Pizza on the grill

Summer here in Illinois is finally right around the corner.  Spring here has been cold and rainy and now finally at the end of May we are just starting to enjoy the outside.  One of my favorite parts about the spring and summer is cooking on the grill.  Grilled food tastes amazing and it is fun to chill out on the deck and enjoying the outside while preparing dinner.

A couple days ago, we decided to try making pizza on the grill*.  Last summer, we tried it once and had mixed results.  We realized that making personal sized pizzas was far easier than trying to make one giant sized pizza.  Flipping a large pizza was too difficult for us.

Pizza on the Grill
1 recipe of your favorite pizza dough.**
1/2 cup tomato sauce
6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
10 fresh basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon garlic salt (or fresh minced garlic)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Take your pizza dough and split in half (or quarters if you prefer even smaller pizzas).  Roll very thin.  Lightly brush with olive oil.  Put olive oil side down on the hot grill for 3-4 minutes or until the bottom is crusty.  Brush top of crust with olive oil.  Flip crust over so the doughy side is now on the grill.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Spread on desired toppings.  Ours were tomato sauce, fresh basil leaves, fresh mozzarella, red pepper flakes, and garlic salt.  Cook until the cheese is melty.  Enjoy!

*We used a gas grill, we have never grilled pizza on a charcoal grill so cooking times may vary drastically.

** I like the Pioneer Woman's Pizza Dough.  It rolls nice and thin.  Her recipe makes enough for 2 full sized crusts, so I usually freeze half for a later date.  The only change that I make is I substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the all-purpose flour.

Whole Wheat Potato Rosemary Bread

Sometimes, when the world beats you up, its nice to come back to something familiar yet challenging.  The past couple of weeks have been rough on my psyche and baking bread has been just what I needed to sooth my mind.  These humble looking loaves have taste depths that are difficult to describe.  The rosemary and the roasted garlic add a bit of awesome that you can't quite place.  It tastes great on its own and even better slathered in butter.  I served it as a side to beef kabobs and it was perfect.  I was a little sad, this bread did not have the lift I am used to.  I presume it was because of its whole wheat nature.  I used Gold Medal whole wheat flour, I have been told that possibly trying different flours might give more height to the end bread.  Even so, it was delicious.  I wish that I had thought to photograph the inside.  I am going to submit this Potato Rosemary Bread to Wild Yeast's Yeast Spotting event this week.

Whole Wheat Potato Rosemary Bread adapted from Peter Reinhart

Boil one medium to large (6 oz)  potato in 3-4 cups of water until the potato is tender.  Save the water for the soaker and the biga.  Mash up the boiled potato and save until the final dough.

Biga
8 ounces whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3/4 cup potato water
2 tablespoons regular water

Mix together.  Knead for a few minutes.  Refrigerate overnight.  Remove from the refrigerator about 2 hours before mixing the final dough

Soaker
3/4 cup potato water
Pinch of Kosher salt
8 ounces of whole wheat flour

Mix together and cover.  Leave out on counter for overnight.  If you are not going to make the final dough for a few days, whip the soaker in the frige

Final Dough
6 ounces mashed potato
All of the biga
All of the soaker
2 1/4 instant yeast
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 springs of fresh Rosemary about 3-4 inches long
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 bulbs roasted garlic, mashed
Black pepper to taste
8 tablespoons whole wheat flour

To roast the garlic:  Take 2 bulbs of garlic and cut the tops off.  Rub olive oil on the exposed cloves of garlic.  Put on a baking sheet and bake for 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the cloves are squishy.

Mix everything together except the flour.  Knead the remaining tablespoons of flour in as needed.  The dough should be tacky.  Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes and then knead again until the dough passes the window pane test.  Cover and allow to raise about an hour.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a minute.  Shape into round loaves.  Brush with egg wash.  Allow to raise for another hour.

Heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put a cast iron pan in the bottom of the oven and the baking stone on the second rack.  When the loaves are ready, brush them with the egg wash one more time.  Put in the oven and pour a cup of warm water into the cast iron pan.  Allow to bake for a couple of minutes and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Bake for another 45-50 minutes or so.