I met my friend Michele when I was working at this small retail store in the mall as I was working me and my wife through college. She was the assistant manager at another location. My ex-wife and I immediately became fast friends with her.
She's one of those people that everybody loves. She has a vibrant personality that's contagious. Just hearing her bubbly "Hello!" on the phone would just make your day brighter. She's one of those people who truly cares about everyone in her life. Her sense of humor is wonderful and her laugh will infect everyone around her.
She's a vast wealth of knowledge when it comes to pop culture. When she worked at a local college, I'd watch people walk in and say, "Hey, what's that one song with that one girl who sings, blah, blah, blah, blah" and Michele could tell you the artist, song, album, year it was made, and the recording label off the top of her head. She was IMDB before IMDB was around. And when it comes to the Internet, she's a goddess. We were some of the first people to moderate chat rooms on AOL way back in the day and no matter where she would go online, a mob of people would follow. Her awesome personality would emanate through the keyboard and people were drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
We also had the same second job for a while at a used CD store. We'd occasionally luck out and have the same shift and the conglomeration of music put into the store's CD player was always eclectic to say the least. I remember when Michele, Joe and I would sit on the couch on Sunday evenings, devour entirely too much pizza and watch a movie or two. We'd stay up until all hours just talking about everything and nothing at the same time.
And when I was in the darkest time of my life, she was by my side, reassuring me that everything would work out for the best. And she was right. Having her in my life helped me keep my sanity when the world fell in around me. I don't know how I would have made it through without a great friend like her.
My life is infinitely better now. And I'm an infinitely better person for having her in my life. Yes, I'm speaking in superlatives and hyperbole, but this is one of those cases where it is completely justified. Michele's one of the best people on the planet. I'm extremely lucky to have someone like her in my life. Yesterday was her birthday, so this recipe is dedicated to her.
Barbecue Chicken Pizza is deceptively simple. Use your favorite barbecue sauce as the base. Also, use good bacon, don't cheap out on this part. If your local grocery store has some fresh cut bacon in their butcher block, get it. And you can use other cheeses as well. If you want a smokier taste, you can add some shredded Gouda or muenster as well. You can also add some heat to it by adding some jalapenos. Just be careful. One jalapeno can go a long way on a pizza.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Serves 4-6
1 pizza crust (you can use my recipe if you want)
1 cup favorite barbecue sauce
3/4 lbs cooked chicken breasts
1/4 pound bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled into small pieces
1/2 purple onion
1 teaspoon cilantro
1 1/2 cup grated mozzarella
1 1/2 cup grated colby jack cheese
1 jalapeno pepper (optional if you want heat)
Prepare the ingredients. You can either cut the cooked chicken breast across the width, making small thin slices or shred the meat using two forks to pull it into small pieces. Cook the bacon and crumble it into small bits. Cut the onion in half and then slice across it as well, creating very thin half moons when you're done. Saute the onions over high heat for 2 minutes, just so they loosen up a little. Slice the top off of the jalapeno, remove the internal veins and seeds, then slice them into small disks. Chop the cilantro into small flakes.
Roll the pizza crust out to the desired size. Spread the barbecue sauce liberally across the crust. Cover the pizza with the chicken, bacon, onions and jalapenos. Next, distribute the cheeses over the top, trying to cover as much of the area as possible. Sprinkle your desired amount of cilantro over the top of the cheese to add some color, it's more of an accent flavor and a decoration than anything else. Place in a 425 degree oven and cook for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. For best results, cook on a pizza stone.
So make one of these this weekend and enjoy it with your best friend... better yet, reconnect with a friend you haven't spoken to in a while and invite them over for dinner. Michele, if you're ever in SLC, there's one of these waiting for you.
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