Two Pizzas, Some Pita, and The Great Scape (11 of 42)

This post comes in the middle of Big Green Box Week.  The Big Green Box is a survival kit for disaster victims put together and delivered by ShelterBox.  The contents of the Big Green Box are tailored to the locale, but they include a 10 person tent, cooking equipment, a water purifier, tools, blankets and other necessities.  It is a practical, no nonsense approach that really helps people.  Watch this video to learn more and consider supporting ShelterBox during Big Green Box Week.   

There is a sort of Gregorian/Julian calendar thing going on with this baking challenge.  Michelle, our Sensei at Big Black Dog, denominates this as the 13th Braid, while I characterize it as the 11th of 42.  That is because I am counting based on the "Official Schedule" which started in January of this year.  We had two bonus braids at the end of 2009, before the start of the "Official Schedule," which accounts for the difference.  The reason I am bringing this up, however, is that either way we have passed the 1/4 mark!   And what better way to celebrate than with pizza?

This assignment calls for making two pizzas, how great is that.  All the recipes this time use the Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil, but you could certainly use the Master Recipe.  Since I was going to be using this batch for pizza crusts I added some Garlic and Herb seasoning to the dry ingredients.  The first pizza I made was the Oven-Baked Whole Grain Pizza with Roasted Red Peppers and Fontina--well sort of.  

The recipe calls for roasting the peppers on the grill, so I decided to cook the pizza there as well, since the grill was all fired up (as was I).   I also added a green pepper, because I had one I needed to use.  And some mushrooms because, why not?   For the cheese I used a Fiave Fontina.  I roasted the peppers, put them in a bowl and covered them to let them steam to loosen the skins.  

It is often the small things in life that are the most satisfying, and this is a really small thing.  I have a cutting board where the cutting surface slopes, the Cut and Carve Chopping Board. It is designed to contain meat juices.  In what for me was a Eureka! moment, I realized it would also work really well to cut fruit, since it would contain those juices too.  Since the recipe here called for saving the juices from the pepper, I thought AH-HA (instead of Eureka!), and used it for the peppers as well.  

Once my toppings were prepped, I rolled out the dough on parchment paper and docked it. Note that I trimmed the parchment paper closely around the dough to prevent burning.  When I put the dough on the grill I used the parchment paper to make moving it manageable, but I flipped the dough over onto the grill so that the parchment paper was UP.  After a minute or so the parchment paper came right off.


When the bottom was nicely baked I pulled it off the grill, flipped it over, topped it with the peppers, mushrooms and fontina, and slid it back onto the grill to finish baking.  A few more minutes and  we had a really good Grilled Whole Grain Pizza with Roasted Red and Green Peppers and Fontina.

Next up was the Pesto Pizza with Grilled Chicken on the Gas Grill (With the Pizza Stone).  I have only grilled pizza and flatbread directly on the grill grates, so I was interested in how this method compared.  Instead of their pesto, however, I made my own.  I had garlic scapes that needed to be picked, so I made a Garlic Scape and Almond Pesto, which I adapted from the Garlic Scape and Almond Pesto recipe at In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie.  Basically, to reduce the fat, I used only half as much olive oil and added a whole tomato, diced, to the food processor to make up the difference. 


Garlic scapes are the flower stalks of stiff-neck garlic, and if harvested when young they are tender with a mild garlic flavor.  It is also thought that harvesting them forces more of the energy into bulb formation, but Ron Engeland in Growing Great Garlic feels that harvesting the scapes too early can have an adverse impact on how long the garlic will store.  If you wait as long as he suggests, however, the scapes are too woody for cooking.  Life is all about choices and trade-offs.  I picked my scapes.



I like to pound my chicken out a bit before grilling, I think it evens it out and helps it cook more quickly and evenly.   To do this, being a guy, I turned to my toolbox and got my trusty rubber mallet.  You would be surprised at how handy a good mallet can be in the kitchen.  And it helps relieve stress.



Once the chicken was grilled I rolled out the crust, on parchment paper, spread the pesto on it, topped it with the grilled chicken, slid it onto the stone in the grill, and baked it at about 500 degrees.

To crisp the bottom of the crust, I pulled the parchment paper out about half way through cooking.




The result was quite tasty, and without cheese very light. 

Since the grill was hot, I threw on a split head of romaine lettuce and made Orange and Blue Grilled Romaine Salad.
 It too was very, very good. 



As for the method, it worked fine.  But once you are finished you have a 500 degree pizza stone sitting on your grill.  Discretion being the better part of valor, you leave it to cool.  Then you forget it is out there.  So when you go to make bread the next day the stone is not in the oven, and you think someone broke into your house during the night and the only thing they stole was your pizza stone.  (This may sound far-fetched, but if you have children the misappropriation of your stuff, such as extension cords and tools and tomato sauce, is an all too common experience.)  Then you remember it is on the grill.  Of course, it is raining.  Anyway, I think grilling directly on the grates is a bit easier, a bit quicker, and gives the pizza more of a grilled flavor.  On the other hand, using the pizza stone gives more control and you are less likely to char the crust, not that that is necessarily a bad thing if you do not turn it into a cinder.  Choices and trade-offs.


With the pizzas tucked away it was finally time for the Seed Encrusted Pita Bread.  I really get a kick out of making pita.  I particularly love the way it puffs up.  In my oven, to get the pitas baked but still soft I bake them at 500 for 6 minutes.  Then I stick them in my Bamboo Bread Bag to cool.  (These bags were mentioned in our Discussion Group and the Bamboo Bag people supported our Braid by donating a bag which Michelle gave (to someone else) as a prize.)



I rolled out the dough in an approximation of a circle about 1/8 of an inch thick.  Rather than making one large pita I divided the dough and made several smaller ones.  I confess to being an America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated groupie (though I do not wear a bow tie unless it is with a tux).  I am a sucker for the equipment they recommend.  As we watch the program together my saintly wife will often notice that something they are using, a knife or a cooling rack or a ladle, looks familiar.  My latest lapse is the ISI Silicone Scraper Spatula which is handy not only for dividing dough but also great for getting it off the counter or the floor and just generally  scooping things up.  
 
To keep the seeds on the pitas after they were baked I got the tops pretty wet, and after sprinkling on the seeds (a mix of toasted sesame, poppy and sunflower) I lightly pressed the seeds into the dough with my hands, a technique I also use on loaves to get the seeds to stick.  The pitas did not puff like they usually do, and I think it was perhaps due to this treatment with the seeds.  On the other hand, the seeds did stick pretty well, and they still tasted good.  Choices and trade-offs. 


Well, that's all for this time.  Tune in on July 1st for Berry Bread and Banana Bread.