While I might trade someone else’s soul for a Reuben, I gave up mine long ago for a beer, so my trading days are over. Reubens are one of the many dishes that have made their way into dip form. This time of year, with “The Big Game” right around the corner, salty, cheesey, rich dishes are often the order of the day. A big crock pot full  of dip is the easiest way to bring your own thing to a party. Making a dip from a popular dish can be your ticket to a bowl of something super.

In addition to reuben dip, there are a number of other recipes that are easy conversions to bring along with you.

Chicken wing dip seems to be at every pot luck or party I go to nowadays. Wings were already a party food, particularly around a football game, so why would they need to get transformed for a party?  No mess. Thats what I’m talking about. Now I won’t pretend that chicken wing dip gives you that same crispy chicken skin awesomeness that you get with wings but it packs a ton of flavor and you can make it as hot or mild as you like. It also gives me an excuse to eat Chicken in a Biskit crackers.

If you have never opened a box of these things and gorged yourself, go get some, now. And yes they have some form of actual chicken in them.

Pizza dip is another one that has spun its way into my world. It reminds me of my days in a  pizza shop as a kid, putting a pile of Mozzarella onto a pan, topping it with whatever other ingredients I might want and baking until the cheese was brown and crispy on the edges. (Pardon me, I need to wipe up some drool)

I like mine with crackers (Ritz please) but it you want to fancy it up, feel free to slice up some baguettes and spread it on the bread. Though if you are going to go that far you might as well make pizza.

How about some Philly cheese steak dip?  All of your favorite flavors from a cheese steak ready for scooping, preferably with soft pretzels as a vehicle for shoveling it into your face.

Last but not least, another classic sandwich as a dip, BLT dip. Everyone has been soundly beaten over the head with how amazing bacon is. Needless to say, I’m a fan. Outside of eating it alongside eggs, a BLT is the dish from my childhood that cemented bacon as a staple in my cooking. Once you hit that perfect ratio of bacon, tomatoes, crispy lettuce and toasted bread it is tough to beat. It is a challenge to get that ratio right for a dip that is invariably far more cheesy than a sandwich would be. Try serving it with some melba toast or another cracker that will bring that flavor into the mix. Or skip the crackers and scoop it up with some bib lettuce.

So this Super Bowl weekend, or any weekend, try turning one of your favorite dishes into a dip and enjoy.

Minhee Cho posted an image of a Papa John’s receipt on her Twitter, which called her “lady chinky eyes.” After receiving her order.

“Hey @ PapaJohns just FYI my name isn’t ‘lady chinky eyes,’” Cho tweeted.

Cho, a communications manager at investigative journalism group ProPublica, posted the above  photo of said receipt on her Twitter account Saturday morning.

These Un-PC pizza joint shenanigans have of course gone very viral since then, much to the dismay of Papa J Corporate.

An attempt at damage control in the Twitterverse was swift and in many cases Papa John’s answered on a tweet by tweet basis but inevitably the ‘Za giant mass assured everyone with the following: “We are very upset by recent receipt issue in New York & sincerely apologize to our customer. Franchise employee involved is being terminated.”

No one would doubt that America’s favorite food is pizza. As a result, people have come up with all kinds of ideas to try and take pizza to an even higher level, even though it has long since reached its innovation peak.

Cheese-stuffed crust? Unnecessary.
Pizza in a cone? The flat stuff works just fine.
Puff pastry crust? If it ain’t broke…
Dessert pizza? Nice try.
Rogue toppings (seafood, fruit, anything expensive)? Stupid.

Now the folks at Pizza Prints have come up with the idea of selling printed NFL logos that you can put on your pizza and then eat. Please note the last three words of that sentence.

The first time I saw this ad, I thought it was a joke.

Seriously, am I supposed to take a hot, freshly baked pizza and put a football helmet logo on top, thus allowing the ink design to “meld” with my formerly delicious pie, and then eat it as part of my first bite?

Um, no.

In the ad you will notice that no one actually takes a bite of the pizza. Pretty surprising considering how delicious ink and chemicals usually are.

