Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases

MORE PIZZA ON THE GRILL: LAST WEEK

                                                        
GRILLED PIZZA
If you've been lurking around my blog for any length of time, you'll see a trend developing. This week on "PIZZA ON THE GRILL". I'm gonna try and make this a regular feature, maybe weekly, perhaps biweekly, but probably definitely regularly. Is that vague enough for you? I try to confuse, I really do!

We've been doing this - Grilling Pizza thing  - for quite some time now. Check out my other posts under Pizza & Libations! At least once a week, sometimes twice a week at the top of the dock. People are starting to notice. Friends, family, dockmates, passersby, people that don't know who the heck we are or what the heck we're doing, and last but not least, you, the blogging world, my blogging peeps!
                                                                        
                                                                    

Have Pizza Will Travel!
Since we still don't have our own grill (we're so cheap, we're waiting for the stores to have their closeout end-of-season sales before we buy!) we rely on others at the marina, or we take the PIZZA ON THE GRILL thing on the road! Uh huh, you heard that right! We literally pack up absolutely everything, excluding the kitchen sink, but definitely including the aluminum foil and cutting boards, and we take it to the people! We have a waiting list and a regular following waiting to be put on the waiting list again.

                                                                      

How Many Pizzas Can We Dream Up?
There's only so many GRILLED PIZZAS that we can think up. The books on the subject have quite a selection of ideas and  we'll likely depend on some of those old standbys. But, I can't wait to show you some of the bizarre and off the wall pizzas we've come up with! So, I'm not sure how long this will last. Maybe you'll get tired of all my Pizza photos and start screaming at me to PLEASE STOP WITH THE PIZZA ALREADY!

                                                                     
Whine, Whine Wine!
And, because wine is a BIG part of my life - and I do mean BIG - I'll most assuredly be including a bottle of wine with my selections. Pizza & Wine Pairings! Maybe even Pizza & Beer Pairings! Who knows?                                                                       
No More Pizza!

So, without further ado, more fireworks and pizza farts, I'll show you what we did the last two weeks, which by the way, included four culinary works of art (pizzas) each time, three gigs in a row! You do the math! Note: I use I, me, my, we and us in all my Tall Tale Grilling Fibs, Lies & videotapes because I do most of the work planning, prepping, delegating and decorating. John does most of the actual standing-at-the-grill-drinking-beer-and-wine-and- often-flipping-a-pizza-or-two, three or four stuff! It's a good deal for you! You get a Two-fer for the same price!

                                                                 

Just a quick Pizza primer
Most of the time I start off with whole wheat pizza dough. Sometimes I'll through an authentic Italian pizza dough in there as well. Then I flatten it out on a board sprinkled with corn meal. Next, I rub a good amount of flavored olive oil on the dough. This could be Basil Oil, Roasted Garlic Oil or Roasted Chili Oil or whatever I have on hand. I need to stop at Whole Foods again and stock up on some more tantalizing flavors to stimulate (can I say that on my blog?), tickle or burn our taste buds! Turn it over and place it on a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil. Oil and corn meal the other side too. Crank up that oven! It has to be HOTTER than hell when you slap that baby on there. You know what? I have this all written on an earlier post. Go there and it will tell you how to finish it. Next time when I have more space, I'll write it all out for you again. Promise!

                                                                         

Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Pesto Asparagus & Artichoke Pizza
I love pesto of any kind and I've been experimenting with new and exciting combinations. Last weeks "Pesto of the Week" was a Basil Pesto base with sun-dried tomatoes. That was over-the-top yummy! It looked like mud (green and red make mud!) but it sure was tasty! I started with whole wheat pizza dough and smeared it good with the pesto. Next, I put down some tender grilled and seasoned asparagus spears. I opened a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and threw those on top too. It smelled so good before it was grilled, we couldn't help drooling thinking of how much better it would be when it was finally done! Freshly grated parmesan and mozzarella and a sprinkle of Mrs Dash and it was back on the grill. I wish you could have been here to taste it! You wouldn't have gone home!

