Homemade Pizza Sauce for Grilled Pizza

Yes, its another tomato recipe. I still have tomatoes and the freezer isn’t full yet so I adventured into pizza grilled on my gas BBQ, with of course homemade sauce. My inspiration was the August issue of Sunset. I grew up with my mom using Sunset recipes carefully cut from the magazine, then I used the annual editions and now I go on line to myrecipes.com

The pizza sauce was spicy and delicious and I suggest that you do as I did, and make a double batch so you can freeze half. It takes about 2 hours from start to finish but this slow long cooking creates the caramelized rich flavor that you can’t buy in a jar or can. You can top the pizza with cooked mushrooms & peppers, any thin sliced salami or cooked sausages and of course cheese. Or try adding fresh chopped arugula or caramelized onions. You can use frozen purchased dough or use the Sunset Recipe for dough below. This will produce a very thin crisp crust that works well on the grill.

Fresh Tomato Pizza Sauce

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 4 large red tomatoes (2 lbs. total), peeled & chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves

Preparation

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.

Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Stir in tomatoes, sugar, chili flakes, salt, and pepper.

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until very thick, about 1 1/2 hours.

Stir in fresh oregano after it has thickened.

Grilled pizza video clip, using the Sunset magazine technique. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipes/grilling/video/0,31108,1905054,00.html

Sunsets’ Best Pizza Dough

Time: 3 hours, including rising.

Yield Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 package (2 1/4 tsp.) active dry yeast
• About 6 tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir yeast into 1 1/2 cups warm water (100° to 110°). Let stand until yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Add 1/4 cup oil, the flour, and salt. Mix with dough hook on low speed to blend, then mix on medium speed until dough is very smooth and stretchy, 8 to 10 minutes. Dough will feel tacky.

2. Cover dough and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

3. Punch down dough and let rise again until doubled, 30 to 45 minutes. Meanwhile, cut 6 pieces of parchment paper, each about 12 in. long. Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for medium heat (about 350°; you can hold your hand 5 in. above cooking grate only about 7 seconds).

4. Turn dough out onto a work surface and cut into 6 portions. For each pizza, lay a sheet of parchment on work surface and rub with 1 tsp. oil. Using well-oiled hands, put each dough portion on a parchment sheet. Flatten dough portions, then pat into 9- to 10-in. rounds. If dough starts to shrink, let rest 5 minutes, then pat out again. Let dough stand until puffy, about 15 minutes.

5. Flip a round of dough onto grill, dough side down. Peel off parchment. Put 1 or 2 more dough rounds on grill. Cook, covered, until dough has puffed and grill marks appear underneath, about 3 minutes. Transfer rounds, grilled side up, to baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. (Grilled rounds can stand at room temperature up to 2 hours; reheat grill to continue.)

6. Arrange your choice of pizza toppings (below) on grilled sides of dough. With a wide spatula, return pizzas, 2 or 3 at a time, to grill and cook, covered, until browned and crisp underneath, rotating pizzas once for even cooking, 4 to 6 minutes.

Make ahead: Complete dough through step 1, then chill, covered, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days (dough will double in size, and flavor will develop as it stands).

101 Seasonal Summer Salads

Mark Bittman of the NY Times is amazing. He posted a wonderful list of 101 summer salads. So if you're in a rut, check this list out for great new ideas and combinations of seasonal ingredients.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
Sometimes all a home cook needs is an inspiring list like this and then like magic a great seasonal salad is created and savoured!

Fish, Fennel and what else? Tomatoes of course!

I’m still making tomato sauce for winter nights ahead, and trying to eat them now too. So yesterday after the sauce was finished, I decided to pair the sauce with fish. One of the vendors at our farmers market sells wild fennel pollen and I decided to use it in creating this easy healthy dish. This fish preparation uses the usual Mediterranean ingredients which of course includes the tomato sauce made with olive oil, garlic and onions, and with both fresh fennel & fennel pollen, and kalamata olives.
The fish I used was Orange Roughy but you can substitute another firm white fish.This can be baked in the oven but because its 100+ degrees in Visalia, I decided to baked this fish dish in heavy duty foil lined with parchment paper on my gas grill.
The method is simple: each ingredient is layered one on top of another, then the packet is folded shut and place in the center of a the medium high grill, and the cover is closed.
First place on the parchment/foil sheet, one sliced fresh fennel bulb, a small sliced red onion (¼ cup), ¼ tsp fennel pollen, cover these vegetables with ½ cup of your fresh (or thawed frozen) tomato sauce. Place 1 lb of fish filet on top, add another ½ cup of tomato sauce, another ¼ tsp of fennel pollen and ¼ cup chopped pitted kalamata olives. Bake just until the fish flakes easily and is no longer translucent. Open the packet and check with a fork after about 10 minutes. It’s not necessary to complete close the packet if you need to continue baking the fish.
This will serve 3-4 and is lovely with a lightly dressed fresh green salad.

Peaches, Peaches, Peaches

Peaches are here and they are very juicy and delicious. Thankfully some of the best peaches are in our own farmer's market this month. This Saturday July 18, I was at the Visalia farmer's market demonstrating how to make stone fruit salsa, and you'll find a master recipe here. You can substitute peaches with pluots or nectarines, or use all three. This is good with chips or served with a chili rubbed grilled pork tenderloin, or grilled chicken. I used rice wine vinegar instead of citrus juice for the acid it was delicious. I also used lemon basil instead of the cilantro.

