook, so you Can". Eyeballs were rolling to see the speed with which i was chopping veggies and preparing for the next step.

In the meantime, my wife (many thanks to her) had already rolled out the pizza dough and made it into a perfect circle. Thank god to Indian mothers for equipping their daughters with the art of making perfect circles (be roti, pooris or for that matter realizing their other half's what they are). I greased the baking dish and very carefully laid the rolled dough on to the dish.

Next was the tomato sauce that I was preparing on the side burner. With the right potent mix of tomatoes, basil, pinch of garlic and all my love simmering in the sauce pan, it wasn't too late when my son stopped watching his movie only to come near me asking is my food ready? I extended his TV watching time by one more hilarious episode of Tom and Jerry while I continued with my magic touch on the sauce.
Once the sauce was done, I poured it over the neatly laid roundel of dough on the baking dish waiting to be infused with the flavors that reminded me of the flavors from Giordano's pizza dinner in Chicago. Next was the cheese that spread it all over the sauce commanding for some respect. Snowfall in summer (huh?). Garnishing it neatly chopped toppings from Green Bell Pepper to Baby Corn, Slices of Tomatoes to Juliennes of Ginger, I continued with yet another round of sauce and topped with a layer of cheese (yeah there goes being healthy for a while). The final touch came with garnishing it with roundels of tomatoes along with jalapeño peppers.

It was then put to rest and some test in the hot oven for about 40 min or so. Once 30 mins passed, my son came running again, this time not ready to get his TV time extended by yet another episode of Tom and Jerry but with rats in his stomach playing the match of their life. I gave in and finally after talking for about 10 min to him, took out the pizza from the oven.

The scintillating aroma of basil had spread all over the kitchen making everyones mouth drip. My wife did the honors finally to slice up my first ever deep dish pizza created at home and fed us like there was no tomorrow.