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Just finished making lunch. Chicken pizza. Here's how

(I don't really do amounts in recipes. I'm a guitar player. I'd rather feel it out)

The dough:
Warm water and yeast
Flour
Yogurt
Oil

About 2 parts water to 1 part yogurt and a little oil

Let that rise

The chicken:
Cut it into inch cubes and fry it with olive oil, onions, green bell peppers, fresh (if possible) oregano, basil and rosemary, add grated cucumber and right before it's done cooking, a little plain yogurt (should sizzle then thicken a little when you take the chicken off the heat)

1. Roll out the pizza dough
2. Spread just a little more plain yogurt over the dough
3. Pile on some well-chopped tomatoes and olives
4. Put the chicken on
5. Add some cheese (monzarela is good)
6. Pinch/fold up the extra edges of the pizza dough to make a crust around all the toppings
7. Cook on a cookie sheet 'till the dough is done

It still needs to be tweaked a little but it's pretty good.
 
That sounds excellent!

One of the local pizzarias makes a BBQ chicken pizza that's similar and pretty good, but the chicken is always overdone so I've been threatening to make something like you describe myself. I was thinking about grilling the chicken, rather than sauté/stir fry it. Cut it up after that, rather than before, then put it on the pie.
 
We love home made pizza here.  I will make up enough dough for 2 12 inch pizzas and we decide how to make them on the spot

usually one will be a fresh herb pizza as I have a nice herb garden and the other will be some form of fresh vegetables from our garden
my squash plants seem to have taken off with extra zeal this year, I think it is going be a extra good year for squash however my zucchini plants are faltering. So it seems a lot of squash will be in recipes this year, oh as a side note, Garlic is doing great also. And I already have chile peppers on this years plants

however, tonight it is home made boudan, it is a style of sausage I grew to love when living in Louisiana, it is a rice and pork sausage that is highly spiced, and best eaten soon after stuffing the casing. The recipe is kinda long, and if anyone wants it I will print it, but you need a sausage stuffer. 
 
Jusatele said:
We love home made pizza here.  I will make up enough dough for 2 12 inch pizzas and we decide how to make them on the spot

usually one will be a fresh herb pizza as I have a nice herb garden and the other will be some form of fresh vegetables from our garden
my squash plants seem to have taken off with extra zeal this year, I think it is going be a extra good year for squash however my zucchini plants are faltering. So it seems a lot of squash will be in recipes this year, oh as a side note, Garlic is doing great also. And I already have chile peppers on this years plants

however, tonight it is home made boudan, it is a style of sausage I grew to love when living in Louisiana, it is a rice and pork sausage that is highly spiced, and best eaten soon after stuffing the casing. The recipe is kinda long, and if anyone wants it I will print it, but you need a sausage stuffer. 
Click to expand...

I really enjoy making 'zas at home with fresh ingredients.  One of my oft-requested pies is cut/quartered squash and zucchini with seasoned ('lil spice) grilled chicken laid on top of garlic/olive oil and topped with cashews and a sprinkling of brown sugar.  Not a ton here, just enough to caramelize a bit and allow those cashews to become heavenly in the oven.

-Mark
 
I hope to own one of these before the end of the summer and then ascend into carnivore paradise.

http://www.weber.com/explore/grills/charcoal-series/performer
 
Just made a big batch of potato leek soup.  This preparation comes out great, but it takes a little time.  The best thing is that you can use the entire leek--they are expensive and most of the time you end up throwing 75% of it away.

First, trim the leeks.  Cut the bottom white part away from the green leafy top.  Leeks are grown in muddy conditions, so you have to clean them really well.  I chop the tops into manageable sized pieces, maybe about 6 inches long, and pull all the layers apart.  These go into a bowl of cold water to clean.  Agitate the leeks really well with your hands, this should remove most of the mud.  Wait 5 or 10 minutes for the dirt to settle, scoop out the leeks and put them in a second bowl of cold water.  You should see a lot of dirt in the bottom of the first bowl, pour this down the drain and clean the first bowl.  Agitate the leeks again, and wait for the dirt to settle again.  Keep repeating this till the water looks clean.

Throw all of your cleaned leek tops into a pot of water on the stove and bring to a slow boil.  Cook the leek tops for at least an hour, or several hours if you have the time.  This will be your leek stock when finished.  After you are done boiling your leek tops, discard the cooked greens and carefully pour off the stock into a clean bowl, being careful to leave any dirt behind in the pot in case you didn't get everything in the cleaning stage.  You may strain the broth through a cheesecloth if you wish, though you don't have to if you are careful to get all the cooked green tops out of there.

Cube a few pounds of Yukon Gold or Red potatos and add to a pot with the leek stock you just made.  You want a waxy potato, not a starchy baking type.  Bring to a boil and cook till the potatos are soft enough to pierce with a fork.

