Our 800 mile round trip pilgrimages to IKEA in Schaumburg in the late 90s always included a stop at California Pizza Kitchen. Here's my mom and my daughter there in the year 2000.
My favorite pizza to get there was Thai Chicken Pizza. It contains every element of eating: salty, sweet, crunchy, soft, sticky, hot, fresh, etc. Without a CPK in Minnesota, how could I duplicate that at home? Todd Wilbur to the rescue. Oprah had done a segment on him and I bought his new cookbook.
It contained many of my favorites.
Todd illustrated the book himself in a drafting-like style.
I've only made this pizza recipe twice.
I heard people say they either love or hate cilantro. Looks like I'm a convert.
I gave it another try in 2012. Marinate AND saute chicken AND make a sweet sauce.
You could just stop there and eat the chicken. Tasty!
Clean and chop the many toppings. I used the As Seen On TV's quick chop for the peanuts.
I used two kinds of cheese for the topping.
You'll kneed dough also. Ha ha. I purchased fresh dough from the Wedge Co-op's deli.
Turned out some of us liked it and some didn't. Was it worth it? Not really, when you consider time and expense. Just go have it at the restaurant. Well, not so fast. We just learned the last remaining CPK in Minnesota is closing today.
PS Wondering why the recipe is not on my blog? I respect copyrights. Be a grown up and pay for the book. Support the author and the publishing industry.
PPS Wondering what the secret ingredient to Olive Garden's Salad Dressing is? Pectin. Another tip? You can buy dressing at the grocery store.
