Pulled Pork and Portabella Pizza; Pepperoni, Green Olive, and Jalapeno Pizza; Gin Hibiscus Martini

     Pulled pork is one of those foods that I never think about until it is right in front of me.  It isn't something I crave out of the blue, and it certainly isn't a staple in our household.   Every time I have it, though, I think, "why don't we have this more often?"  It is made from pork butt or pork shoulder roast, whatever you want to call it.  It is a really inexpensive cut of meat, and if you cook it slowly, it comes out juicy and flavorful without a lot of work.

     That being said, although it doesn't take much effort to make, it does take quite a bit of time.  I started working on the ingredients for this pizza on Monday.  I started with the pork roast.  It had been quite a long time since I had made one, and my memory on the mechanics of it was quite rusty.  The original recipe called for a 1½ roast to start (for two pizzas), cooked at 325º F for 3½ hours.  Well, Jeff and I don't ever do anything small, and as my brother-in-law Roger said, that size roast isn't even worth the effort.  I didn't see the original chunk of meat that Jeff bought for this recipe, but he cut me a 3½ pound piece, gave some of it to my parents, and there are still at least two packages of it in my freezer.

     I wondered how to adjust the time (and temp?) for my more-than-double-sized roast.  I'm not sure if I had a short attention-span, was too impatient, or not google-savvy enough, but I couldn't seem to find a comparable cooking time for this roast.  Jeff and I discussed it and speculated and decided that we should cook it for the 3½ hours, and then just let it sit in the oven with the heat off until it cooled.  We reasoned that we felt that 325º was a little high, and that the time for this size roast shouldn't differ all that greatly from the time for a roast that was two pounds smaller.  The residual heat from the dutch oven and the trapped heat from not opening in the oven would continue to cook it for at least an additional half hour - probably more.  Because the temperature of the oven was relatively low to begin with, it wouldn't burn, and because of the fat content in the roast, it probably wouldn't dry out either.

     I was a little curious on the instructions.  It didn't have me sear the roast first (which I thought every roast recipe started that way) - just salt and pepper and throw it in a dutch oven.  I took it a little further and instead of salt and pepper, I used Harley's Sweet Rib Rub.  This is similar to Lawry's Seasoning Salt, but with a little more pepper and kick to it, and the rub version has some brown sugar added to it for caramelization.  

PULLED PORK AND PORTABELLA PIZZA

Adapted from Revolutionary Pizza by Dimitri Syrkin-Nikolau

Dough:

1 cup cold water

2 teaspoons coarse Kosher salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3½ cups bread flour

Roast Pork:

3½ pound pork shoulder roast

2 tablespoons Harley's Sweet Rib Rub

Sauce and Toppings:

8 ounces Negro Modelo (or other dark, rich beer)

½ cup Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce

1 cup and 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

2 large Portabella mushroom caps (about 4 ounces), cleaned and trimmed

4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

4 ounces shredded Mexican Blend cheese

10 3"x3" wonton wrappers, cut into ½" strips

2 green onions, chopped

Make the dough:  Whisk together the water, salt, sugar, olive oil, and yeast in the bowl of a large stand mixer with the dough hook attached.  Add the flour and run the mixer on medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to cling to the dough hook.  Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes or until the outside of the dough becomes smooth.  Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp, lint-free towel, and set aside in a warm place for about an hour.  Cut dough in half.  Using your fingers, shape each half into a ball, making sure to seal up any fissures.  Reserve one dough-ball for another use.  Place the other one on a baking sheet, cover sheet and dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours.  Allow dough ball to come to room temperature before shaping.

Make the pulled pork:  Preheat the oven to 325º F.  Rub the roast generously all over with the seasoning blend.  Place in a Dutch oven and cover with the lid.  Roast for about 3½ hours without removing the lid.  Turn the oven off, but leave the roast in the oven for two hours.  Remove roast from oven and shred with two forks, incorporating any juices that may have collected in the bottom of the pan.

