CHEF DAVE FOUTS
The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — There are two types of pizza in my world. The first is the fast food pizza. It is typically $7 or less. Fast food pizza is mostly bread, light on the sauce, with very little toppings and almost no cheese on top. I personally do not like fast food pizza. They should call it bread sticks with garnish, not pizza.
The second type is gourmet pizza. This pizza is typically homemade from crust to sauce. With quality cheese and toppings aplenty, one or two pieces is enough to satisfy even the biggest appetite. The pizza is normally a secret recipe with generations of recipe making to perfect the craft. This is the pizza I like.
Feb. 23, 2009, Jo’s Famous Pizza opened up just north of 15th on Kelly. I can remember waiting over 30 minutes to get a seat. On the night I was visiting Jo herself was at the Edmond location. Aunt Jo, as she is known, started Jo’s Famous Pizza in 1962 in Purcell. What started out in a little building grew to a large restaurant just down the street from the original location.
Dar Powers, Aunt Jo’s nephew, knew that Edmond would be the perfect location. The Edmond location is family owned and operated and carries on the traditions and secret recipes that only Purcell once had.
The menu is loaded with appetizers and salads for starters. The house salad is large and served in stainless steel bowls. Jo’s uses only organic spring mix, then tops it with fresh shredded mozzarella, black olives and chopped Canadian bacon. They offer three made-from-scratch salad dressings — Holli’s House (olive oil, vinegar and secret spices), Paul’s Garlic, and finally Aunt Jo’s ranch.
The appetizers include garlic bread with or without cheese; Boomers, which are seeded jalapenos stuffed with mozzarella, wrapped in bacon and baked to perfection; and Rollers, which are pinwheels stuffed with cheese and Canadian bacon.
Now on to the pizza! The crust is made from scratch, takes two days to rise and age and is hand-tossed. The sauce, a secret Aunt Jo recipe, is then added. The sauce is not thick like traditional pizza sauce and has a fresh garlic taste. I like my pizza with extra sauce. Once the sauce is added to the dough, lots of fresh shredded mozzarella is added, and finally the topping of your choice. Jo’s Famous Pizza has over 25 toppings to choose from, all made fresh every day.
The pizza is then baked at over 600 degrees for 15 minutes. Cooking at a high temperature allows the bottom of the crust to crisp up while the topping and cheese cook to a bubbly brown goodness. No conveyer belt here — they only use traditional pizza ovens.
Cook smart ...
CHEF DAVE FOUTS is an Edmond resident and a nationally known speaker in the bariatric weight-loss industry. He also is the author of four cookbooks. Share your recipes with Chef Dave and he may feature you in a future column. E-mail him at chefdave@edmondsun.com.
