Grilled Pizza Adventure

What had meant to be a quick and relaxing celebration of summer turned into a long & exhausting walking tour of our apartment grounds. Out here in California, we’ve settled into a little bit of a retreat for young, former city dwellers. The sprawling joint is equipped with multiple pools and barbeque grills, lest any of us actually have to actually more than 100 feet from our apartments to enjoy the community amenities. Ritz Carlton, it’s not but it’s certainly a far cry from our previous shoebox sized city apartment.

We had been meaning to make grilled pizza for awhile. Both patience (allotting time for the dough to rise) and a warm evening had been eluding us. A few weekends ago, inspiration hit us and we followed all of the many tutorials that strongly suggested having a mise en place – having all the fixin’s ready at the go.

We marched out to the pool, only to find an army of hungry residents and screaming kids waiting in line at the grills. Usually, we’re greeted with one or two other couples, quietly grilling up a hamburger or two. To make a long story short, we spent the next hour and a half hopping from pool to pool, armed with 2 risen pizza dough rounds and a heavy bag full of sauces and toppings. We soon discovered that our lovely management had closed every pool area for the night. That evening, only? What luck! We even tried to sneak into a neighboring complex’s pool. If only we had succeeded and been detained for trespassing, I’d have a much more entertaining pizza story for you all. Instead I have an UGLY yet DELICIOUS pizza to share.

I was constructed in darkness, please pardon my ugliness.

Despite our setbacks, we managed to have a great time making these pizzas. By the time we secured our own functioning grill, it was nearly pitch black outside and almost bedtime for me. Not knowing too much about grilling pizzas, we forged ahead and created these masterpieces in the dark.

Making grilled pizza certainly isn’t as easy as calling up Papa John’s, but the crust was the perfect combination for us: doughy on the inside (for me), crusty on the outside (for hubby).

We went with our favorite flavor combination, Barbeque Chicken Pizza with a Garlic Herb Crust. Follow these tips & the recipe and you’ll be off to another dreamy land – that’s how good these were. Just make sure you have a grill to use :)

Tips for Grilling Pizza

• Liberally oil the grill grates & pizza dough before grilling
• After grilling one side of the dough, flip the dough onto a flat plate or pizza paddle and place the sauce & toppings on the grilled side. Pulling the dough off the grill allows you ample time to arrange the toppings as you wish
• Once the pizza has been “dressed” return the dough to the grill and close the lid to allow the toppings to warm and the cheese to melt.

The recipe below is for the garlic herb crust. Play around with the toppings as you like. For the Barbeque Chicken Pizza, we simply used Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce, grilled chicken (cooked on the grill), sauté mushroom and sweet onion (cooked inside), Monterey jack cheese, and lots and lots of cilantro.

Grilled Garlic Herb Pizza Dough
Adapted from Allrecipes.com and Cooks Illustrated

Pizza Dough
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 1/3 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Cornmeal for dusting

Garlic Oil for grilling
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic

1. In a bowl, mix yeast with warm water and mix in sugar. Let stand for 10 minutes, or until frothy.
2. While yeast is proofing, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small skillet. Add garlic and sauté over low heat until garlic softens, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow garlic and oil to cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine yeast mixture, salt, garlic oil, and flour until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. I used a Kitchen Aid Mixer with a dough hook to complete these steps. Knead until smooth, about 8 minutes. If dough is too dry, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. Place dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Set aside until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and knead in fresh basil. Cover and set aside to rise for 1 more hour, or until doubled in size.
4. Heat ½ cup olive oil and garlic for 30 seconds in the microwave and set aside to cool. Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll each into a round shape about 3/8 – ½ inch thick. Sprinkle a plate, cookie sheet or parchment paper with flour & cornmeal. Place dough round on sheet.
5. Heat grill and brush grill grates with garlic oil. Brush tops of dough with garlic oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt if desired. Grill oil side down until grill marks begin to appear and the crust is lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. While pizza is grilling, lightly brush the other side of the dough with olive oil.
6. Carefully remove dough from grill and place onto a flat plate or cookie sheet, grilled side up. Dress pizza dough with sauce and toppings. Return pizza dough to the grill and close the cover to allow the toppings to heat and the cheese to melt, about 2 – 3 minutes.

Mango Crab Salad Wonton Cups (baked & healthy!)

Wife's day off!

I was treated to an absolutely wonderful lunch, courtesy of hubby. It's not often that he gets down and dirty in the kitchen, but when he does, I'm not disappointed. These delightful & crunchy cups pack a flavorful punch: wonton skins are baked in mini muffin tins and filled with a delicious salad of crab, mango, celery, wonton and scallions.