                                                                    

Barbecued Chicken, Carmelized Onions, & Fresh Basil Pizza
Our friend Paul (we stormed his kitchen and deck this time) had some leftover BBQ'd chicken on a ziploc bag We grabbed that and plopped it on top of red sauce, added some carmelized onions, topped it with a mixture of cheeses and finally some fresh basil from his herb garden. It was a BIG hit with my Dad who doesn't really like pizza??? I think we changed his mind that night because he ate more than his share of mix-and-match pizzas
                                                                 

Plain Old Pepperoni and Cheese Pizza
Because we had my non-adventurous Dad, my Mother-in-Law and the grandkids with us (Hey! What was I thinking?) we had to do at least one boring...I mean traditional pizza for them. Turns out, they liked all the eclectic pizzas too! I used Boars Head Pepperoni on red sauce, topped with fresh parmesan and mozzarella and spices. I may have thought it was boring, but it tastes so much better when you use the good stuff!

                                                                   

The Frankenstein Pizza
This is Garbage Pizza at its finest! Everything from leftovers to scraps of red peppers, mushroom slices, odd olives and cheeses that I could find in my fridge. No one cared in the least and it was all gone before I could get to my second Loaded Homemade Lemonade...and I do mean Loaded!

So, that's it for the pizzas of the week. Stay tuned for the next installment of "As The Pizza Spins!" Send in your comments and requests for your favorite pizza and we'll try to accommodate your every wish...pizza, silly!

                                                                           

PEACH & CHERRY SUMMER FRUIT GALETTE ~ Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                      

Tuesdays With Dorie
It was hot today, too hot to bake. But since I've been whining about being oven-less the last month and a half, I figured I better just suck it up and crank that oven...to 425 degrees! OUCH! I preheated the oven way too early, so it was on for a total of 90 minutes! The boat was hot, the kids were hot, I was hot, everything was hot! But the fruit galette was sooo worth it! I'll tell you why in a moment.

                                                                    

This weeks recipe ~ Summer Fruit Galette ~ was chosen by Michelle from Michelle in Colorado Springs. You can find it in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking: From My Home To Yours on pages 366-367, or you can go directly to Michelle's blog and get the recipe there.
BTW, Tuesdays With Dorie has grown to 233 members! YIKES! By the time those latecomers get around to picking their recipe, it'll be like 4 1/2 years from now!  I've been bumped up to 52, so my turn will be here just around Christmastime!

                                                                   

                                                               

My Oven Works! YAY!
Even though it was wicked hot today, I thoroughly enjoyed using my oven. Being without one of my own for something like 6 weeks was hard on me...very hard! This is what I do. I cook and I bake. My oven, no matter how small, defines who I am. Tell me that isn't silly? Going up and down the dock from Nirvana to Ladyhawk worked for a few weeks until we sold Nirvana. I half-heartedly considered sneaking into Nirvana's cabin and turning on the oven while the new owners were on vacation. They would never know...or would they? Knowing my luck, I would leave a blueberry stain on the counter top or a puddle of chocolate pudding on the floor. But no, I couldn't do that. Nirvana was no longer mine and I had to let that frickin' Easy-Bake-Oven go!

                                                             

The oven on Ladyhawk is a bit more tempermental. It's a much older but never used model. It doesn't have an electric pilot light. That means I have to flip a lever to turn the gas on and light the burner with a match or a torch. It's a royal pain in the butt. But it works! And it keeps the correct temperature too! That was very important today because the Summer Fruit Galette needed an oven temperature of 425 degrees. Light the burner and voilà! I Made Fire!

                                                                         

The Pie Crust
I made the pie crust in 10 minutes. There's something to be said for having a resume of thousands upon thousands of pies in my past. What can I say? After 4 years of being away from it, more or less, I can still do it in my sleep! I still don't have a rolling pin, so I reverted to my old standby ~ the chilled bottle of white wine! And for the record? I still like my Pie Crust better!

