Grilled veggie and chicken meatball pasta... hope the kids will eat it!
Showing posts with label grill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grill. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Tweaking the Pizza on the Grill
Okay, I'm getting really good at this, and I have to make some notes on what I've been doing: 425 degrees on the stone for 6.5 minutes. Instant polenta underneath for motion... You need some corn meal to slide the pizza off the peel, and onto the pre-heated stone on the grill. I've used stone-ground coarse corn meal, and it's like eating a pizza that's been dropped onto gravel. The instant polenta still has the ball-bearing effect, doesn't burn (like breadcrumb does), and isn't crunchy.
I used Trader Joe's whole-wheat pizza dough. I keep a bunch in the freezer and thaw them on the counter in the bag. The dough ball HAS to be room temperature, and if it is wet and tacky, it has to be well-floured all around before stretching. Then the peel has to be floured, and then a light coating of corn meal spread on. I build the pizza right on the peel. Don't wait too long - it will begin to stick, so get it on the grill.
This temperature is perfect. The dough will cook and rise before the bottom blackens. I check it at about 6 minutes. My grill has a thermometer on the hood. Not as hot: dough doesn't cook. Too hot: blackened crust.
This pizza is topped with mushroom sauce, and leftover sauteed spinach that I had cooked with garlic and onions. The cheese is a shredded mix, with parmesan and Italian herb seasoning added (gives it that pizza flavor). Lastly, I added basil from the garden after cooking.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Flank Steak Tacos
Don't fear the flank steak! I had to talk my bro into buying this inexpensive cut of meat for fajitas a couple of years ago... But it was a friend of mine (Katherine, sup girl!) who started me buying it. Lots of people think it's gonna be a stringy piece of meat. But if you cut it the right way, you won't have to spend extra time with the Waterpik because it won't stick in your teeth. (Promise).
Marinate the steak overnight (or for a few hours) in a gallon Ziploc bag with soy sauce and olive oil... You can add chopped garlic if you like. That's it! Then grill it for a few minutes on each side, according to how done you would like it. Let me say, however, that not letting it get past medium insures that it will be the most tender. Then let it rest for about ten minutes on your cutting board. (If you don't let it rest, the final product will be drier because the juices will run out.) Then, it's all about the cut. Slice the meat thinly, and at a 45 degree angle. Most importantly, make your cuts with your knife perpendicular to the fibers in the meat. In other words, cut across the grain. At this point, if the meat is much rarer than you would like, you can put the slices in a pan and the thin pieces will cook further rather quickly. (However, try and get it right on the grill, because it will be more juicy if you don't have to do this.)
Since I was putting these into tacos, I cut the slices into smaller pieces so no one had to gnaw as they went on a long slice. The hard part for us is making sure the meat makes it into the tacos, because we tend to eat it as we slice it!
Marinate the steak overnight (or for a few hours) in a gallon Ziploc bag with soy sauce and olive oil... You can add chopped garlic if you like. That's it! Then grill it for a few minutes on each side, according to how done you would like it. Let me say, however, that not letting it get past medium insures that it will be the most tender. Then let it rest for about ten minutes on your cutting board. (If you don't let it rest, the final product will be drier because the juices will run out.) Then, it's all about the cut. Slice the meat thinly, and at a 45 degree angle. Most importantly, make your cuts with your knife perpendicular to the fibers in the meat. In other words, cut across the grain. At this point, if the meat is much rarer than you would like, you can put the slices in a pan and the thin pieces will cook further rather quickly. (However, try and get it right on the grill, because it will be more juicy if you don't have to do this.)
Since I was putting these into tacos, I cut the slices into smaller pieces so no one had to gnaw as they went on a long slice. The hard part for us is making sure the meat makes it into the tacos, because we tend to eat it as we slice it!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Pizza Stone and Pizza on the Grill
Lookie my new toys!
