Who is Gail and what does she have to do with the 3 Stooges?

Gail's Pizza Dough was the latest dough recipe on the internet that I had found coming with the highest of accolades from Albert Grande of Pizza Therapy. She had won the pizza making contest on Pizza Therapy. Mitch of prior blogs had been extremely proud of his recipe and very generous in sharing it with the world. I believe I posted his recipe earlier in the blog titled, "A New World to the Old World". It comes via FabulousFoods.com. When I come upon a review of a successful crust, sauce etc. I will copy the recipe to the computer and print it up as well for my hard copy file. Later when it's time to make another batch of dough, I prefer to do a side by side comparison so that I can rate one against the other. I ran hers against Albert Grande of Pizza Therapy and she wins hands down. Sorry Albert and sorry Mitch, Gail is in town. Her recipe, after one pizza, is my new favorite. The thing about it though, is her procedure, not her ingredients. Basically all doughs will have the same ingredients with multiple variations. Anyway, it has inspired me to design a few different pizzas that this dough, I believe, will work very well with my latest of thought creations. Two of our friends, who share my enthusiasm for pizza are vegetarians. The first couple of pizzas I had made for them, I just didn't put pepperoni on their

half. Problem solved. Yes and no, not really. I started to see where I could go with this. This was going to be my latest of challenges.

How could I construct a vegetarian or meatless pizza that a carnivore like myself could enjoy? For me the sensation of sizzling

pepperoni on the first bite is up there with winning your first costume contest. (For those of you who know me, no explanation needed. For those of you who don't, just take my word for it.) It's a good thing! It got my mind in gear and the notebook had to come out and I recorded my thoughts. While I have already done a few fabulous Margheritas that are meatless, I was thinking along the lines now of a thick crust NY style.

Our friends, Dean & Joanne, do eat fish so that opened up an ocean of possibilities. (Like my

descriptive and well placed adjective?) I started thinking about using crab meat. Crab meat with a garlic sauce. Sheri and I have googled numerous garlic white sauces. The one I really like is Round Table's. The exact recipe didn't come up, but I got

some help from some insiders that had worked there. It went something like this. Open five #10 cans of this mystery white sauce and mix it with a 5 lb. bag of these unmarked spices and you get Round Tables' white garlic sauce. The unfortunate part was the can and the package don't tell you what are in them, so that was no help. We did pursue the quest and with the help of the internet came up with some common ingredients Sheri finally worked them and a few of her own into a very nice white garlic sauce.

In addition, Sheri makes a crab dip that everybody raves about. It gets baked in the oven and served hot. I figured this combination would make a killer pizza. Although my first attempt didn't scream at me that it was huge success, I do believe it has high potential of being one of the best pizzas in my repertoire. Please feel free to try this dip.

Sheri’s Famous Hot Crab Dip:

This recipe is the most requested hors d’oeuvres ever!

It is great with wine and crackers and good friends.

8 oz. softened Philadelphia cream cheese

1 T. milk or 1/2 & 1/2 or cream

1 T. minced sweet onion

1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning

Dash freshly ground pepper

6-8 oz. can crab meat (fresh is best!)

1/3 cup sliced almonds OR

1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan

Stir milk into cream cheese. Blend in onion and seasonings.

Gently fold in crabmeat. Spread in greased casserole dish.

Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes at 375.

Serve with assorted crackers or crispy French bread slices.

As for Gail's dough, I am excited about the possibilities that await me. In my mind and in my notes, I have already created a pizza with elements from two of my favorite Italian dishes: pizza and lasagna. I will report on my success or failure, but first I had to bake the World's Best Lasagna as a lasagna to see what would need adjusting. I always bake double batches then split them as they are a lot of work. The lasagna worked out very well and I don't think I want to change anything the first time around.

The second lasagna is to confirm right or wrong the first one. I'm thinking of a meat sauce first. Small globs of seasoned Romano cheese topped by one more layer of meat

sauce and covered with mozzarella and parmesan. This would be served on Gail's thick NY style dough with the high border crust smacking of a sourdough texture and taste.

This could be when greatness happens, like when peanut butter and jelly met or when Larry Fine met Moe & Curly Howard, or when ... well, you get the idea.