Meanwhile, slice your white leek bottoms into circles, or better yet half circles.  Go through the same rinse and repeat process to clear any mud that may be embedded in the white part.  Once you are certain your leeks are clean, saute the white part in butter till soft.  Be careful not to brown your leeks too much, you want natural leek flavor, and if you brown them too much it will taste like ordinary onions.  Once they are soft add a little of your leek stock to this pan and cook till the leeks are really soft.

What I do here is blend the sauteed white leek parts with an immersion blender, a regular blender or a food processor.  Its OK to add more stock if necessary to get it to blend.  You want to make a puree of the leeks you just sauteed.

Meanwhile, take a potato masher and coarsly chop up the potatoes while they are still in the leek stock.  I like to leave my potatos a little chunky to add character, thats why I mash the potatos separately from the sauteed leeks.  For the last step, pour your pureed leeks into the pot with the potatos and let it cook through for 10 or 15 minutes to blend the flavors.  Add salt and pepper to taste (white pepper is good because it doesn't stand out in the light colored soup) and serve.

This soup has intense leek flavor since you made a leek stock to cook the potatos.  The number of leeks or potatos you use is not really important.  I like to use as many leeks as I can because I love them, but since they are expensive that may be your limiting factor.  I'd say to use a minimum of 3 leeks, but 10 is not out of the question.  Same with the potatos, use more or less according to whats available and your taste.
 
It's that time of year again, fresh, never frozen Copper River Salmon is available, although it is U.S. $22.95/lb. (oh, well, only happens a week or two each year...) and the Farmer's Market is cranking up. Here's something anybody on the board can do, given a grilll:

Fresh Spinach and Mushroom Salad

If you think you don't like spinach, go buy some real locally grown and try it, it's nothing like frozen or the crap that comes in bags

1 lb. (450g) fresh spinach
1/2 lb. (225g) fresh white mushrooms
1/4 lb. (115G) feta cheese
4 dashes of Tabasco sauce

Wash and tear spinach bite size. Slice mushrooms about 1/4" (5.5mm) thick. Toss with feta cheese and your favorite olive oil and vinegar dressing (Newman's Own works) Serves 4.


Every else thing gets grilled, make this infused olive oil to baste it with while cooking an hour or two ahead of time so the spices/flavors infuse into the oil:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
zest of 1/2 large lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspon sea salt


Items to grill:

Fresh Copper River Salmon steak, cut about 1.5 inches thick (about 1/2 lb/225g each) per person
1 lb fresh asparagus (get thinner stalks for grilling)
1 large eggplant

Cut the eggplant into 1/2 " slices. Cut the bottom 1/3 of the asparagus off and discard.

Grill on gas or charcoal grill at high heat, baste the salmon BEFORE you set the first side on the grill (so they won't stick), and continuously baste with the infused olive oil every time you turn everything. The salmon will take 5-6 minutes a side on a gas grill on high. Put the eggplant on 3-5 minutes before the salmon and everything should be done at the same time.

Serve on a platter and drizzle the other half a lemon's juice over everything before serving.

Enjoy!
 
American Fried Rice

2 cups rice

6 ounces chopped onion

6 ounces chopped green pepper

3 eggs

1 Lb ground beef (lean)

5 strips of bacon, cut into roughly 1" squares

4 ounces sliced mushrooms



Steam the rice, with the onions and green peppers in the rice cooker (on top of the rice)

Let the rice finish so it's ready when you need it

Fry the bacon on high heat, about 2/3 way done, drain, add beef and mushrooms, cook til the beef is browned

Add rice, onion, and peppers

Add the 3 eggs (beat them first!)

Reduce heat to about 75%, stir until the eggs are worked in thoroughly.

When done, serves 2 or more.
 
My dad and I spent the last couple days building a brick pizza oven. So, gentlemen, I believe I win.  :redflag:

Actually, we're not done yet. We've just built the base and poured a concrete slab for the main floor of the oven. That should go on tomorrow and then we get to build the brick dome over it. I'll try and post pics when it's done.  :cool01:
 
Well, I'm envious. After many years of trying to make a decent pizza at home, I met a guy who knew what was what about such things, and he said you can't do it in a household oven. They just don't get hot enough. Pizza ovens are wicked hot, often in excess of 600 degrees. Most residential ovens stop at 500 degrees, and even that's wishful thinking. You're lucky if you can get 400-450 degrees. You can make some interesting things there, but not great pizza. There's too much variation in the reactions of the ingredients for it to work out right. They've basically got to be blasted, and somehow it all works out.
 
+1 envious! 

Tell us more about how you constructed the oven?  Its my dream to build one in my yard.  I have a few books with potential plans, but I'd love to hear from someone who has actually done it. 

All the best pizza comes from coal or wood fired ovens.