There are bad ideas, and then there are Pizza Prints.

H/t to the Sports Guy for the heads up.

In a new attempt to kill us satisfy our demand for cheese and things inside of things, Domino’s now has Stuffed Cheesy Bread. The new cheesy bread is just like the old, except with things inside of it. There are three new ways to increase your cholesterol: Cheese Only, Bacon and Jalapeno, and Spinach and Feta. Each one costs $5.99. I’ll take three!

I decided that it would be best to get multiple sets of taste buds to try these new flavors, so I got together with a few friends to do some tasting, a la Sam’s Artisan Pizza Review. Each box included eight pieces of Stuffed Cheesy Bread, and one cup of marinara dipping sauce. It looks like a calzone with cheese on top, which, when you think about it, is exactly what it is. On to the tasting.

Cheese Only

This one is exactly what it sounds like: there’s just cheese inside. I started with an end piece, which was a mistake, because it was just dough. The cheese didn’t make it to the ends. For a more accurate picture of what Stuffed Cheesy Bread is, you must eat the 6 middle pieces. So now instead of 8 pieces for 6 bucks, you’re getting just six. I pulled off a piece, hoping it would be like the commercial when they take one and the melty cheese stretches, unable to decide whether it should stay or go, because it is incapable of making decisions being that it is an inanimate object. That did not happen.

The overall feeling was that it lacked flavor. It’s a lot of dough and some cheese. Supposedly there’s some sort of garlic seasoning, but I didn’t taste it at all. It probably would have been much better with said seasoning. I dipped it in the marinara sauce, which improved it somewhat, but at that point you’re really just having pizza.

Bacon and Jalapeño

This one was the overall winner. They did not skimp on the jalapenos, each piece having a couple slices. There was also plenty of bacon, although some thought it was more like ham than bacon.

The reason we liked this variety best was because it had the most flavor. After the lack of pizazz in the Cheese Only, this provided a good pop. As I already mentioned, bacon makes everything better. The jalapenos had a good bit of heat, but it wasn’t so much that you were unable to taste anything else. They also had a nice crunch, adding a good textural element. The marinara sauce was necessary for my weak palate, as it neutralized the jalapenos somewhat. I dare say we actually liked this flavor.

Spinach and Feta

Personally, I was not all that excited to try this one. I can’t say I care much for spinach or feta. But for your sake, So Good reader, I pressed forward. There was a good bit of spinach inside, at least one leaf in each piece. The feta, however, was not so easy to find. My piece had three tiny crumbles, from what I could see. The overall flavor was very mild. The spinach didn’t really come through at all, but I kind of liked what the feta added. It was a subtle but sharp flavor tone. One person got a large chunk of feta in theirs, and was put off by the saltiness. The general feeling about this variety was not a great one, but I thought it was decent.

In all, this is a decent offering from Domino’s. Stuffed Cheesy Bread is really just a calzone with less stuff inside. It won’t blow you away, but as long as you stay away from the Cheese Only, you might enjoy it. I think this product would benefit greatly from some seasoning, possibly of the garlic variety. If you can handle the heat, Bacon and Jalapeno is for you. If not, give Spinach and Feta a go.

What do you think? Have you tried it? Will you?

Did Domino’s succeed in their effort to craft a top-of-the line pizza sans superfluity? Domino’s was nice enough to supply us with a few pizzas to taste and review, so some friends and I had a taste test and rated the pizzas on flavor, balance of toppings, quality of ingredients, and overall impressiveness. And the winner is…

#1: Spinach and Feta

“Alfredo sauce, feta and parmesan-asiago cheeses, fresh baby spinach and onion toppings. All balanced and baked to perfection on an artisan-style crust.”

All of the reviewers rated this pizza as their favorite. The strongest elements of the Spinach and Feta pizza were the alfredo sauce and crust. “Really liked the sauce, it was rich and creamy” wrote one reviewer. The crust was high quality as well – chewy and soft (although one reviewer wrote theirs was dry in spots). This crust quality persisted throughout all three pizzas. The onions were good, if a little strong. The spinach and feta, however, got lost amidst the sauce and the onions – not good for a pizza named for its spinach and feta.

