Grilled Pizza

I have been hearing a lot about making pizza on the grill. I even put it on my summer to-do list because I wondered how it would work. I honestly always thought it wouldn't work out well but I was so wrong. Also with the way how hot is has been so far this summer I am just happy not to have to turn on the oven to make pizza.

Grilled Pizza
kingarthurflour.com

2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon Pizza Dough Flavor (optional, but tasty)
1 tablespoon King Arthur Easy-Roll Dough Improver OR Baker's Special Dry Milk OR nonfat dry milk
3 cups (11 ounces) King Arthur Italian-Style Flour or All-Purpose Flour*
3/4 cup (6 ounces) lukewarm water
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) olive oil

*Substitute King Arthur 100% Organic White Whole Wheat flour for half of the Italian flour, if desired.

Mix all of the ingredients to make a soft, supple dough. Knead for 5 minutes, divide the dough in half, cover with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let rest and relax for 15 minutes (or for up to an hour or so; work it into your schedule as you see fit).

Grease two 12" squares of parchment paper. Use your greased fingers to press each piece of dough on the parchment into an 11" to 12" circle about 1/8" thick. Brush or spray the crusts with olive oil, and let them rest for about 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 450°F (with a pizza stone inside, if you have one).

Place the crusts with their parchment directly on the stone, or onto a baking sheet. Bake till they're just starting to brown around the edges, about 4 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with your favorite toppings-we've used pesto, sliced tomatoes, and mozzarella here-and bake for an additional 6 minutes, till everything's warm and bubbly. Yield: two 12" thin-crust pizzas.

To make grilled pizza: Be prepared to grill your pizza within 15 minutes of shaping it; you don't want it to rise too much. So, make sure your barbecue grill is heated (or cooled) to medium-hot by the time the dough is ready to grill.

Set the rack 3" to 4" above the fire. Take one circle of dough, on its parchment, and swiftly but carefully turn it (dough down, parchment on top) onto the grill. Peel off the parchment.



After 1 minute, turn it over; it should be stiff enough to turn quite easily (if not, your grill isn't hot enough). Layer with toppings. This is not the time to pile on the meat, cheese, veggies, etc. Since the pizza will be cooking very briefly, it's better to top with just a minimal amount of stuff: thinly sliced veggies, a thin layer of cheese, etc.


Bake an additional 5 minutes or so, with the cover on (if your grill has a cover), or until the filling is hot and the cheese is melting. Adjust the temperature of the grill if the bottom is browning too quickly. And, move the pizza around on the grill if one side or the other starts to get too brown on the bottom. Repeat the grilling process with the other pizza.

Review: This one was a keeper even before I tasted it because just for the fact that it was easy to make. Like I said before Mike really loved this pizza and even makes me to make it during the winter. I made it for friends and they were all impressed with it which makes it a great appetizer for a party!

Beef Fajitas

Mike loves everything associated with fire. From grilling to building camp fires. Everyone who knows Mike knows this little fact about him. So years ago for Christmas Mike's brother gave him a book called: How to Grill, The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques by Steven Raichlen. After a weekend of eating hamburgers and hot dogs we felt like something different for dinner, fish. So, we went to our local fish store and saw a nice piece of tuna that caught our eyes. I trying to figure out how to prepare it and then remember a recipe we've made a few times from that book, Basil-Grilled Tuna. If you like basil, garlic and tuna, you'll love this recipe.

But as I was searching for that recipe I was reading other recipes on my way and I came across the recipe for Beef Fajitas. I thought to myself, I'll have to make that recipe one day. I guess since the recipe was fresh on my mind when I went food shopping yesterday I subconsciously went to the meat section looking for the cut of meat I would need to make it. Long story short I made it tonight for dinner and it was really good. Sorry I forgot to take a picture, but take my word for it, they were really good.

Beef Fajitas

1 1/2lbs shirt steaks
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon course salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 limes

Peppers and Onions
Fajita shells

Place steaks in a nonreactive baking dish in a single layer. Combine the chili powder, coriander, salt, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper in a small bowl and mix well. Sprinkle the mixture over the meat, patting it on with your fingertips, on both sides. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze the limes over the meat. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour covered.


My Review: I thought this recipe was really good and easy to make. The recipe also had direction on how to grill veggies to go with the beef. Since I knew I wasn't going to have enough time to make the veggies on the grill, I just cut up some peppers and onions and sauteed them while the beef was marinating. We were hungry so I only marinated the meat for 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes. It still turned out great!! Next time I'm going to try this recipe with chicken.

A Quest for BBQ Sauce...

