Pizza on the Grill

We finally got our grill out of storage (because we finally have a beautiful new wooden deck to keep it on). So, I have been grilling quite a bit lately. My family was in the mood for homemade pizza -- which we like a lot. But, it has been so hot and electricity so high, I didn't want to fire the oven up to the 450 degrees needed. I remembered watching someone on Food Network grilling pizza on the outside barbecue. It intrigued me. So I tried it. 

The result was excellent. Here is how I did it. I made a pizza dough using my go-to dough at my link on this blog: http://recipesfromronnie.blogspot.com/2008/07/crispy-bread-dough-for-rosemary-bread.html 

 I separated the dough into five equal pieces. Using two baking sheets, which I coated liberally with olive oil, I stretched the dough to the desired size -- I made oblong pizzas to fit my grill better. I then coated the top of the pizza dough rounds with olive oil. I fired up the grill to the high setting. When the grill was nice and hot (and brushed clean), I put three of the pizza dough rounds on the grill. They instantly began to bubble. I cooked them (with the lid down) until done on the bottom side (about 3-4 minutes). I then flipped them and dressed the browned side with my pizza toppings (this had to be done fast -- I turned the grill down to low while I did this). I then cooked them on low for about 3 - 4 more minutes until the cheese was bubbly. Because my grill is not huge, I had to do the last two pizza rounds separately. The result was excellent. Far closer to a brick oven than a conventional oven because you are cooking over actual fire.

Pita (or Tortilla) Crust Pizza

This is the easiest, quickest meal that everyone loves, pizza made on a piece of pita bread or flour tortilla. We do this on any night we are too exhausted to do anything in the kitchen. It is always a hit and takes no time. 

 Pita Bread Rounds or Tortillas for as many pizza's as you are making (white or wheat) 

Mozzarella cheese, grated (quantity to your taste) 

Some type of pizza sauce (marinara, white sauce, garlic infused olive oil, or pesto) 

Toppings (your favorites of any kind) 

 Place Pita rounds on a baking tray. Spread your sauce on. Cover with desired amount of mozzarella. Top with your favorite toppings. Bake at 400 degrees until crispy. My favorite combos are: Pesto, cheese, pepperoni Olive oil, garlic powder, Italian seasonings, and cheese only. Red sauce, cheese, ham, and mushroom These also make great appetizers. Cut into small pieces and serve!

Besto Pesto

I have avoided making pesto in the past because I had trouble paying the price for basil at the grocery story. Then, I decided to grow my own! I could have used seed (which I did for my dill and oregano) but instead I bought one small plant at Lowe's Home Improvement. My basil bush grew huge. A few weeks ago, I harvested a couple of bunches, used a few ingredients I had hand and made a great pesto! Yesterday, we had a great pasta salad with black olives, grape tomatoes, and bowtie past with the pesto. The perfect compliment to "crock pot baby back ribs" (see the recipe on this blog). 

1 cup packed fresh basil 

1/4 cup walnuts 

3 - 4 cloves garlic 

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese 

1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil 

Salt and Pepper to taste 

 Using your food processor or blender, pulse the walnuts and garlic cloves until they are like a corn meal consistency. Next, add basil and pulse until it is well incorporated. Next add in the Parmesan and pulse a few times to mix it up. Drizzle olive oil as you process. Taste. Add Salt and Pepper as you like. This will store in the fridge for a 3 - 4 days. Or for 3 months in the freezer. Use it on pizza dough for a great homemade pizza. Boil some bow tie pasta and add ask much or as little as you like to the hot pasta. Put in some of the pasta water and it will make a wonderful pesto cream sauce. The possibilities are many.

Baby Back Ribs Quick and Easy

I used to hate fooling with ribs. I was brought up that you had to boil them first to get them tender. Then you had finish them on the grill and put the sauce on. It was too much trouble to do very often. I read a couple of alternative ways of making ribs and came up with a hybrid of all those recipes. These taste as good as my family's favorite ribs from Zea's Restaurant in New Orleans (of course it doesn't hurt that we use Zea's Tai sauce on them sometimes!) So here's how I do it. 