 
Well we'll see how it all ends up. So far we've poured a slab 80cm by 70cm I think with some metal supports we found at the hardware store. For the base, we dug down about to the depth of one of the mason blocks we're using to hold it up, poured footers and yesterday we mortared the other two layers of mason blocks. So today we're gonna be setting the slab on top and building a template/jig for the dome out of some semicircular wood scraps I found and straight scraps between them. Then we'll just be laying the bricks around that, leaving a gap for the chimney. The cleverest thing we're doing is sticking in a couple metal tubes between the bricks along with the mortar in strategic locations. The tubes are just the right size for an old bike pump we have lying around so that should make the fire easy to start and should get it hotter. The one thing we really don't know about is the door. We set some collars in the slab as it was drying so we have what we need to put in some kind of hinge/swinging set-up but I don't know how to make the door seal properly and I doubt it'll get to 600 degrees without a better door. Anyone else ever made a door that had to seal like that? Suggestions?
 
About the door....  I'm no expert, but the ovens I've seen have removable wooden doors.  They're supposed to fit tightly, but instead of being hinged, there is a handle in the center of the door, and you just remove the whole thing when you need access.

One book I have handy is Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Breads.  In the back he has instructions for building a brick and adobe oven.  He uses a removable wood door for his ovens.  This book was recommended to me by a local restauranteur who has a brick oven in one of his restaurants.  It has a wealth of information about baking all kinds of breads, but I bought it for the brick oven instructions alone. 
 
Yeah my dad and I are now thinking that we'd make a wooden door with rods that would fit into the collars we put into the cement and just kinda slide into place. That way we could make the door bigger than the arched part in the top and further to the front so that it would cover the whole thing. We'll see what happens. Today we put the cement slab on top of the mason blocks and laid two rows of bricks along three sides. So far it's looking decent but time will tell how far our limited masonry skills get us. Tomorrow we're finding out who "borrowed" the jigsaw and making a form/jig/template/whatever to support the arch. That should be the hard part.
 
Justinginn said:
My dad and I spent the last couple days building a brick pizza oven. So, gentlemen, I believe I win.  :redflag:

Actually, we're not done yet. We've just built the base and poured a concrete slab for the main floor of the oven. That should go on tomorrow and then we get to build the brick dome over it. I'll try and post pics when it's done.  :cool01:
Click to expand...

Pics or it don't exist  :icon_jokercolor:
 
Here's another approach adopted by one of my school friends who's now in business with her husband as a caterer and mobile restaurant (mostly farmers markets and other outdoor festival-type events):

pizza_oven.jpg


See:  http://pizzapolitana.com/index.html

I am very envious of your  pizza oven.  I use a giant kiln tile that I heat up at 550 degrees for an hour in a conventional oven before I put the pizza on it - and I get pretty good results.  But it ain't wood-fired, brick-floored pizza.
 
I have plans for an outdoor pizza oven, but first,

tonight, and it seems my Squash plants are going overboard this year so it is time for Vegetarian Lasagna. and Home made Italian sausage.

I got the sausage grinder stuffer attachment to  my kitchenaide mixer and have been a sausage stuffing fool all spring.

the lasagna is just a regular lasagna recipe without meat, instead I layer in 3 or 4 layers of summer squash and zucchini. I slightly saute it first so it is soft and fully baked in the Pasta.

I will be serving a Romaine lettuce and avocado salad with a jalopy dressing, I take some plain yogurt and mix in a small amount of lemon zest and some  pureed jalapeno and salt to taste
dribble it over the salad and serve with hot Italian bread .

All served with a Chianti from a local Vineyard and topped off with raspberries on short bread smothered in heavy cream and a touch of powdered sugar.
 
That sounds awful. You'll have to be sure to chew it up and swallow it so you know it's completely destroyed. Get seconds, or even thirds, so it doesn't threaten your fridge space and you won't have to worry about anybody else getting sick from it. If you need any help with that, lemme know.
 
Caprese Salad, Grilled Mahi Mahi fillets, Barcelona Grilled Baby octopus

Caprese Salad:

Slice a large heirloom tomato from top to bottom in 1/4" (5mm) slices. Build salad on plate by alternating tomato slice, thin slice of fresh mozzerella, and a fresh basil leaf. See photo below. Salt and pepper each slice as you go along. When done, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle a little chiffonade of fresh basil on top. Chill until served.

Barcelona Grilled Baby Octopus

Marinade baby octopus in olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, lemon zest and smoked paprika. You should use enough smoked paprika so that they turn a dark red. Grill in basket, turning constantly ca. 5 minutes. Brush lemon zest  infused extra virgin olive oil while grilling.

Grilled Mahi Mahi fillets

Salt and pepper fillets; grill till done brushing with lemon zest infused extra virgin olive oil to keep from sticking. Grill time will vary with thickness of fillets. Serve fillets over chilled white bean or 6 bean salad.

 

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