Gentlemanly arts - Grilled Pizza

Summer is here, and that means leaving the kitchen and enjoying the weather outside on the grill. Everyone knows meat tastes better cooked on the grill. A lot of vegetables do, too. But our favorite grilled food is pizza.

Once we discovered the magic of grilled pizza, with its crispy outside, soft doughy inside, and smokey grilled taste, we haven't been able to go back to the oven. Matt will even go out and grill pizza in the dead of winter with snow on the ground. It's not completely fool-proof. In the beginning we ate a few crumbled dough chunks and crispy blackened things, but now it seems Matt's got it down pat, and here's a picture tutorial to prove it.

 

The recipe we use:

-2.5 cups flour

-1 cup warm water

-1 packet of yeast

-1 teaspoon sugar

-1 teaspoon salt

-olive oil

-other seasoning to taste

Mix the yeast and sugar in the water and let sit until foamy. Mix the flour, salt, and what ever seasonings you like, then pour in the yeast water. Mix well with hands, then coat the dough all over with olive oil. This helps get the dough off your hands and keeps it from sticking to the side of the bowl as it rises. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 15 or 20 minutes. It should about double in volume.

The key to good pizza dough is a high hydration rate, which just means the dough should be pretty sticky and moist. The above recipe will probably need at least another half cup of water depending on how tightly packed the flour is. For extra seasonings, I use a little black pepper and garlic powder, a fair amount of red pepper flakes and copious oregano, but feel free to experiment.

 

Heat the grill to medium-high heat, and coat it well with olive oil. The pizza can be cooked right on the grill rack, which is what I usually do, but I got this grill pan for my birthday and it makes things much easier and neater.

 

Make sure the dough, the pan, and your hands are thoroughly coated in olive oil, and then press it into the pan. We use an 8"x11" jelly roll pan, but you could use whatever you have around - just make sure not to spread it overly thin.

Use a fork to poke little holes all over the dough. This helps keep those giant air bubbles you get in pizza sometimes from forming. If you are some kind of weird giant air bubble fan, feel free to ignore this step

If you didn't coat your pan in oil before spreading the dough, you will end up with your first problem right here. When you do it right, the dough flips neatly onto the grill. You want the grill hot enough to quickly cook the dough so it won't sag through the grates, but not so hot that you burn everything. Do not close the lid.

Just lift a corner and take a peek to see if it looks cooked and crispy underneath. If not, give it more time. If it's burnt, your grill is too hot or you waited too long. This probably just means the bottom is extra crispy, but the inside is still delicious. The pizza will not be the best you have ever had, but still pretty good. Whether it's burnt or just right, the top has probably started to dry out a little.

Again, do not forget to oil things up here, or you will be sorry when you try to take the pizza off the grill. Lots of oil is the most important part of grilling pizza.

If the bottom is nicely cooked, and you use your grill tools in a nicely coordinated effort, this should go pretty smoothly. Sometimes a part of the dough may have cooked onto the grill, especially if you're grilling right on the rack, so use a spatula to gently peel it loose first. You should be able to lift the whole crust off the grill before you start flipping. As you can see, I use the tongs as a sort of pivot point. If you have a really big spatula, that would be a better solution.

After flipping the pizza, turn the heat down to low, or the crust is going to burn.

We make our own sauce from a recipe in Vegan Comfort Food by Alicia Simpson, which is delicious for vegans and non-vegans (like us) alike.

This time I went with plain cheese pizza, our daughter's favorite. While the pizza is cooking with the lid closed you can run inside and wash up the few dirty dishes you made or get a drink ready.

If your cheese isn't melted the first time you peek at the pizza, first check that the bottom of the crust isn't burning, then close up the grill and wait a few minutes longer. It's also good to give the pizza a little push/lift to make sure it hasn't started to stick or sink into the grate. If the cheese is melted, you're done.

Here's where the grill pan really comes in handy. If your cooking right on the grill rack, use the spatula to remove any crust adhesions and carefully lift and slide onto an awaiting pan or baking sheet.

See how it's nice and doughy in the middle?

 

And crispy-grilled on the bottom.



Here's some grilled pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and sauteed onions. Another favorite of ours is sauteed onions and asparagus, with smoked Gouda instead of mozzarella cheese. Of course, any pizza topping will work, but I do highly recommend trying smoked Gouda.



Enjoy!

Gentlemanly arts - Make mom dessert

Hopefully, all the gentleman reading realize that this coming Sunday, May 8th, is Mother's Day. And, knowing this, hopefully all the gentleman reading know that they ought to do something nice for their moms. If you don't live with your mom, I suggest you give her a call or pay her a visit and let her know how you're doing. Ask her how she's doing, too. If you do live with your mom, I suggest you clean your room.

Want to do something extra nice for mom? How about dessert? I'll go out on a limb here and say most moms like dessert. Even more than that, I bet most moms like chocolate desserts. Being that I am a pretty awesome baker (just ask me), I'm going to give you some recipes to try out. Maybe you'll get a son-of-the year award.

I promise these recipes are not hard. The first, Chocolate-Chocolate Almond-Almond Cookies, a cookie recipe of my own, is probably easier if you've baked before but still isn't difficult. I'm writing the directions out for even non-bakers to follow, so experienced bakers may be able to skim through the directions.
The second desert, Death by Chocolate, is easy no matter what. It's more assembling than baking, and you can assemble, right?

