Happy New Year! Today we bid farewell to 2021. We had a very busy year here at Djalali Cooks, and we are looking forward to big things ahead for 2022. We have our last Top 10 list of 2021, so we are wrapping it up with Pizza and a Movie Top 10. Of the three Top 10 lists I put together this week, this one had the most surprises. So let’s get right to it!
1. Pizza and a Movie with Style at a Certain Age
This post being the Number 1 Pizza and a Movie is no surprise, actually. You all really enjoyed my collaboration with Beth, and no wonder! This was a really fun shoot. Beth and I have a lot of fun when we work together and it was really great to make pizza side-by-side.
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2. The Honey Bear Pizza
I am so excited to share this pizza recipe with you! Creamy white sauce, spicy Italian sausage, smoked and regular mozzarella, thin red onion slices and finished with a good drizzle of honey. Oh my goodness, this one is the new favorite in town. And by “town”, I mean my house. I was surprised when Alex said this is the best one yet because he normally doesn’t like sweet and savory in one bite. If you feel that away too, I encourage to give this a try, just to see if it changes your mind. Are you ready for The Honey Bear Pizza?
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3. Buttery Shrimp Pizza with Ricotta
Today I have a Buttery Shrimp Pizza with Ricotta that is reminiscent of the pizza we made last time we were here: Wild Palms Flatbread, with shrimp, corn and Calabrian chilis. Today’s pizza is a similar flatbread-style pizza with butter, garlic and thyme-poached shrimp, mozzarella, ricotta cheese and scallions.
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4. The Cheeseboard Pizza
Today’s pizza had Alex skeptical, to be honest. But once he tried it, I think he was surprised by how good this combination is. He doesn’t really like fancy or “weird” toppings on his pizza. So I knew this one was a gamble. You can imagine my satisfaction with changing his mind on this one! On a cheeseboard, apples, blue cheese, herby toasted walnuts and prosciutto all happily mingle. So why not on a pizza?
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5. Pizza Margherita
Today is my first post featuring pizza baked in the gorgeous Mugnaini oven in our backyard. You may remember back in December, when I shared progress photos of the oven being built; and after waiting for the concrete to cure, a little bad weather, and a bit of practice, I am so excited to share this pizza with you! To start things off, we’re doing a classic Neapolitan pizza, The Margherita.
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6. Wild Palms Flatbread
This is our last Tybee recipe for now, so I suppose it’s fitting that it involves my favorite food of all time: pizza. Welcome to Pizza and a Movie! I knew I wanted to do a seafood pie for today, and I knew I wanted to do a white pie. So I came up with this combination: white sauce base with bacon, shrimp, corn and green onions. Topped with more green onions, fresh flat leaf parsley and Calabrian Chilis. For your consideration: Wild Palms Flatbread.
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7. Asparagus Lemon Ricotta Pizza
I have a special pizza this week, inspired by my favorite St. Louis pizzeria, Katie’s Pizza and Pasta. Katie does an asparagus and preserved lemon pizza that I love. So today I have a version of that pie using fresh lemons, ricotta, and fresh basil with asparagus and mozzarella.
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8. You Say Potato
I am so happy that this Pizza and a Movie is my first post of 2021. I always get nostalgic at this time of year and it almost always revolves around food. This year, I have been missing many of my favorite California restaurants. A couple weeks ago, I featured The Gourmet which was based on a pizza from Escape From New York Pizza. I am featuring another Escape From New York pie today: You Say Potato.
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9. Four Cheese Pizza
Sometimes you can’t beat a cheese pizza, especially when it is anything but plain. Today we have a four cheese pizza – or Quattro Formaggi. A rich and savory blend of Mozzarella, Fontina, Gruyere and Blue Cheese. I have swapped the traditional Parmesan for Gruyere, and I have to say, it’s very, very good! This pie definitely belongs on the Pizza and a Movie Top 10.
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10. Mexican Pizza
I love to riff on different combinations when it comes to Mexican Pizza. I did one on Kelly’s Kitchen way back, and today’s recipe is an evolution of that pizza. Last week we did a basil pesto pizza base for the You Say Potato. It got me thinking about a cilantro pesto; with pine nuts, cotija and jalapeños. So that’s our base for today’s pizza. It’s a fresh and bright pizza with Mexican chorizo.
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Whatever you have planned for this last day of 2021, I want to thank you for spending some of it with me. And a very big thank you for being a part of the Djalali Cooks community; I could not do any of this without you. THANK YOU. See you in 2022! Take care and be well everyone, xo Kelly
Angela Grafe
December 31, 2021 at 8:45 amLiebe Kelly, happy new year! Just like to say : thank you for your inspiration! You do such a great job ! Please go on …..
Ein gesundes Jahr 2022 to you, your family and your lovely community!
