Grilled Pizza

I love pizza! And I really love grilled pizza!  It is easy and so delicious! I must confess. There was a piece leftover in the frig, so I ate it for breakfast this morning.........Cold.  And I enjoyed every bite!

My mom found this recipe in a motor home magazine and cut it out for me.  What I like about it, is the dough goes right onto the grill, no using a pizza stone, so less mess to clean up after! Plus, they cook quickly!

I like BBQ chicken pizza, but you can make them however you like! 

Mix the warm water and honey.  Then add the yeast. It should foam up like this. 

After the dough has risen, put onto a floured board and cut into 4 pieces. I like to use a pizza wheel.

Roll out each piece into an 8 inch circle.

Put the dough directly onto the grill.  The grill should be medium-high.  I should have taken a picture of my first one.  I had the grill on too hot and the bottom scorched! I advise to start with medium heat and you can always turn the heat up if it isn't cooking.

After 3-4 minutes of grilling, dough should have grill marks. Place grill mark side up and layer on your toppings.

This pizza has BBQ sauce, mozzarella cheese, cooked seasoned chicken tossed in BBQ sauce, and onion. I like to use red onion, but I didn't have any on hand and I wasn't about to run to the store!  Cook on the grill for several minutes until cheese is melted.

Top pizza with chopped cilantro and enjoy!!

GRILLED PIZZA

 PIZZA DOUGH

1 T. honey

1 cup warm water

2 tsp. active dry yeast

3 cups flour (I use whole grain flour)

1 tsp. salt

2 T. oil

BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA TOPPINGS

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, cut in 1 inch pieces

1 T. olive oil

Emeril's Essence Seasoning

 1 cup plus 2 T. BBQ Sauce

2-3 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 of a red onion, sliced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

For the dough:

Feel free to use ready made dough from your local grocer.  I just prefer to make my own. It is very easy, even for a beginning yeast baker! Give it a try!

In a small bowl, dissolve the honey in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and stir until it dissolves. Let the yeast mixture stand for 5-10 minutes, until a layer of foam forms on the surface. In a large bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the olive oil and the yeast mixture. Stir the flour into the wet ingredients, until all the flour is incorporated. If its too dry, add more water. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for 15 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball and put in in a well-oiled bowl. Cover with a moist towel and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours). 

I use my kitchen aid mixer for the dough. And for the kneading part, just put the mixer on speed 2 and let it do all the work! Just set the timer!  This dough can also be made the day before you need it.  Just let it rise, then punch down and put in the refrigerator.  Take it out an hour or two before you make the pizza.  The dough will actually have more flavor if prepared the day before.

For the pizza: 

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add chicken pieces. At this point I sprinkled with Emeril's Essence seasoning. Or use whatever you like. Saute chicken until cooked through.  Toss with 2 T. BBQ sauce.

Punch the dough down, and divide into 4 equal portions. Roll out each portion into an 8 inch flat circle.  Gently place rolled dough on the grill and close the lid.  It will puff up and get grill marks on the bottom.  Remove it after 3-4 minutes.  If the bottom is burnt, adjust grill temperature and time.  Set the pizza on a board, grilled side up.

Spread 1/4 cup barbecue sauce over the surface of the dough. Layer on 1/4 of the cheese, chicken, and onion.  Put back on the grill and close the lid.  Remove when the crust is crispy and cheese is melted.  Sprinkle each with cilantro.  

NOTE ON BBQ SAUCE:

If I don't feel like making my own sauce recipe, I use Sticky Fingers brand Carolina Sweet sauce.

 BBQ Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's or Bull's Eye)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Combine all ingredients with a whisk until smooth.

For all other pizza flavors, make sure all ingredients you put on the pizza are cooked.  They are not on the grill long enough to cook the meat.  Do not overload pizzas--they will be soggy.

Sour Cream Twists

Soft, cinnamony, delicious creations that melt in your mouth!  These are soo fabulous served warm with a cup of coffee!  They are very light in comparison with a cinnamon roll dough.

I thought a pink glaze would look pretty so I added a tiny bit of Wilton's Gel Coloring in Rose Petal to create the pink.