Make the sauce and assemble:  Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using.  Roll or stretch the dough out to a fifteen inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board.  Combine the beer and barbecue sauce in a small sauce pan.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce the temperature to low and continue to simmer for about ten minutes or until the mixture has reduced by half.  Let the mixture cool.  Spread the mixture over the prepared dough.  Spread 8 ounces of prepared pork over the barbecue sauce, reserving the remainder for another use.  Brush the cleaned Portabella caps with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Grill the mushroom caps over high heat for a few minutes per side or until grill marks appear on the tops.  Slice mushroom caps and scatter over the pork.  Top the pork and mushrooms with the cheeses.  Fill a cast iron skillet with the olive oil, adding more, if needed, to bring the depth up to about an inch up the side of the pan.  Heat oil over medium-high heat.  Fry the wonton strips in batches, trying not to overlap the pieces in the pan, for two or three minutes or until just starting to brown (they will continue to cook when they are out of the pan).  Place fried strips on a paper towel lined plate to drain.  Slide the pizza onto the preheated stone or place in a greased pizza pan and put in the preheated oven.  Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese has melted and is starting to brown a little. Remove the pizza from the oven and top with the wonton strips and the green onions (it may be easier to slice the pizza before adding the strips and onions).

      My whole house filled with the smell of pork. The warm, homey aroma made me drool.  When I took it out of the oven, of course I had to sample it to make sure that it was done properly.  And, oh was it delicious!  As I was shredding the pork, every third fork-full ended up in my mouth.  It was moist and salty and rich.  I had forgotten how good this could be.  Now that we have a couple more of these roasts, I am going to have to put this into the rotation somewhere.
     It was really easy to shred.  I took two forks and just stabbed and twisted until it was one big pile of meaty goodness.
     While the pork was cooking, I decided to work on the sauce.  It called for a quarter cup of barbecue sauce and 4 ounces of beer (it actually called for a porter, but I didn't have one, so I used Modelo Negro) for two pizzas.  I was only making one, but I was going to make all of the sauce anyway.  I would decide later if I was going to use it all for this pizza.
     As the sauce was simmering, I ran outside to the grill to grill my portabella mushrooms.  I swathed them with a little olive oil and put them on the hot grates.  A couple minutes on each side was supposed to do it, but it ended up taking a bit longer than that to get some nice grill marks on the meat of the head.
   The sauce was supposed to simmer for 10 minutes, but I must have been at the grill for longer than that, and I think the sauce was bubbling away on the stove for closer to twenty.  I had about an eighth of a cup of "sauce" when I was done, but it was more the consistency of tar than sauce.

     It was delicious, though.  It was tangy and sweet with a little bitter after taste.  I decided to keep it and try again the next day.  I added this tar to another 4 ounces of Modelo and another quarter cup of barbecue sauce.  This time, I did only give it ten minutes on low, and it turned out beautifully.  It was thick, but not too thick; it was slightly sweet with that tannic finish; and a little bit spicy.
     I still had time before Jennifer and Roger arrived to start on frying my wonton wrappers.  I cut a few extra strips, because I knew I would not be able to resist trying them once they were fried.  And, I was right.  And, Jennifer was unable to resist as well.  It was a good plan.

 

     I had Jennifer start assembling the pork pizza while I scrambled to find ingredients to make another pizza.  I hadn't really picked out a recipe, because I thought, if we needed a second pizza, I could come up with items I already had in the fridge to create one instead of buying another whole set of ingredients.  I could have sworn that I had some bloody mary sauce left over from the pizza we had done the week before, but I ripped that fridge apart and could not find it.  Jeff came home in the middle of it, and I accused him of drinking it.  He flat out denied it, but I know that sauce must have gone somewhere.  Time was wasting, though, and I needed to develop Plan B.