                                                                          

                                                              

The Bastard Galette
That doesn't sound very nice does it? It was either that or Garbage Galette. You know, when you take everything - all the leftovers - out of the fridge and make soup out of it? Garbage Soup? Anyway...After a few weeks of non-stop company and 2 grandkids to boot, I haven't been shopping in a while. I used what I had on hand. 2 very ripe fuzzy peaches (fruit flies were an extra bonus) and 2 cups of really red cherries. I had two choices of jam to use ~ grape or raspberry. The raspberry won out. I didn't have any graham crackers, but I did have some grapenuts! One egg, but that's all I needed, a spat of butter, some sugar and vanilla. Oh, and some lemon zest...Oh, and a sprig of fresh lemon balm for decoration!

                                                              
SOME RED, RED CHERRIES

                                             SOME VERY RIPE & FUZZY PEACHES
                                                
AND SOME LEMON BALM FOR A GARNISH
                                         
Voilà! The Word of the Day!
I popped it in the oven, and voilà! it came out looking oh, so pretty! Just like I supposed Dorie's picture would look like if she'd had one in her book. I shot up to 7-Eleven for some ice cream. Dulce De Leche came screaming out at me and I had to have it. It was a good pairing if I do say so myself ~ Peaches and Cherry Galette with Caramel Ice Cream! Hey, at least it wasn't chocolate this time!I invitied a few dockmates to share it with us, and we still have some left over for tomorrow! It was easy, it was delicious and I WANT to make it again. I'd like to try some different fruits next time, like apricots and blackberries with some homemade strawberry ice cream. Voilà! (I like that word) Mmmmm..........

                                                                      

PEACH RECIPES ~ SUMMER FRUIT GALETTE Coming soon!

                                                              
Bear with me, I'm running a little late today. Who am I kidding? I've been running late for the past 2 months! I have two of my grandkids here this week and I'm not running on full speed. I'll tell you what, I need some speed! I'm one peach short of a bushel! Right now, they're watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure while I try to get this Peach Galette in the oven before the boat heats up too much. When it comes out of the oven, we'll run down to the pool for an hour or so while it cools off. Hopefully, I'll be able to take pictures while Opa (John) takes the kids out for a dinghy ride after work! THEN, and only then, can we eat the project!

Until then, let me leave you with a few Peach recipes I posted to Suite101 within the last few days. Peaches are in season now in most parts of the USA. Now is the time to have your fill of these sweet, juicy and luscious sun-kissed fruits! When you click on these recipes, there's a green box at the bottom of the page that has a "print this article" option. Go ahead and print them all for future baking!

• Peach Pie Recipe Made with Fresh Peaches
• Fresh Peach Cobbler with Whipped Cream
• Baking With Fresh, Frozen & Canned Peaches ~ Peaches 101

See you soon! Do come back now ya'hear?

Grilled Sandwiches Article on startcooking.com!

                                             
Check out my new article on startcooking.com! It's all about "Grilled Sandwiches: How To Go Beyond Grilled Cheese".

With tons of links and lots of great suggestions for all sorts of sandwiches, your whole family will be in sandwich heaven! There are so many ideas here that it will be your one-stop sandwich article for the entire summer! A section on how to choose the right pans, appliances and grilling methods will get you so fired up, you'll be planning your menu while you're reading this!

Here's a few of my favorites:

• Grilled Peanut Butter & Jelly
• Grilled Vegetable Panini
• Cuban Sandwiches

So, forget about the old bologna & cheese and the boring PB&J's and get grilling! Grilled Sandwiches that is!

CHERRY RHUBARB COBBLER ~ Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                    
Tuesdays With Dorie
Thanks to Amanda from Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake for picking this weeks recipe. Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler was chosen from Dorie Greenspan's book, "Baking: From My Home To Yours." You can find her recipe on page 415 or by clicking here which brings you to Amanda's blog.

                                                                

DOH!  DOH!  DOH!

