Grilled Pizzas

What better way to end an adventurous puppy weekend full of dog park dates, dog brunches, and dog training than inviting my friends over to play with Kaika while I grill them home-made pizzas? My cousin, Jenny (Jeff's sister), has very graciously given me the secret to her home-made pizza dough, here. And if there is anyone to trust for a good pizza recipe, it would be Jenny. Jeff was an extremely well-versed pizza aficionado and it seems to have run in the family. Jenny has gone through several recipes and experiments to find the perfect pizza dough recipe, and I'm reaping the fruits of her labor.

Knowing that I have no skills in forming a good pizza, I made enough dough to allow for mistakes. In fact, you can tell from the photos that I posted, that my pizzas went from a thicker crust (the top photo) to a crispy, thin, and chewy in the middle crust (the bottom photo), after I started to get the hang of it. Here's the method that worked for me (with a few tips from Bobby Flay):

Grilled Pizza

Pre-heat the grill to high. Generously flour your work surface. Begin stretching out your pre-made dough on the surface using gravity and sort of shaking it mid-air. I try to make an oblong shape. If you're comfortable spinning/flinging the dough in the air, give it a try. Once the dough is as evenly thin as you can get without seeing through it, place it on a pre-oiled cookie sheet. Brush olive oil on both sides and further stretch out the dough on the cookie sheet to your thickness preference.

Here's the tricky part: Try to gently place the dough directly on the grill without breaking it or mucking it up. Let it grill for a minute or two and it will be relatively easy to flip over. There should be grill marks on the first side. Remove after another minute or two of grilling.

Place the finished dough on foil, then top it with toppings. Place it back on the grill with the foil and cover for about 3 minutes till cheese melts. The dough is already cooked, so the foil helps to keep it from cooking more, but it will crisp the bottom. And trust me, it truly does crisp because it will give you a very satisfying crunch as you cut through it.

For our toppings, I used goat cheese (dotted in an artful blob distribution on the dough), prosciutto, figs, grilled asparagus, and arugula on one pizza. For the other, I used shredded fontina cheese, goat cheese, grilled chicken, grilled asparagus, grilled peppers, and home-made pesto. The verdict for this recipe: hands down the best grilled pizza I've ever made. Thanks Jenny!

P.S. With all this cooking, I often wonder why I don't make my darling little puppy boy some of his own organic gourmet food, since I always go through that effort for me and my friends. And then I watch him lick dirt, sniff other puppies' poop, and swiftly stop him from eating dead animals on our walks......so perhaps not.

Chicken Mole Enchilada

I just finished a fun little weekend bonding with my new puppy, Ikaika, while Raquel was out getting dirty in the wilderness on a climbing trip with her friends. For the most part, we had a good time except for some minor hiccups, ie. Kaika puking in my car, and me slamming my finger in the car door. I think my motherly instinct is starting to kick in, because I didn't even feel the pain of my finger when I "saved" my pup from getting run over by a car. Oh well, at least I can still type, sorta.

So, I spent Friday night doing what any other young, swinging, single-for-the-weekend woman would do. I stayed home, crate-trained my puppy, watched TV, and made Chicken Mole Enchiladas. Alright I admit it, my party days are long gone and I get tired by 9. It's ok, I gave up the illusion that I can still live like a college student a long time ago. And thank goodness, because I was either starving or eating crap back then. This home-made quick mole sauce was much more enjoyable than a night of getting wasted and watching bad decisions being made around me. I've always wanted to truly make mole from scratch, and some day I will. This recipe doesn't exactly count, because I only used one type of chile and took some short cuts. The process of making a genuinely complex and traditional mole takes days of toasting, grinding, and simmering a million ingredients. But, for a shortcut, this recipe was fantastic!

And as I sat there post-dinner, watching bad reality TV and reminiscing my old party days, I fully embraced beginning this new chapter of my life. Because, I can't describe the huge satisfaction I felt when at the end of the night, Kaika gave me a sleepy look and walked into his crate and laid down to sleep by himself. Here's hoping that I can keep up a good job as a new dog mommy.

Seafood Feast

You ever have one of those days where you stand at the seafood counter and want to buy everything, because it's on sale and looks fresh? This day was that day for me. I came home with Mahi Mahi filets, a whole-intact Sea Bass, and a dozen raw oysters but with no plan to prepare any of it. So, I fell back on the motto that simple is best, which definitely turned out true for this meal. And despite the fact that there was only 3 of us, we polished the majority of the platter and all of they oysters.