#2 (tie): Tuscan Salami and Roasted Veggie and Italian Sausage and Pepper Trio

“Ideal proportions of salami, spinach and onion, roasted red and banana peppers, and a dash of oregano, all over a garlic parmesan sauce on an artisan-style crust.” 

and

“Parmesan-asiago cheese and sliced Italian sausage complemented by a trio of  roasted red, green and banana peppers, on an artisan-style crust, topped with a dash of oregano.”

These two pizzas came in at an exact tie points-wise, though the general consensus was that the Italian Sausage and Pepper Trio was a little better. The point at which these pizzas showed their strongest “artisan” colors was in the even distribution of toppings – each piece had at least one of every topping on it.

However, the individual ingredients themselves were lacking in quality and flavor. The spice combination sprinkled over the Tuscan Salami and Roasted Veggie felt forced and synthetic, like something that would come in one of those pre-mixed spice jars at the supermarket. The sausage on the Italian Sausage and Pepper Trio was sweet, but low quality –  one reviewer said it was “off-tasting,” and another said they had “higher expectations with the artisan name.” The sauces on both were pleasant (garlic-ey for the salami, sweet for the sausage), but underwhelming.

In the end, “not so sure the tastes mesh very well but good various bits,” said one reviewer. Though the individual ingredients on each pizza were inoffensive and in some cases excellent, they lacked the overall quality and coherence of a pizza you would get from, say, an artisan. Hard as they tried, these pizzas could quite shake the sheen of delivery pizza. “When I order Domino’s,” summed up one reviewer, “I’ll probably stick to the classic greasy stuff.”

Domino’s is bringing the Noid back for one week only, in the form of the Noid’s Super Pizza Shootout game. The premise? The Noid has stolen 10,080 gift cards for a free pizza and Domino’s will be giving one out each MINUTE of the week to the highest round score at any given minute. Huh. Here’s what the game looks like, which can be played on the Domino’s Facebook page:

Back when Domino’s was one of my clients I was emphatic about their need to bring back The Noid at some point. There is just a ton of retro love for this guy. I’m glad to see The Noid make his return, even if it is just on Facebook and not in TV ads.

Cheese (plain)

Pepperoni (or any single-ingredient pizza, like “sausage”)

Meat Lover’s (pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon)

Veggie (green pepper, onion, olive, tomato, etc.)

Supreme (meat and veggie-loaded)

Personally, I don’t like how pizza delivery menu options like “meat lover’s” and “Hawaiian” confine the customer to one set of toppings. For instance, what if someone (like me) loves pepperoni and Canadian bacon, but hates sausage? In that situation, meat lover’s is a no go. That’s why I strongly encourage you particular topping-selectors to choose “other” and tell us what you really like in the comments.

Sam’s post from the 7th got me thinking about pizza styles — but not how to eat it — how to cook it. Now I love going out to eat a good hand-tossed pie, but I have also been known to make one to rave reviews. To date, all of my home-cooking has taken place in the oven. But, a few weeks back, I read on Simply Recipes about a way to make a pizza on the grill. Last night I tried it out.

I bought a dough at a local pizza joint, then rolled it out, brushed on some olive oil and threw it on a hot grill (mine got to 400 degrees). A couple minutes on one side, brought it in the house, flipped it, topped it, then back out for a few more minutes with slightly reduced heat. Have more dough? Just repeat – making the dough thinner or thicker for a crispy or chewy crust,  and changing up the toppings as you see fit.

The result? As you can see from the top – two wonderful pies. One white pizza with sweet potato slices (previously baked), onion, lots of cheese and topped with spicy arugula. The other had a great homemade sauce, squash and more onion. Two different tastes, but both awesome, and both so quick and easy to cook.

Anyone else tried pizza this way?

[Please pardon the photo quality at top; I'm no Bitten Word.]

There’s gonna be a lot of college kids taking FOREVER trying to decide on their ten toppings tonight.