Grilled Calzones

My husband went to college in Iowa City (go Hawks...?).  It's a lovely little city with a lot of really wonderful food places. My personal favorite is a place called Sam's. Their calzones are A-mazing. Truly. I find myself craving them at random. In fact, if someone would bring one to my house right now, they would be my favorite person ever. Unfortunately, Iowa City is over 4 hrs away by car and we only get down there once every year or two. So when we go, we have to make it count. And the rest of the time, we try to replicate their calzones.

This was our latest attempt (using our brand new pizza stone!). While they were delicious, they still didn't capture the magic of Sam's. My husband is convinced it's all about the sauce and we just haven't found the right sauce recipe yet. I'm willing to entertain this argument...

Grilled Calzones
Makes 2

Here's what I did...

Get some fresh pizza dough and divide it in half. Roll each half out pretty thin. Put one half on a lightly-oiled pizza stone. Put down on half of the crust a layer of shredded cheese, a layer of pepperoni, a small layer of cheese, some browned Italian sausage crumbles, another small layer of cheese, more pepperoni, and then more cheese. Fold in half and then crimp up the edges.

Bring the other half over to the pizza stone and repeat.

Brush some oil on the top of both.

Put on a warm grill and cook until the dough is clearly cooked. You may want to flip it a couple times during cooking to ensure that both the top and bottom are cooked and the cheese inside is evenly melted.

Cut the calzones into strips and serve with marinara.

Chicken & Herb White Pizza

As I mentioned in my last post, we're not the fastest at things like decorating our house. In August or September, about a month or so after we moved in, I went to Ikea and bought a few decorations, including a little shelf I thought would look good in the kitchen. Since that day, they sat in the spare room with all the other decorations we hadn't put up yet. Every time I went into the room, I would think about putting up the kitchen decorations I'd bought those months back. But I never did anything. Not even bug my husband to get out the power tools.

Then, last weekend, we were at Target browsed through the home decor section, and found a few wall-hangings that we decided would look cute in the kitchen with the previously-purchased shelf, and on Friday night, we hung them up. My kitchen now looks like a real, proper kitchen, and I love it so much.

It's now the perfect setting to cook things like this yummy pizza from Cooking Light - and I didn't even change a thing in the recipe.

Chicken & Herb White Pizza
Cooking Light, October 2011

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I have two cats. They're wonderful. They were my initially my husband's cats. Then, when we got married, I sort of inherited them. Well, truth be told, one of them came over to my side very shortly after my husband and I started dating. In fact, lately, she's almost quite literally been at my side (or on my lap, or sitting next to me, or laying on top of my arms as I'm trying to type...) most minutes I'm home. She's not really one to take a hint or realize that I have stuff to do.

The other cat took a while to come around.  I think she thought I was invading her turf. We're now BFF, but it took her a while to determine that I was OK.

I think what made her come around was that I cook with chicken a lot. She would mysteriously appear at my side and wander through the kitchen with that "oh, hi! I'm just passing through" look about three seconds after the raw chicken got out of the fridge. After a while, she stopped doing it. But recently, she's picked up the habit again. It's so adorable it makes me want to cook with chicken even more. Especially when it's to make such delicious things like this Buffalo Chicken pizza. It's an excellent change in the "pizza night" rotation .

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Recipe from Rachael Ray, adapted

Serves 3-ish

Cook & Prep Time - about 30 min

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 pound chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• salt & pepper, for seasoning chicken
• 1 pizza dough (I make my own)
• Cornmeal or flour, to handle dough
• 4 TBSP butter
• 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• 6 TBSP hot sauce (Frank's)
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 - 1 1/2  cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles (I leave this off - we don't like it)
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and preheat grill pan to medium-high.

Drizzle olive oil over the chicken then season generously with salt & pepper. When grill is hot, add chicken and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through and has a nice sear. Let rest for a few minutes and then thinly slice.