Firstly, I seasoned the Mahi Mahi with cumin, sea salt, pepper, and olive oil. Then, grilled it for 3-4 minutes per side to juicy, flaky, done-ness. Then, I tackled the whole sea bass. Now, don't let a whole fish intimidate you. Because, if you have the seafood monger de-scale and gut it, you'll have the most flavorful tender fish ever. The skin crisps up nicely, and meat is flavored by the bones that it's still attached to. All you need to grill it is olive oil, sea salt, pepper, a good pair of tongs, and a long spatula. Grill it on medium heat for 6 minutes per side, and be really careful when you flip it. And since, it makes a prettier presentation, and Raquel is a wuss about eating fish off the bone, it's a cinch to gently remove the head, tail, and bones once it's finished. Lastly, I didn't realize how easy it is to bbq oysters. Wash them, and pop them on the grill at high heat, then cover it. As soon as they pop off their own shell (about 3-4 minutes), they're done. Grill up a couple of lemons, and sprinkle a bit of juice on the finished platter. Serve it with a side of arugula salad, grilled bread, guacamole, mango pico de gallo, and a bottle of chilled white wine and you've got yourself a happy little dinner party. The only thing that would've made it more perfect would've been to eat it on the beach, barefoot.

Lamb Kebabs, Saffron Rice, and Yogurt Sauce

Spring is most definitely here. And what better way to celebrate than to break out the grill with refreshing spring produce and grilled meats! I'm not going to post this recipe, because I still want to perfect it. First of all, the quality of the lamb wasn't that great and came out overly gamey. And, the spices that went into the yogurt sauce wasn't a great combination. All in all, my favorite part of the meal was the arugula salad with avocados. But, it still made for a pretty picture. Looks yummy, huh? Psych...it wasn't. Oh well, lessons learned. I'll post a recipe when I figure it out.

Mussels and White Fish in a Light Saffron Tomato Coconut Broth

My next Vij's Seafood attempt was his version of Moules Mariniere. This was more of my response to Raquel saying she was craving Moules Mariniere (one of her favorite dishes). While I'm certainly a fan of the classic French preparation of mussels, I found the spicy, robust, full-flavored Indian version more exciting. Because even though the broth was light, it enhanced the plump, juicy mussels to a whole new level. Of course, it also helps that I threw in tons of jalapenos, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Yes, I like my food spicy.

For the record, this goes well with grilled bread, a spring salad, and big cold mug of beer.

Roasted Cashews, Sauteed Spinach, and Paneer in Tomato Yogurt Sauce; Broiled Butterfish in Tomato Coconut Curry

I treated myself, and my friends, to another decadent Vij's meal. Only this time, I'm knee deep the seafood section of the cookbook. Which, if you know me, is my favorite category. I was really interested in seeing an Indian interpretation on Hawaiian Butterfish (Black Cod or Sablefish). In fact, outside of Misoyaki Butterfish I hadn't really tried butterfish cooked any differently. I should've known that the delicate milky texture of the fish can easily blend with a rainbow of flavors. In this case, it was a light tomato coconut curry, which I personally associate more with Thai cuisine than Indian. Still, the dish was mouth-watering deliciousness!

For a side dish, I used one of Vij's interesting appetizers. I've never seen a combination of paneer, cashews, spinach, and yogurt sauce. But, wow! That was a really great idea! I don't know if that's a traditional Indian dish, but it's certainly a yummy one.

I'm really glad that I'm cooking my way through this cookbook. It's not only an adventure and tribute, but it's introducing a whole new wave of flavors to my palette.

Pasta Primavera

Lately, I've felt the need to lighten our meals a bit, ie. cook less meat. Mainly, because a lot of the meals that I cooked in honor of Jeff were meat heavy, and I'm also taking the start of this year's half-marathon training more seriously than before. So, I put together a vegetarian meal based roughly off of this recipe: Rigatoni with Eggplant Puree. I added my own spin by grilling all the vegetables first instead of roasting, because it's quicker and I'm impatient when I'm hungry. Also, instead of puree-ing everything, I reserved half of the vegetables to sautee so that there would be more texture and you could see what went into the sauce. Lastly, I used whole wheat penne.

