Grilled Pizza

We love pizza.  I have seen recipes for grilled pizza all over the place and I decided to risk it and see if I could actually toss fresh dough on a hot grill and not make a hot mess.  I used pre-made dough for my adventure (yes, I admit it) but I did make my own pizza sauce. I was a little worried but I greased up the dough and flopped it on and to my surprise - it worked. They were not very pretty but they tasted great.

Pizza Sauce:

10 Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove
Dash of Italian Seasoning.
5 basil leaves

Directions for the sauce:  Pop tomatoes into boiling water for a few minutes and then pull them out and put them in a cold water bath. You should be able to peel the skins off easily.  Next, smash up your tomatoes. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a sauce pot add garlic. When the garlic is golden, add your tomatoes and Italian seasoning. I like to add a bit of basil later. Cook this down until you have a thick chunky sauce. I used a potato masher to smoosh up the tomatoes as they cooked.

Toppings:

Margherita: Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and shreds of basil

Cappicolla, mushroom, and arugula. We shredded the arugula and tossed it with olive oil and salt after the pizza came of the grill.

Veggie: zucchini, mushroom, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil

Pesto:  same as margherita but with pesto in place of the tomato sauce.

Salami & Pepper: banana peppers, Calabrese salami, and green pepper.

Ingredients from the farm: cherry tomatoes, basil, arugula, green pepper, banana peppers, 

Directions for grilling:

Heat the grill to about 300-350 degrees on one side of the grill. Keep dough cold until just before grill time. Shape your dough into ovals - they seem to work better on the grill.  Coat your hands and the dough with olive oil and then place on the cool side of the grill. Close the lid and let the dough cook well on one side. Once the dough is cooked half way through - flip and then top the cooked side with sauce and toppings. Remove from grill when the dough is cooked through. You will have to watch these carefully so you don't burn the edges. I was able to cook two at a time.

Gluten Free Fruit Crisps

What to do when you have orchards and berry bushes ripe with fruit? Most people would bake a pie - but that gets more complicated when dealing with gluten intolerance.  The easiest and fastest way to enjoy a fruity dessert is to make a simple crisp. This recipe has been tweaked slightly from the Food Network's Mix & Match Crumble. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/mix-and-match-crumbles/index.html

Ingredients

1 cup of rolled oats

3/4 cup of nuts

1/4 cup of brown sugar

5 tbs butter softened

Filling

1/2 cup sugar

4 cups of ripe fruit 

2 tbs corn starch

Directions:

Grind nuts and then mix oats and brown sugar. Mix the dry ingredients with softened butter.  In a separate bowl mix fruit with sugar and cornstarch. Next, grease an 8x8 baker and pour in the fruit mixture. Use your hands to crumble the oat mixture on top.  Bake at 375 covered for 20 minutes and then uncovered for another 20. Be sure to check the crumble during that last 20 minutes so you don't burn your topping. It is ready when the fruit is bubbly and the oat/nut topping is nicely browned. 

Blackberry Pecan Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

Peach walnut crisp with vanilla ice cream

Farmhouse Frittata

This recipe was whipped together after a failed pesto chicken meal the previous night. We took the potato and zucchini hash and a bit of the pesto and repurposed it into a yummy frittata.

Ingredients:
2 cups of cooked diced zucchini, potato, onion, green pepper, and banana peppers.
8 eggs
6-8 cherry tomatoes
fresh basil
pesto
Parmesan

Directions:

1. In a large oiled oven proof skillet you will want to saute the vegetables until tender or reheat veggies that you have ready.

2. In a bowl scramble the eggs with 1/8 cup of milk. Sprinkle in Parmesan 1/8-1/4 cup and 1/4 of a teaspoon of pesto.

3. Spread out the veggie mix so it is even on the pan and then pour in the egg mixture.

4. Lower the heat to a very low flame.

5. Cover. After a few minutes add halved cherry tomatoes.

6. Recover and cook on very low until egg mixture sets.

7. Add more cheese to the top of the frittata and then run the whole pan under the broiler until frittata is golden.

8. Slide frittata onto a serving dish and top with fresh basil, salt & pepper.

Lemon Oregano Porkchops w/ Asian Pear Sauce

The oregano plants have bolted and the honey bees have gone bananas. They love the oregano flowers. At any given time you can find dozens of bees darting in and out of the leaves and er...flowers.  Much to their dismay, I recently deadheaded the oregano leaving them only a small batch of bolted herb to play in. Since I was out there chopping and weeding, it seemed like a great idea to make something that featured oregano. Plus, my favorite dish of all time (and Peter Brady's) is pork chops & applesauce.  Or is it Pork shopsh & Apple Shawsh?  He might not have approved of pear sauce but we thought it was a winner.

Lemon Oregano Porkchops

Ingredients:

8 center cut pork chops.

Marinade:

1 Tbs fresh chopped oregano
1/4 cup Meyer Lemon Olive oil.
1 clove of garlic - minced or microplaned
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/8 tsp lemon zest

Directions: Mix up the marinade and brush onto pork chops just before grilling.  Grill until pork chops are fully cooked.

Asian Pear Sauce

Super easy to make and the pears from the farm are so sweet no sugar was needed.

Ingredients: 3-4 cups of chopped Asian pears
1/8 cup of water - they will make more juice.
Cook the pears until they are soft and then drain them. Smash them with a potato masher.  
Refrigerate until cool or eat it warm.