Since the warmer weather has been here we have grilled more often these days. Who doesn't love the taste of something hot off the grill. It just has such a great taste and really feels healthier for you then it should be.

Mike's obsession with the grill is to create his own spice rub to go on our chicken mostly. With the ones that he had made we have had some tasty chicken. I will have to ask where he got the recipe and edit this post with it. At the beginning of this season we ran out of the Brook's House of BBQ Grilling Rub which started this rub quest. You can of course order it online but I think we might need to take a trip to the restaurant soon.

In the recent EveryDay Food magazine I got it had a recipe for Classic Barbeque Sauce which I made. I wasn't completely happy with it because to me it tasted to much like tomato/ketchup like. We ended up adding more vinegar to it but to me it still tasted ok. Mike liked it and I think he would like me to make it again.

I found another recipe for barbecue sauce in the Everyday Food cookbook I have and tried that out last week. I thought it was super yummy and came out great. The only thing that would prevent me from saying this would be my standard bbq sauce is that it is on the sweet side.


Barbecued Chicken
Great Food Fast

1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup ketchup
1 cut up chicken (3 pounds)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for grill
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

1) Heat a grill to medium. Simmer the hot sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, garlic, and ketchup in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to about 1 1/3 cups, 5 to 7 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, toss the chicken with the vegetable oil season with salt and pepper.

3) Lightly oil the grates ; place the chicken on the grill. Cover the grill, cook turning frequently until the chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover the grill; continue cooking, basting frequently with the sauce, until the chicken is glazed thoroughly, 3 to 4 minutes more. Serve with the remaining sauce.


Next sauce I am going to try is from America's Test kitchen cookbook The Best Recipes. I think I will try it next week so we don't get sick of eating bbq chicken.

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July. I had a great time at my family summer house in upstate Ny. Its an annual tradition to head to Shinhopple each 4th and I look forward to it each year. This year was no different. We had a great group of people this year, a bunch of my cousins and of course Heidi and Mike. I thought I'd post our wonderful BBQ we had. It would have been delicious if the chicken was cooked just a little more, but what can I say, theres not talking to guys when it comes to grilling & bbq'ing ( right Heidi!! )








I think the charcoal grill was way too hot to put the chicken on, but everyone was hungy and the guys figured it would cook. Most was ok, but some of the pieces needed to be cooked a little more. Overall it wasnt too bad. Maybe next year the guys will leave cooking to chicken to Heidi and I =)

Heidi's July Recipe(s)

Mike had an aunt that use to live up in Buffalo that would buy a bushel of corn when they would have family parties. He would say she would make every and any kind of corn dish there was possible. That's how I felt when I bought 3 pints of blueberries. Blueberries were on sale a few weeks ago and I needed 2 cups of blueberries for my July recipe. I didn't realize that 2 cups of blueberries is about 1 pint. So I had 2 pints left. I guess I could have frozen them but I decide to make a few addition things. My intended July recipe was Blueberry BBQ Sauce. Then I knew we were going away for the 4th so I decided to make some Blueberry Muffins to bring for breakfast and the last thing I decide to make was Banana Blueberry Pancakes.

Blueberry BBQ Sauce on Chicken

Blueberry Muffins

Banana Blueberry Pancakes

My Review: All the recipes were easy to make. The bbq sauce was different, but good. I don't know if I would make it again, but it was fun try something out of the ordinary. The blueberry muffins have been on my baking wish list for a while. I was excited that I finally got to make them and the came out great. I received rave reviews. Kathleen's boyfriend told me he couldn't stop eating them. As for the pancakes. I took the banana recipe I make often and just added blueberries to the batter. It was a nice touch. I forgot how much I love blueberry pancakes. The warm gooey blueberries are soooooo good. I'm now keeping an eye out for another sale.

Kath's May Recipe- Kabobs on the grill

Not sure if this counts as the May recipe, but theres beef in it too :). I wanted to bbq for Kevin the other night, and not just burgers so I thought I'd try to make some kabobs. I had plenty of chicken at home, so I stopped at the store and bought some cubed beef figuring a mixture of both would be good. They were pretty basic kabobs, I started off by marinating the chicken in some Kraft roasted red pepper w/ parmesean italian dressing and marinating the beef in some italian ( didnt have enough of one to marinate both the chicken and the beef ). I think because the chicken pieces were thinner then the beef, the chicken took the marinate much better. The chicken melted in your mouth..mmmm...I also added one green peper, one onion, some brocolli to each skew. I have to say, they turned out great. I had to buy some skews to use on my baby weber grill and found the cutest set in CVS by me. It came with 6 metal skews and a metal holder you put them on ( so they dont sit on your grill ). Kevin loved them, I had no leftovers!!

