Grilled Pizza

After an amazing cooking class at the aquarium back in May, I finally got up the guts to try making Chef John Ash's Grilled Pizza recipe.  It did not disappoint.  I did have a bit of a hesitant assistant - okay, grill master - oh all right, husband who did most of the at the grill work.  But I think even he was surprised that this worked and we didn't have sticky pizza dough all over the grill.

Grilled Pizza

Chef John Ash

Dough Ingredients

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2 tsp sugar
1 1/1 tsp salt
1/2 cup ground cornmeal or whole wheat flour
3 tbsp olive oil
4 - 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Steps

1.  Using an electric mixer with a dough hook, stir yeast into warm water with sugar.  Then let sit for 5 minutes.
2.  After 5 minutes this mixture should begin to bubble.  Stir in salt, cornmeal, and one tbsp of oil.
3.  Begin slowly adding flour, mixing at a slow speed.  Dough should form a rough ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl after about 4 minutes.  Add additional flour or water if dough is too sticky or dry.
4.  Let dough rest in missing bowl for 15 minutes.  It should be soft.
5.  Remove dough from bowl and divide into 6 equal pieces.  Round each piece into a ball and brush with olive oil.
6.  Place each ball in a ziploc bag, drizzle some additional oil in the bag, and seal the bag.  Let balls sit out for at least 30 minutes.  Refrigerate dough if using next day, or freeze up to 3 months.
7.  Before using and rolling the dough, leave them out for about an hour to come up to room temperature.

Pizza Stuff

olive oil for brushing
Monterey Jack cheese
Pecorino cheese
Mozzarella
Pizza sauce or just some crushed tomatoes in puree
basil
red pepper flakes
or whatever else you would like to top your pizza with

Steps

1.  Set grill to high heat - temperature should read at or above 500 degrees.
2.  Roll dough into 10-inch free form circles about 1/4 in thick.
3.  Brush one side of the dough with olive oil.  Place it oil-side down onto the grill.  Cover the grill.
4.  After a minute or so, check the dough.  It will puff and bubble, the underside should be stiff and there will be some grill marks.
5.  Flip the dough and add toppings to your liking.
6.  Quickly recover the pizza and let cook for another minute or so, until the cheese is melted.
7.  Move pizza to cutting board and cut into wedges.  Enjoy immediately!

The Final Product

I have a convert!  The process turned out to be quite quick and easy.  The dough was just the right amount of crunchy.  I used sliced fresh mozzarella but I think next time I will use shredded - would make it easier to cut when it comes right off the grill.  Try it - I think you will enjoy it.  Lucky us - we have the remaining 3 dough rolls in the freezer to enjoy again at another time.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese

I can not hide it.  I am a Williams-Sonoma junkie.  If I want to kitchen tool, pot, pan, etc, I always check there first.  On one of my many trips there, I walked away with a recipe card for Spaghetti Bolognese.  I think I have been holding on to this card for well over a year.  I tend to shy away from doing Italian dishes in the slow cooker because they are just so much fun to make at the oven or stove.  I had been paring down my cookbook menagerie when I saw this recipe card.  I decided to give it a whirl before it met the doom of some other recipes/books.  I am glad I did - this one can definitely be added to the rotation.

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese

adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen

Ingredients

6 oz bacon slices, cut into 1/2-inch slices (I used about had a package of center cut bacon)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 lb ground beef
6 oz tomato paste
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup shredded Italian six cheese mix
1 lb spaghetti cooked, water reserved

Steps

1.  In the slow cooker insert (or use a large sauté pan/skillet) over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crisp (about 10 minutes - I like mine crispy so I went a bit longer).
2.  Spoon off the fat but leave about 1 tbs in the pan.  Add onion and cook until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
3.  Add the garlic - cooking for another minute.
4.  Add the ground beef, stirring until the beef is no longer pink.
5.  Stir in tomato paste, heavy cream, milk, and cheese.  Remove from heat.
6.  Place insert in slow cooker (or transfer contents of pan to slow cooker).  Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours.  When done, you may want to skim any fat from the top of the sauce.
7.  Added the cooked spaghetti to the sauce.  If the sauce is to thick, add some pasta-cooking water to loosen the sauce.
8.  Enjoy immediately!