Yours Angela
Kelly Djalali
December 31, 2021 at 8:57 amHappy New Year to you, Angela! Thank you so much for your kind words and wonderful support! Here’s to 2022! xo Kelly
Terry
December 31, 2021 at 10:43 amHappy new year kelly, I forgot about a few of these that were really good. Thanks for Putting it back into my brain. You have done a great job this year with Djalali Cooks I look forward to your posts. I have to say I have enjoyed everything I have made. I look forward to another year of excellent food ???❤️Mom
Kelly Djalali
December 31, 2021 at 10:54 amThank you so much Mom! I know it’s been fun to share these recipes, but even more so, the conversations we all have about the recipes and how we make them our own. Happy New Year! xo Kelly
Sylvia Espinoza
December 31, 2021 at 2:24 pmHappy New Year, Kelly! Much love from a big fan ?
Kelly Djalali
December 31, 2021 at 4:06 pmHappy New Year to you and yours, Sylvia! Thank you so much for all your support! xo Kelly
Mari
December 31, 2021 at 3:41 pmIs it possible to overdose on pizza just by thinking about it and looking at the pictures? If it is, I’m halfway there. I have to try the one with the walnuts right away. Somehow I seem to have totally forgotten it, and I love walnuts. They add a nice meaty texture to a lot of vegetarian and vegan recipes, and let’s not forget cookies, cakes and pies either. This is another crazy week. Wednesday reminded me of a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre. It was called, “Waiting For The Electrician Or Someone Like Him.” We waited a few hours for him to show up, and when he did, he didn’t have time to finish, because of an emergency call. We agreed he could finish Thursday. Again we were bumped down because someone needed him early in the morning. The company called and said he was running into unexpected problems on that job, so he would swing by our house at ten. It was almost one by the time he got here. He does great work, and he’s a nice guy, so we had to pretend we wouldn’t murder him and he had to pretend to believe us. Which brings us to this week’s installment of Nosy, Annoying, Or Annoyed Questions.
1. If doctors, dentists, and utility companies can charge us for being late or not showing, why can’t we deduct ten or twenty percent from their bills if they keep us waiting?
2. Why are Valentine’s Day displays already set in the stores? Is Easter going to be up on President’s Day?
3. What is your least favorite holiday? Do you decorate for it anyway? Other than Christmas, I tend to ignore holidays.
4. What was your favorite Halloween costume when you were a little girl? What did you hate to see in your bag? Mine is licorice. None of us can stand it, although we don’t mind anise flavoring. My daughter-in-law Ioves black licorice, and the rest of us won’t even eat the red. Candy corn and circus peanuts are the spawn of Satan, and orange slices, which look and taste like rubber. Aren’t far behind.
5. In dreams, if we are reliving events in our lives, and trying to resolve them, why can’t they be more straightforward?!
6. If you were a clown, what would your circus name be?
7. What was your favorite doll’s name?
8. Are you superstitious? Do you avoid stepping on the cracks in sidewalks?
9. Other than underwear, what is the worst present you ever got? Is there anything worse than underwear?
10. Who was scarier:: Jason Voorhees, Freddie Krueger, or Oscar The Grouch
A very Happy New Year and hugs go out to my Djalalis, Terry, and the Pups. The birds and I are ready for pajamas, cocoa with extra marshmallows, and a good book or a movie. ???
Kelly Djalali
December 31, 2021 at 4:24 pmHi Mari, Happy New Year! What a fun list of questions this week! Some of them are really tough, I will give it my best shot.
1. I do not know the answer to this one, but I think about it all the time. I think it’s something Larry David needs to address on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
2. This one too, I seriously dislike the next holiday for sale before the current one is over. Time goes fast enough as it is, without retailers speeding us into buying stuff for the next one. 😛
3. I pretty much like all the big holidays the same. I always got irritated that my old office job never gave us both MLK Day and President’s day off. It was always one or the other.
4. I don’t recall a favorite Halloween costume, but when I was in first grade I went as Smurfette and freaked out when my Mom tried to paint my face blue.
5. Lol, it’s more fun to try to figure out what it all means.
6. Sarsaparilla, The Bitter Clown
7. I didn’t have a particular doll, I played with Barbies.
8. I am not superstitious, but I love to ponder coincidences.
9. Worst present…I always hated getting clothes when I was young – unless they were clothes for my Barbie.
10. The Necco Wafers in my Trick or Treat Bag! 🙂
Here’s to a happy and healthy 2022, Mari – to you and your family. I am so happy to have you as part the Djalali Cooks Community! xo Kelly
Mari
December 31, 2021 at 5:21 pmIn regards to question three and holidays; when I worked retail, they always offered me double time to work on holidays, so I never minded not getting them off. When I was HR assistant at a Food warehouse, I got a lot of odd questions. My favorite was the resident watch telling me she was taking Halloween off and demanded to be paid for it. I explained that it wasn’t a national holiday, and no one could get paid for taking it off. She scowled and muttered before telling me that Jewish people got paid to take Hanukkah off. I said there were no Jewish people working there and it wasn’t a national holiday, and if there were, they would have to use vacation days. She finally understood she would either have to work, or call in sick to get the day off. She grudgingly called in sick. When she came back November First, she asked if I had headaches or joint pains, or stomach aches. I said no. One of my friends said there was probably a doll stuck with pins somewhere. We all got a good laugh from that.