Ocracoke Island, NC

Sachel & Raje

The [Eight] Faces of [Saje]

How are cows involved in seltzer?

Stane the Shaadee Bandar

shaa-dee ban-dar (shah'dee bun'der) n., one who contracts the marriage virus but is not affected, though he or she can pass the virus on to others

editor's note: 12 out of 14 in under 7 years - yikes!

2nd editor's note: i should know how to spell namaste :(

2009 Chicago Marathon

Pizza On The Grill

I have been singing the praises of this grilled pizza recipe for some time now, and now I'm sharing it with you. Thus far every attempt has been successful, and I've never been able to say that in regard to anything involving yeast. Until now. I've also included a recipe for a complete pizza. Hope it works as well for you!

These recipes are from The Best of Fine Cooking - Grilling.

Basic Pizza Dough
Yields about 1 lb., enough for 2 pizza crusts

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra for oiling bowl
1 1/2 tsp. sugar or honey
2 1/4 tsp. (1/4-oz. packet) active dry yeast
3 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

If your kitchen is cool, preheat the oven to 150F or the lowest setting.

Put 1 cup of lukewarm water into the work bowl of a large food processor or stand mixer. Sprinkle the oil, sugar, and yeast over the water and pulse several times until mixed. Add the flour and salt and process until the mixture comes together. the dough should be soft and slightly sticky. (If it is very sticky, add flour, 1 Tbs. at a time, and pulse until smooth. If it is too stiff, add water, 1 Tbs. at a time, and pulse until smooth.) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball.

Put the dough in an oiled clean bowl, turn it over several times in the bowl to coat it with oil, drizzle a little oil over the top, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot or turn off the oven and stick it in there. Let rise until the dough has doubled in size, about 15 minutes in the oven or 1 hour in the warm spot.

Punch the dough down and knead on a lightly floured surface for 1 to 2 minutes, until smooth. Divide into two equal-size balls and proceed with your pizza making.

Greens on White Pizza
Serves 2 as a main course; 4 as an appetizer

1/4 cup uncooked cornmeal, for rolling the dough
1 ball (8 oz.) prepared pizza dough, at room temperature (recipe above)
2 Tbs. olive oil, plus extra to drizzle on the arugula
1/2 cup Roasted Garlic Paste (recipe below)
2/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup grated Asiago cheese
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
1-2 tsp. white truffle oil
1 cup fresh arugula (ideally baby arugula)
4 oz. thinly sliced prosciutto
fleur de sel or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat your grill. (For gas, set to high with lid closed for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to medium. For charcoal, once briquettes have become gray-ashed, move them all to one side of the grill.)

Sprinkle your work surface with the cornmeal. Place the dough in the middle of the surface. You can either roll out the dough with a rolling pin, stretch it out with your hands, or press it out from the center against the work surface. Ideally, you want a 12-inch, organically shaped piece of sough--round, square, or rectangular--1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Drizzle or brush both sides generously with the 2 Tbs. olive oil.

Grill the first side of the crust. Lay dough down flat--over the side without briquettes, if you're using charcoal--on the cooking grate. Close the lid and grill for 3 minutes, then rotate the crust 180 degrees and continue grilling until the bottom is well marked and evenly browned, another 2 to 3 minutes.

Flip the crust to reveal the grilled side. Spread the entire surface with the garlic paste, then top with the mozzarella and Asiago, and spoon dollops of teh ricotta over all. Finish grilling the pizza with the lid down, 4 to 5 minutes, another 180 degree turn, then another 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove from the grill and drizzle with some of the truffle oil. Drizzle the arugula lighly with olive oil and toss, then place immediately on top of pizza (so that the heat of the pizza wilts it). Arrange the prosciutto on top and season with salt and pepper. Slice and serve immediately.

Roasted Garlic Paste
Yields enough for 1 pizza; about 1/2 cup

3 heads garlic
3 Tbs. olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
kosher salt

Heat the oven to 400F. Remove the first layer of papery skin from the garlic. Slice off 1/4 inch from the pointy top. Place each head on a sheet of foil, cut side up. Drizzle with the oil and season with salt. Wrap each head int eh foil and roast until the cloves are golden brown and soft, about 1 hour. Remove from the heat and let cool. (You can also do this on the grill, cooking over indirect heat.)

Remove the roasted cloves by squeezing the whole head from the bottom. Using a fork, vigorously mix the garlic and oil together. Add a pinch of salt. If not using right away, refrigerate it, tightly covered, for up to 2 days.