My Boat is Hot! It's Humid Here!
We're in the middle of summer here in Rhode Island and man is it HOT & HUMID! A regular heat wave! I finally get my oven working and I don't feel like baking! What's up with that? We had lots of company over the weekend, so I figured I'd do the hospitable Betty Crocker thing and make a pretty cobbler for dessert. You think it's hot inside your air conditioned house? Try baking on a boat! Even though it was sweltering down below, I cranked that oven up and made my dessert. I popped it in the oven, locked the hatch and we ran down to the pool. I'm glad I made it though, because it was so worth it! When we got halfway down the dock, I could smell the sweet fruit and pastry. The cobbler juices were bubbling up around the biscuits and we wanted to eat it right then and there. A word of caution: Don't eat it right from the oven. It will burn the roof of your mouth off!

                                                                 

Cherry Rhubarb & Peach Cobbler
I chose to add peaches/nectarines to the cherries & rhubarb because I'm not a big rhubarb fan. Besides, I thought along with two red fruits, it would be nice to have another vibrant color in the mix - like YELLOW! It really was striking with the three colors in my cobalt blue Pampered Chef baking dish. Even though it called for ginger, I added a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the fruit for more flavor. As you can see, I should have increased the recipe by another half. It didn't quite fill the dish like I had thought and the biscuit to fruit ratio was too high for my liking. I would have enjoyed more fruit and sauce. The flavor was superb I think in part because I added the peaches. It wasn't as tart as it might have been if I had done all cherries and rhubarb.

                                                                   

Balls, Balls, Balls!

Cobbler Dough ~ Biscuit Dough
This was an easy dough to make. Just a few ingredients and it was done. Again, I added a little cinnamon to the dough. It came together real nice and felt good and soft. I flatten it out onto a cutting board and cut it with a dough scraper like I was making scones. Then I rolled each piece in a ball and flatten them out a little. I placed them all over the top. John insisted on tasting the raw dough. Why do guys do that? It's bland dough. Raw dough. It doesn't taste like much of anything but DOUGH!

                                                                      

 
What Do You Put in a Cobbler?                                                              

Cobbler Serving Suggestions???
Well, here is where I should stop because as you can see, I have NO photos of the finished cobbler sitting all nice and beautiful in pretty little bowls sitting on lacy doiles! WHY you ask? Because it was dark by the time we ate it and I lost all my good lighting. My family ate it all way too fast for pictures. AND, here's the best part! Because we live on a boat, we really don't have a freezer. When we want ice cream for something, John has to run up to the top of the hill and by a pint at 7-Eleven. That's all we can get because we have to eat it all in one sitting!

                                                                       

What? Chocolate Ice Cream???
Soooo, I tell him "Get a pint of vanilla ice cream. Don't get any weird stuff like chocolate brownie stuff with chunks in it." What does he bring back? A pint of Chocolate Ice Cream! That does NOT go with fruit cobbler! No Way, No How! Everyone had a good laugh except me, cause now I can't take photos of a frickin' fruit cobbler with chocolate ice cream!

                                                                        

So, there you have it! My experience with Cherry Rhubarb & Peach Cobbler with Chocolate Ice Cream! I will make it again, but this time I'm going to 7-Eleven to buy the ice cream!

Go check out the Mixed Fruit Cobbler I made a few weeks ago. It's also a Dorie recipe that was Oh, So Good!

The rest of Tuesday With Dorie's cobblers can be found here. Make one this week!
                                                                    
Ready For The Oven!

