Grilled Margherita Pizza

I'd been trying to make grilled pizza for numerous days before it actually happened. During the summer in Florida we get daily afternoon rain showers and every time I'd plan on grilling pizza it would rain, I finally got a great weather day yesterday. This is a super easy and delicious way to make pizza, the crust is crunchy without being crispy, does this make sense? It also doesn't heat up the house which in the summertime is a huge bonus, AND the pizza tasted like it had been cooked in a wood oven. This was probably the best tasting homemade pizza I've ever made; next time Olivia wants me to top it with more traditional toppings, I'll be sure to do that and keep you posted.

Ingredients

1 Ball of Pizza Dough, I buy mine at the grocery store, or you can make your own

1 Ball of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

2 Roma Tomatoes

2 Cloves Garlic, rough chopped

Fresh Basil

Olive Oil

Sea Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper

Turn grill on. Roll out pizza dough on floured countertop. I didn't worry about it being perfectly round, I was going for the rustic look. Next brush on some olive oil onto one side of the crust, transfer crust to hot grill, place oiled side down. Add additional oil to the "up" side of the pizza dough. Let cook on high for roughly 5 minutes, or until the crust starts to bubble and brown on the bottom. Flip dough over and cook on second side for another 5 minutes. Carefully remove hot crust, carry it on a cutting board back into kitchen or work area. Place a large piece of aluminum foil underneath cooked dough. Place sliced pieces of mozzarella cheese and chopped garlic on top of pizza dough and head back outside. Place aluminum foiled pizza back on grill, turn the heat down to medium and close the lid. Let cook until cheese is melted and bubbling, approximately 10 minutes. In the meantime go slice your tomatoes and basil. Once cheese is melted, place the sliced tomatoes and fresh basil on top and immediately remove from grill. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper and serve. Serves 4 

Ingredients

Cover your rolled out dough with olive oil

Place it on the grill

Flipping the dough over

Look at the awesome grill marks

My photographer Olivia, she took the grilling shots for me

 Place sliced mozzarella and garlic on cooked dough and place back on grill

Roma tomatoes and basil ready to top the pizza

Yummy melted cheese

Add the tomatoes

And fresh basil and dinner is ready

Enjoy!

James Beal's BBQ Sauce

My mother in law made this sauce for my husband while he was growing up and it's one of his favorites. Yesterday we used it in a BBQ pork contest and everyone raved about the sauce, you've got to give it a try. This sauce has a nice kick to it. (I always double this recipe)

Ingredients
3/4 c Granulated Sugar
1/2 c Dark Brown Sugar, packed
2/3 c rich, Dark Beef Base, made from double strength bullion or consomme
1 quart Hot Water
2/3 c Mustard
1/3 c White Vinegar
1/3 c Liquid Smoke
2/3 Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/3 c Tomato Paste (10 2/3 oz)
3 TBSP Chili Powder
3 TBSP Dried Jalapeno Peppers

In a 3 quart saucepan, mix the sugars and beef base in the water. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is dissolved.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered over low heat for at least 2 hours. Pour over your favorite bbq meat.

Source; Jane Butel

Barbecue Coleslaw

This last weekend my husband put 12 pounds of pork butt into our smoker and made me a very happy person! He spent 9 hours babysitting the smoker, adding wood chips when needed, and the end result was a lot of delicious smoke flavored pulled pork. This coleslaw is to be served on top of pulled pork, we scooped huge servings of pork onto soft rolls and then piled on this spicy coleslaw, top with bbq sauce! What an amazing taste!

I have a bbq cookbook that I go to often for great sides; I suggest you check out this book.

Ingredients
1 medium head White Cabbage
3 TBSP Granulated Sugar
1 c Cider Vinegar
2/3 Ketchup
1/2 c Water
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
3/4 tsp Salt
Dash Tabasco Sauce

Grate or thinly slice cabbage. In a small a sauce pan, combine the sugar and vinegar and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the other ingredients and simmer over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. If the mixture seems too thick , thin with 2 TBSP warm water. Pour the warm sauce over the grated cabbage, toss to combine throughly. The recipe calls for you to serve it immediately, but I let it sit on the counter for at least another 30 minutes.  Place large spoonful on top of pulled pork. Tastes great cold as a side dish also!