You'd think that a meal like that would send Raquel to the taqueria down the street, but she actually really liked it! In fact, she took leftovers for lunch the next day. Seeing as how she normally needs meat in most meals and she's not a huge fan of wheat pasta, it's a miracle that she even finished her meal. Just from that healthy transformation, I feel like my work here is done. Amazingly, she said she didn't miss the meat. Here were my changes:

Modifications:
-use whole wheat pasta
-substitute red bell pepper for the tomatoes (that's just cause Raquel doesn't like tomatoes)
-grill the eggplant and bell peppers, reserve half to sautee at end. *
-blanch broccoli, and sautee in white wine, garlic, onions, and red pepper flakes.
-Add reserved veggies, cooked pasta, and pureed vegetables to sautee pan at end to throw everything together.
-use half the amount of Parmesan suggested, the veggies already have enough flavor.

*Nota bene -
Don't make the same rookie mistake I made. I had to taste test the wine before adding it to the sauce, just to make sure it was ok. That involved finishing a glass before grilling and getting tipsy. Thus, making it easier to burn your hand on the grill lid and missing the handle. So while war wounds sound cool, having a huge burn scar across three fingers is unattractive. I'd also like to note that burning your hand is a very quick way to get sober.

Barbari

Coming from a Chinese family, I'm lucky to be surrounded by many fantastic cooks; my aunty, my mom, and my grandmothers were big influences. And I know that's where my passion for food truly began. But, I'm also lucky that my extended family shared and expanded the culinary tradition. In particular, one of my Canadian aunties, who married a truly charming Persian man, excels in Mediterranean cuisine. So you can imagine my delight when I happened to move one city away from my cousin, who receives frequent visits from her mom. We've been fortunate to join in several of my aunty's dinner parties. And Raquel is still giving me a hard time for not bringing home leftovers from the great Lamb Kebab cookout that she couldn't make.

But, there was one perfect brunch which keeps resonating for both of us: Barbari. It's Persian bread that my aunty makes from scratch and serves with fruits, meats, cheeses, various spreads, and cups of tea. It was a perfectly balanced light meal, that would be ideal after a workout. We happened to have this meal before a workout, and it still didn't really hinder us. The bread was the star of the meal. It's hard for me to describe, but I felt like it was light and hearty at the same time, if that even makes sense.

So, I bugged my cousin for her mom's recipe. Which, I successfully finangled from my last visit with her. Raquel and I feasted on this bread last weekend, and I served it with tomatoes, apples, salami, and goat cheese. She loved it, it's now her favorite breakfast. And I can't get over how many possibilities the recipe has. My aunty even used the bread as pizza dough, which I'm definitely going to have to try. And naturally, I couldn't resist making a healthier version by substituting 100% whole wheat flour for the regular flour. It added this nutty warmth to the bread that the original version didn't have. But, next time I'll try adding some honey to the wheat to balance out the slightly bitter wheat flavor. I'll probably also make tzaziki and hummus to go with it. Thanks Cuz!

Barbari

1 cup warm water
1 Tb quick acting/instant yeast
1/2 Tb sugar
1/2 Tb salt
2 cups flour
3-4 Tb olive oil

Dissolve sugar in warm water. Add yeast to sugar water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add salt to flour in a medium/large bowl. Make a well in flour and add olive oil. Add yeast/water mixture to flour and combine with hands to make dough(having olive oil on your hands will help to keep the dough from getting too sticky on your hands). Cover the dough with paper towel (you can put olive oil on the paper towel so when the dough rises it doesn't get stuck to the paper towel). Leave the dough in the bowl in a warm place (I usually turn an element on low and leave the bowl nearby) for 30 minutes. Spread the dough on a cook sheet (13 X 9 ??) that has been prepped with olive oil and dusted with flour. Leave the dough for another 30 minutes. Heat oven to 350 F. Bake in centre rack for 10-15 minutes (all ovens are different so just watch your bread). You may want to take the bread off the pan and bake for another minute or so to crisp the bottom, and/or turn the oven on broil to brown the top a wee bit.

Optional: Do an egg wash on the bread and sprinkle with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion flakes (anything!). You can score the bread with a knife before baking, so that when the bread is done it is easy to pull apart the pieces.