No more Pizza Hut

This is a boycott that will hit me where it hurts the most, in my food consuming area. Mrs. Ahab loves Pizza Hut, but a little pissed of that they waited until the media furor surrounding the driver who shot the man who was trying to murder him died down – and then they canned the guy.

This is a boycott that will actually be difficult for me – unlike my Wal-Mart boycott, because I never go to Wal-Mart anyway there are times when the Mrs. just gets a craving for the average pizza and garlic cheese bread they have at Pizza Hut.

Put I’m not going to spend my dollars at a place that waits until they think no one is paying attention, and then fires and employee for defending his life against a violent assault. Not cool, Pizza Hut.

Update: In the comments, Unix-Jedi gives a good reason to never go to Pizza Hut again anyway:

Dough:
3 cups King Arthur (or other hard wheat)
8 oz warm water
1 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp essential gluten

Sauce:
1 can tomato sauce
(Optional) 1 tsp sugar)
handful each: Oregano, basil, garlic powder, onion powder.
(Or crush garlic cloves if you like them rather than the powder.)

Cheese:
25% Whole milk mozzarella
40% Part-skim mozzarella
25% Provolone
10% Asiago & Parmesan

Put the can of tomato sauce on, bring to a hard simmer, toss in spices, lower heat and allow to low simmer until reduced in volume about 50%. (slightly runnier than paste). Min 1 hr. Spice to personal preference.

Heat the water to ~100F, add the sugar, and 2 pkts yeast.
Wait 10 minutes for the yeast to bloom, almost doubling the volume with foam, and then add to the other ingredients in a mixing bowl. (I use a kitchenaid. I suppose you could do this by hand, but, get a kitchenaid.)

Mix for 12-15 minutes, until the gluten has formed well.

Divide into 2 pieces, shape into balls and place in oiled bowls 3x the size of the doughballs, oil the surface (spray works fine) and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Place in a cool spot for 1-4 hours. When the dough is 2x the prior volume, turn it out on a floured board and stretch it. Tossing in the air is fine, but working it out by stretching and pulling on the floured board works fine as well.

Add ladle of sauce, just enough to cover the pizza. Add cheese. Other toppings as desired.

(For pepperoni and salami – cook them for about 3 minutes in a skillet over medium-high heat to get out a lot of the fat. For hamburger and sausage, brown thoroughly and let drain prior to adding. For anchovies, see a therapist.)

Preheat oven to 500, preferably with pizza stone in middle. Put either directly on pizza stone if you’ve got a peel, if not, a cheap AL pizza pan will work.

Bake for 6-10 minutes.

Great, now I’m really hungry.

12 Comments

  1. Papa Johns is better pizza anyway. The sad thing is I think all pizza chains have this idiot policy, so what are we to do?

  2. Pizza Smut? Bah. Bah, I say.

    Dough:
    3 cups King Arthur (or other hard wheat)
    8 oz warm water
    1 tbsp white sugar
    2 tsp salt
    1 tsp black pepper
    1 tbsp olive oil
    2 tbsp essential gluten

    Sauce:
    1 can tomato sauce
    (Optional) 1 tsp sugar)
    handful each: Oregano, basil, garlic powder, onion powder.
    (Or crush garlic cloves if you like them rather than the powder.)

    Cheese:
    25% Whole milk mozzarella
    40% Part-skim mozzarella
    25% Provolone
    10% Asiago & Parmesan

    Put the can of tomato sauce on, bring to a hard simmer, toss in spices, lower heat and allow to low simmer until reduced in volume about 50%. (slightly runnier than paste). Min 1 hr. Spice to personal preference.

    Heat the water to ~100F, add the sugar, and 2 pkts yeast.
    Wait 10 minutes for the yeast to bloom, almost doubling the volume with foam, and then add to the other ingredients in a mixing bowl. (I use a kitchenaid. I suppose you could do this by hand, but, get a kitchenaid.)

    Mix for 12-15 minutes, until the gluten has formed well.

    Divide into 2 pieces, shape into balls and place in oiled bowls 3x the size of the doughballs, oil the surface (spray works fine) and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Place in a cool spot for 1-4 hours. When the dough is 2x the prior volume, turn it out on a floured board and stretch it. Tossing in the air is fine, but working it out by stretching and pulling on the floured board works fine as well.

    Add ladle of sauce, just enough to cover the pizza. Add cheese. Other toppings as desired.

    (For pepperoni and salami – cook them for about 3 minutes in a skillet over medium-high heat to get out a lot of the fat. For hamburger and sausage, brown thoroughly and let drain prior to adding. For anchovies, see a therapist.)

    Preheat oven to 500, preferably with pizza stone in middle. Put either directly on pizza stone if you’ve got a peel, if not, a cheap AL pizza pan will work.

    Bake for 6-10 minutes.

    Who needs pizza hut?

  3. I have switched over to Little Caesar Pizza,who have no problem with me bring in my gun,open carry or concealed, into their establishment. They have even stated they feel safer with people like me coming in. I don’t know if this is just a franchiser making this statement or a company wide sentiment. But it has secured my business with them,plus the wife loves their pizza and I love the price. Two pizzas for 10 bucks.

  4. Pizza Hut is awful pizza anyway, no great loss. My family also has a homemade recipe, for both the dough and sauce, its quite good.

  5. Michael: We eat a fair amount of Little Ceasar’s, too. I don’t know about the weapons policy at the one near us, but I do know that, despite the fact that it isn’t really top-grade pizza, it’s a lot cheaper than Pizza Hut and nearly the same quality.

    Lately, we’ve been into the making pizza at home thing, again, too.

  6. Forgot to add that something about eating Pizza Hut almost always, ummm, helps clean out my plumbing. Seriously. I always have to factor that in if we’re eating there.

    Sometimes I’ve eaten there specifically for that purpose. Works nine times out of ten.

  7. Great, now I’m really hungry.

    Sorry. 🙂

    And in all fairness, the pizza crust was inspired by HogOnIce.
    ( http://www.hogonice.com/death_by_fork/ )

    With some experimenting with flours, rises, watching a bit of Good Eats, and playing with sauces… (Steve buys his!)…

    I’m only allowed (by the wife) to buy pizza now from the 1 small non-chain that’s got me beat on the crust. Barely. So far. But my sauce kicks their ass. 🙂

    And that’s $20 for 2 smallish pizzas, so usually I just make them. Which reminds me, need to do up some for this weekend and let rise in the fridge…

  8. My wife has said the same thing, Murdoc.
    Unix-Jedi Says:
    April 24th, 2008 at 10:09 pm

    Great, now I’m really hungry.


    >8[o]

  9. We have an excellent NY-Style pizza place that has recently opened nearby, so they get my business. That, and the Pizza Hut in the same are (across the street, actually) has the WORST service on this blue marble of ours.

    Fie on them!

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