 First I make a rub -- 

1 cup brown sugar, packed 

1/4 cup Tony Chachere's or other Cajun seasoning (McCormick's Season-All would work also) 

1 Tbsp. garlic powder 

1 Tbsp. onion powder

 Mix dry ingredients together 

Next, use two to three full racks of baby back ribs -- leaner is better. Cut into four slabs each. Coat each slab with dry rub and layer in your crock pot. You can fill it up to the top. You should use all the dry rub in the above recipe for full flavor on three racks. If you do only two, you would use about 2/3 of rub, etc. 

Once you have all the ribs in the crock pot, pour a Coca-Cola over the ribs for moisture (you can substitute Dr. Pepper if you like). Cook on high for about four hours. 

 The ribs will be tender and delicious -- but there is one more step for perfection. To finish them off, remove the ribs from the crock pot and place them on two baking trays. Put your favorite barbeque sauce on top and then broil them on high for about 4 -5 minutes until the sauce is set and somewhat browned. 

Most people who eat these think you slaved forever. But, you won't even have to pull out the grill. (You can grill to set the sauce instead of using the broiler, if you prefer) Good Luck!

Crockpot Barbeque Chicken

I do this easy recipe on Sundays before church. So easy and a whole meal is ready when you get home. 

4 chicken breasts or 8 chicken thighs (boneless or bone-in) 

3 potatoes cut into large wedges 

1 handful of baby carrots 

1 medium onion cut into rings 

1 bottle Kraft Hickory barbeque sauce 

Season All ( I use cajun seasoning) 

 Season chicken breasts. In the crock pot, layer one half carrots, potatoes, and onions with two chicken breasts. Pour half the bottle of sauce over this. Use the rest of the ingredients layered. Add the rest of the barbeque sauce. Rinse bottle with a little water and pour over the pot. Cook on high in the crockpot for 3 -4 hours. The chicken is moist and this one-pot meal is complete.

Crawfish Pie Tarts

I had to prepare something for a baby shower with a Louisiana theme for our dear friend Meghann Vliet who was engaged to marry. I came up with these and they were quite good. It is really nothing more than a savory tart recipe combined with my crawfish ettoufee recipe. 

Tart Shells 

 2 cups all purpose flour 

2 sticks of butter softened 

6 oz. of cream cheese 

Cream butter and cream cheese in mixer on low (or mix by hand until creamy). Add flour and mix until a fairly smooth mixture occurs. Pour mix out of bowl and gather together into a ball. Next, you will form the tarts.

 I used a 24-count mini-muffin pan. Put about a teaspoon of mix in each compartment and press down until it is thin and covers the bottom and sides of the indentation (actually, I used a handy tool by pampered chef that pushed the tart to the right size -- but you can easily do this by hand). Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes until brown. 

 Remove from oven and let them cool. Next, fill with crawfish ettouffee - recipe on my blog. You can also fill with any savory item you want -- crabmeat au gratin, spinach and artichokes dip, or a quiche mixture, etc.

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

Yes, we live right by the Strawberry Capital of the World -- Ponchatoula, LA. Strawberries are really cheap now -- about $10 a flat (which is 12 pints of berries). We love strawberry shortcake this time of year. However, we do not make it the traditional way -- which is a sweet biscuit. No, my family always made our shortcake with a plain old Betty Crocker yellow cake mix. It really is the best way. So, here is our process. 

 1 yellow cake mix (any brand), eggs, oil and water 

2 pints strawberries 

1/2 - 2/3 cup sugar whipped topping 

 Mix the yellow cake mix according to box directions and bake in a 9X12 pan. Prepare strawberries about an hour or two before serving. After cleaning and stemming the berries, cut them into slices. About two pints will be plenty for this size cake. Mix sliced berries with sugar. Allow strawberries to stand with sugar mixture for about an hour or so until they macerate (release their liquids). Cut cake into serving sized pieces. Top with berry mixture and whipped topping. It is delicious and easy.