Grilled Pizza...take 1

Hello there! On Friday night Matt and I attempted to grill pizza...It wasn't a complete success but it was close! There a a few kinks we need to work out...first off, I had put all the toppings out on our bar we have outside, it was a little chilly and I think they got too cold therefore, the cheese didn't melt quite enough before the bottom of the crust was done...oopsie. Second, I think we had the temperature of the grill right, it was about 400 degrees but the coals themselves were too close to the rack. But other than that the flavor of the pizza was AMAZING!

I'm not going to go into too much detail here because I want to try it again...but here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure ;)

Be sure and use Rustic Pizza Sauce which you can find here...

Oopsie...this was the first one...it didn't taste all that burnt...I'm serious!

This was the second one we made, not burned but it was thicker than we wanted...

See what I mean about the cheese?? I would have liked it to melt more and be hot, not warm...

All in all, it wasn't a complete success or failure. We will probably try it again this Friday...I will let you know how take 2 turns out :)

FINALLY...perfect night for a fire

My hubby!

That's all I've got for now! Happy Tuesday!!!!

xo

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All about Mexican...

I don't think I know a single person who does not love Mexican food...What's not to love? There are so many different/delish dishes and one of them is carnitas, which just so happens to be my husbands favorite.Carnitas is braised or roasted pork. It is so juicy and tender on the inside with a nice crunchy outside that is so so so good. You can eat them alone or as a taco with diced onion and fresh cilantro i.e carnita tacos...and we all know how much we love tacos over here....Last Sunday Matt and I spent a better part of the day cooking up this delicious Mexican feast. Homemade tortillas and all!!!

Carnitas

1 4-5 lb pork butt

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons lard, yes lard...i suppose vegetable shortening would do ;)

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon oregano

pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut the pork into 4-6 inch chunks and season heavily with kosher salt. 

In a dutch oven or large heavy pan, heat oil over high heat. 

Brown the pork on all sides. If you cannot fit the meat in a single layer all at once, brown in batches. Approx 5 minutes on each side.

Set meat aside on a paper towel lined plate to drain excess grease.

Next, add the chicken stock, garlic cloves, bay leaves, chili powder, ground cumin and pepper to the hot pan. Scrape the bottom of the pan the particles on the bottom and simmer for a few minutes. Add the lard and cook down.

Return the meat to the pan and cover with water until meat is covered about 2/3.

Place pan/pot back in the oven and cook for 3 hours.

Remove from oven and let cool. 

When cool enough to touch, break up meat into chunks or shred, however you prefer.

Place back in the oven to brown and crisp to your likeness. About 10 minutes.

Serve with fresh corn tortillas.

Top with chopped cilantro, onions.

Printable Recipe!

In the words of Charlie Sheen...WINNING!!!

Ridiculously Delish!!!

Corn Tortillas

2 cups corn masa flour, I use Maseca

1 1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

tortilla press

two pieces of plastic wrap

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and knead for two minutes to form a soft dough. 

If dough feels dry, add a spoonful of water at a time. 

Roll into little two inch balls and cover with moist towel.

Heat a small non stick pan or flat griddle over med/high heat. 

Place a piece of plastic wrap on the bottom of the press, place a dough ball on it, cover with the other piece of plastic wrap and press down hard. 

Carefully place the tortilla on the hot pan and cook for 50-60 seconds on each side.

I got this recipe right off the Maseca bag and it makes 16-18 tortillas.

Printable Recipe!

Finito!!!

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Pizza, Pizza...

Friday night we decided to stay in and make homemade pizza. My mother in law got me a bread machine for my birthday last year and every since I got it, I have been wanting to make pizza because it is SOOOO easy to make the dough. I don't know where the time went because here it is almost 9 months SINCE my birthday...and  I just got around to making it. Talk about procrastination!!! That may as well be my middle name sometimes!

Anyways, I decided to make a mock up of our favorite pizza from a local place, Pete's Patio, the Patio Special. It has big chunks of Italian sausage, green peppers, onions & mushrooms. So delish! I also made one with roasted peppers, spinach, bacon and goat cheese. We will just call this...the Steph Special...? It was pretty delish too but by the time it was done baking, I was full from the other. I guess it's time to invest in a second pizza stone so we can bake more than one at a time. 

For the dough using a bread machine :

I use the Oster 2lb Expressbake Breadmaker.

Recipe courtesy of Oster.

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 3/8 cup water, room temperature

3 tablespoons olive oil

Put all ingredients into the bread pan in order, beginning with the salt. Follow your machines instructions for the dough setting. When dough is ready remove from the pan and separate into two.  

If you do not have a bread machine you can find a great recipe from Giada De Laurentiis here.

For the sauce : 

1 16oz can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 tablespoon dried parsley

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

NOTE TO SELF

Do not leave small pot of sauce on high unattended or you will be cleaning up a mess like this...

OOPSIE!!!

For the PATIO Special...

1/2 lb ground pork sausage

1 teaspoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, optional

1 green pepper, sliced

1/2 medium yellow onion, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup shredded mozzarella

3/4 cup prepared sauce ( more or less to your liking)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. If using a pizza stone put it in the oven while preheating.
2. Season the sausage with the fennel, parsley and red pepper and cook in a skillet over high heat until cooked through.
3. I like to cook my onions before I put them on the pizza. If you choose to do so, just saute until they become translucent.
4. Roll dough with a rolling pin to form a circle or somewhat of one ( mine never seem to come out right)!
5. Spread the sauce, sprinkle a little bit of cheese, top with the green pepper, onion, mushrooms, sausage and finish off with the rest of the cheese.
6. Transfer to the pizza stone and bake approx 20 minutes or until the crust is browned.

For the Steph Special...

1/2 cup prepared sauce

4 strips bacon, cooked & crumbled

1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1 cup roasted peppers, sliced (I used Mezzetta)

2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese

6 oz goat cheese 

• Repeat steps 1 and 4 from above.
• Spread the sauce, sprinkle 1 cup of the Italian blend cheese, top with the spinach, roasted peppers, bacon ending with the goat cheese.
• Transfer to pizza stone and bake approx 20 minutes or until the crust is browned.

Enjoy!!! 

Well with the "BLIZZARD" of 2011 under way I'm in the mood for something hot! Spicy chicken chili perhaps???

For anyone in the war path of this crazy storm, be safe and enjoy your night in and most likely, the day off from work tomorrow :)

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