JALAPENO CORNBREAD ~ Ina Garten & Barefoot Bloggers

                                                       
Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cornbread
Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cornbread Recipe intrigued me. I love cornbread, but I'm not very fond of jalapenos. But after tasting the finished cornbread, this may be the only one I make from now on! It wasn't too heavy on the jalapenos and I suppose you could use more or less depending on whether you like it HOT or not! It was sooo very easy to put together. It baked quick and even with a beautiful golden brown top. It had a nice tender crumb to it and was very moist. That surprised me considering it was cornbread, and I don't know about you, but most cornbreads that I've eaten were dry and crumbly.
                                                                           

Barefoot Bloggers
Thanks to Sabrina & Alexander of Cooking With the Kids for choosing Ina's recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers bi-weekly challenge. You can find the Jalapeno Cornbread Recipe by Ina Garten here at The Food Network. You can even print it out on a recipe card! Or, if you have her book Barefoot Contessa at Home, you can turn to page 154 and follow along.

                                                        

                                                                       

              

Better Late Than Never!
I'm a little late posting this. It was supposed to be done Thursday, July 10th and here I am almost 2 weeks late. I finally got my oven fixed, and this is the first thing I baked in it. First thing I think ANYBODY baked in it! When we fired it up, it had that new oven smell. I thought something else was amiss - you know how it's been lately - but John assured me it was nothing and new ovens smell like that. Even though the stove/oven is 23 years old, it was still new to me! But now, all is well and I'm BACK JACK! Better late than never!
                                                                

Green Mountain Gringo Salsa & Jalapeno Cornbread
It was too hot to make chili, so I spiffed up some store bought salsa. My favorite brand of salsa is Green Mountain Gringo from Vermont...naturally! It's always got a good clean, fresh taste, like it was made yesterday! It's available almost everywhere salsa is sold. Gee, this sounds like a Green Mountain Gringo Salsa commercial doesn't it? It isn't, but if they do read this, they can contact me and I'll tell them where to send a free complimentary case!
                                                                          

                                                                      

I added a can of drained and rinsed black beans and a can of drained niblett corn. Chop up a few scallions and about a 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro and fold into the salsa (more or less according to taste). I arranged it nice and pretty on a platter with the salsa in the middle. I had to take pictures real quick this time because John was hungry and chomping at the bit to eat!
                                                                  

Cornbread Castles & Salsa Moats
We put a piece or two of cornbread in  our bowls and spooned the salsa on the side making a picture-perfect red salsa moat around our cornbread castles! John had seconds or thirds and he brought some to work the next day. Yes, it really was that good! I'll definitely be making Ina Garten's Jalapeno Cornbread again!
                                                                          

Next recipe ~ Smoked Salmon Spread
The next challenge is Smoked Salmon Spread. I have some extended family coming over this week, and the Salmon Spread will be a perfect appetizer for an early evening sailboat-tied-to-the-dock party! Dad won't care for it too much, but his siblings sure will!

                                                            

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE ~ Tuesdays With Dorie Chocolate Pudding

                                                      

Chocolate Pudding Recipe
I was soooo very excited when the Chocolate Pudding recipe was chosen for this weeks Tuesdays With Dorie challenge. You see, I made this a few months ago, and smart girl that I was, I took tons of pictures, just in case. Just in case the Chocolate Pudding recipe was chosen! You see the connection? My mind is always spinning!

                                                                     

Thanks to Melissa from It's Melissa's Kitchen for picking Chocolate Pudding from Baking: From My Home To Yours on page 383. That's if you have your own book, which you should have already. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet and joined the other 225 other Tuesdays With Dorie's baking fools that obsess each and every Tuesday over the baked good of the week, well then, you can find this Chocolate Pudding Recipe by clicking on Melissa's blog.

                                                         

What? No Food Processor?
Living on a small boat presents certain challenges from time to time and this was no exception. There just wasn't room for a regular sized food processor on NIRVANA. I was lucky at the time to have my little Hamilton Beach hand held mixer! Things have changed drastically since then, (new boat, new mixer, new food processor) but at the time I had to have my homemade Chocolate Pudding. I brought back one of my baked pie shells from a recent visit to Vermont and I was in business! I followed the recipe to the letter, except that I used my mixer instead of the food processor.

