Khana Korner #005 - Gyro and Steak Pizzas with Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 9:50 AM in Khana Korner
Saturday night we attended YM’s event Unleashed: Shaytan’s Vendetta with my brother in law and his wife. It was a nice program, though just a little unorganized! Afterward, we went to Hot ‘N Spicy (former known as Amina’s).
While taking home leftovers from an order of gyros (like any dhabīḥa place that serves gyros in Chicagoland, the amount of gyros my wife got with her order were enough for two sandwiches), my wife mentioned making homemade pizza on Monday night with the extra meat. Great idea, I thought, but Monday night my parents wanted to BBQ. Did this get in the way of pizza? Not at all; she just pushed pizza plans to Tuesday night while I made one extra steak, wrapped it up in aluminum foil, and stuck it in the fridge.
My wife got refrigerated pizza dough from Trader Joe’s, some pizza sauce and mushrooms from Jewel, and busted out the stored away bell peppers, onions, and ginormous Kirkland bag of mozzarella cheese from Costco.
After some chopping up and olive oiling up the dough with some sprinkle of oregano, it was time to hit the oven.
Here’s the cut up steak. I was afraid the medium rare-ness of it would have been too “kachcha” for everyone, but figured the time in the oven would cook it just about right.
First the gyro pizza.
It was solid, mashaAllah, and by not making it spicy like Italian Express, I was able to enjoy everything on a pizza level, and not on a “oh wow there’s spicy pieces of meat on this cheese and sauce thing,” level. The olive oil and oregano combo on pizza is key! The onions gave some nice balance to the gyro meat, too.
Next up, steak pizza with fresh mushrooms and green peppers.
This turned out the best, alhumdulillah, and even my parents agreed. The steak did end up being cooked a perfect amount while in the oven; soft and juicy in every bite. And the combo of steak, green peppers, and mushrooms was like good chemistry.
Beforehand, I was thinking of “Philly cheese steak” pizza while preparing it, but since we didn’t put anything besides mozzarella, I think it wouldn’t be fair to call it Philly cheese unless I had put some provolone, American, cheddar, or even cheese whiz on it; anything besides mozzarella, anyway. Maybe next time inshaAllah.
The Trader Joe’s dough held up really well. My wife used a wide pizza pan to give it more of a crisp. We’ll have to try this refrigerated Trader Joe’s in a smaller pan for deep dish or pan style and see how it turns out. Maybe it’ll be as good as the frozen Tiseo’s Pizza Dough from Meijer’s stores in Michigan.
In any case, for five people, fourteen of the sixteen slices were eaten. The remaining two of steak with mushrooms and green peppers lies deep within the confines of our fridge. I know what I’m having for lunch. 
10 Comment(s)
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I honestly liked the first pizza about the same as the other pizza. The first had gyros ftw, and a good amount of sause and cheese. The crust was a little over done but still burnt. And I think gyros goes with pizza a little better than steak.
Not saying that the steak wasn’t amazing though.
Waasiq | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
you’ve been inoculated with the siddique family food craze! there’s no turning back! or were you always this crazy about food?
btw, you know my opinion about gyro pizza, but i gotta say that pizza looks really good. the problem with ie is they put huuuuuge chunky gyro pieces that take away from the pizzaness. that’s why i don’t like their gyro pizza. looks like you were a little more judicious with respect to your gyro usage.
also, would you recommend trader joe pizza crust? anything special about it?
Food Enthusiast Monthly aka Osman | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
@Waasiq
You’re just too much of a fan of gyro meat. But yeah, the first one had a better proportion of cheese and sauce.
@Food Enthusiast Monthly
Yes, I was, but had not began making things myself or having someone make special items like this for me until I married your sister. I must admit, there is definitely something about your family and a love for food.
It’s good, and yeah I’d recommend it. Nothing too special about it other than it’s right in between making your own dough and getting one of those half-ready Boboli type doughs. It also held up pretty well considering we went thin crust with lots of toppings. The Tiseo’s Pizza Dough from Meijer’s stores in MI was better, but that may be harder to get a hold of. I gotta check the Meijer’s around here if they have any, they’re a bit far from here.
SaqibSaab | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
Might I add that Hot n Spicy is owned by a memon. You can thank me later.
saqibsaab.com is turning into a recipe blog lol
awesome, very nice
Faiez | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
Havent you heard of Italian Express? Besides, we’re in 2008… wives don’t cook in 2008…
Muhammad Fahad Khan | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
Pizza Tips:
1) cook your vegetables in a frying pan before putting them on the pizza. that way, you avoid your pizza being soaked by water released from the vegetables.
2) try using whole slices of cheese as opposed to shredded cheese. you get much better coverage that way. learned this from watching a food unwrapped special about your fav place lou malnati’s.
3) thank you for not posting this during ramadan as pizza is my number one ramadan food craving (rfc). (not really a tip)
4) next time i come over make me some pizza! haha
Food Enthusiast Monthly aka Osman | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
wow…I’m so hungry right now…Waukegan sucks…
those pizzas look amazing mash’Allah…
altamash | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
You are, what the urdu speaking populace would call, a “chatoori bacha”.
And Ayesha, you are what the French would call Les Incompetent.
Haha. Just kidding, just kidding. Good job on the pizzas, guys. High fives all around.
fatima | Oct 15, 2008 | Reply
wow. I been in the KHI for one week, and thanks to this post, it seems like one week too many. thanks.
@ Food Enthusiast: great tip about pre-frying the veg
@ wassiq: “gyros ftw”?. Right on!
@ SaqibSaab: You’re making me this pizza next time I’m in town. That means you got two years to make sure you’re AWESOME at it.
Bhaijan | Oct 17, 2008 | Reply
SubhanAllah, u r so much in to food. I pray that the brother I get married to is big on eating simple food as I would never be able to cook such fancy dishes nor do I have any desire to learn =)
.. | Oct 26, 2008 | Reply