Nicole's Chocolate-Chocolate Almond-Almond Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup almonds
3/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Gather ingredients. To soften the butter, leave the two sticks (two sticks of butter = 1 cup) out on the counter for a couple hours. It's ready when you can poke it with your finger and your finger sinks in. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream the butter and the two sugars. This is best and most easily done by dumping it all in the bowl of a mixer and gradually turning it up fast. If you don't have a mixer or aren't comfortable with using one, you can cream them by hand by alternating between mashing the butter and sugar together with the back of a spoon and stirring. They're considered "creamed" when the whole mess is smooth and fluffy.
3. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time. Easy - mix one in well, then mix in the other well. 
4. Stir in the extracts, and the baking soda water. If you want to make these nut-free you can leave out the almond extract. You'll just come out with chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. 
5. Slowly mix in the flour and cocoa powder. Here you will want to add about a third to a half of all the dry stuff, blend it in, and then repeat until it's all in.  
6. Dump in the chocolate chips and nuts and stir it all up. Again, if you want these to be nut-free just don't add the almonds.  
7. Put balls of dough onto a cookie sheet, leaving about an inch and a half between each one. I usually just scoop out a spoonful and roll that into a ball with my hands. Bigger dough balls will = bigger cookies, smaller dough balls will = smaller cookies. You want them around about 1" in diameter. When your tray is full pop it into the preheated oven and set a timer for 10 minutes. 
8. When the timer goes off, take the cookies out. They're not going to look done. Trust me on this one, they are done. Leave the cookies on the tray for about 5 minutes, then use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack (or if you don't have one, a piece of foil on the counter will do). When the cookies are fully cooled they will finally look done and will be softed-baked and delicious. 
9. Keep repeating steps 7 and 8 until all the dough is used up. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, depending on what size you make them. 

In case that sounds too overwhelming, here's a recipe that can't be easier. Plus, the instructions on how to make it easier. This is also a popular dessert for potlucks or office parties.


Death by Chocolate
Ingredients:
-a pan of brownies, cut into bite sized pieces or crumbles
-8 oz tub of frozen whipped topping (aka Cool Whip), thawed
-6-8 oz of chocolate pudding, prepared
-a couple of toffee bars (like Heath or Skor bars), chopped

1. Gather ingredients. The brownies can be made of scratch, prepared from a box, of you're really lazy, just buy some already made brownies. The Cool Whip should be left in the fridge so that it's soft and fluffy, rather than hard and frozen, when you go to use it. The chocolate pudding can also be either made from scratch, prepared from a box, or purchased prepared. The toffee bars should be cut into little crumble sized pieces. 
2. Find a clear bowl. Any big bowl will work, really, but to get the full visual effect a clear bowl should be used. If you've got a trifle bowl that's even better. 
3. Layer the stuff. First, dump about a third to a half of the brownie crumbles into the bottom of the bowl. Cover that with about a third to a half of the pudding. On top of the pudding goes a third to a half of the Cool Whip. Sprinkle the Cool Whip with a third to a half of the toffee bar bits. Repeat this until everything is used up. 
4. Cover and keep refrigerated until serving. To serve, just scoop out a a bowl-full.

Gentlemanly arts - Carving a Ham

If you will be attending an Easter lunch or dinner this week, you will likely be getting at least a serving or two of ham. If you are the man of the family, you may even be asked to carve the ham. Wow the crowd with your carving skills by doing a little homework ahead of time. Saveur magazine presents ham carving in six simple steps. Click on "view gallery" to see the steps with illustrations.

If you really want to impress, why not volunteer to provide the ham, and try out this tasty-looking recipe. A simple side dish, like these from MadeMan, would also be sure to put you in the good graces of any host or hostess.

Passing on the Gentlemanly Arts

Some may argue with me, but to me cooking counts as a pretty gentlemanly skill. Matt Moore of "Have Her Over for Dinner" has a blog and book devoted entirely to just that idea. Plus, I think some guys like Alton Brown, Emeril, Bobby Flay, and Anthony Bourdain would agree with me. I mean, have you ever seen Jacques Pepin cut something - anything - up? Exactly.

In our house, Matt (my Matt, not the one from the blog) does most of the cooking. I'll make a dinner when I have to, but mostly I'm only the family baker. Matt's just better at cooking, and likes doing it. Even as a teenager he cooked me dinner for a special date. It must have worked because look at us now, married for almost 6 years.

Tonight our 5-year-old son Benjamin helped to cook dinner. He proudly made teriyaki sauce with only some minimal measuring help (and stovetop supervision). Now he's asking that I take him to New York to cook with Martha Stewart.

If even the littest gentleman can make teriyaki sauce, so can you. And then you can wow a lady of your own and eventually have your own son to teach to cook.

Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or fresh minced ginger if you have it, but double the amount)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or, again, fresh minced if you have it, but double the amount)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water with 1 Tablespoon corn starch mixed in

These ingredients are pretty easy to gather. We used Datu Puti soy sauce because it's what we have on hand (thanks Filipino coworkers!), but any kind would work. Mirin is available in the regular grocery store in the "ethnic foods" section. It's a sweetened, low alcohol sake used in Japanese cooking.

To make the sauce, mix the soy sauce, mirin, ginger, garlic, and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat them to a low boil. When the mix begins to boil add the water and corn starch mix and stir and heat until it gets slightly thicker and bubbly. Remove from the heat and let it cool - it will get thicker as it cools.
 
 Simple, right?

Now go to town putting teriyaki sauce on things. We just had it on some simple rice and steamed veggies. Sorry, no chopsticks.

I highly recommend you check out Have Her Over for Dinner for other simple, but meatier, gentleman-approved recipes.

-Nicole