The Final Product

This was tasty - good enough to satisfy my most severest critic - son number one downed two bowls!  For mom and dad, this was a great starter but needs some herbal/spice additions.  I think next time I will throw in some Penzey's Italian Herb mix (or basil, parsley, and oregano).  For the hubby's part, he said he would want to give it some kick - some red pepper flakes would do the trick.  I might add a little salt in as well next time.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Artichokes

We live about a half an hour away from the Artichoke capital of the world - Castroville, CA.  So I thought it high time I cooked with them.  I am familiar with them - I used to have them all the time as a child.  For some odd reason though, I could never remember how to make them.   This recipe is pretty easy to do - although working with artichokes can be a little time consuming.

Slow Cooker Artichokes

Ingredients

4 large artichokes
2 cups chicken broth
at least a cup of herbed bread crumbs (I used garlic and herb bread crumbs)
olive oil

Steps

1.  Wash artichokes.  Cut off the stem at the base so that the artichoke can sit flat.  Then cut off the top inch of the artichoke.
2.  Use kitchen scissors to cut the tops of the outer leaves as they are still prickly.  Pull the out the very center leaves creating a tiny bowl in the center for the bread crumbs.
3.  In a mixing bowl, drizzle some olive oil into the bread crumbs.  Keep adding and mixing the oil until the crumbs begin to clump together.
4.  Fill each artichoke with the bread crumb mixture and cover the top with crumbs.
5.  Place artichokes in slow cooker, drizzle some additional olive oil on top of each, then fill bottom of slow cooker with chicken broth.
6.  Cook on HIGH for 3 - 4 hours.

The Final Product

These were great!  I have not had them in so long and they just hit the spot.  I plan on making them much more frequently now.

Samosas with Kheema

A few days ago my husband got the urge to cook Indian food.  Lately, we have had the pleasure of enjoying samosas made by some of the international students that my husband goes to graduate school with.  So he gave it a whirl this time with a little twist.

Samosas

from An Invitation to Indian Cooking by Madhur Jaffrey

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
oil for frying

Steps

1.  Combine oil and flour.  Rub together.
2.  Add salt and mix.
3.  Slowly add water until you have a firm dough.
4.  Knead for 7 to 10 minutes.
5.  Brush with a little oil, cover with a cloth and set aside until you are ready to use.
6.  Divide dough into 16 - 20 equal balls.
7.  Flatten each ball and roll until it is about 4 inches in diameter.  Cut the round in half.
8.  Wet the edges of the half circles with water, then fill with stuffing.  Press the edges together to seal.
9.  Heat oil for frying.  Fry each samosa for 2 to 3 minutes.  Drain on a paper towel.

Kheema stuffing

Ingredients

2 onions chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
ginger, 2 in long by 1 in wide, chopped
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 stick cinnamon
4 whole cloves
4 black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
red pepper flakes to taste
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 large can of tomato
2 lbs ground lamb
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice

Steps

1.  Blend onions, garlic, ginger in blender with some water until you have a smooth paste.
2.  Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat.
3.  Add cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf and red pepper flakes.
4.  When peppers turn dark (10 seconds), add paste from blender.  Fry for about 10 minutes. (add water if food gets stuck to bottom).
5.  Add coriander, cumin, and turmeric.  Fry for 5 minutes.
6.  Add tomato (chopped) and fry for 2 - 3 minutes.
7.  Add meat and salt.  Break up meat until it is browned.
8.  Add 1/2 cup water and lemon juice.
9.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Let simmer for 1 hour.
10.  Take off cover and cook until there is no liquid remaining.  Discard any fat.  It is now ready to use as stuffing.

The Final Product

Super tasty.  Really yummy.  I could have made a meal out of them alone - but we also had chicken and potatoes and naan.  But where is the twist you say?  We started to get a little antsy at the length of time it took to roll out each samosa and fill them.  You may notice in the picture that the samosa have cute little cut edges to them.  Well, we gave it a bit of an Italian twist.  We busted out my ravioli tray! We rolled out two pieces of dough long enough to cover the ravioli tray.  Next we laid one piece of dough down on the tray.  Then wet along the parts that we knew would be cut.  Added filling to each of the ravioli areas, the covered with the other piece of dough.  Then cut the raviolis.  Soooo much faster.  We will definitely try our hands at it again.  It was so good even JT had 3 of them.