Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart

Part Six – A “Field of Dreams” When we bought our Rocky Ford farm property in 1997, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream. We had previously restored an 1858 row house in the historic Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia, but this was different — nearly 55 acres with a stream along side. We named our farm property Lynch Creek, after the stream that I found had more history…Read More…

PART FIVE – LAYERS OF FLAVOR My experiences working at Jack’s Firehouse were the most memorable of my 20 years living in Philadelphia. The deal I made with Chef Jack McDavid was simple – I would work one day a week without pay, if he would teach me three new things each shift. When I left and moved to Rocky Ford, he told me, “If you put your mind to…Read More…

As promised, here is the announcement of the new book project I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, “Modernist Breads.” I’ve copied the text below but, for photos and a link to the Modernist website, see it in full at: http://modernistcuisine.com/2014/05/the-art-and-science-of-bread/ (The text below is copied from the link above, written by the folks at Modernist Cuisine. Enjoy! I’ll keep you all posted as we get deeper into the…Read More…

I have been drooling and laughing and hoping to meet Bob Radcliffe some day as we’ve been posting and reading the wonderful articles about his Tomato Pie journey here on Pizza Quest. Keep them coming Bob!  Don’t stop when you’ve run out of things to say about your Tomato Pies — let’s see about getting you into some cheese making next!  Or, perhaps let us in on some of your…Read More…

  PART FOUR – A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN I’m known for more than making Tomato Pie on my Franklin County Farm. I’ve also made an appearance of sorts on the front page of the Times – the Franklin Times that is – and the cover of Back Home Magazine (thanks to friend and writer Donna Campbell Smith). Let me explain how my ass gets on the front page! Molly,…Read More…

Hi Everyone, In a day or two we will be posting Part 4 of Bob Radcliffe’s entertaining series on his quest for the perfect “tomato pie.” We’ve been getting great comments on this, especially from people who have been to his Franklin Society events and have had Bob’s pies and have now deified him (read the comments if you don’t believe me). I can’t wait to get to eastern Carolina…Read More…

PART THREE:  TRY IT, YOU’LL LIKE ITLet’s talk tomatoes: Like Mikey in the old cereal TV commercial, here in the South, when it comes to tomatoes it’s often a pleading, “Try it, you’ll like it.”  That’s because down South, leafy greens and butter beans take center stage, leaving tomatoes relegated to salads and canned spaghetti sauce.  I first had to decide which tomatoes to buy. Heck, why would you buy…Read More…

I hope you had a chance to look at my Rack o’ Pork recipe.  If not, I’ll wait a second to continue here. Go on, go back and read it.  I won’t wait for you to make it, but I hope after reading that recipe and this pizza recipe that you’ll be making plans to pick up a rack this weekend. It isn’t easy coming up with pizza recipes to…Read More…

I just found the pizza and sandwich topping of the year!  You heard it here first. In this post I’ll tell you how to make it and, in future posts, how to use it on pizzas and also how to make the King of all Cheese-(Pork) Steak sandwiches, with the left overs. Here’s the background story: I was looking to play with my Primavera one weekend not long ago.  I…Read More…

This Saturday, April 12th, I will once again be at the annual Asheville Bread Festival (this year marks the 10th anniversary). Harry Peemoeller, Lionel Vatinet, and many other great bakers will also be teaching classes and, as usual, every bread baker within at least 100 miles will be there showcasing their beautiful products. It all takes place at the culinary center of A-B Tech, Magnolia Building and I advise you…Read More…