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Sprint Cup

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

September 13, 2013

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Are you ready to dive???

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza_A

So NASCAR has been interesting this week! From Saturday night’s race to Monday night’s penalties it was a really interesting week. Oh man. I still can’t believe that things got so far and intense at the end of the race and how that all played out on Monday. While I totally think that strategy is part of any sport it’s just unfortunate how it all played out during the last laps of the last race before The Chase with a suspected purposeful spin-out to bring out a caution and pitting when it was not needed just to help another teammate move up in the points to get into The Chase. And then the penalties on Monday were record setting with docked points that resulted in drivers moving in and out of The Chase, suspending the team GM indefinitely, a $300K penalty for Michael Waltrip Racing.

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Basically, I’m going to be really interested in how all this plays out for the drivers in the effected team for the rest of the races. Will people try to get back at them? Will they under a high powered microscope? Or will everyone play nice? Doubtful! But then it wouldn’t be the intense racing I love.

Anyway…

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Last year I surprised Price with a trip to Chicago for his 30th birthday. Totally surprised him. He didn’t know where we were going until we got to the gate. It was so awesome to plan something that big and surprise him with it. Also, it was so great to walk, sight see, and eat our way through the Windy City (which has nothing to do with wind).

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Of course we had to have deep dish pizza. And of course it was INCREDIBLE! Since then we have been hooked on it for it’s thick buttery crust, it’s ooey gooey cheesy layer that is topped off with meat and/or veggies and a chunky sauce.

This weekend’s kick off to The Chase is at Chicagoland Speedway so I just had to whip up a deep dish pizza for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks.

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Once you have the 14-Inch Deep Dish Pizza Pan it’s really easy to whip up since you can do the crust an hour before you need it (or make it in the morning like I did) and then it’s not all too different than making a regular pizza, but some extra baking time but it’s worth it. I filled our pizza with a combo of sautĂ©ed fresh veggies and a layer of sliced pepperoni. Soo delish!

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza_B

How can you resist?!?!?!

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza_C

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Makes 1-14″ deep dish pizza/12 servings

Ingredients

Crust

  • 4 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
  • 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
  • 2 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or salad oil
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons lukewarm water

Filling

  • 3/4 lb. mozzarella cheese, sliced
  • 1 pound total of Italian sweet or hot sausage, cooked and sliced and/or chopped cooked meatballs, or pepperoni; or about 3 cups of the sautĂ©ed vegetables of your choice (mushrooms, onion, zucchini, broccoli, etc)
  • 28-ounce can plum tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
  • 2 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced, optional
  • 1 tablespoon sugar, optional
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons of mixed dried Italian herbs (oregano, basil, rosemary), to taste
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Process

To make the crust:

  1. Mix all of the dough ingredients together, and knead — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a smooth crust. This will take about 7 minutes at medium-low speed in a stand mixer.
  2. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise till very puffy, about 60 minutes. (It can hang out all day, if needed)
  3. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and prepare the 14-Inch Deep Dish Pizza Pan by spraying it with non-stick vegetable oil spray and then pour in 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil, tilting it to cover the bottom of the pan, and partway up the sides.
  4. On a lightly greased countertop or baking mat, stretch and roll out the dough to make a circle large enough to cover the bottom and up the side of the pan.
  5. Place the dough in the pan and gently push it up the sides of the pan to stay in place. (It’s okay if some olive oil oozes over the edge of the crust) Let the crust rest for 15 minutes or so.
  6. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until it’s set and only just starting to brown. While it’s baking, prepare the sauce.
  7. Drain the tomatoes thoroughly, remove the tough part where the stem connects to the tomato, then chop up. Combine the tomatoes with the herbs and garlic. Add the sugar and some salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Cover the bottom of the crust with the sliced mozzarella, fanning it into the crust. Add the meat/sautéed vegetables filling evenly over the cheese. Then top with the tomatoes and then sprinkle with the grated Parmesan.
  9. Bake the pizza for another 25 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the crust edge is golden brown.
  10. Remove it from the oven and allow the pizza to cool for about 15 minutes (or longer, for less oozing) before cutting and serving.

Sourced from King Arthur Flour

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: chicago, chicago deep dish pizza, Chicagoland Speedway, deep dish pizza, instant yeast, NASCAR, pizza, pizza dough, Sprint Cup, sprint cup snacks, The Chase

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Corn

August 23, 2013

BBQ Bacon Wrapped Corn – try taking your average grilled corn on the cob to the next level. A must make at your next summer BBQ.

Post from 8/23/18, Pictures updated 5/27/18

I’m so out of it this week.

I’m really thankful it’s Friday… Friyay… because this week felt like it was dragging and dragging.

