The Experience of Grilled Pizza

I don't have a recipe for these delicious pizzas  (or vege flatbreads) but I can tell you what I did: 

1) First I made a simple pizza dough using whole wheat flour (for nutritional purposes) but you could use white flour if you so desired. But to make the dough more elastic and stretchy and non-stick I added probably a 1/4 cup olive oil to the dough, and let the dough rise for 1.5 hours in some olive oil. 

2) I used a charcoal grill (and real charcoal) to grill up some veges: eggplant, onion, red pepper, and zuchinee (you can use what ever vegetables you like)

3) after the veges were grilled I took the pizza dough I had prepared (by rolling it out on a floured surface) and threw it on a really hot grill. It is critical that the grill is REALLY HOT. I grilled it on both sides. Took it off the grill to add toppings then put it back on the grill just to melt the cheese. 

4) I sprinkled the pizzas with some fresh chard from my garden. 

5) SAT DOWN and ATE it with a beautiful side salad with lettuce  and nasturiums (an edible flour) from my garden. 

bon appetite!

Garden Booty!

 my purple string beans are growing up stalks of tomatoes

 swiss chard , and a slug trap

A day's Harvest: beets, tomatoes, and swiss chard

I finally got around to taking some pics of my full grown garden. The babies I planted in the spring are now all grown up (AWWWWW).  As of now my garden is quite a jungle. And the slugs are everywhere! But I have devised a slug trap that works pretty well. Put stale beer in cups throughout your garden; the slugs dive in,  get drunk... and die. (not a bad way to go for a slug)

 

Tomato pies

Before: Pies are not cooked 

The finished product: (garnished with a garlic scape)

Lilah copping the tomatoes from Wishingstone Farm

The first step of this recipe (for 1 pie 8 inches feeds 4 hungry people) is going to the farmers market and picking out the best possible tomatoes. I like getting a combination of different heirloom varieties. Even though they cook at different rates it adds to an interesting texture in the end. While you're at the farmers market pick up 2 onions and a hard cheese - I like Gruyere. As usual this recipe is great if the ingredients are great quality. 

After you return from your "pilgrimage to the farmers market" (yes I do consider the farmer's market my Mecca) your ready to get messy in the kitchen. As most of you know my kitchen is tiny so a mess is inevitable; luckily most of the mess ends up in my compost, which gets turned into soil that goes back into my garden. It's a beautiful system when I actually get around to cleaning. 

Now for the recipe: 

The crust. After talking to a couple of people I have come to the conclusion most are afraid of crust either because they fear the fattening (gasp) stick of butter used , or they are afraid that their crust will be a hard dense rock. I say to those people: butter is delicious (it makes things taste good and keeps you full) and don't make the dough too wet otherwise your crust will be the dense rock.

Directions:

Place 1 stick of butter chopped up in 2 of whole wheat flour with a 1/2 teaspoon salt

and break down the butter into the flour with your hands (Note: this is highly therapeutic)

Once the butter is completely invisible and the dough is clumping... add approx. 3-4 tablespoons of ice water. work the water into the dough until you can form a ball. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and put it into the fridge for 30 minutes. 

Note: I never make this recipe the same way twice. Sometimes I don't have whole wheat flour, sometimes I don't add any ice water, sometimes I add a little more flour. 

After 30 minutes roll out the dough on a floured surface till it is somewhere b/w 1/4-1/6 inch and it should be around 12 inches in diameter

The filling: 

caramelize the two onions: put a tablespoon of butter in a sauce pan and add a little sugar. Stir those onion at a medium heat till they are brown and soft. 

grate 3-4 ounces of gruyere cheese

slice up your favorite kalamata olives

1/2 pound sliced tomatoes

Layer: olives, cheese, onions, then tomatoes, then more cheese on the top into the middle area of the uncooked crust and fold the remaining crust over the filling. 

Bake : 30-45 minutes at 375 degrees. 

Where did July go?

Posts that have been delayed due to the lack of rainy days in July:

recipe for tomato pies - (secret ingredient: my best friends!)

the experience of grilling pizza - and yes it is an experience

the fact I grew 1/4 of an inch - its official I am 5'7

family gatherings

Nantucket - a destination vacation /babysitting trip

my babies are all grown up: I have tomatoes!!!

how to get rid of this years #1 garden pest- the SLUG!!!