Remember the Herbs? Grilled Pizza

As it may have become more clear...of late, grilled pizza is where it's at.  This time, there was nothing in the house save for a few select items here and there.

Remember the herbs from my previous post?

Well, they have been sitting in a jar of water as previously depicted in the refrigerator just begging to be used.  Tonight, the herbs (yes the medley that was dill, basil, cilantro, parsley, sage, fennel) were all consolidated into a quick pesto with some toasted walnuts (about 1/4 C).  I also made a quick pizza dough (2 tsp active instant yeast + 2 C flour + 1/3 C corn meal + 3/4 C warm water + 2 tsp salt), and fished around the pantry for some toppings in the form of some sliced mushrooms, sun dried tomato strips, caramelized grilled onions, and goat cheese.

The well grilled pizza crust was spread with a good bit of pesto and toppings. The homemade pizza crust was a bit more crackery and cake-like than store-bought dough, and simultaneously so, oddly enough.  Perhaps it needed a tad more working or proofing; but regardless, this grilled pizza was a wonderful vegetarian's delight!

Fresh Herbs and Lamb Burgers

The garden has suddenly erupted with an abundance of assorted herbs.  I had to do some trimming of a variety of sage, parsley, cilantro, fennel, and dill all while thinking of something to make with such a lovely bunch of fresh herbs.

Although there are still plenty, a great handful went into some delicious pulled chicken salad, and the rest went into seasoning lamb burgers.

A quarter of an onion, 1 stalk of celery, and some sage, parsley, and dill all went into the food processor.  I made sure to squeeze the onion, celery and herb mixture dry of excess moisture so as to avoid making the ground lamb to wet (the moisture in the celery and onion itself is enough to keep the meat moist while grilling).  This was all added to about 1 lb. of ground lamb along with an egg and a pinch of salt and pepper for this straightforward lamb burger.  Some very lightly salt and peppered sweet potato and onion slices also went down on the grill.

The whole wheat rustic roll was lightly toasted on the grill, spread with a bit of creamy goat cheese, and the fresh herbed lamb burger was dressed with lettuce, grilled tomato and onions, and dill pickle slices.

It paired quite nicely with some refreshingly cold Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace (Belgian golden farmhouse style ale).

Pumpernickel Rye Swirl Bread

Don't ask me how and/or what I did to make this one...but I do know that next time I'll use a touch less molasses and cocoa in the pumpernickel part.  I think I made a basic bread dough with sourdough starter, except instead of 3-4 C flour, I used 1 C rye flour + 1 C whole wheat flour for the light rye part; and 1 C rye flour for the pumpernickel part + 3 T cocoa powder + 1/3 C molasses.  Of course both parts got caraway seeds; and I think that if there is a next time, I'd definitely add a bit more salt to the dough as it seems the missing ingredient.

It looks pretty, though, and tastes delicious toasted with a touch of butter!

Grilled Pizza, Take #1: Grilled Chicken Pesto

Nothing says "Happy Summer" more than pesto, in my mind.  Ironically, this pesto was leftover from one I made sometime in May.  I typically make a bunch, and store it in 1/2 C quantities in my freezer.  It's one of those deliciously fresh sauces or multi-purpose flavor bases that comes in handy.  This one was a spinach-fresh from the garden anise hyssop-walnut-parmesan pesto that I took out of the freezer last night along with three giant sized boneless chicken breasts.  I threw it all into a bowl with about 1/4 C white wine and snuggle overnight in the fridge.

Today, the process was super simple, and I'm certain there will be more grilled pizza to come.  This was inspired by last week's grilled wheat pizza - made with leftover impromptu ground turkey empanada stuffing (ground turkey, black olives, raisins, onion, corn, latin spices) topped with cheddar, fresh cilantro and a dolup of sour cream (fail on the photo front).

I definitely did not have time today to make my own crust; but most grocery stores sell bags of fresh pizza dough ... Trader Joe's even offers several flavor varieties.  I used a white flour dough and worked in some salt and parmesan, stretching it onto a non-stick pizza pan dotted with holes (I also coated it with some EVOO first).  

The grill was pre-heated, the chicken pulled out of the pesto-marinade being careful to scrape excess off of the chicken, grilled to perfection, and set aside to rest.  Once the chicken was done, the pizza crust went on until the bottom began to get golden brown.  Meanwhile, I quickly threw the the reserved pesto marinade into the microwave to cook off the fact that the raw chicken had been sitting in it.  The crust was then topped with a thin spread of the pesto and a handful of sliced grape tomatoes.  As the tomatoes began to soften, the pesto-coated crust was topped with a good handful (approx. 1 C) of shredded Italian blend cheese.  In the last five-six minutes of the crust grilling, three small heads of Romaine lettuce sliced in half length-wise and lightly drizzled with a bit of EVOO and balsamic of Modena, were grilled until lightly charred.