PEPPERONI, GREEN OLIVE, AND JALAPENO PIZZA

Dough:

1 cup cold water

2 teaspoons coarse Kosher salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3½ cups bread flour

Toppings:
3 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
4 ounces pepperoni slices
2 ounces small pimento stuffed green olives, left whole
3 ounces pickled sliced jalapenos
8 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese

Make the dough:  Whisk together the water, salt, sugar, olive oil, and yeast in the bowl of a large stand mixer with the dough hook attached.  Add the flour and run the mixer on medium speed until the dough comes together and starts to cling to the dough hook.  Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes or until the outside of the dough becomes smooth.  Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp, lint-free towel, and set aside in a warm place for about an hour.  Cut dough in half.  Using your fingers, shape each half into a ball, making sure to seal up any fissures.  Reserve one dough-ball for another use.  Place the other one on a baking sheet, cover sheet and dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours.  Allow dough ball to come to room temperature before shaping.

Assemble and bake:  Preheat oven to 500º F with pizza stone inside, if using.  Roll or stretch dough out to a fifteen inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board.  Scatter chopped tomatoes over the dough.  Sprinkle dried oregano over the tomatoes.  Arrange all but 9 pepperoni slices over the tomatoes.  Add the olives, distributing evenly over the pizza.  Cover everything with mozzarella cheese.  Arrange the remaining pepperoni decoratively over the cheese.  Transfer to the preheated stone, if using, or transfer to a greased pizza pan and put in the oven.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning.  Slice and serve.

  This pizza was very similar to the bloody mary pizza we had on a previous Thursday, but I had really enjoyed that pizza and wanted to kick it up a notch with some jalapenos.  I do love jalapenos on pizza.  I always have them add jalapenos when I order delivery.

     Jennifer had brought a 5 meat pizza from Costco, and that had been baking while we were assembling the other two pizzas.  Jeff came home just as that one was done, and we enlisted him for slicing.

     It didn't take long for the other two pizzas to cook, and we pulled those out and prepared for the post oven directions for the pork.

     Jennifer added those lovely, crunchy, wonton skins and some fresh, bright, green onions while I mixed up a cocktail.

GIN HIBISCUS MARTINI

3 ounces gin

½ ounce hibiscus syrup (recipe below)

½ ounce lemon juice

Hibiscus syrup:  Mix equal parts water and sugar in a small sauce pan (I used 4 ounces of water and half a cup of sugar).  Add 1 tablespoon dried hibiscus flowers per every 4 ounces of water.  Boil until sugar dissolves.  Strain liquid into a bowl through a mesh sieve.  Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.  Pour gin, syrup, and lemon juice over the ice.  Shake vigorously.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Enjoy!

.

     The pork and portabella pizza was wonderful!  It was sweet, spicy, homey, meaty, crunchy.  The pork had just melted into the sauce.  The mushrooms, although we felt they didn't add much to the flavor profile, did add to the moistness of the pork.  The wontons added a nice salty crunch, and the green onions contrasted the sweetness of the sauce beautifully.

     The impromptu pizza was everything I had hoped it would be (except that we burnt the edge of the crust a little bit).  The tomatoes were a nice foil to the salty olives and (mildly) spicy jalapenos.  Leaving the olives whole added a nice little pop to each bite that contained them.  I didn't miss the bloody mary mix at all.

Return to the top.

Return to the Pulled Pork and Portabella Pizza recipe.

Return to the Pepperoni, Green Olive, and Jalapeno Pizza.

Return to the Gin Hibiscus Martini recipe.

Pepperoni Pizza and Deconstructed Jalapeno Popper Pizza

     Here I am again, back to the basics.  A pepperoni pizza.  Yes, we have done this before, but not with this crust, and not with this sauce.  Sometimes, little changes, little nuances can make all the difference in the world.  This crust that I have been making out of The Pizza Bible has been outstanding.  I thought my crust was good before, but this just takes to a whole new level.  This little gem of a pizza recipe was hiding in the introduction to the book.  I had already skipped over it, thinking it was instructions on the basics.  I didn't need to read about the basics - I have been making pizzas for years!

