Grilled pizza with proscuitto

The weather has been amazing here and it's time to fire up the grill. Tonight we're going to make grilled pizza, it's easy and a delicious way to enjoy a perennial family favorite.

You can either use store bought pizza dough or make your own.

Pizza ingredients:
pizza dough
olive oil
1 C. smoked mozzarella cheese, grated
3-4 pieces proscuitto
garlic salt
1 c. baby arugula
balsamic vinegar

Here's a good recipe for homemade pizza dough:

1/2 cup warm water (about 110˚)
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz) bread flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp. salt
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing the bowl
olive oil for brushing crust (optional)
garlic salt for brushing crust (optional)

Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.

Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass form. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.

To make the grilled pizza:

Preheat grill to high and close lid. While the grill heats, press dough gently with your hands slowly pulling the dough out. I like to make a rectangular shape as I find it's easier to flip on the grill.

When the grill is hot, brush it with a paper towel that's been rubbed with olive oil.

Carefully place the dough on the grill and cook for 3 minutes or until pizza has a nice golden color, flip, and brush with olive oil. Add a little tomato sauce, about 1 C. of grated smoked mozzarella cheese and a few slices of proscuitto. Add a sprinkling of garlic salt and let cook for another few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Remove from the grill and slice into pieces. I like to top this pizza with a handful of baby arugula, a little drizzle of olive oil and a dot or two of balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

Lamb Kofta with tzatziki

I saw a good looking recipe in Cooking Light Magazine and tweeked it a little to come up with a delicious kofta that we all devoured tonight.

Here's my recipe for Lamb Kofta (you could also substitute lean ground beef or chicken)

This makes about 8-10 patties.

1/2 onion - grated
2 cubes frozen garlic
2 cubes frozen cilantro
2 Tbs. tzatziki (prepared is fine)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
pinch of kosher salt and pepper
1 lb. ground lamb
1 tsp. Greek seasoning
1 Tbs. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients -except olive oil-in a bowl and mix with your hands until well combined. Form 3" oblong shaped patties. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium high heat (a stovetop to oven pan works well- like Le Creuset), and brown on all sides for 3 minutes.

Finish cooking by placing pan in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

We served the kofta with a dollop of tzatziki, couscou and steamed green beans with a pinch of dried oregano, salt and pepper.

New classes at Christopher Peacock Cabinetry!

Join us for our first class of the 2010 season!

Register at www.timetoeat.info

When: April 7
Time: 11-12:00 p.m.
Where: Christopher Peacock Cabinetry- Greenwich, CT

15 Minute Meals- Express Class III $75
Learn how to make 4 easy and delicious meals in an hour!


Skirt steak fajitas
Japanese udon noodle soup with chicken and mushrooms
Egg noodles with chicken sausage, peas and Parmesan
Greek Shrimp with couscous and tzatziki

Grilled shrimp on the barbie...

It was the first really nice day we've had here since last fall and I was ready for fire up the grill!

I defrosted about 30 large shrimp and marinated them in a bowl with:

The juice from 1 lemon
3 tbs. of olive oil
1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
pinch of kosher salt and pepper
2 cubes of frozen garlic

While the shrimp marinated for about 20 minutes, I preheated the grill to hot, cooked some rice on the stove, and roasted a head of cauliflower that I cut into florets with a simple drizzle of olive oil, and a liberal sprinkling of Seasoning Salt.

I cooked the cauliflower on a Silpat lined cookie sheet for about 15 minutes on 425.

I skewered the shrimp on 4 skewers and placed them on the grill when it was good and hot. I closed the lid, and cooked the shrimp for about 2 minutes per side, flipping once.

The mistake most people make when grilling shrimp and most food is that they don't let their grill heat up hot enough.

The shrimp had beautiful grill marks and were ready in 5 minutes.

I threw together a simple salad and we all enjoyed our dinner together.

Finally, a fabulous bread recipe!!

I spent most of last winter trying to perfect a good bread recipe, I had mediocre luck with the only consistently good loaf coming from Jim Fahey's No Knead Bread recipe- the only downside, it takes 17 hours to rise... The bread was delicious, but I was always a bit hesitant to start the clock...

While perusing the NY Times online today, my favorite food writer Mark Bittman posted an updated version- my ears perked right up! I quickly went to the kitchen and whipped up a batch of dough where it had to rise for only 4 hours...

End result, a delicious crusty loaf (just like the other bread) and a nice chewy center (just like the other loaf)!

Although it's taken a year, I believe I have finally found a fantastic bread recipe.

Enjoy, it's sooooo easy...

3 cups bread flour
1 packet ( 1/4 ounce) instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Olive oil as needed.

1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl that has been drizzled with a little olive oil. Add 1 1/2 cups warm water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. * I turned my oven on for about 5 minutes, then turned it off and left the door slightly ajar, this helped to give the dough a warmish area to rise.

2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.

3. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-to-8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

4. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: 1 big loaf.

Cherry, chocolate chip oat scones

It's snowing here (again) and the kids are running around in the neighborhood with their friends. I decided to make something warm for them when they invariably return home, cold and ravenous.

Here's my very easy recipe for scones that everyone will love!

2-1/4 C. Bisquick mix
3/4 C. quick oats
1/2 C. low-fat milk
1 large egg
1 Tbs. vanilla
1/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 C. dried cherries or cranberries

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together.

Line a cookie sheet with a silpat mat or use parchment paper that is sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Place about 3/4 C. balls of scone mixture onto the cookie sheet, leaving about 2" between scones.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until scones are golden brown.

This recipe makes about 10 scones.

Option- cinnamon spiced scones. Omit chocolate chips and cherries and add 1 Tbs. of cinnamon and 1 tsp. of either apple pie or pumpkin pie spice and bake as directed. These are delicious also.

Greek zucchini fritters

I saw this recipe in the NY Times a few days ago and although I've made zucchini fritters (think potato latke) these have some delicious Greek additions. I ate it with tzatziki and a salad. Kirk and I liked them, but the kids-not so much...

Here's my adaptation of Greek zucchini fritters:

2 large zucchini, trimmed and grated on the wide holes of a grater or food processor
Salt
2 eggs
2 cubes each- frozen dill and parsley
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. Greek (or Italian) seasoning
1 tsp. celery salt
3/4-1 C. breadcrumbs
Freshly ground pepper
3/4 C. crumbled herbed feta
All-purpose flour for dredging

vegetable oil for frying

1. Salt the zucchini generously and leave to drain in a colander for one hour, tossing and squeezing the zucchini from time to time. Take up handfuls of zucchini, and squeeze out all of the moisture. Alternately, wrap in a clean dish towel, and squeeze out the water by twisting at both ends.

2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and add the shredded zucchini, frozen herbs, cumin, celery salt, Greek seasoning, bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste and feta. Mix together well. Take up a small handful of the mixture; if it presses neatly into a patty, it is the right consistency. If it seems wet, add more breadcrumbs or a few tablespoons of all-purpose flour. When the mixture has the right consistency, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or longer.

3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large frying pan until rippling, or at about 275 degrees. Meanwhile, take up heaped tablespoons of the zucchini mixture, and form patties. Lightly dredge in flour.

4. When the oil is very hot, add the patties in batches to the pan. Fry until golden brown, turning once with a spider or slotted spoon. Remove from the oil, and drain briefly on a rack, or keep warm in the oven.