Though the original recipe calls for jumbo lump crabmeat, we did a few quick calculations at the grocery. Splurge on yummy looking crab OR fill our empty gas tank with oh, about 3.5 gallons of gas? Next time, we'll make sure not to drive on empty and go with the lump crab meat as we imagine they'd make this already yummy recipe that much better.

The baked Mango Crab Salad Wontons are courtesy of an Ellie Krieger recipe from her new book, The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life. While I'd sometimes like to give Ellie a swift slap to wake her out of her monotone voice coma, I really do enjoy her recipes. We've had great success with all the ones we have tried so far, and I hope to post more soon. In the meantime, enjoy & have a wonderful weekend. Thanks, hubby for a delicious lunch

Oh, I suppose I should provide an update as well. Our little vegetarian experiment is over. It all ended with a tofu curry dish that may have sent hubby over the edge (a little tofu overload). It was fun while it lasted! :)

Because this dish relies on mango for a sweet contrast to the crab salad, I'm entering it into Meeta's Monthly Mingle which is Mango Mania this month. Visit What's For Lunch, Honey? for more details.

Mango Crab Salad Wonton Cups
Courtesy of Ellie Krieger

For the Wonton Cups:
Cooking spray
18 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen (we used potsticker wrappers)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the dressing:
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the salad:
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over (we used flaked crab but I suggest trying with lump)
1 stalk celery, finely diced (we omitted the celery)
1/2 cup finely diced mango
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Sweet Chili Sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.
Brush the wonton wrappers with oil, and place each wrapper into a section of a mini-muffin tin. Gently press each wrapper into the tin and arrange so that it forms a cup shape. The wrapper will overlap itself and stick up out of the cup. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove from the tin and allow wrappers to cool.

Meanwhile whisk together the zest, lime juice, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Add the oil and whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, toss together the crabmeat, celery, mango, scallion and cilantro. Add dressing and toss to combine. Fill each cup with the crab salad. Top with a dollop of sweet chili sauce if you like!

Roasted Red Pepper and Edamame Postickers

Since the demise of Tastespotting, many sites have popped up in its place. While I do miss Tastespotting, this game of chasing around new websites has been pleasurable indeed. I must say, I’m in awe of all the talent out there. Besides good photography skills, are these bloggers blessed with both patience and patient food gobblers?

Most of my cooking adventures involve a little spilling of liquids, a splash of flour in my hair (if I’m baking), a little chaos in the kitchen and a lot of heat. Martha Stewart, I am not. Once all the disorder dies down, I’m usually hungry and hubby is ready to get at whatever’s been causing all of the kitchen madness. I like my food HOT and I like it now. Hence, no time for photos unless we have leftovers!

Take for example, today’s vegetarian treat: Roasted Red Pepper and Edamame postickers. Here are the only photos I managed to take-

Edamame Filling: Ready to pop into the steamer/skillet:I decided to do a little taste test comparison and pan fry some as postickers and steam others to make dumplings. Both versions were good, but we (mostly he) gobbled these up so fast, I didn’t have time to snap any 'after' photos. Good thing Tastespotting is gone…the pressure is off! :)

These dumplings were simple & delicious. If you're hankering for some photos of the finished product, Recipe Girl made some similar edamame dumplings you can enjoy.

Roasted Red Pepper & Edamame Dumplings
Adapted from Cooking Light and spotted on Recipe Girl

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
¼ cup chopped roasted red pepper
¼ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
15-20 round posticker wrappers (depending on how much filling you use)
cooking spray
½ cup water, divided

Cook edamame according to package directions; drain. Rinse edamame with cold water; drain well. In a food processor, chop garlic until minced. Add edamame, roasted red pepper, cilantro, lemon juice, sesame oil, soy sauce pepper, red pepper flakes and salt in a food processor; process until smooth.

To make postickers, spoon about 1 heaping tsp. edamame mixture in center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of dough with water; bring opposite ends together and pleat edges to seal.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Arrange half of dumplings in a single layer in pan; allow bottoms of postickers to brown; Add ¼ cup water to pan; cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook 30 seconds; uncover. Cook 1 minute or until liquid evaporates. Repeat procedure with remaining dumplings and water.

To make steamed dumplings, place mixture in center of wrapper and bring sides of wrappers up around filling.

Heat water in a large steamer and spray steamer basket with nonstick cooking spray. If using bamboo steamer, line with lettuce leaves. Place dumplings on steamer rack and steam for approximately 8-10 minutes.

**Both versions are delicious served with a soy dipping sauce. I usually combine soy sauce with a dash of rice vinegar and a dash of sesame oil. Tasty!