Once the crust was crispy brown on the bottom and top, and the cheese nice and golden...voila!  Perfectly grilled pizza--topped with sliced pesto-marinated grilled chicken, shredded grilled Romaine, and fresh micro-basil from the garden!

Penne Carbonara

A visit to NY inspired Carbonara, normally known for it's bacony goodness, but I made this "vegetarian-style", with bacon as a topping/side instead of using the bacon fat as the base of the carbonara.   It's so quick and easy, addictingly delicious...but not that good FOR you.  Oh well, every now and then is okay!

1 C breadcrumbs toasted in 2 T butter + 3 T EVOO + 1/4 C freshly grated parmesan + 1/2 clove fresh garlic + 1 T freshly chopped herbs from the garden (I used a mix of sage, chives and parsley), set aside.

3-4 T rehhydrated chopped porcini mushrooms quickly sauteed in 1 T butter + 2 T EVOO + a healthy shake of hot pepper flakes + 2 cloves minced garlic.  Remove and toss in a large bowl with 1 large nicely ripened tomato, diced; 3-4 T freshly chopped herbs.  Add another 3-4 T EVOO to the pan and scrape up all the bits of leftover breadcrumb, garlic, etc.

Beat 4 eggs in a bowl with about 1/2 C fresh parmesan and 1/2 C fresh mozzerella (I had monterey jack).

Heat 3-4 strips bacon (I used turkey bacon) in microwave on paper towels to absorb fat until crispy.  Allow to cool and crumble.

Drain al dente pasta - do not rinse! - it's okay if there's still some pasta water.  Put pasta in pan with oil and toss to coat.  Temper egg and cheese mixture slowly with about 1/4 C hot pasta water, then very briskly stir into the pasta making sure the egg doesn't scramble!  Heat from pasta will cook the egg.

Toss pasta in bowl with herbs, tomato, and porcinis.

Top with crunchy cheesy breadcrumbs and bacon crumbles.  Yum!

Fresh Bay Leaves

My neighbor carefully tends to a very pretty potted tree all year on their front stoop.  Recently, the doorbell rang, and there was neighbor holding out a freshly snipped branch of bay laurel full of delightfully fragrant leaves.

Now, I don't know about you, but I almost always associate bay leaves with one of those "is it really in there?" herbs that I reach for and throw into a tomato sauce or steamed rice last minute.  However, now I was confronted with, "What do I do with so many fresh bay leaves?"

This meal was literally like a food challenge as I used whatever was in the house.  The photos don't do it justice, and I do realize that it could use a little more color, but the taste was superb, and, quite literally featured the bay leaf, leaving it the only herb used in the dish.

I started off by searing off salted, peppered, and lemon zested hormone- and anti-biotic free pork chops for about 5 min per side, removing from the pan, and setting aside (making sure to keep them covered to stay moist).  To the pan with the pork drippings and EVOO, I added a shallot, 2 garlic cloves, hot pepper flakes, and about 16-20 of the fresh bay leaves, allowed this to soften up and then added two medium-small eggplants diced as well as the juice half a lemon.  As the eggplant softened, about 1-2 cups of chicken stock was added, covered, and allowed to simmer until the eggplant was completely soft and beginning to break apart.  About half of the eggplant (no bay leaves) was removed, and pureed with the immersion blender to make a thick, ragu-style sauce base, and returned to the pan.  The pork chops were returned and nested into the sauce along with about 1/3 C of julienned sun-dried tomatoes.  This was all served on top of whole wheat organic pasta that was tossed with 1 clove freshly microplaned garlic, zest of half of the lemon used for juice previously, 1 can of organic Great Northern beans, 1 can of quartered Artichoke hearts (Trader Joe's), salt and pepper.

I ended up cutting the pork into bite size pieces, and mixing this with the eggplant bay-leaf ragu into the pasta.  Fresh bay leaves imparted a lovely almost citrus-fruity herbal flavor to the dish, and it was definitely worth featuring the bay leaf itself.

Moral of of the story:  fresh bay leaves are delicious!

French Lentils with Mushrooms and Sage, and Brown Butter Grouper

Craving lentils...I made these like one would make risotto--sauteed the lentils with shallot and garlic, adding liquid in the form of wine, a can of diced tomatoes, and chicken stock until lentils were al dente.  I also folded in plenty of freshly ground black pepper, parsley, and sliced mushrooms browned in sage butter.  The earthy flavors of the mushrooms compliment that of the lentils.  A bit of garlic oil was also drizzled on top of the lentils to finish.

As for the grouper - very simply done.  Salt, papper, and a dash of this amazing seasoning brought back from Italy - crushed red pepper flakes and herbs.  Seared in a hot non-stick pan with brown butter.

Yum!