Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza

My husband and I were recently in Mexico. We ate a ton of great food while we were there, including barbacoa and conchita pibil tacos that I still dream about. I even went out and bought achiote seeds so I can make cochinita pibil at home. This is not a post about either of those (yet). Rather, this is my version of Papa Murphy's BBQ chicken pizza.  It's going to get cold and snowy soon, so you should make it soon!

Grilled BBQ Chicken Pizza
Serves 3ish

INGREDIENTS
1 ball pizza dough (I like this recipe)
2 boneless chicken breasts
Barbeque sauce (I like this recipe)
1 small red onion, sliced
3-4 scallions, chopped
4 oz Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
2 oz cheddar cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS
Preheat your grill and oil the grates. Grill should be heated to about medium.

Season the chicken breasts with salt & pepper. Grill until lightly charred and cooked through. Cut into thin-ish slices and set aside. At the same time as you're cooking the chicken, cook the onions in a grill basket (this is optional, but I think it tastes better go get rid of the raw onion-y flavor).

Roll out the pizza dough to about a 14-inch round. Brush about 1 TBSP oil on the top put the oiled side down on the grill. Cook for about 3 minutes. Take off the grill, oil the raw side, and flip over. Put down your BBQ sauce, cheeses, chicken, onions, and scallions. Put back on the grill, raw side down, and cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the crust is cooked through (about another 3-5 minutes).

Barbeque Sauce

I know that ketchup is one of the main ingredients in barbeque sauce. So, it shouldn't have surprised me when I looked at the ingredients to my favorite barbeque sauce and saw that the first ingredient on the list was high fructose corn syrup. I was prepared for it to be high on the list, but first absolutely floored me.

A while ago, I started buying organic ketchups because we decided we like the taste of ketchup made with sugar better than ketchup made with high fructose corn syrup. Unfortunately, I went a little crazy at the store and made our fridge look like we were on a ketchup bender - we ended up with about 3 bottles of the stuff in the fridge. So, I decided to make barbeque sauce. I was a little hesitant at first, after one terribly failed attempt, but I gave it another try and I am so glad I did. This sauce had nice heat to it, and we have now tried it with both chicken and pork and it's fantastic with both. I'm glad I made a double batch.

Spicy Barbeque Sauce

Recipe from Epicurious, adapted

INGREDIENTS

2 TBSP oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup finely chopped celery (I think I used 2 ribs, total in my double batch)

1 TBSP minced garlic

1 TBSP paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

3/4 cup ketchup (try to use organic)

1/2 cup beer

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 TBSP Worcestershire Sauce

DIRECTIONS

Heat oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add onion and celery and cook until tender, probably about 5 minutes. Add garlic and spices and stir. Cook for about a minute. Add the ketchup, beer, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce.

Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

I always liked pulled pork sandwiches, but never really loved them. If Famous Dave's catered an event I was attending, I'd grab one, and enjoy it, but that was about it. Then, one day, I was reading a blog and came across a pulled pork recipe that looked alright, but piqued my interest in trying to make my own.

After eating these sandwiches, I'm proud to say that I'm firmly in the pulled pork camp. They were absolutely delicious and made my house smell so good when it cooked all day. I'd even go so far as to say they're better than Famous Dave's. And they really couldn't be easier.


Crockpot Pulled Pork

Rub adapted from Cook's Illustrated
Serves about 6
Prep Time - 15 min
Cook Time - 8-10 hrs

INGREDIENTS

1 4-5 lb pork butt roast
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
1/8 cup water
1 cup barbeque sauce (I recommend Famous Dave's Rich & Sassy)

Rub
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP ground cumin
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 TBSP oregano
2 TBSP paprika
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsp white pepper

DIRECTIONS
Mix together the spice rub and rub it all over te meat. Double-wrap the roast in plastic wrap and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or overnight.

Unwrap the roast and place in the crockpot. Add liquid smoke and water.

Cook on low for 8-10 hrs.

Transfer to a cutting board and pull the meat with forks. If your roast is cooked enough, this should be incredibly easy. If it takes any effort, your raost probably isn't done enough.

Discard any fat and all but about 1 TBSP of liquid from the crockpot.

Place the meat back in the slow cooker and add a generous 1/2 cup of barbeque sauce. Cook for another 30-60 minutes.

Serve on toasted buns and top with more barbeque sauce, as desired.