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Yep - it's a long-"a"-sound; see "pastie", think "paahstie"; just how that vowel is handled in the Cornwall dialect.

The women would bake the pasties (and large ones, probably twice the size of these) with very large, heavy pinched edge, and then wrap them in a teatowel to keep warm. The Cornish coal miners would then hold it by the edge and eat the center. With half-a-day's coal dust on their hands, that edge needs to be sturdy so it can be used as a handle; in the end it's discarded.

Rutabega is essential!

I'm with your wife - I tried it last summer, after waiting years for a trip back to NYC and then another hour in front of the place...nah, sorry. It's good but not the epitome of all things pizza as some would say.

But it was *frikken expensive!* How can you justify expensive? $100 for 3 pies and a few sodas? I think the press you keep feeding the joint allows it to charge insane prices, and that just ups the ante. Seriously, feel some shame for that!

"Chipotle in adobo" are impossible to get here in the Netherlands (perhaps at some distant expat store, and then for a weeks' wages…). Alternatively, I have some dried chipotle peppers my brother mailed me - is there a way to use them reconstituted? I'm guessing I need to rebalance with ketchup or add some tomato sauce??

They use gouda here in Holland. Only if you pay more will you get dried, shredded moz. Fresh moz is available in some artesian 'za spots in Amsterdam, but not often here in the 'burbs. It's an abomination - almost ready to reach for Dominos…

funny - the best falafel here in Amsterdam is Maoz..

Looks great - but step 9 is missing....

The McRib is on the standard menu in McD's Germany, as well as the old-style deep-fried apple pies. I barely make it over the border before I start looking for golden arches...

Hey all you Quicksters out there - you're missing an opportunity! Put out some cheese, olives and bruschetta, and while you "slave" over a hot stove, have your date feed you. Very romantic...

Just learned a great way of doing a shrimp and seared scallop risotto and it works beautifully:

I usually saute the onions first, toast the risotto until the ends become a bit translucent then add 1/4 cup of dry white wine, let it cook down a little and then start adding the broth a scoop at a time.

For the broth I do a simple low-salt bouillon but I add the 6-8 of the shrimp shells to the broth and a little extra water and let it cook for 10-15 minutes to infuse a little depth into the broth. Then fry the shrimps in a little garlic, chop them up and add them into the risotto at the end.

If it's not been covered before, the secrets to good risotto are using larger-grain risotto when possible (life's too short for tiny grains), adding in the warm broth slowly - a ladle at a time, keeping the broth warm to keep the rice from getting starchy.

Most important, keep a ladle-full or so of broth in reserve. Remember, the rice will keep cooking once you turn it off, so keep it a little loose and undercooked. Add in your shrimp and then turn to the scallops. Once you sear you scallops the rice might be a bit thicker, so add in the reserved broth. I plate it up on a bed of raw baby spinach, a side of baby asparagus, with the scallops on top and a drizzle of truffle oil.

@jaysus - Yes, Ellios is both a regional *and* a nasty thing. Mostly NY/NJ region, probably in dorms.

Frozen pizza is a desperate measure at best.

Adam, I'm relieved to read that - I've not been there enough to know for sure that DiFara is coasting, and possibly he can make the best pie in the world, but going there just wasn't fun.

If there's any food that should be fun, it's pizza..

And yet no love for Mystic Pizza? How can you review Connecticut pizza and skip Mystic??

Totally ghetto, but here in The Netherlands it's a bland, white-bread ghetto too. Dr. Oetker is perhaps the best of a bad lot. If I want pizza tonight, I buy this or make it. Dominos or The Hut are not options.

'Scuze me - I need to make some pizza dough..

I'm glad to read this. I came back home to the US for the first time in 5 years and except for a passable one at In and Out, I was really disappointed in everything. Carl's $6 burgers were dry and dense and more reminiscent of hockey than hamburger.