     In my opinion, there are several reasons why restaurants (or any other business, for that matter) fail, but one of them is the resistance to change.  If you have done something successfully, why change?  However, I believe that by changing, learning new things about old things, and combining them with your knowledge of how things always used to be, you can really create a masterpiece.  I decided to read the introduction and see if I could learn anything new.  And, here was this tutorial on how to create a great pizza.  I wanted to try it and see how it compared to the "old way" of doing things.  That, and I do really love pepperoni.

     The instructions started on day one of a three day process.  So, I started on Monday.  Monday's events started with weighing and measuring ingredients for the dough.  Okay, I didn't do that (the weighing part) before with the first couple of recipes I tried in this book, but I was willing to try to get down to the letter and try the author's methods.

     The weighing of ingredients was a little tough, considering all I have for a scale is a $19 jobbie that I bought at Costco on a whim one day.  It does measure grams, as the author instructs to measure everything by, but it only reports in two gram increments, and it starts at four grams.  So, measuring 4½ grams of active dry yeast was not going to be exact, nor 9 grams of sea salt, 9 grams of diastatic malt, etc.  Apparently, everything in this book should amount to an odd number of grams.  I did the best I could, though, and it seemed to be matching up to the described results in the book.

     The author chronicled each and every step and explained why each step was done.  I rather enjoyed that.  I had an education.  He instructed to knead the dough on a non-floured surface and suggested a granite surface.  I was in luck!  I have granite counter tops, and they were clean (a rarity, yes, but at that moment, they were clean).  I kneaded the dough as described in the book.  I have never been a kneader.  It seems like a superfluous step.  I was never really sure why it was done and figured whatever it was achieving (I assumed a better mix of dough), it could be done by my KitchenAide.  There was something therapeutic about it though.  Stretching and folding and smashing the dough with my palm.  I felt it was a surrogate for all of those people who had ever done me wrong.  Take THAT, Jack Goldenberg!  Take THAT, Super Ford Smasher lady at Bobby & Steve's.  Take THAT, rude lady in the Cub line!  I smash your face in with the palm of my hand, and your rubbery smushy white face gets pummeled into the granite.

     Okay, I may have gotten a little carried away with it, but I was sold.  Now, I will be kneading my dough for three minutes every week.  The dough was smooth and round and elastic and ready for forming into a ball.  Once formed, I covered it with a kitchen towel and let it "rest" for an hour (at this point I needed a rest, too, even though it had only been three minutes of pummeling).  Following the rest (for both of us), I dribbled a little water over the top of it, put it back in my mixing bowl, and blanketed it with a piece of plastic wrap.  Into the refrigerator it went for it's 24 hour "fermentation" process.

     Day two (Tuesday) involved degassing the dough, making the sauce, and making a garlic oil.  I won't bore you with all of the details.  If you want them - buy the book (ha!).  This is just the Cliff Notes version (do they have those any more?).            

     After degassing, balling, and returning the dough to the fridge for another "rest", I started on the sauce.  Here is where I fudged a little.  I deviated from the instructions just a bit.  I cannot seem to find anything labeled "ground tomatoes" at any of the stores I have been to.  What is that?  The recipe called for 4½ ounces (why did he switch from grams?) of ground tomatoes.  Is that like pureed tomatoes?  I was betting on it.  Why buy pureed, when whole tomatoes and a VitaMix will do.  So, I measured out 4½ ounces (my scale will measure ounces in odd numbers and fractions) of whole plump tomatoes from a can and placed them in my VitaMix with the tomato paste, oregano, salt, and olive oil.  In less than two seconds, the tomatoes were "ground" with the rest of the ingredients I had put in there.  I dumped the slurry into a bowl and added the "hand-crushed" tomatoes to finish off the sauce.

