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Martin's Kettle cook potato chips are thick and good.

Cast iron pans are a great way to get a good pizza. Very tasty. In fact, I made a how to video on this very subject!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDrELqxz45w

Enjoy!

Okay. I stumbled across this recipe because, in a weird half-dream, I thought about using cast iron to solve the eternal problem of home pizza makers. That being the problem of conventional home ovens never, ever getting hot enough to make truly excellent home pizza.

I've got a stone. I crank my tiny apartment oven as high as it can go. I take out the batteries in my smoke alarm and open every window. And I'm pretty sure I've suffered mild smoke inhalation on more than one occasion. Still, no matter these efforts, my pizza has ended up good, but not G-R-E-A-T. Charred. Bubbly. Chewy. That's what I'm looking for.

So anyway, while in a pizza mood this evening and with a ball of dough thawing on the counter, I thought about how well cast iron holds heat. A quick little Google search on "cast iron pizza" lead me straight to, and to my delight, Serious Eats. This confirmed the crazy idea in my head; if you guys had something on it, it had to work.

I followed Blumenthal's procedure and all I have to say is: FINALLY. CHARRED, BUBBLY, CHEWY, PERFECT PIZZERIA PIZZA IS FINALLY POSSIBLE AT HOME. Done. That's all she wrote. Finished.

Downeys Potato Chips are "The Best You Never Had".

When I start eating them, I can't put the bag down. They have a taste like no other potato chips.

Just a note: you can buy griddles designed to cover two eyes of the stove at once. They are reversible, with grill marks on one side and a flat surface on the other. If you used one of these, you could do 2 8-inch pies at once!!! Search "cast iron griddle double reversible" on Amazon, and you'll see some good results. Many are also available for about $20 at Macy's and the like during specials. You can find them at ross and other discounters also.

Homemade dough is *not* a pain. I use Mark Bittman's recipe/technique (I found it in "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian"), which uses a food processor to knead the dough. If you can measure ingredients and push the button on a food processor, you can have excellent dough in as little as an hour. The actual dough-making takes all of 5 minutes, then you just let it rise for an hour (or more, if you can spare it). Roll it out and throw it into the oven, and voila, a damn tasty, perfectly textured crust as thick or thin as you like it.

Try it and I swear you'll never want to buy a pre-made crust (or pizza) again. And it's at least as pain-free as the skillet/broiler finagling.

I stopped by a really good place on the Upper East Side. It was called Last Licks. I felt like a kid again. It is a sports themed ice cream parlor. Flavors are named after various athletes. Tikitacchio (yeah like Tiki Barber) was amazing, It had chocolate and pistacchios. Its on East 93 Street. They have a candy store inside as well. Really really good!

I second the nomination for Chinatown Ice Cream factory. Their almond cookie ice cream is divine.

What about L'Arte del Gelato..one on 7th and bleecker and the other in Chelsea Market?

Anyone know where one might buy a butterscotch pie in NYC or the environs?
Thanks!

I miss Fluffernutters! It was a college staple of mine.

Deep-fried, y'all.

Even with "scientific ratios", we all have our favorite ways of doing PBJ! To toast or not to toast? ... depends on my mood. Rye bread is my favorite with apricot preserves. Ooohhhh! I had forgotten all about using marshmallow fluff. Yum. I never understood the use of butter with peanut butter. For those of you who did, or still do, eat PB accompanied by butter, I hope there is a cardiologist in your family!