I've been messing with this all summer. I bought a pizza peel (the big paddle), and a large rectangular pizza stone on Amazon.com. I went by the ones with a high rating. I have been buying the whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's, and I've had a lot of success with that. But you could make your own. I tried Pillsbury refrigerated dough on the stone once, and it scorched on the bottom and was raw on the top. I had to throw it out. But at a lower temperature, it might have worked.
I started this because I've never had a crispy bottom crust in the oven, ever. Sure, Boboli work, but I wanted real pizza: chewy inside, floury on top, and crunchy on the bottom. Well, turns out you need a stone. And it could not be easier.
You build the pizza on the paddle, and you're supposed to use corn meal. Well, I've used Italian breadcrumb, and that seems to work okay. The purpose of this is just ball-bearings... You know, to move the dough off of the peel easily. The stone gets pre-heated on the propane grill (or in your oven). Mine gets up to just over 400 degrees (medium-high works pretty well). Also, you MUST use room temperature dough. Otherwise, it's like trying to roll a rubber band. Also, it won't puff up while cooking.
I use marinara out of a jar, but I've found it can be watery. You can mix it with tomato paste and heat it, or barbecue sauce. Or, just touch a paper towel corner to the watery parts when it comes out, and the water will wick up into the towel.
I've made all kinds of pizzas this summer, but all a little bit healthy. Turkey sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella... Take my advice and use the shrink-wrapped cheese, not the kind in water. Too much water on your pie. And I dunno about you, but I've never sat on Santa's lap and asked for a watery pie.
After some trial and error (and a lot of blackened dough), turns out these babies cook in about four minutes! (Lets see Domino's beat that). But you want to burn it just a LITTLE bit... This is supposed to simulate the coal or wood-burning pizzeria oven, after all!
I also bought a honkin' pizza blade to cut the pizza with, shaped kind of like a saber and a mezza luna combined (they have them at Bed, Bath and Beyond). Your little wheel just isn't ready for this kind of crunch.
I've been messing with this all summer. I bought a pizza peel (the big paddle), and a large rectangular pizza stone on Amazon.com. I went by the ones with a high rating. I have been buying the whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe's, and I've had a lot of success with that. But you could make your own. I tried Pillsbury refrigerated dough on the stone once, and it scorched on the bottom and was raw on the top. I had to throw it out. But at a lower temperature, it might have worked.
I started this because I've never had a crispy bottom crust in the oven, ever. Sure, Boboli work, but I wanted real pizza: chewy inside, floury on top, and crunchy on the bottom. Well, turns out you need a stone. And it could not be easier.
You build the pizza on the paddle, and you're supposed to use corn meal. Well, I've used Italian breadcrumb, and that seems to work okay. The purpose of this is just ball-bearings... You know, to move the dough off of the peel easily. The stone gets pre-heated on the propane grill (or in your oven). Mine gets up to just over 400 degrees (medium-high works pretty well). Also, you MUST use room temperature dough. Otherwise, it's like trying to roll a rubber band. Also, it won't puff up while cooking.
I use marinara out of a jar, but I've found it can be watery. You can mix it with tomato paste and heat it, or barbecue sauce. Or, just touch a paper towel corner to the watery parts when it comes out, and the water will wick up into the towel.
I've made all kinds of pizzas this summer, but all a little bit healthy. Turkey sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella... Take my advice and use the shrink-wrapped cheese, not the kind in water. Too much water on your pie. And I dunno about you, but I've never sat on Santa's lap and asked for a watery pie.
After some trial and error (and a lot of blackened dough), turns out these babies cook in about four minutes! (Lets see Domino's beat that). But you want to burn it just a LITTLE bit... This is supposed to simulate the coal or wood-burning pizzeria oven, after all!
I also bought a honkin' pizza blade to cut the pizza with, shaped kind of like a saber and a mezza luna combined (they have them at Bed, Bath and Beyond). Your little wheel just isn't ready for this kind of crunch.
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