Flat Bread Pizza......on the Grill!!!!

One of our favorite things to do during the winter time is make homemade pizza.  There's something special about making dough from scratch, loading it up with your own toppings, and cooking it to that golden goodness.  So what to do in the summer when it's 85, hot and humid, and you don't want to heat up the house....how about using the grill???  It's pretty simple to do, all you need to do is fire up the grill like you normally would, buy some pre-made flat bread (they work perfect as a pizza crust), and choose your cheese and toppings.  In this instance I made my own flat bread on the grill to use as our crust (this will be a post for a later date).


I brushed the flat bread with some olive oil and topped it with some fresh mozzarella, basil and scallions from the garden, salt and pepper, and some thinly sliced tomatoes on mine.

I moved the coals over to one side on the grill to let the pizza cook over an indirect heat - nothing worse than a burn crust.  And covered them up for about 10 minutes.

Once the cheese started to get brown I pulled them off the grill and we dug in.  I was surprised to find the the crust had a nice crunch but it was still nice and chewy on the inside, and the toppings melded together perfectly. 

 

It went so well that the wife had informed me that she only wants pizza done in this manner from now on....we'll see about that.

Schwabl's in West Seneca

A nice video celebrating one of my favorite all time restaurants, Schwabl's in West Seneca NY - simply the best Beef on Weck you'll get in WNY.  We hope to get there soon to share some of our owns pics of the place.

I have many fond memories of my Mom and Dad taking all of kids to Schwabl's when we were younger.  I remember my Dad pointing out the doorbells that used to line the walls and him explaining how "back in the day" that's how they'd call the waitress.  My Dad always got a Martini, my Mom got a Manhattan, and I got the Birch Beer (on tap no less) - still do to this day.

If you have never been to Schwabl's for a Beef on Weck, I'd suggest doing so....and quickly!

Honey Ginger BBQ Pork

My good friend Damon came into work the other day bragging about some phenomenal ribs he made with a Honey Ginger BBQ Recipe that he stumbled upon.  Not to be out done, I wanted to give this recipe a try too.   Unfortunately, I happened to be out of ribs this weekend, but lurking in the back of our freezer was a nice pork tenderloin that we had been saving for a rainy day - I thought "what the heck" and gave it a shot.

Here's what I used...Damon's initial recipe was double amounts shown to accommodate his ribs, I needed less for the tenderloin

Honey Ginger BBQ Sauce:

1 - 2lb pork tenderloin
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root

Glaze:
2/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh gingerroot

Mix the ingredients of the Honey Ginger BBQ Sauce together until well blended.  Place the tenderloin in a 1 gallon freezer bag and cover with the sauce, let sit for 2 - 24 hours.  The longer it sits, the better the flavor.

I waited to make the glaze until right before I put the pork on the fire.  I mixed all the ingredients into a small plastic bowl and set aside until I was ready for it.

Seeing as pork tenderloin is very lean, I like to cook it over an indirect heat.  Simply place your coals on one side of the grill and keep the tenderloin on the opposite side.  Cover it up for about 15 min, and flip it over. 

About 30 min in, I added the corn on the cob we had with our meal.  The corn sat in a nice vat of sugar water for about 2 hours.  I placed the corn directly over the coals, the heat from the coals steams the corn from within the husk.

After another 15 minutes, I gave the tenderloin a nice coating of the glaze on both side and flipped the corn over.

I moved the tenderloin directly over the coals to help brown it up and bring it to temp.  Pork needs to be at least 170 degrees.

We cut the pork up into thin slices and enjoyed it with our buttered corn.  A perfect meal for a nice summer night.

Thanks again to Damon for recipe, this was well enjoyed by my wife and myself....

Greek Bruschetta Burger

My wife likes to make a Greek Styled Bruschetta when we have company.  Unlike the Italian version, my wife will add in onions, feta cheese, and red wine vinegar to give it a Greek kick.  One time when we were grilling burgers, I noticed that we had some left over Bruschetta topping in the fridge and thought I'd give it a whirl on mine and was very pleased with the results. 


Bruschetta Topping

2 medium sized tomatoes diced
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
feta cheese for topping

Combine cut up tomatoes and onion in a medium size container.  In a separate container, combine the red wine vinegar and olive oil, add in onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning - mix together well and adjust flavors to your taste.  Pour red wine mixture over tomatoes and onions and let sit for 30 min to an hour.  

In the meantime.....

Mix up your burger mix to your liking, we like 90% lean with some salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. 

Fire up the grill and choose your beverage of choice

I broke in my new charcoal starter today, no more starter fluid for me

Soon as you see flames, you know the coals are ready

Cook your burgers to your liking

Top your burger with the Bruschetta mix and some feta cheese, use the roll of your choice......and devour.

 

These are yummy!

Clam Bake!

For my Brother and Sister's 50th Birthday (yes, they're twins) we decided to a backyard Clam Bake on the Grill  The star attractions for the day were Lobster, Clams, Crab Legs, Craw Fish, Sausage, Corn and Potatoes.  There were worries that this may be too big a task for us to handle, but it actually turned out to be not so hard to pull off.

The workspace

The invited guest

We loaded up the critters in large foil pans filled with an inch of water, we added Old Bay Spice and Lemon.  We started off with a layer of little neck Clams and then placed the Lobsters on top.

We then added in the Crab Legs.

We had a separate steamer pot going on a propane burner that handles the Corn, Potatoes, Sausage, and Craw Fish

We covered the foil pans with tin foil and placed them on the grill to steam for 30 minutes

After they came off the grill we split up the goodies into piles for everyone to pick from.  My other brother was spotted drinking the leftover juice from the bottom of the pans. 

 

It was a warm sunny day and we enjoyed the meal with some ice cold beers.....who could ask for a better day????

All in all, this made for a memorable birthday(s) and fun afternoon.