I'd definally make these again. I think the beef didnt have enough marinate to soak in the flavor so next time I'll make sure I have enough dressing. This meal was very quick to prepare and fun to cook on my grill.

The Grill

Mike got a grill as a graduation present/home warming present from my parents. He won't let me touch it yet (don't worry I will one day) but I have prepared some really good meals for it. The latest and instant family favorite is Chicken Fajitas.

I got this recipe out of The Weber Gas Grill Cookbook which came with the grill.

Chicken Fajitas
For Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbsp fresh lime juice (juice from 1 lime)

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp ground cumin

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 red onion, cut into 1/2" slices

4 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2" slices

1 red or yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and cut into quarters

6 large flour tortillas

1 avocado, slice

Salsa

To make the marinade:

In a shallow, non-metal container combine the marinade ingredients. Add chicken to the marinade, turning to coat each side. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours, turning occasionally.

Remove chicken breast from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill the chicken breast and vegetables over direct medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and vegetables are tender.

Review: This was by far the best Fajitas I have ever prepared at home. I didn't make all the veggies listed about just regular onion and peppers. Mike said that it tasted just like what you get at a restaurant. He was telling everyone about them and how HE wants to make them for everyone. Can't wait to make this recipe again!!

Camping

Ok, so I am very excited, because I think I am actually all caught up on my recipes. Of course, I think this is by chance, as I am combining my Ethnic month with my Fish/Seafood month for the Hoisin Salmon. I just made it again this weekend for my parents and my mom really liked it. She was like, "Oh! This is good!" I think the name or maybe the ingredients may shy people away from it, but it really is tasty.

Anyhow, the title of this post is Camping. So, as you may know, I recently went camping and really enjoyed it! I know it's corny, but there is something about getting back to nature and just enjoying waking up to the noises surrounding you. Plus, it is one of the cheapest vacations/trips you can go on and it's even better with company!

So, we have already made reservations for our next trip, which will be in Cape Cod (across from the Brewster Sea Camps - yay!) and I have started to look into what can I pack up for this trip, since we'll be gone for 3 nights. I received an email from my grandmother about Camping recipes and meal plans from Allrecipes! http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Camping/Detail.aspx?ARBMID=1127&ARFMTID=1
They also created a summer recipe book... http://images.allrecipes.com/site/bestbrand/area/hyundai/summerpicnics_07.pdf

What's camping without the food?! So, I think I'm going to try making a few of the recipes that I found (and will have to let you know later on how they turned out!).

Red Skinned Potato Salad: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Red-Skinned-Potato-Salad/Detail.aspx
Summer Tomato Salad: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Summer-Tomato-Salad/Detail.aspx
Grilled Yellow Squash: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Grilled-Yellow-Squash/Detail.aspx
Campfire Foil Packs: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Campfire-Foil-Packs/Detail.aspx?ARBMID=1127&ARFMTID=1
Campfire Banana Splits: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Campfire-Banana-Splits/Detail.aspx

Another Everyday Food Recipe

I am continuing my love with the Everyday Food magazine and made 2 more recipes from the current issue. One recipe was very yummy and came out great. The other one didn't go so well but that isn't because of the recipe...I would say it was user error.

The first recipe was: Mini Turkey Burgers

My Review of the recipe: I followed the recipe as closely as I could...the only thing I changed was I used multi grain bread instead of white because I didn't have any white bread. I think what makes these burgers taste so good is the grated onion. The only thing I would do a little different is maybe add a little more cheese because I didn't really taste it but then again I was really enjoying the onion.


Ingredients
2 slices white sandwich bread (about 1 ounce each)
1 pound (93 percent lean) ground turkey
2 ounces cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 small onion, coarsely grated
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
12 party-size potato rolls
Lettuce, sliced tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard, for serving (optional)


Directions
In a food processor, pulse bread until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a medium bowl; add turkey, cheese, and onion. Season with salt and pepper, and mix gently just until combined. Form twelve 2-inch patties (about 3 tablespoons each).


In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium. Cook patties until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Serve on rolls with lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard, if desired.


The second recipe I tried was: Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds total), peeled and cut into 1/2-by-2-inch sticks
2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide potatoes between two rimmed baking sheets; toss with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer, without overlapping. Roast, tossing once, until tender and starting to brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, if desired. Toss to coat.

This isn't the first time I have tried to make sweet potato fries or any type of fries in the oven. This is also not the first time I have failed at doing this. I don't know why but they just never come out well for me. Either they come out soggy, burnt, or a combo of both. So I have made it my mission to find a recipe and make good oven fries.

The first recipe I am going to try I saw on the Food Network: Oven Fries