And you are here why?

Pizza di patate is a classic Pugliese dish (ok, technically from Bari. Whatever) and goes by other names in other places - potato gateau, potato crumble, etc. Basically, think of it as "baked mashed potatoes", which is exactly like calling wine "fermented grape juice". True, but entirely missing the point. The recipe below comes from a friend of mine from  Puglia . OK, technically, it's her mom's, which only makes it even better, right? (Incidentally, if you want to learn - or improve - your Italian, you can do far, far worse than working with her. The site is called  LearnAmo , she's incredibly good at it, and the  videos are endlessly entertaining .) Anyhow, enough of the plug - recipe below. Ingredients 4 medium potatoes (russet, but pretty much anything will do) 2 eggs 8 oz mozzarella di bufala, diced. Not too small though. Perhaps 1/4" - 1/2" chunks 8 oz shredded cheese (use whatever you like. Mozzarella, cheddar, "fiesta cheese"...

1. Why does pizza always land cheese-side down? 2. When it   does   land, why is it always on the single most inconvenient place possible? 3. Pepper-flakes…are…a…pain 4. Melting the cheese for easier extraction is   not   a good idea /via http://www.commitstrip.com/en/2013/06/28/la-pire-phobie-du-codeur/

via Nathan Yau , a map showing the nearest Pizza place within a 10 mile radius in the USA . The summary? As you might expect, Pizza Hut (red) dominates from a national perspective. Domino's (blue) also has a strong showing nationally, but with a better showing in the east. Regionally, Papa John's, which started in Kentucky, is strong in the east central area; Godfather's, with headquarters in Nebraska, is popular in the midwest; Little Caesars shows strong in California and Michigan (its first location in Garden City, Michigan); and Papa Murphy's is strong in the northwest, which makes sense because it started in Washington. The sad thing, of course, is that none  of this is actually any good :-(

Jim Lahey ( of Co ) is credited with popularizing "no knead bread" - in particular with this article in the NY Times . The following is Nicole's variation on the recipe, complete with some fairly helpful instructions (please to pay attention to the bit about OVEN MITTS!). Equipment Big bowl Big fork Plastic wrap or plate to cover big bowl Parchment paper Cast iron or enamel pot with lid Heavy oven mitts Ingredients 3 cups flour (1.5 cups all-purpose, 1.5 cups whole wheat) ¼ tsp yeast 2 tsp salt Ground pepper to taste 1 cup shredded pizza cheese (optional) 1-1/2 cups water Oil for the parchment paper and your hands     Instructions     Put all the ingredients except the water and oil in the big bowl and mix them up with the fork.  Get everything evenly distributed. Add the water, and mix with the fork until you have a ball of shaggy, lumpy dough. It should be moist enough that you don’t have crumbs of dry flour in the bottom of th...

In Buenos Aires, there exists Filo (975 San Martin)  where one can get Damn Fine Pizza, and much more importantly, the Alle Patate - A pizza with a topping of thinly (oh, *so* thinly) sliced potatoes and rosemary.  Shockingly good stuff.  One that The Nikki has been trying to replicate for a while.  The potatoes (raw.  but they are sliced translucently thin, and i suspect the few minutes that the pizza spends in the oven are sufficient to get 'em Just Right) maketh the pizza.  To make it truly bad for you, they bring you a little thingie of olive oil to pour on, over, under, and around the pizza, which doesn't help things at all.  Don't be put off by the touristy vibe - or the neighborhood - it is, and always has been, quiet possibly the best pizza I've had in the Americas.  Do note, however, that this is Roman style Pizza, i.e., thin crispy crust (that stays crispy for the entire duration, however infinitesimal that duration may be due t...