The recipe says to drizzle on glaze when twists are warm. I did just that and the glaze sorts of melts on as you see above.

I wanted a more pronounced pink glaze look, so I drizzled the rest of the twists when they were cooled.

This is a double batch. 

Place a few on a plate, pour a cup of coffee and sit down for a break!

SOUR CREAM TWISTS

2  cups sour cream

2 pkgs. dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.)

1/2 cup warm water

6 T. sugar

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

6 cups flour

Heat sour cream to lukewarm.  Dissolve yeast in warm water with sugar.  Stir in sour cream, butter, salt, soda, beaten eggs, and 2 cups flour.  Beat well.  Add the rest of the flour; dough should be sticky.  Turn dough onto floured board, knead 5-10 minutes.  Place dough in greased bowl, grease top of dough.  Cover and let rise until doubled; at least one hour.  Divide dough in half.  Roll each piece of dough into an oblong shape approximately 8" wide.  Spread with 1/4 cup butter, 2/3 cup white sugar, and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Fold each section of dough in half and cut into 1" strips.  Twist each strip as you place it on a large greased cookie sheet.  This recipe will make two pans.  Cover twists and let rise until light; about one hour.  Bake for 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees and frost while warm.

GLAZE TOPPING

3 cups powdered sugar

3 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter, softened

3-4 T. hot water

Beat well and frost twists. Top immediately with nuts or sprinkles.

In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE working with yeast!  (Thanks Mom for taking the time to teach me!)  But I know not everyone does.  Post me a comment if you would like me to do a detailed tutorial on making successful yeast doughs!

BBQ Chicken Calzones

I really enjoy making calzones.  Probably because I really enjoy eating them!  I love bread, bbq, cheese, and marinara sauce, so putting all those together in one lovely little package is just splendid!

Usually I make 7" calzones, but I made these miniature BBQ Chicken Calzones for a party.  Fun finger food!  And you just have to dip them in marinara sauce!

This is to show you about how big to roll the dough if you make the mini calzones.

A little dab of sauce, a tiny pile of freshly grated mozzarella, and a small mound of bbq chicken mixture. Mmm! I could go for one right now!

To seal them up, I at first tried my usual method, a rolled edge.  It was hard to do because they were so small, so I found just pressing dough with the tines of a fork worked perfect!

BBQ CHICKEN CALZONES

DOUGH:

1 pkg. active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp.)

1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 T. sugar

2 T. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

3 1/4 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water until foamy, about 10 minutes.  Stir in sugar, oil, salt, and 1 cup flour.  Beat until smooth. (I do this in my Kitchen Aid Mixer.)  Mix in remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.  Turn onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. (I let my Kitchen Aid do the kneading for me....same amount of time on speed 2).  Place in a greased bowl; turn greased side up.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost double, about 30 minutes.

BBQ CHICKEN MIXTURE:

Sauce:

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup bbq sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's or Bull's Eye)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/8 tsp. garlic powder

Combine all ingredients with a whisk until smooth.

In a saucepan, combine sauce and:

About 1 lb. chicken cooked and sliced or shredded

(I like to grill or broil and I usually season it first with Emeril's Essence Seasoning)

chopped onions--however much your heart desires!

Simmer mixture on low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes to blend flavors.

MARINARA SAUCE:

--in a pinch I use a jar of spagetti sauce

If I have the time, I make this:

Basic Red Sauce:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 chopped yellow onion

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

16 ounces whole peeled tomatoes, broken into pieces, and their juices

16 ounces tomato sauce

4 teaspoons tomato paste

2/3 cup water

1/2 teaspoon sugar

In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, salt, basil, oregano, and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and sugar and stir well. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until thickened and fragrant, 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat and keep warm until ready to use.

Yield: 3 cups

If you don't like the chunks, put in in your blender!

