An Ode To DP DOUGH

Chris German's version of a UCONN original

There was a time when winter lasted most of the year for me and the only way to ward off the frigid New England night, or so I thought, was a visit from DP Dough. Last night, I got a visit once again from that famed culinary conundrum and it remined me how far I have roamed from the Hills of Storrs, CT.

Winter came to the desert last night and with it, snow capped hills complete with cactus and coyotes. It reminded me that I walked away from winter when I left Connecticut what seems to be a life time ago. 

But as happenstance would have it, I was in the process of reliving another winter tradition that made the cold nights at UCONN a little warmer for me back in the day.  In doing, so I relived a memory that helped me develop my winter weight which saw me through the frigid Northern winds of UCONN and ensured I could survive the icy walk of death to that 8 AM Friday morning lecture. 

 DP DOUGH, a mashup of Italian, American, Mexican, and an a dozen other cultures all stuffed into a toasty folded in half pizza crust helped a skinny little kid from the US Coast Guard navigate the frozen hills of Connecticut's Flagship school.

So as the temps dropped last night, and the snows coated the higher elevations that surround my little lonely trailer shivering in the desert,  I forayed into the annuls of my mind and made a stab at a flavor profile I have not encountered since those heady days of Sprague Hall,  what used to be called the "Buffalo Zone".

The "Buffer Zone" is the closest thing I could find on their menu. I don't recall it ever being called that but those days are a little hazy. 

Get in the Zone

As I recall, the "Buffalo Zone" began with chicken that was fried to perfection and chopped into bite size chunks and then bathed in a mixture of buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing. It was lovingly folded between layers of ricotta and mozzarella before being enrobed in a  pizza dough crust and baked to perfection. 

The wise baking pro who plied his trade next to Store 24 (when that was around),  would remove that pillow of spicy goodness from the oven and stuff it into a Styrofoam container with a side of marinara. His part in the process complete, he would pass that bag of calorie-laden lusciousness to a waiting driver just as an Olympian relay racer passes a baton to a waiting team mate.

The driver, probably driving the rustiest P.O.S. four-wheel drive station wagon you'd have ever seen, would brave any and all weather to deliver that delectable doughy delight to the entry way of my dorm across campus. 

When it arrived, sometimes it seemed within seconds of calling,  it virtually always arrived at the perfect temperature to accompany a half drunk tepid Natural Light can of beer. I would clear the coffee table of empties and ashtrays and tuck into that crusty concoction of creative confit, feeling the snow and stress melt away from my soul. 

As a student I was less than attentive, but as a patron of DP Dough I always met my mark. 

And so last night I tried my hand at recreating the "buffalo zone" even with the limited resources of Southern Utah in November. 

Desert Cooking in a Trailer

There was no ricotta or even cottage cheese to be had in the 100 mile radius of my domicile, so I compromised and added a half a cup of cheddar to a cup of shredded mozzarella. The chicken was also a compromise, as I didn't  have time or feel like frying the frozen white meet tenderloins I had purchased the day before during my 3-hour jaunt to civilization.  

Instead I boiled the chicken with a few flavor uppers and forwent the breaded coating that I was so used to enjoying in my youth. 

I also added a half cup of ranch to the blue cheese dressing when I realized I was short on Buffalo's favorite side kick. To be honest. most of the time I enjoy cutting through the harsher notes of the moldy flavor of blue cheese with a few tangy hints from the ranch. 

I shredded the chicken with my tongs and it fell apart with an ease that made me think it welcomed the blue cheese bath that awaited it. A half cup of Frank's Hot Sause, two TBs of Butter and sprinkle of Italian spices and my chicken was ready to make its entry into the dance. 

To the shredded chicken mixture I add a half cup of blue cheese dressing and a half cup of ranch dressing and poured the mixture on some home made pizza dough I had left over from a pizza I made last week that I spread out into a thin disk about 12 inches in diameter on a floured board. I sprinkled the cup and half of cheese on the meat mixture and folded the dough in half, making sure to crimp the edges upward to ensure a good seal.

I next took the half moon pillow of pollo to a cast iron pan that I had oiled with olive oil and dusted with cornmeal and baked it for 30 minutes at 450℉.

When it came out, it was rocket hot and we allowed it to rest for ten minutes while I cracked fresh beers and cleared the coffee table, this time of mail and remote controls. We searched for a classic John Cusack film to watch on Netflix, but due to internet streaming issues went with a film we downloaded from Amazon. 

Soon after we cut that cutie and let the steam fly free, but quickly decided that it was too much for either of us to finish even when we spit it. How I ate two of these in one night at UCONN I will never know but that explains why I sky rocketed up to 200 pound by my senior year. 

It wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it, but the lack of fried chicken and ricotta is something I aim to remediate if I ever try to do this again. It did take me back to my days at UCONN and helped me bring back some the memories I missed in my drunken haze. And while I wasn't three sheets to the wind when I ate it this time, I think I know why it tasted so amazing to me back in the day. 

Snow Clouds in the Desert

Here's the recipe if you want to try it:

5 Tenderloins of chicken or 1 large boneless chicken breast

Two cups of water

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce

1.4 cup of cider vinegar

1 TB salt

1/2 TB pepper

1/4 tsp of Red Pepper flakes

1/2 tsp of coriander seeds

1/2 yellow onion quartered

1/2 Cup Hot Sauce

2 TB of Butter

1/2 tsp of Italian seasoning

1/2 cup ranch dressing

1/2 cup of blue cheese dressing

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar

1/2 a recipe of Pizza dough ( I use https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/the-best-pizza-dough/)

Olive oil to coat pan

Corn meal to dust pan

Step 1: Boil the chicken with first ten ingredients until it shreds easily. 

Step 2: Drain and shred chicken making sure to get  boiled ingredients out of chicken mixture- coriander seeds add a great flavor but can break a tooth. 

Step 3: Add hot sauce, dressings, butter and Italian seasoning to chicken and mix together until butter is well incorporated. 

Step 4. Spread the pizza dough out on floured cutting board until it makes a 12 inch diameter disk. 

Step 5. Pile the chicken mixture in the center of half of the pizza dough. 

Step 6: Sprinkle on the cheeses

Step 7: Oil pan with olive oil and dust with corn meal

Step 8: Fold dough in half and crimp edges upward to make solid seal in dough. Transfer to the prepared pan. Spray top of dough with cooking spray

Step 9: Bake at 450 for 30 Minutes or until golden brown and juices bubble at the seam. 

Step 10: Let rest ten minutes before serving. Serve with additional ranch dressing for dipping purposes