I'm a big fan of calling ahead for take out, and finding the best value item on a menu. At Ocean Garden here in Gloucester, it's the noodle soup for two, if you make it a meal for one. That's five bucks, and beats a sub on a rainy day. But it needs touching up first, I can't abide their broth... I think it's a classic case of downplaying the good stuff for white people. In this case a splash of soy, sesame oil, and oil chili for heat makes it more to my liking.

Salmon and Avocado Maki

You don't need to know every time I throw down a maki roll, but these are pretty enough to share. Except for that bloody looking travesty on the wooden platter, somewhere near the bottom. It's a spicy tuna roll gone badly awry, and I was horrified enough to give it a name: the Lizzie Borden roll.
I get my accessories, nori and wasabi and rice and whatnot, in the Chinatown markets mostly, because they are cheaper. The crab stick is from Intershell, and I get my tuna and salmon from the nice folks at Connelly's seafood here in Gloucester. If I call first thing in the morning, Brad will cut a fresh piece and set it aside. Awesome. Then I get to use my knives, also awesome.

Plier Bread: EZ home made puffed pita

Or Plierbread, so named because I use pliers (usually my beloved Leatherman, 'Claws', inexplicably missing here) to move the oven rack. This make an Israeli style pita bread (hand sized and thick; it's sandwich bread), as opposed to several others (bedouin, yemenite) mentioned elsewhere. And it uses store made pizza crust dough.

Pita puffs because the bottom and top are cooked simultaneously, and the two crusts pull away from the middle. My setup, picture, has a cast iron serving plate in the bottom of a big, cheap aluminum roasting pan. The roasting pan nearly seals to the roof of my oven, though I'm sure I void the warranty here.

I divide a bag of store made pizza dough (regular and whole wheat) into four equal portions, roll flat in flour, and let them sit for a couple hours. Shortly before dinner, I let the roasting pan contraption heat up until the plate is smokin' hot, grab the rack with pliers, pull it out, drop in a flat of dough, push it in, and maybe flip once. The heating element cooks the top, and the cast iron cooks the bottom.

Just keep an eye on it until you get your timing down, and make sure it's not going to catch fire from the heating element. Good luck... if anyone tries this, send me pictures. Photos: my pita oven, and served with the Gerbiquitous pickles (see 'The Miflard Principle'), and home made armenian grape leaves a la Eastern Lamejun in Belmont, to be posted later.