Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Hot off the grill

I promised my daughter-in-law that I would share this recipe. When we tried it, I couldn't believe that it would work. But it went exactly as the recipe described. And it was delicious!!!

But, here's the real shocker - Did you catch that "we" up there? I love my husband, but he never volunteers for cooking duty. The kitchen freezes any normal thought flow for him, so he avoids it like, ummmm... I don't know. Pick the worst thing you can think of. That's how he avoids the kitchen.

The grill is another matter. If I assemble the necessary ingredients, he will happily grill any meat and do a superb job. A few days ago, I assembled a raised dough, pushed it into something like the shape of a circle, and handed it to him with the instructions, "Put this right on the grill. Two minutes on each side." I tried to act confident, but I really couldn't believe that this raw dough wasn't going to droop down into the fire. (Yes, fire. He always cooks on HIGH!)

Within 4 minutes, he was back in the kitchen carrying perfectly browned rounds that were ready for the toppings. Once loaded, they were back on the grill for 2-3 minutes more - just enough time to melt the cheese.

Wonderful.... absolutely wonderful!

The recipe I used is from a 1998 issue of Martha Stewart Living. The age of the recipe is testimony to the confidence I had that it would work. Her recipe is for Grilled Flatbread - I used it as pizza crust.


(We ate so fast that I have no pictures of our creations, so I am sharing the photo from the back of the recipe card.)

Here is the recipe according to me -

Grilled Pizza
Crust -
1 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees)
Place water in medium bowl, sprinkle yeast on top and stir to dissolve. Let sit for 5 minutes until bubbly.

To the bubbly yeast, add:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 2/3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Stir to combine. Turn dough out on to well floured surface, and knead for 1-2 minutes. (I let my kitchen-aid do the combining and kneading.) Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes. (Experience speaking - this would be the perfect time to get toppings ready. Don't even imagine you will have any prep time once you send the dough to the grill.)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces and roll into 1/8" thick rounds. (misshapen is ok - looks very artisan) Lightly brush both sides of each round with olive oil, and place rounds directly on the hot grill. Grill until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

Put desired toppings on the grilled crusts. Return to the grill for another 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Enjoy! (We devoured almost 3 of these. I have one plain crust in the freezer for another day.)

One last tip - Don't put toppings right up to the edge, or overfill your crust. You may end up with pizza flavored briquettes.

Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35

2 comments:

Laurie said...

Yay!!! and Yum!!!! Can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing. Don't you put asiago cheese on your pizza instead of mozz? What other toppings did you try?

cHim-prints said...

I topped our pizza with a little sauce, asiago (yum), parmesan, and cheddar cheeses, and a few kalamata olives.

Lots of cheese by the way. :>)