                                                              

I read the directions again after I made the pudding and decided it was a good thing I used the mixer instead. Clean up was a lot quicker with less to wash, that's for sure! And the mixer produced the same results. A nice creamy, luscious Chocolate Pudding! I've read a few other TWD blogs today and they too have decided that the clean up was also a mess and if they ever made the pudding again, they would definitely go back to their own method. Dorie's recipe was fantastic and I would use it again and do it just the way I did it this time...with a mixer and far less bowls!

                                                                    

Chocolate Cream Pie
So, what do you do with a big pot of chocolate pudding? I'll tell you what I did. I made a Chocolate Cream Pie! Here's my tried and true Best Ever Flaky Pie Crust Recipe that I've been making for 200 years! It always comes out perfect. No holes, no tearing, you don't have to chill it or roll it between stupid pieces of plastic wrap. I taught John and my sons how to make this crust years ago and if a bunch of He-Man guys can make a pie crust, then you can too! And if you don't have a rolling pin, then use a chilled bottle of white wine to roll your pie crust. Why a chilled bottle? Silly baker! So you can drink it when you're done making your pie crust!

                                                                        

How-To Decorate A Chocolate Cream Pie
So, I poured the hot pudding into the baked pie shell, put a piece of plastic wrap over the top so it wouldn't form a skin and put it in the mini bar...I mean mini fridge! I let it cool completely, then whipped up a big batch of sweetened whipped cream, spooned it into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and piped billowy clouds of cream on top of the pudding. Then I decorated it with mini chocolate chips and Chocolate Ganache. Yowsa! What an awesome combination! Chocolate Heaven on Earth! John and I have a saying for food that knocks our socks off, but this is a family-friendly blog, so I really can't say it here. I'll only allude to what it is, OK? We'd say "That's a Chocolate Or***m!" And so it was!

                                                                     

Sweetened Whipped Cream Recipe:

• 2 cups cold heavy cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Whip cream on medium-high speed using a hand-held or stand mixer until almost stiff. Add confectioners' sugar and vanilla and whip until stiff. Pipe or spread on pie.

                                                             

                                                 
Pudding Skin or No Pudding Skin? That is the question!
Oh, and the age old debate continues ~ pudding skin or no pudding skin? What do you like best? My Grandma made the best Chocolate Cream Pie evah! I was a kid back then, but I always remember her making my favorite pudding...with an extra little bowl just for me, with skin! I loved chocolate pudding skin! And to this day, mmmm years later, I still absolutely and totally love pudding skin! Course, you can't make skin with the new and improved instant boxed puddings! It has to be made the old fashioned way...ya gotta cook it. So, when I made this Chocolate Cream Pie, sweet memories flooded my soul and I was right back in Grandma's kitchen - flour everywhere, pots and pans in the sink and a little girl with a chocolate smudge on her face and a bowl of pudding skin! And Cindy, if you're reading this, and I know you are, it'll take you back too!

                                                               

Make Some Chocolate Pudding...NOW!

• So, here's your assignment:
• Click on my Flaky Pie Crust Recipe and print it off.
• Click on How To Roll A Pie Crust Without A Rolling Pin (it's just a few posts down!).
• Click on Melissa's blog for Dorie's Chocolate Pudding Recipe and maybe you can print it off.
• Make some sweetened whipped cream (see above recipe).
• Then, pour a BIG glass of milk, get comfy and browse through some of the Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll to see some more spectacular Chocolate Pudding photos!

                                                                   

Suite101.com Site Down Due to Power Outage in Vancouver

NEWS FLASH!  Suite101 is back up and running! YAY! You can disregard the following.

                                                  

Power Outage in Vancouver Canada Shuts Down Huge Sections of the Downtown Area
An underground fire has shut down large sections of the downtown in VANCOUVER Canada. This is the area where Suite101's main server is located. Their tech staff is working on the problem, but BC Hydro's best guesstimate for restored power is midnight PST. There's nothing else they can do about it and apologize for any inconvenience this causes. Here is the news bulletin issued by The Vancouver Sun.
Unfortunately for you, my readers, you will not be able to access any of my Suite101 recipes during this time. Again, we apologize and hopefully Suite101 will be back up and running ASAP!
Thanks for understanding!

