Welcome to my Blog!


I am so glad you stopped by. A couple of months ago I saw the movie Julie & Julia, where a young woman decides to take a year and make every recipe in Julia Child's French Cookbook. I enjoyed the movie very much and became intrigued. Maybe I could do something like that, so, I got out my barely used, 13 year old, Better Homes Cookbook and started flipping through. Thus began my cooking experiment.

Cooking is something I have always hated to do, it was a chore for me, not a pleasure. I am not a professional cook, and never will be, but the movie ignited a spark in me and revealed a new discovery, cooking can be fun!

I am learning that with patience, motivation, and good recipes anyone can be a good cook. Believe me, if I can do it, so can you! I hope you will experiment along with me and let me know what you think of the recipes I share.

I will post each new recipe I try along with a picture (I can't stand cookbooks that don't include pictures!) so you can see the final product. I will also share tips that I have learned along the way. For you seasoned chefs, the tips may seem like common sense, but for those of us who are dummies in the kitchen, they are epiphanies.

Happy Cooking!

Nancy

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Grilled Chicken Pizza


If you have never had a pizza cooked on the grill, you really must try this.  We love the Cheesecake Factory's grilled chicken pizza, so we decided to re-create it at home.  Using BBQ sauce instead of tomato sauce gives the pizza a very unique and wonderful taste.  Fresh cilantro is a must, don't use dried, you won't get the same flavor.  Experiment with toppings if you like.
This makes and absolutely delicious pizza!  Try it and enjoy!


Dough Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1 envelope dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Directions:

Measure one cup warm water into glass measuring cup.  Sprinkle yeast and sugar over to dissolve; stir.  Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Add vinegar to yeast mixture.

Combine salt, bread flour, and all purpose flour in food processor with a bread blade.  Add yeast mixture and process until sticky ball forms, add flour by 1 tbsp at a time if needed or water 1 tsp at a time if dough is dry.  Process until dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly sticky, about 45 seconds.

Oil hands and transfer dough to a floured surface.  Knead dough until elastic, about 2 minutes.

Coat a large ziplock bag with olive oil.  Add dough to bag and coat surface with oil.  Let dough rise in warm, draft-free area until tripled in volume, about 1 1/2 hour.

Divide Dough into two equal pieces.  Working on a corn meal covered surface, stretch out dough to a round shape.

Heat grill to 350 to 400 degrees.  Place your 2 dough rounds on the barbecue rack.  Grill until top of dough puffs and underside is crisp, about 3 minutes.  Using tongs, turn rounds over and grill and additional minute.  Transfer to baking sheet, well grilled side up.

Add your toppings.  Cover dough with barbecue sauce.  Add mozzarella and shredded Colby/jack, grilled chicken pieces, and chopped fresh cilantro.

Using a large metal spatula, return the pizzas to barbecue rack.  Close grill.  Grill until cheese is melted and dough is cooked through and brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to plates.


Dough recipe from Bon Appetit Cookbook

No comments:

Post a Comment

Disclaimer:


None of the recipes posted on this site are mine, they are all taken from other sources, or given to me to try. I am not nearly creative enough or good enough in the kitchen to have come up with any of them.

I also cannot promise that any of these recipes are going to turn out good, or taste good for that matter, so you try them at your own risk.

Enjoy!!! Nancy
SmileyCentral.com