No Dough, Joe
Since a Trader Joe’s recently opened in my town, I’ve slowly but surely been making an effort to sample a variety of their products. A round of late-afternoon appointments prevented me from arriving home at a decent, meal-preparatin’ hour. Since I was in the neighborhood, I grabbed a couple of T.J.’s pizza dough balls, and got to work.
The dough was not as easy to work with as my benchmark (Florimonte’s). Still, it eventually came out into a nice enough round, which I promptly decorated with sauce, vegetables, anchovies, and cheese.
DucCat was in the mood for something a little different. In the spirit of using up some leftovers (oh, my heart is all a-quiver!), he made a calzone of andouille, tomato sauce, and mozzarella.
He also pulled out an interesting bottle of wine to go with the meal: a Wynns 1997 Coonawarra Michale Shiraz.
The nose was a little oaky, and mottled with dark fruits. Medium-bodied, it turned a bit aggressive on the tongue with candy-coated cherry and magnanimous spices. There may have even been a bit of a licorice whip in the decidedly sweet finish.
It was probably not the best choice to go along with pizza or calzone, and we both let our glasses sit untouched ‘till the meal was over.
Right, then, back to the question at hand- how is Trader’s dough?
It looks like I’m going to take a most unpopular stance, but truth be told, it didn’t do a thing for me. Now, I may just be spoiled by the lovingly crafted offerings at Florimonte’s. Even so, our middle-of-the-road “New York” pizza joint does better dough than this.
The flavour was anemic, the texture very odd. The exterior of the crust developed a chewy ‘snap’ to it that I found unpleasant. It was so bland and unexciting that I actually threw away my leftovers.
I compulsively freeze ALL leftover pizza. Let that speak for itself.
The dough was not as easy to work with as my benchmark (Florimonte’s). Still, it eventually came out into a nice enough round, which I promptly decorated with sauce, vegetables, anchovies, and cheese.
DucCat was in the mood for something a little different. In the spirit of using up some leftovers (oh, my heart is all a-quiver!), he made a calzone of andouille, tomato sauce, and mozzarella.
He also pulled out an interesting bottle of wine to go with the meal: a Wynns 1997 Coonawarra Michale Shiraz.
The nose was a little oaky, and mottled with dark fruits. Medium-bodied, it turned a bit aggressive on the tongue with candy-coated cherry and magnanimous spices. There may have even been a bit of a licorice whip in the decidedly sweet finish.
It was probably not the best choice to go along with pizza or calzone, and we both let our glasses sit untouched ‘till the meal was over.
Right, then, back to the question at hand- how is Trader’s dough?
It looks like I’m going to take a most unpopular stance, but truth be told, it didn’t do a thing for me. Now, I may just be spoiled by the lovingly crafted offerings at Florimonte’s. Even so, our middle-of-the-road “New York” pizza joint does better dough than this.
The flavour was anemic, the texture very odd. The exterior of the crust developed a chewy ‘snap’ to it that I found unpleasant. It was so bland and unexciting that I actually threw away my leftovers.
I compulsively freeze ALL leftover pizza. Let that speak for itself.
posted by s'kat at 2/07/2006 02:34:00 PM
6 Comments:
That must have been HORRIBLE dough, BAH! to all bad pizza dough...
My dear young girl, you would have shed a tear or two. What a pity!
That's why, when I make my own pizza, I make the dough from scratch. I very much like the recipe I have.
I hate to have a pizza made all blick by really poor dough. Had that happen VERY recently from a restaurant and pouted for days about it.
I tried making my own dough once and it was so awful I couldn't even shape it into a circle - we ate dreadful football shaped mini pizzas. I'm going to have to check out my local pizza place and see if they'll sell me some dough.
oh geez, i tried making comments earlier but this comment window wouldn't open. i appreciate your honest review of tj's dough. my dad 's always looking for new ones to try and we won't be headed in that direction any time soon:)
That sweet finish you mention in the Wynn's Michael Shiraz is common to a lot of South Australian wines, some like it some don't. I always check the alcohol and don't buy anything over 13.5%. That keeps the finish a little drier.
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