     

PEPPERONI PIZZA

Adapted from The Pizza Bible by Tony Gemingnani with Susie Heller and Steve Siegelman

Dough:

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 ounces warm water

3 1/4 cups bread flour

8 ounces ice-cold water

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

Sauce:

3 1/2 ounces canned (drained) whole plum tomatoes, divided

1 ounce tomato paste

Pinch of dried oregano

Pinch of fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon olive oil

The rest of the story:

Cornmeal

6 ounces shredded mozzarella

4 ounces sliced pepperoni

1 ounce grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil

Dough:  Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Set aside.  Place the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.  With the mixer running on low speed, add the ice water, followed by the yeast mixture.  Increase the speed of the mixer a little bit and continue mixing until the dough starts to come together.  Add the salt and mix on low for about a minute.  Add the oil, and mix again until the oil is incorporated, and the dough starts to cling to the hook.  Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes on a clean, unfloured, smooth surface, such as granite or marble. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a clean, damp, lint-free towel.  Let it rest at room temperature for about an hour.  Spread a few drops of water over the dough.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 24 hours.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and mix the dough in the stand mixer at low for about thirty seconds to "degass".  Cut the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Wrap one ball in plastic wrap or seal in a zip-top bag and freeze or reserve it for another use.  Place the remaining ball on a baking sheet and wrap plastic wrap around the pan and dough together.  Put the pan in the refrigerator for another 24 hours.

Sauce:  Place 2½ ounces of the plum tomatoes, the tomato past, oregano, sea salt, and olive oil in the bowl of  a food processor or blender.  Puree until smooth.  Transfer the mixture to a small bowl.  Tear the remaining tomatoes into pieces with your hands and add to the mixture.  Stir the mixture to distribute the tomato pieces throughout the sauce.

Assemble:  Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using.  Roll or stretch the dough into a 15 inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board.  Spread the sauce over the prepared dough.  Evenly distribute the mozzarella over the dough.  Arrange the pepperoni over the cheese.  Transfer the pizza to the preheated stone, if using, or transfer to a pizza pan and place in the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes or until the pepperoni has started to crisp.  Remove the pizza from the oven and dust with the Pecorino and oregano.  Drizzle lightly with the garlic oil.

     Wednesday, I took a rest from working on the pepperoni pizza and started some preparations for my second pizza.  This pizza had all the elements of a jalapeno popper - those delicious little nuggets of jalapeno stuffed with cream cheese and deep fat fried.  Since my pepperoni pizza dough recipe made two pizzas' worth, I decided to use the second dough for my popper pizza.  

     I started with the batter recipe.  It called for a lager, but I didn't think I could add that the day before.  A little Internet browsing taught me that the bubbles in the beer is what makes the finished breading light and fluffy.  When the beer hits the hot oil, it causes it to foam, creating a light and airy texture in the batter.  Because of this, I decided to just combine the other ingredients and add the beer on Thursday, just before I was ready to batter and fry my jalapenos. Next, I fried up the bacon, sliced the jalapenos, and chopped the onions.

DECONSTRUCTED JALAPENO POPPER PIZZA

Adapted from The Revolutionary Pizza by Dimitri Syrkin-Niolau

Dough:

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

3 ounces warm water

3 1/4 cups bread flour

8 ounces ice-cold water

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

Beer Batter:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

4 ounces Modelo Negro

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

The rest of the story:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

6-8 medium sized (or 3 large) fresh jalapenos,sliced into rings

Salt and pepper

Cornmeal - for dusting the pizza peel

3-5 cups vegetable oil - enough to submerge the jalapenos while frying

2 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

4 ounces Neufchatel cheese

2 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 ounces crisp thick-cut bacon, broken into small pieces