Ingredients

Shred the cabbage

Pour the hot mixture over the cabbage, mix

All that is missing is the sauce!

Enjoy!

Here are some pics of our smoked pork butts

 Pork butts, I purchased them at Sam's Club

Yumm, can you almost taste it?

Shred it up!

Houston's Hawaiian Ribeye Steaks

Houston's is one of our favorite restaurants and recently it's undergone a name change but luckily the food seems to be the same. This marinade is a wonderful enhancement  to any cut of meat and I am going to try this with chicken and pork.  My husband claims the taste is exactly like the restaurant version. 

Ingredients

1/3 c Apple Cider Vinegar

6 oz can of Pineapple Juice

1 c  Light Soy Sauce

1/2 c Brown Sugar

2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp minced Ginger

4-6 Ribeye Steaks

Combine in a saucepan and heat up slightly to let the flavors come together.  
Let the marinade cool completely.  Pour into a  Ziploc bag with the rib eyes and place in a container in the fridge. Marinate the ribeye for a minimum of 2 days. Bring steaks to room temperature before grilling. 
Grilling time depends on YOU, we love this medium rare. It cooked very fast, minutes per side.

Enjoy!

London Broil

We love to grill London Broil at our home and I have a fool proof method that's easy and yummy! I love this cut of meat and whenever the butcher has a special I fill my freezer.

Ingredients
3/4 c Worcestershire Sauce
2 cloves Garlic, minced
London Broil, your choice of weight




In a large ziploc bag mix Worcestershire and garlic, place meat in bag and seal. Let sit overnight.

 Place London Broil on a hot gas grill and let cook for 15 minutes, turn over and cook for another 15 minutes.  ( if your steak is thick you may need longer cooking time) Test the doneness of your meat with a meat temperature gage, we prefer ours medium rare. Let rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before thinly slicing. Serve immediately.

Out of the Ziploc and ready for the grill

this is after 24 hours of marinading 

My marinade bag

On the grill

Off the grill and resting

Enjoy! 

Summer Party Season Starts!

It's finally Memorial Day weekend which means the end of school and the start of grilling season. Here are two of my favorite BBQ sauce recipes, plus some other goodies as well.

Jack Daniels Rib Sauce is an amazing sauce that tastes great on more than just ribs!

Memphis Sweet Sauce is a yummy sweet sauce that goes great with chicken.

If you are having a BBQ then you've got to make Mac and Cheese, it's an American thing.

Confetti Squares are one of our favorite party treats, they are easy to make and even easier to eat!

Enjoy!

Jack Daniel's BBQ Rib Sauce

            Last weekend I made two different kinds of sauce, this one worked best for the smoked  chicken, but I think Jack Daniels is best on ribs, shredded chicken/pork. The tangy taste is awesome. I have some leftover chicken in the fridge and tomorrow night I'm going to shred it and pour some of this goodness all over it and serve it on a whole wheat bun.

Ingredients

1 cup Jack Daniel's Whiskey

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a saucepan and mix well. Simmer for 20 minutes then allow to cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you make it a few days in advance the flavors will have more time to blend together. This sauce is thinner than maybe what you are use to, but the flavors are nice. A great sauce to put on ribs. 

Enjoy!

Memphis (sweet) Barbeque Sauce

I made this barbecue sauce today and it's a winner; sweet with a kick. It's super easy and it tasted great slathered on the smoked chicken my husband made. I forgot to take an 'after picture', and there were no leftovers...guess that's a good thing :)

Ingredients 

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 2 red chili seeded and chopped
• 500ml or 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• 3 tablespoons molasses
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons English mustard (ready mixed, not powdered)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• Juice of a lemon
• 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Heat a saucepan, melt the butter and throw in the onions and chillies for about 3-4 mins until the onions turn translucent.
Then simply throw in the rest of the ingredients, simmer for about 10 minutes and you’re ready to go.

Source: Barbecue Smoker Recipes