Stretch dough to form pizza using cornmeal or flour to help you handle it. Poke it with a fork a few times so it doesn't puff up too much during the cooking. Bake for about 5 minutes. Take out of the oven and set aside.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Once combined and warm, remove from heat. Take about half of it and put on top of the pizza crust.

 Add chicken to the remaining sauce and coat. Put the chicken on top of the pizza and then drizzle with any remaining sauce. Cover with cheese and then add the scallions. Bake 15-18 minutes or until crisp and the cheese is bubbly.

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).

Grilled Pizza Margherita

My favorite pizza, hands down, is a pizza margherita. A nice crispy crust, a fresh tomato sauce, fresh basil, and mozzarella is all I need. I've been on the hunt for the best pizza margherita since the first time I got back from Italy (12 years ago... *feels old*). I found it a few years ago at a restaurant in Minneapolis, but I don't have the time to drive up there every time I get a craving. By the way, if you're a twin cities resident and you read this blog, please don't recommend Punch. I've been there. Yes, I know they claim the owners are from Naples. Their pizza sucks donkey balls.

During this process, I also discovered that I get irrationally annoyed when people call something margherita but it's clearly not. I was at a pizza place not too long ago where their margherita was advertised as having olives on it. Another one had goat cheese and gorgonzola. I'm pretty sure I saw one once that had bacon on it. Maybe delicious... margherita, not so much.

I also discovered a few places that spell it like the Mexican-ish blended tequila cocktail. I half hoped the pizza had some form of liquor and lime incorporated. But no.

When we were watching an episode of Good Eats not too long ago, we decided we had to give making our own on the grill a go. And despite the fact that pizza should be delivered to my house in about an hour, I venture that this stuff is better than anything you can get at most pizzerias.

So get to it. Make this pizza. And if you do, bring me one, OK?

Grilled Pizza Margherita
Recipe from Alton Brown, Adapted
Makes 1 large pizza or 2 small

INGREDIENTS
1 recipe pizza dough
4 medium tomatoes, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried oregano or Italian seasoning (optional, but I recommend it)
4-6 basil leaves, torn
2-4 oz sliced fresh Mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
Make your dough and roll it out so it's pretty thin - use your judgment how thin, but I'd say we usually do somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch thick. Lay it on a greased pizza peel or the back of a cookie sheet.

Oil your grill grates and preheat the grill to medium.

Once heated, brush your dough with about 1-2 tsp of oil and put your dough on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes. Take it off the grill, brush the raw side with oil, and flip it over.

Put the tomatoes on the grill and cook them until they're nice and soft and mashable. This should take somewhere between 5-10 minutes (it usually takes us about 8).

Put the tomatoes on top of the dough (cooked side) and mash up to make the sauce. Put the torn basil leaves on top of the sauce and top with sliced mozzarella. Return to the grill and cook until the crust is done and the cheese is melted, about another 2-3 minutes. Let cool a bit before cutting and eating.

Now Blogging from a New Location (and Taco Pizzas)

I know I've been gone for a while. Quite a while. I have a good reason, I swear! My husband and I bought a house and we moved! We're finally starting to get (at least a little) settled in. I'm still getting used to my new kitchen. It's been a process. But I do have a great recipe to share with you. I came up with this one when I was desperately trying to figure out what to do with various things from my pantry and freezer before we moved. I'm not completely sure why frozen pita bread inspired me to make chicken taco pizzas, but I went with it. At any rate, it was a good decision. You should do yourself a favor and make these.

Grilled Chicken Taco Pizzas
Serves 2ish
Cook & Prep Time - about 50 minutes (30 minutes are inactive)


INGREDIENTS
3-4 pita breads
1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Mexican-ish spices (described below)
red onion, sliced thinly
green bell pepper, sliced thinly
jalapeno pepper, sliced thinly
Monterrey Jack cheese
Olive oil

DIRECTIONS
Make a Mexican-ish spice rub. I combined about 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/8 tsp dried oregano. Rub this into the chicken breast and let it marinate for about 30 minutes.