GRILLED PIZZA PESTO STYLE! & Hahn Estates Syrah

                                               
Pizza, Pizza and More Grilled Pizza!
I've been experimenting with all types of Grilled Pizzas over the past few months. Half of our dockmates have been invited to try our grilled pizza. If they haven't been invited up to the grill yet, they will be before the summer is over!

                                                                      

Dockside Pizzaria?
Maybe I should start selling them. Hey! That's not a bad idea! Can't tell John though. He'll say NO of course, so I'll just have too suck him in when he's not paying attention! He'll ask me,

• John: "Why are there 10 crusts here? Are we having a party you didn't tell me about?" 
• Me: "No, I have 10 Pizza orders for $10.00 each!" And then he'll be amazed and beam with pride that his wife is such the little entrepreneur! HA! What he'll probably say is,
• John: "WHAT? What did you just do? You've got me standing here making pizzas for the whole dock?" But then I'll say
• Me: "Yes, but we'll be rich beyond imagination and next year we'll be able to buy a 50 foot boat and put a commercial kitchen in it! Then I can have a take-out window...I mean port and sell creamies too!"
  
• John: "Silly dreams!".....or are they?

Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Pesto
I've been making my own pesto lately too. It's so much cheaper than buying prepared pesto, and better! This time I threw a few roasted red peppers in with the basil. I've done this before but it's been quite some time since my homemade pesto days. Here's the link to my Pesto Recipe. Just add a roasted red pepper or two in oil to the basil in the food processor.

                                                                   

                                                       

Grilled Pesto Pizza
These pizzas were done on whole wheat dough purchased from the store. They come in 1 pound balls and I stretched them out and patted them into rectangles...well, almost! They're never perfectly shaped and I think that's what makes them so unique! I sprinkled the sheet with cornmeal and olied them with basil oil on both sides. I always pat the dough out on a piece of foil to make it easier to flip it upside down on the grill. Less messy that way.

                                                             

                                                          

                                                             

I sauteed some asparagus in basil oil and I still had some Garlic Scapes left over from the farmers' market, so I threw those on top too! I used a Microplane rasp (cheese grater and citrus zester) to do my parmesan and cheddar cheeses. Some red pepper strips for color and I sprinkled a little Mrs Dash on top of it all for a flavor boost. Man, that pizza came out tasty! I'm convinced it's the pesto that makes it. If you've never done Pizza on the Grill before, you need to try it! Click here for an earlier post and more complete directions.

                                                                       

Pepperoni, Olive and Tomato Pizza
The next Grilled Pizza was a mish-mash of left over odds-and-ends. Red sauce, imported green olives, tomatoes, onions, pepperoni, fresh basil leaves, mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan. Again, I sprinkled the top with Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning.

                                                               

Hahn Estates 2005 Central Coast Syrah
We always bring a bottle of wine to the grill with us. It makes the whole Grilled Pizza experience more enjoyable. Combine a couple of good friends, a few Grilled Pizzas and a great bottle of wine and we have an instant dock party! This time we picked out Hahn Estates 2005 Central Coast Syrah. Good choice for Pizza on the Grill! It's a bold wine but the tannins were soft and well balanced. I detected jammy fruits and it was a little peppery, but just enough to be spicy. I swished it around and the dark fruit flavor exploded in my mouth! I left a little in my mouth and took a bite of the pizza and WOW! didn't that make a difference! I've had this wine before but never with Grilled Pizza. This label is a new favorite for me. I think we paid around $11.50 for the bottle, but then again, we bought a mixed case of 12, so it could have been a little higher. Even still, it was worth it! Check out the Hahn website for more info on this amazing Hahn Estates 2005 Central Coast Syrah.

                                                              

Pizza of the Week
So that's it for the two pizzas of the week! Join me next time for "As the Pizza Grills...We Drink Wine!"