…

Read More

Filed Under: Recipes, Side Dishes Tagged With: bacon, BBQ Bacon Wrapped Corn, BBQ sauce, corn on the cobb, ear of corn, grilled corn on the cobb, grilling, NASCAR, nascar race, NASCAR Snacks, Sprint Cup, sprint cup snacks

Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas

March 22, 2013

Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas

It’s officially spring but mother nature has not yet received that memo. She is being a pain in my butt with the cold and the SNOW that we have been having. I have a love/hate relationship with living in New England as I hate the long drawn out cold weather that mess with us long into March and April. And yet, I just love the spring and fall seasons. Can’t win them all I guess. But at this point I wouldn’t pass up at trip to California to escape this cold weather right now.

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Plus, if I was in Cali I’d sure as hell be attending the Sprint Cup race this weekend in Fontana. A little of shopping in L.A. and a whole lotta fun watching the Auto Club 400 race in Fontana. Of course I would hope for another win for Kasey Kahne because I’m still loving his win from last weekend in Bristol. yay!! But since I can’t cheer him in person I’ll take a mental trip there by making these Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks.

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There is a restaurant near my office that had a summer special when they first opened that I just loved. They made a burger quesadilla that was sooo good! It was so flavorful like a taco but was a totally a burger in a tortilla. I guess it wasn’t a typical quesadilla as it was wrapped up but it just made it so easy to eat. It’s kinda like a quesadilla wrap or a flat burrito. Whatever, it is just good!

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This is super easy to make which is always great when your whipping up a quick weeknight dinner or just distracted watching the race. ha! The burger is so flavorful with all the toppings on top. I picked toppings that reminded me of a California Club with the bacon, tomato, red onion, and avocado. And, of course, a quesadilla has loads of cheese!

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Don’t wait another year for another Fontana Race to make this burger but your family. This is great anytime for lunch or dinner. 

Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground turkey
  • 1 generous teaspoon adobo seasoning
  • 4 burrito sized flour tortillas
  • 12 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese
  • 4 slices of cooked bacon
  • 1/2 of an avocado, thinly sliced
  • tomato, thinly sliced
  • red onion, thinly sliced

Process

  1. Combine the ground turkey and the adobo seasoning. Form 4 equally sized patties. Make the patties very, very thin and about 4″ across.
  2. Grill the burgers until they are about 2 minutes from being cooked through.
  3. While the burgers are cooking microwave the burrito tortillas for about 30 seconds to make them vary soft and playable.
  4. Place some of cheese in the center of the tortilla. Then add the burger, bacon, tomato, onion, avocado, and cheese onto the burger. Fold opposite sides into center and then repeat with the remaining sides.
  5. Place the burger with the fold sides down back on the grill with a weight on top of the burger to seal it closed. Flip over to other side to warm though to melt the cheese and add grill marks.
  6. Cut in half prior to serving.

____________________

{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

The Auto Club Speedway is a fairly new track in the Sprint Cup Series. Construction started in 1995 and the first Sprint Cup race was in 1997 with Jeff Gordon winning the inaugural race. Originally the race was 500 miles but since then has been shorted to 400 miles. It is the only Sprint Cup race in Southern California, which is just 50 miles from downtown LA.

Track: 2 miles

Shape: D-Shaped Oval

Banking: 11 degrees in the front-stretch, 3 degrees in the back-stretch, 14 degrees in turns

Surface: Asphalt

Capacity: 91200

Race: 200-lap for 400-miles

2012 winner:  Tony Stewart

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Filed Under: Poultry, Recipes Tagged With: avocado, bacon, burger, Burger Quesadilla, Cali Turkey Burger, Cali Turkey Burger Quesadillas, cheese, ground turkey, quesadilla, quesadilla burger, red onion, shredded cheese, Sprint Cup, turkey, turkey burger

Homemade Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

March 15, 2013

Jack Daniel's BBQ Sauce

Oh my gosh! Last week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas was an incredible race to watch. Well, it was awesome if you were a Kasey Kahne fan, like myself, or a Matt Kenseth fan. Kasey Kahne dominated the race leading 114 laps of the 267 lap race and finished 2nd. While I wanted Kahne to win sooo badly, I’m happy for Kenseth for winning on his 41st birthday and happy that Kahne went from 31st in points to 14th. Let’s keep the ball rolling!

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This weekend’s upcoming race is at Bristol Motor Speedway. So I was excited that this meant BBQ for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks! But guess what. I don’t really know Bristol so I don’t know what kind of BBQ they enjoy in that area of the state. See, Bristol and Memphis are no where near each other. They reside on opposite ends of the state, a decent 500 mile car drive. So I felt a little weird making Memphis baby back ribs, which is how I came to making a whiskey based  BBQ sauce. I love Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey!!!

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The moment I saw these Jack Daniels Baby Back Ribs I knew that I had to make the BBQ sauce. Oh my gosh loving all the recipes on Czech in the Kitchen but let’s stay focused on this BBQ sauce. I had never made BBQ sauce before so I liked the aspect of learning something new. And let me tell you a secret… it’s so easy and so good. Plus as the sauce cooked it filled our house up with such a good rich whiskey and hickory from the liquid smoke.