Grill the chicken breast and the veggies until chicken is cooked through and veggies are soft. Remove both from the grill and cut the chicken into narrow strips.

Brush the pita breads with some olive oil and put down on the grill. Let cook for about a couple of minutes and then take off the grill, flip over, and brush the other side with olive oil. Top with chicken, veggies, and Monterrey Jack cheese. Return to the grill and cook for a few more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Serve with your favorite taco condiments, like salsa and sour cream.

Pizza Burgers

As I mentioned in my last post, my life has changed a lot lately. My work schedule has been a bit crazy and I've been keeping some odd hours. It sort of feels like I've been living in bizzaro-world. The check-out guy at the grocery store recently told my husband and myself to have a good evening. I was so confused... then I realized it was almost 3 pm. I'd been awake for two hours, at most. Luckily, this isn't going to last a whole lot longer.

I recently had about a half of a loaf of some really delicious focaccia bread to use up. Conveniently, I came across a pizza burger recipe that used focaccia instead of regular buns. It sounded interesting to me, and my husband is always up for things involving pizza. Or burgers. I didn't follow the recipe closely but I don't think I'd change a thing about what I did.

This was really good. I don't think focaccia is necessary, but if you have it, I think it added a little something.

Pizza Burgers
Inspired by Rachael Ray
Makes 2 burgers
Cook & Prep Time - 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 jar spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 lb ground beef
1/4 lb Italian sausage
15-20 slices pepperoni, cut into small pieces
1/2 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
~1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (I'm guessing - I eyeballed it)
1-2 leaves basil, chiffonade (optional)
mozzarella cheese
focaccia bread, cut into two burger-sized pieces.

DIRECTIONS
In a small pot, heat up the spaghetti sauce.

Heat up a couple of TBSP oil in a medium pan over medium heat.  Also pre-heat the broiler.

In a medium bowl, mix together the ground beef, Italian sausage, pepperoni, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and basil. Form into two patties. Add to the pan and cook for about 5-7 minutes per side, or until cooked through.

Transfer the burgers to a cookie sheet and top with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese. Put under the broiler for a few minutes, until the cheese gets bubbly.

While the burgers are under the broiler, toast the focaccia buns for a couple of minutes (I did this in my toaster oven).

Put the burgers on the toasted buns and enjoy!

Grilled Pizza

Have you ever grilled a pizza? And I don't mean getting one of those grilled pizza pans from Papa Murphy's; I mean actually putting the crust on your grill and actually cooking the pizza on the grill. If not, you should. I know, I know, the thought of putting raw pizza dough directly on the grill is scary, but you can do it. I'll be there with you.

Grilled Pizza

Grilling a pizza is a quick process, so before you begin, make sure you have all your ingredients ready to go and outside at the grillside. So, if you're using veggies, get those chopped up and on a platter or bowl. If you're using toppings, get those ready too. If you're making sauce, get that ready, too. Having this all ready and at the grill before you get started cooking it will help you tremendously.

Heat your grill to 350 degrees.

Roll out your favorite pizza crust on a lightly floured surface. Don't worry about it being particularly pretty or organized. What matters is that it's about 1/4-1/2" thick. Put that crust on the back of a cookie sheet (or a pizza peel, if you have one) and take it out to the grill. You can use any crust you want, but I used this one from Mario Batali and it worked great.

Make sure the grate on your grill is well-oiled. Put the pizza directly on top of the grill. Trust me - it won't fall through. Cook for about a minute or two and then flip it over. Immediately after you flip, add your toppings. You should do this quickly to make sure your pizza doesn't burn.

After your toppings are added, cook for another minute or two. Remove from the grill. Let sit for a couple minutes before cutting. Your pizza will have a nice grill flavor, and will also have a great crunch like woodfire pizzas.