Last weekend, my family and I went to Chicago for our cousin’s wedding. It was a great trip for several reasons. First, I got to see my family for the first time since Christmas and my extended family since Fourth of July weekend. Secondly, both my boyfriend and I had never been to Chicago before so it was all new to us.
My boyfriend and I had a better time of getting to Chicago than the rest of our family. The majority of my family’s flights out of Syracuse got canceled because of flooding in Chicago (which oddly enough didn’t affect me coming from California.) My two sisters (Our very own M and little M), my brother-in-law, and my nephew (plus soon-to-be nephew) were locked down in Boston because of the search for the Marathon Bomber suspect #2. One second, I was so excited to see my family and the next my mom called to tell me no one except me, my boyfriend, and my sister C were going to make it to the wedding. Of course this was right before take-off so for the whole four and a half hour flight, my boyfriend had to console a very sad and disappointed K. Upon landing, the texts started to come in that everyone scrambled to get new flights and would be coming staggered throughout the weekend, but would all be there for the wedding.
Excited and hungry we got off our non-dramatic SFO-to-Chicago flight and cabbed it into the city. We quickly checked into the hotel, dropped off our stuff and were on our way to find some Chicago-style grub. It was windy and cold mixed with a little snow/hail as we walked to find Al’s Deli, which in my mind is how I imagined Chicago all my life. Our hotel was in the middle of everything so it was only about a 10-15 minute walk.
Our cousin had listed some places to visit for food in Chicago on her wedding site and Al’s Beef for a “hot dog dragged through the garden” was one. As we were ordering, we ordered an Italian Beef Sandwich with hot peppers and I then asked for a “hot dog dragged thru the garden.” The girl looked at me strange and said “I don’t know what you are talking about, dragged thru the garden?” I then explained that I didn’t know what it meant, but my cousin said I had to get it. The check-out girl went to go ask her manager and he responded with “yeah, that means everything.” Rest assured, I got my hot dog “dragged thru the garden” or as I will now just call it “everything.” We split both and liked them, but were especially impressed with the hot dog.
Right across the way from Al’s Deli is Portillos. This place wasn’t on our list, but it looked pretty hopping. After checking it out on our iPhones, we realized it was also pretty famous for their hot dogs and Italian beef as well. We decided we had enough room to split another hot dog so we proceeded to do so. Also very delicious, and we both sort of liked it more then our first! Sorry Al!
As we headed back to hotel, we saw all the places for Chicago-style pizza like the original Pizzeria Uno’s. I promised Matt that we would try some the next day because there was no way I was going to eat more before the rehearsal dinner that night. The next day, my sister C, my mom, and I got our hair done at this awesome Blow Dry Bar called Blow-By Blow, highly recommended if you are ever in the area. I also think I found my new love for Blow Out Bars, mimosas and getting my hair shampooed and styled…ummm, yes please! My boyfriend and dad went out to get more hot dogs and to possibly try to get a pizza to bring back to the hotel. The pizza places all had a 45 minute wait for pizzas because that is how long they take to make. They ended up not having enough time to wait so they brought back more hot dogs for all. We never did have time for the Chicago-Style Deep-Dish pizza.
The week we got back, I decided to surprise my boyfriend by making a deep dish pizza since we never did get any. It was surprisingly easy to make and so tasty! I had one piece and I was so full! I put turkey pepperoni on ours because that is what we had in the fridge- that’s why its sort of curling up, but you can top with whatever you like.
- 1 ½ cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour (in-between 8.1-8.2 oz. on scale)
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal (Not corn starch M!)
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1⅛ tsp. instant yeast
- ½ cups plus 2 tbsp. water, at room temperature (5 oz.)
- 1½ tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp. grated onion,
- ⅛ tsp. dried oregano
- ½ tsp. salt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes
- ⅛ tsp. sugar
- 2 tbsp. fresh basil, coarsely chopped
- 1½ tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- Additional Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 tbsp. shredded Parmesan cheese
- Sliced pepperoni (optional)
- Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and yeast into the bowl of your mixer. With dough hook attachment mix on low speed for about 1 minutes until all ingredients are combined.
- Slowly add in water and melted butter and continue to mix on low speed for about 1-2 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides to get all ingredients incorporated.
- Increase the speed of the mixer to medium and knead the dough for about 4-5 minutes. The dough should become smooth and glossy.
- Take a large bowl and add in 1 tsp. olive oil. Using your hands coat the oil on the bowl and add the dough ball to the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place at room temperature in an area without drafts, for about 1 hour.
- To laminate the dough, turn the dough out onto a dry work surface. Form dough into an 8- by 6-inch rectangle. Using a spatula or butter knife spread the 2 tbsp. of softened butter evenly on the dough leaving about a ½ inch of un-buttered dough around the edges. Stating at the 6-inch side, roll the dough tightly into a cylinder shape, pinching the ends together. Place the seam side down and flatten the dough into 9- by 2-inch rectangular. Fold dough into thirds, folding up the bottom side and then folding the top side over. Pinch the seams to form a ball. Place the dough ball back in the oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator. Let set for 40-50 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- This can be done while the dough is rising. Melt 1 tbsp. of butter to a medium-sized sauce pan over medium heat. Add in onions, oregano, and salt. Stirring occasionally, cook onions until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. You should be able to smell garlic. Stir in the tomatoes and sugar and increase the the heat to about medium high. Bring the sauce to a simmer, lower heat to medium-low and keep at simmer for about 25 minutes. The sauce should thicken and reduce to about 1¼ cup. Take the sauce off heat and stir in basil and 1½ tsp. olive oil. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Coat a 9-inch cake pan with 2 tbsp. of olive oil. Take dough out on to a dry clean work surface and roll into a 13- inch wide circle. Place the dough in the cake pan and lightly press into the corners and up the sides so that it just reaches the top edge of the pan.
- Add the mozzarella cheese to the surface of the dough. Top with the tomato sauce and spread with a rubber spatula so it covers all of the cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and then add desired toppings.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes until crust in golden brown. Let rest for at least 10 before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
Source- adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Cook’s Illustrated