1/2 cup chopped green onions

Dough:  Combine the yeast and warm water in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Set aside.  Place the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment.  With the mixer running on low speed, add the ice water, followed by the yeast mixture.  Increase the speed of the mixer a little bit and continue mixing until the dough starts to come together.  Add the salt and mix on low for about a minute.  Add the oil, and mix again until the oil is incorporated, and the dough starts to cling to the hook.  Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for about three minutes on a clean, unfloured, smooth surface, such as granite or marble. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a clean, damp, lint-free towel.  Let it rest at room temperature for about an hour.  Spread a few drops of water over the dough.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 24 hours.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and mix the dough in the stand mixer at low for about thirty seconds to "degass".  Cut the dough in half and shape each half into a ball. Wrap one ball in plastic wrap or seal in a zip-top bag and freeze or reserve it for another use.  Place the remaining ball on a baking sheet and wrap plastic wrap around the pan and dough together.  Put the pan in the refrigerator for another 24 hours.

Make the fried jalapenos:  Mix the batter ingredients together, and whisk to remove any lumps.  Add the jalapeno slices and set aside for ten minutes.  Mix the flour and salt and pepper together.  Preheat the vegetable oil to 375º F.  If you don't have a thermometer, put the pan of oil over a high flame for several minutes.  Drop a dollop of batter in the oil.  If it sizzles and starts to brown immediately, it is ready.  Turn the heat down to medium-high to maintain the temperature.  Roll the batter-soaked jalapenos in the seasoned flour and drop them into the hot oil.  Cook until browned.  Remove the jalapenos from the oil and place on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

The Rest of the Story:  Preheat the oven to 500º F with a pizza stone inside, if using.  Roll or stretch the dough into a 15-inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board.  Top the stretched dough with mozzarella and transfer dough to the preheated stone, or transfer to a greased pizza pan and place in the oven.  Bake for 5-7 minutes or until crust is starting to set up, and cheese has melted.  Transfer the pizza back to the pizza peel (or place the pizza pan on a hot pad), leaving the oven on.  Spread the Neufchatel cheese over the mozzarella.  Distribute the fried jalapenos over the cheese.  Top with the cheddar.  Bake for 3-5 more minutes.  Top with the chopped bacon and green onions.

     On Thursday, as soon as I got home, I took the dough out of the refrigerator.



Again, I started with the pepperoni pizza, spreading the sauce over my newly rolled out dough.

As per the instructions, the cheese went on next.  Normally, I object to the cheese on the bottom, because you cannot get the warm, brown, bubbliness that is so wonderful.  However, since I was trying new methods, I thought I would give it a shot.  (There's nothing wrong with crispy browned pepperonis, either).

     We started putting on the pepperoni.  And, putting it on, and putting it on.  I never realized how much pepperoni was in four ounces!

  When it came out of the oven, the pepperoni looked like it was self-deep-fat-fried.  It was shiny and crisp, and it had shrunk up a little to reveal the gooey cheese underneath.

When I added the Pecorino, it melted into the pepperoni.

I have to say, I think it was probably the best pepperoni pizza I have ever had.  The crust had a nice crispness to the outside, the inside of the crust was fluffy and flavorful.  The pepperoni was both crispy on top and meaty underneath.  The sauce was great, too.  The tomato flavor was hearty, yet not overpowering.

We, of course had to make the obligatory frozen pizza for the picky people.

Again, the jalapeno pizza started with the cheese on the bottom, and this time it was truly on the bottom.  And, it was baked some before the toppings went on.

It seemed a shame to cover up the gorgeous, bubbly cheese, but I was covering it with cream cheese, so how could that be bad?

The lovely, deep fried jalapenos went over the cream cheese (at least the ones that didn't go in my mouth).

A little more cheese went over the fried jalapenos.

After another short stint in the oven, the bacon and green onions went on.

This was truly a delicious pizza.  Again, the crust was perfect.  The creaminess of the Neufchatel tempered the heat of the jalapenos and evened out the saltiness and zip of the onions. Surprisingly, the jalapenos stayed somewhat crisp, and the entire piece of pizza was a treasure chest of textures and flavors.