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Menu Development
Detroit Style Pizza: A Guide to Detroit Pizza
Discover Detroit-Style Pizza Detroit style pizza is a square, deep dish pizza that is known for its racing stripes sauce on top, cheese crust crown and light crust. Whether you call them red tops or square pizza, Detroit-style pizza is a unique pizza style that hast become one of the hottest pizza styles and one […]
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Menu Development
Uptown Ingredients, Downtown Flavor
Upscale meat toppings add wow favor In the beginning — quite a while back, in fact –– it was pepperoni and sausage. Those were the two toppings most requested by patrons of modest, family-owned pizzerias and chain-operated pizza places a...
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Menu Development
2012 March: Affinity For Artichokes
When G. Terrill Brazelton, head chef at Slice Stone Pizza and Brew in Birmingham, Alabama, developed his pizza menu, including artichokes was a no-brainer. After all, Brazelton grew up eating steamed artichokes from his parent’s California garden. ...
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Menu Development
Bruschetta Basics
Bruschetta (broo-SKEH-tah) has emerged as a very popular appetizer (running a close second to fried calamari). In the Italian repertoire of appetizers, offering bruschetta makes a lot of sense. It’s easy to prepare, it holds well (meaning it can be...
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Menu Development
Dough Doctor: Wholesome
Whole-wheat crust requires special handling Q: We get a lot of requests for a whole-wheat pizza, but all of our attempts to make one end up with dry, hard texture and poor flavor. What is the secret to making a good whole-wheat crust? A: Like ...
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Menu Development
Man on the Street: The Latest Topping Trends
What’s the strangest pizza you’ve ever enjoyed? I’ll never forget an experience I had in an old-school pizzeria in Trenton, New Jersey. The shop, Papa’s Tomato Pies, is the kind of place that would have you arrested for requesting pineapple o...
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Menu Development
2012 March: Recipes
Amaretti Cookies Yield: 3 dozen cookies 2¼ cups blanched whole almonds, plus more for garnishing 2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided 2 large egg whites, at room temperature ¼ teaspoon sea salt ½ teaspoon pure almond ex...
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Menu Development
So Sweet!
Creative desserts boost check averages Gaining a competitive edge in today’s crowded market is more crucial than ever. Diners expect the moon and the stars — preferably locally sourced, homemade and at a great price. Desserts offer a great...
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Menu Development
Hold the Meat
A variety of vegetarian and vegan options help diversify your menu While there are varying degrees of vegetarianism, let’s use the simplest terms. A vegetarian does not eat meat, fish or poultry. Veganism is where it gets a little more compl...
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Menu Development
The Dough Doctor takes a look at modern mixers
Q: Our mixer finally crashed and we got a 40-quart vertical cutter mixer (VCM) to replace it. How does this mixer compare against our old 80-quart mixer? A:Â The first thing to know about the VCM is that it has a much higher mixing speed. The two-spe...
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Menu Development
Trending Now
Menu Trends for 2012 This year will be all about healthy eating, so be prepared to think about how you can tweak your menu and your existing pizza, pasta and salad offerings to reflect forward thinking as it relates to “tastes better, better...
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Menu Development
2011 November: Dough Doctor
Q: In looking at different methods of dough management, some call for allowing the dough balls to rest at room temperature for an hour or more, while others say to take the dough directly to the cooler without any room temperature rest period. Does i...
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Menu Development
Ravioli: Get stuffed
Cheese-filled ravioli is an Italian staple that we’ve seen on menus for decades. Over the last several years we’ve seen these delightful stuffed pasta pillows get a delectable makeover. As we culinary folks have come to look at stretched pizza do...