Grilled Flatbread Pizza

I planned on making pizza for dinner tonight, and since zucchini week(s) is in full bloom, I thought I'd recreate this delicious zucchini parmesan pizza.  Then I saw a link on another blog to flatbread with creamy red pepper scallion spread.  I wasn't interested in the spread or the salad (I wanted pizza!), but the flatbread and the grilling sounded amazing.  And it was.

I followed the instructions from the blog on the flat bread (except I doubled it):

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl
• 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
• 2 cups bread flour (or a little less, see directions)
• 1/2 cup medium grind cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon salt

Add water and sugar to the bowl of a standing mixer fit with a dough hook. Sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes to bloom.

Mix in the olive oil then Add one cup of the flour along with the salt. Mix on low until well incorporated, and then turn the speed up to medium and mix for 3 minutes.

Add another 1/2 cup of flour and the 1/2 cup of cornmeal, and mix well, starting on low and then switching to medium speed. Then add another 1/2 cup of flour, again starting on low and switching to medium. Knead on medium for about 5 minutes. You may occasionally have to get in there with your hands if the dough starts climbing up the hook. It should become smooth and elastic and slightly tacky. At this point, incorporate flour by the tablespoon, with the mixer running. When it starts to seem dry, stop adding flour. This could be anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2 cup. Knead again on medium until it is elastic easy to stretch, about 8 more minutes.

Meanwhile, drizzle about two tablespoons of olive oil into a large mixing bowl. The dough will double in size, so make sure you have enough room. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl, tossing it around to coat with oil. Cover the top in plastic wrap and put in a warm place. Let dough rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

When dough has doubled, fire up your grill. Keep the flame high and close the lid. If you have a thermometer, it should be at about 500 F.

Somewhere around this point I gathered all my toppings and sliced the veggies (thinly!) I also discovered as I was cooking that since my zucchini was a little on the big side, the slices weren't cooking much, so I took them off and grilled them directly on the grill- do this on a cooler part of your grill while the first side is cooking.  It helps to have all the toppings on a tray so they can be easily and quickly transported to the grill.

Punch the dough down, give it a quick knead and tear it into 4 equal-ish pieces. On a large cutting board, form each piece into an oval that is about 8 inches long and 5 inches across. I just use my hands for this, but you can use a rolling pin if you prefer.

Place the dough on the grill. It should take about 3 to 4 minutes for the bottoms to get grill marks and become firm. If it takes a little longer that’s cool, but definitely check one after 3 minutes.

Here is where I diverged from the original recipe.  When the first side of the flatbread is cooked (I burned mine a tiny bit on the first round) flip it over, turn down the heat a little and add pizza sauce and any toppings.  My favorite combo was the zucchini, eggplant, mushroom, tomato, parmesan cheese and bacon bits.  Make sure to put the grilled veggies on at this point and put a little more cheese over the top to hold everything on.  Close the grill and cook for a minute or two until the cheese is melted and toppings are as cooked as you'd like them.

Remove pizzas from the grill and cut them into manageable pieces and enjoy.  These were incredible.  My Mister even commented on how amazing they were after his first bite, and he doesn't dole out praise like that unless he really means it.  

I think we'll be using the flatbread recipe instead of pizza dough from now on.  The original blog post gives the following instructions for oven baking: 

~ If you prefer to bake the breads, you can do so in a 450 F oven, for 12 to 15 minutes. Place directly on a baking stone for the crispiest results, but a large baking sheet will work, too!

I think I might try it sometime when it's not so hot outside, and just roll it out regular pizza style.

Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup

The other day I remembered the shelf full of squash that is out in the garage and decided we'd better start eating more squash so none of them end up wasted.  I've been wanting to try butternut squash soup for awhile, and since we didn't have any other ideas for Sunday dinner, butternut squash soup it was.

My Mister was skeptical, but once he tasted it, he was converted.  It wasn't quite as good as the carrot soup we had at The Farm in Park City, but it wasn't too far behind in taste.  I may try the recipe with less squash and more carrots sometime...