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

freshly grated mozzarella cheese

1 egg, beaten

CALZONE INSTRUCTIONS:

When the dough has finished rising, punch it down.  Divide into 6 equal parts. (If doing mini ones just tear off small balls of dough.)  Roll each part into a 7" circle on a lightly floured surface.  Spread one half with a little marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, bbq chicken mixture, and sometimes I top off with some more mozzarella.  Fold dough over filling and seal with fork or rolling/pinching method.  Place calzones on greased baking sheet.  Let rest for 15 minutes.  Brush calzones with beaten egg.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes, until golden brown. (Mini calzones bake for around 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.)

Serve calzones with extra marinara sauce for dipping!

Don't limit yourself to BBQ Chicken! Try any other combination that sounds good! :) Another personal favorite of mine is what I call The Hula! Seasoned ground beef, small deli ham pieces, pineapple, fresh tomato and mozzarella.  It's really tasty!

Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

This is one of my favorite recipes!  I love them because they are so easy--even a caveman could do it! :)

Mmm! On the recipe I have written: "Moist and chubby...Excellent!"

If you have never used yeast before, or have had troubles with it, this is a great recipe to try because your bread machine does all the work! You can still make them even if you don't have a bread machine...

Dinner Rolls.....STEP BY STEP!

Step 1:  Locate your bread machine and pull it from its dust gathering spot in your cupboard :)

Step 2:  Make sure you have this yeast on hand! (And remember to store it in the refrigerator after opening)

Step 3:  In the bread machine pan, add wet ingredients first.  Then add dry ingredients, adding flour last.  Make a well with your finger, and put yeast in the well.  Some machines have a separate yeast drop on the top of machine.  If yours doesn't, do the well.

Step 4:  Choose the dough cycle on your bread machine.  Mine takes an hour and a half.  During the first ten minutes of mixing, you may want to take a peek inside the lid and scrape any flour that remains in the corners of the pan.  After that, I don't recommend lifting the lid of the machine.  It may interfere with the rising of the dough.

Step 5:  Dough should look like this when the timer goes off and you lift the lid.  Punch down dough, and place on a lighty floured area.  Cover and let rise 10 more minutes.

Step 6:  Shape the dough into a rectangle and cut the dough into 15 equal pieces.  I like to use my pizza cutter!

Step 7:  Shape the pieces into round balls and place on greased baking sheet.

Step 8:  Brush lightly with melted butter.

Step 9:  Cover loosely with 1 piece of plastic wrap.  Let rise for 30 minutes in a draft free area.  In a warm oven (heat oven to 350 degrees for exactly 1 minute then shut off) or on top of the oven is usually my normal spot!

Step 10:  This is what they should look like after 30 minutes of rising.

Step 11:  After 12-15 minutes in the oven, remove when they are golden brown.

Step 12:  I always brush them with a little more melted butter when the rolls are still warm.  It just makes them look shinier and more appealing! (Compare with picture right before this one)  They go from dull and drab to shiny and fab!

Step 13:  If you aren't going to eat them right away, cool them on a wire rack so the bottoms don't get soggy.

Step 14:  Put them in a basket or bowl and give yourself a pat on the back for accomplishing the art of yeast!

WHOLE WHEAT DINNER ROLLS

1 cup warm water

2 T. butter, softened

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 cups bread flour or all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 T. bread machine yeast

melted butter

Put ingredients into bread pan in the order listed.  Select dough/manual cycle.  Do not use delay cycle.  Remove dough from pan using lightly floured hands.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes on lightly floured surface.  Grease a jelly roll pan.  Divide dough into 15 equal pieces.  Shape each piece into a ball; place in pan.  Brush with melted butter.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise int warm place about 30 minutes or until double. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.)  Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm or cool.

If you do not have a bread machine:

Dissolve yeast (either active dry or rapid rise) in warm water with a pinch of sugar for 10 minutes.  Yeast should puff up if rising properly.  In a Kitchen Aid mixer, mix butter, egg, sugar, and salt on speed 2.  Add in dissolved yeast mixture.  Mix until blended.  Slowly add flours, 1 cup at a time, never going above speed 2.  "Knead" in Kitchen Aid mixer for 8 minutes on speed 2.  Place dough in a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until double in size.  Punch down and let rest on floured board for 10 minutes.  Follow original recipe from this point on.

In my experience using bread flour results in a higher, fluffier roll.