Enjoy this Homemade Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce this weekend or throughout the summer on chicken, ribs, pulled pork, or burgers. It’s quick to make and tastes so fantastic!

Jack Daniel’s BBQ Sauce

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 white onion, diced
  • ½ bulb of garlic, minced
  • ½ cup whiskey, preferably Jack Daniel’s
  • 2 cups ketchup
  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/3  cup brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke,
  • ½ teaspoon each aalt and pepper

Process

  1. In a saucepan, combine the diced onions, garlic, and whiskey. Simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until onions are soft. 
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for about a half hour. 
  3. Blend the sauce together with an immersion blender or transfer to a blender. Place the sauce in jars.

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{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

Bristol Motor speedway was built in 1961, and is the 4th largest sports venue in America, and the 8th largest in the world. This allows 165,000 people to watch is known drivers rip around the short track. Because the track is so small there are 2 pit lanes because the 43 cars can’t fit all on 1 side. As well, because the track is much shorter than the super speedways, the cars don’t go as fast, which not all fan enjoy. It can be quite divided! But no matter, everyone can agree on the nickname of  Thunder Valley because the noise of the cars on the track is so amplified from the shape of the venue.

Track: .533 mile

Shape: Oval

Banking: 26-30 degrees in the turns and 6-10 degrees in the straights

Surface: Concrete

Capacity: 165,000

Race: 500-lap for 266.5-miles

2012 winner: Brad Keselowski

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: BBQ sauce, Bristol Motor Speedway, Jack Daniel's BBQ Sauce, kasey kahne, NASCAR, Sprint Cup, Sprint Cup racing, sprint cup snacks

Dress Your Own Baked Potato Buffet

March 8, 2013

Baked Potato Buffet_03

After last week’s race I’m ready for this weekend’s Kobalt Tools 400 is held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. My favorite driver, Kasey Kahne, better finish better at this week’s race than last week’s since he was a favorite to win and then with some issues ended up at 19th. And he was involved in a wreck at the Daytona Race resulting in a 36th place finish. So, like last year, it ain’t starting off too well. But I’m hoping that, like last year, this get better and he makes it into the Chase. LAst year he ended up 4th overall, not too bad considering the start, but he needs some big finishes to get there!

So I’m excited about this race at Las Vegas since he does really well here. He is the all-time pole winner with three poles, including last years. In his 9 starts at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway he has won 1 race, hs 2 top-five finishes, and 4 top-ten finishes. Fingers crossed!

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Well, what would I make for this week’s edition of Sprint Cup Snacks?

I figured what better way to gear up for the race in Las Vegas than to enjoy a buffet? They are everywhere in Vegas so I figured I would make a fun little buffet myself in its honor. I’ve done plenty of taco and chili bars but I thought that a Dress Your Own Baked Potato Buffet would be a blast. If you can bake a potato and put some toppings in some serving bowls than you are all set for a fun meal that everyone can enjoy and personalize.

Baked Potato Buffet

The best is that this can be scaled down or up for any amount of people. For 4 to 40 this is a fun way to eat dinner or at a party.

Dress Your Own Baked Potato Buffet

Ingredients

  • 1 baked potato per person

Toppings:

  • Butter
  • Sour Cream
  • Grated Cheddar Cheese
  • Bacon
  • Chives
  • Steamed Broccoli
  • Salsa
  • Sliced olives
  • Hot Sauce
  • Diced ham
  • Caramelized onions
  • Diced green peppers
  • Jalapenos

Process

  1. Make the Best Baked Potatoes.
  2. Prepare toppings as needed, like caramelizing onions, steaming broccoli, slicing peppers, etc.
  3. Portion toppings into serving bowls and dishes. Arrange dishes with the serving dish of potatoes.
  4. Dress your own baked potato and enjoy!

____________________

{Sprint Cup Snacks Track Facts}

The Las Vegas Speedrome was built in 1971, which first consisted of a road course and drag strip. Over the years needs changes, as well as ownership which resulted in complex that was refurbished in 1995 to create the 1.5 mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The first Sprint Cup race there, and the first Kobalt Tools 400, was first held in 1998, which Mark Martin won. In 2006 the racetrack was enhanced again with more progressive banking taking the turns from 12 degrees to 20 degrees.

Track: 1.5 mile

Shape: Tri-Oval Super Speedway

Banking:  20 degrees in the turns

Surface: Asphalt

Capacity: 142,000

Race: 267 laps for 400.5 miles

2012 winner: Tony Stewart

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Filed Under: Recipes, Side Dishes Tagged With: Baked Potato, best ever baked potatoes, buffet, Dress your Own Baked Potato Bar, Dress your own Baked Potato Buffet, Las Vegas Race, NASCAR, Sprint Cup, sprint cup snacks, Toppings

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