I used this recipe from AllRecipes.com with a few alterations based on what I had and the reviews which suggested adding some things to make it not-so-bland.  Not-bland soup seems like a good thing.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, cubed
• 1 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed
• 1 (32 fluid ounce) container chicken stock
• 
  

Melt butter in soup pot.  Add chopped onion and celery (unless you're using dried onions and celery, in which case, you can just add them at the same time as all the other vegetables.  Also, my addition- add 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced.  Chop and peel carrot, potatoes, and squash (it would probably be easier to cook the squash first, but you have to cook the carrot and potatoes anyway, and peeling the squash with the potato peeler wasn't that bad).  Add chopped veggies to pot, cook on high stirring constantly until the veggies are browned slightly (I didn't cook mine that long- I waited until they started sticking to the pot, then decided to just go ahead and add the chicken stock- which in my case was chicken base and water).  The recipe says to add just enough broth to cover the veggies, but it took all of it for me- I guess my squash was bigger than "medium".  I also sprinkled a shake or two of curry powder.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low for 40 minutes.  (after 25-30 the veggies looked soft enough to me, so I didn't keep cooking them).  Next, you blend portions in the blender (or a stick blender would work, right in the pot) until it's all blended.  

Serve with salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, and crunch bread.   You could use vegetable broth if you want to make it vegetarian.  My kids actually ate it without complaining- too much.  I was surprised.  It turned out to be a very nice consistency and the curry wasn't overpowering- I didn't add much, but I could just taste a hint of it.  I like butternut squash when it's not covered in brown sugar (I like it sweet too, but this was a nice savory change).

Crunch Bread

CP calls french bread "Crunch Bread".  He likes it dipped in oil and balsamic vinegar.  

CP, ever since he was a baby, has done this thing where he sucks on his pointer and middle finger, and holds his ear with his other hand, when he's tired.  Tonight, he told me that he can't suck on his fingers because he had chap stick on, and that he couldn't hold his ear because they were warm.  He can only hold his ear when it's cold.  It's hard to go to bed with chap stick and warm ears...  Funny kid.

Baking Day

A spurt of energy, aging bananas and lack of things to eat results in this:

I had to open the oven to take this picture.  Whole Wheat Bread

Banana Bread

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Artisan Bread Dough (to put in the fridge and bake later in the week)

Picture Round Up

Dinner two nights ago- it looked so good I had to take a picture.  Buffalo steak with mushrooms and asparagus and couscous.  Plus a side of home made fake-sour-dough bread to dip in oil and balsamic vinegar.  Dinner doesn't get much better than that.

I've taken up couponing.  As a hobby more than a way to save money, since I can't figure out how people live off of the groceries they can buy with coupons, but getting things for free or really cheap does bring a bit of a rush.  All of this was just over $30.  I "saved" $60.  (I also got a pack of gum for free but forgot to put it in the picture.)  Yes, I'm photographing my groceries now.  My life is that exciting. 

Signs of Spring I:  Baby Chicks 4 bantam Cochins, 1 standard Rhode Island Red (not pictured).

Signs of Spring II: Bare root strawberries planted a week ago are indeed alive and growing.

Signs of Spring III: Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.  The recent cold weather doesn't appear to have done too much damage (yet).

Artisan Bread- Day 2.75

We ate the whole loaf (it wasn't huge, and there are four of us- the boys ate as much as we did, I think (except CP, he didn't think it was bread, so his usual "I'll eat any kind of bread or bread product and nothing else" diet plan didn't apply)).

We dipped it in oil and balsamic vinegar. My Mister called it "as good as restaurant quality", and said that he was impressed (he's not easily impressed, so that's kind of a big deal).

Here it is all sliced and ready to eat:

Artisan Bread- Day 2

This ball is about 1/4 of the total amount of dough I made yesterday, I used a little flour on my hands and tucked the sides under to form a smooth top on the ball. Then I let it rest for 40 minutes (actually a little longer because I forgot to preheat the oven halfway through the 40 minutes), then I made a couple of slashes in the top and scooped it into the oven with a tray of water under it.
Here is what came out of the oven:

The crust is nice and crinkly when I squeeze it, and I'm excited to taste it, although I get the idea from the recipe that the bread doesn't get really good until you've been doing it for awhile and the dough develops a richer flavor.

I think I'm also going to try shaping the dough into rolls and baguettes. I love bread.

Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day?

Colleen, my gardening friend, posted this link to Mother Earth News for an easy recipe and instructions on making artisan bread. I decided to try it out (some one had to be the guinea pig to report back).
Here's the dough just mixed:

The ingredients are very simple:
3 cups lukewarm water

1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)

1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt

6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, white flour (I'm using white for the first try, but in the future, I'm going to try wheat)

It's nearly done rising, then I'll put it in the fridge, and tomorrow I'll cut off a 1/4 of the dough lightly shape it into something roundish, and bake (leaving the rest in the fridge for another time). The next time I make dough, I make it in the same container, without washing it, which eventually gives the dough a sourdough-like flavor.

I'll post an update tomorrow.