Peach Salsa
Because I think of fruit salsa as spontaneous and I use what I have on hand, it is hard to write a recipe for salsa, but there are a few guidelines. Use ripe but firm peaches, peeled or unpeeled; diced bell peppers and/or onion; an acidic liquid of some sort, either fruit juice or vinegar; and, if you don’t want to stop there, a handful of some other pungent or flavorful ingredient, from the spicy (chipotles, for instance) to the sweet (such as honey). The proportions of peaches to other ingredients can vary so this makes it extra hard to write a specific recipe, but here’s a good place to start.
Remember to start chopping and mixing, and when the salsa looks and tastes about right, let it sit for at least an hour or so to allow the juices and flavors to blend, and then serve/eat.

2 ripe, but firm medium peaches
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (or rice wine vinegar, or other citrus juice)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup diced red and/or green bell pepper
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon (or to taste) minced jalapeno pepper, (or Serrano chili)
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Great with roast pork tender loin, grilled fish, or chicken breasts.

home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes....

Only two things that money can’t buy are,
True love and home grown tomatoes…..

I guess I’m a better gardener than I thought, because my counter top is covered with large grape tomatoes, plump Romas and beautiful beefsteaks. So last night, under a full moon, I made classic marinara sauce and roasted a baking sheet full of grape tomatoes. I packed them in gallon zip lock bags, flattened them out and then placed them in my small, but essential, garage freezer.

Here are some tips on how to do the same with your own home grown tomatoes or some beauties from your farmers market.

I think my favorite tip this summer has been blanching garlic before using it. This takes out the raw flavor and mellows it a bit. It’s especially important when you aren’t cooking the garlic, such as in dressings. A good example is the classic Italian Insalata Caprese, a salad of sliced fresh tomatoes, layered between fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves, topped with chopped garlic, olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar, plus fresh salt and pepper to taste.

To blanch garlic: Separate the clove, unpeeled and place a pot of boiling water for about 1- 1 ½ minutes. Drain, cool and peel. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator until ready to use, within a week.
When making sauce, it best to take the time to peel and seed the tomatoes. If left on, the peel becomes a mini roll up and has unappealing texture, and the same is true of too many seeds.
Peel and seed tomatoes:
Place whole washed tomatoes with an X cut into the bottom, into a boiling pot of water to 30 + seconds. Remove the whole tomato, cool, then the peel will easily slip off. Cut each around the belly, then wiggle you r fingers into the seed pockets over the sink, to remove many of the seeds. There is a lot of flavor around the seeds so you don’t need to remove them all. Now you’re ready to add your fresh homegrown tomatoes to your favorite sauce recipe. Substitute these flavor bombs into any recipe that called for canned whole or diced tomatoes.
Roasting grape, Roma or large cherry tomatoes:
Wash and cut each tomato in half lengthwise. If needed, scoop out the green or white stem section. In a large bowl, toss with salt and pepper, chopped blanched garlic, olive oil, to cover but not drown . Place them face up on a parchment paper lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast in 450° oven (or on a gas BBQ grill) until they have reduced in size and are beginning to brown. Top with chopped fresh basil, and serve along with bread or over pasta, on pizza etc.
A small batch of roasted tomatoes can be done using the same method and ingredients on the stove top. These will be wetter and are best served with good bread to soak up the juices. These are amazing and taste similar to sun dried tomatoes. When you pull them out of the freezer this winter, they will be a bit of summer sunshine.

For still more tomato recipes and a great guide to fresh herbs, from Food & Wine:

http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/tomatoes/1

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/herb-guide

cool sorbet idea

It's very hot everywhere in California, so here's a cool idea. Lavender is plentiful right now because it loves the dry heat of summer. Try this easy and elegant sorbet with some fresh lavender from your garden or farmers market. A small scoop alongside another sorbet like plum or even commercial ice cream is very beautiful.

A link to a video I did for the local paper last year is alongside. It includes 2 more sorbet recipes, one for strawberry and another for roasted apricots. Enjoy!

Lavender Sorbet
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 tablespoon lavender flowers
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice & 2 tablespoons vodka
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water until the sugar dissolves. Add the lavender flowers; stir until mixture comes to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand approximately 10 minutes.
Place a fine strainer over a large bowl and pour syrup mixture through (straining out the lavender flowers). Add lemon juice and vodka to the strained syrup mixture; stir until thoroughly blended.
Ice Cream Maker - Transfer mixture to ice cream maker, process according to manufacturer's instructions.
Freezer Method - Pour into container, cover, and place mixture in the freezer. When it is semi-solid, mash it up with a fork and refreeze again. When frozen, place in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Cover and refreeze until serving time.

Grilling Squash

Today's Farmers Market was full of squash so here's another great way to serve it. Make sure the grill is on medium not high and keep an eye on the squash. The key to the wonderful flavor is to put the seasoning on after you grilled the squash. In this case that is a lemon basil dressing. I usually serve this room temperature and prepare it on my gas grill before I do the meat, fish or chicken.

GRILLED ZUCCHINI AND RED ONION
Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated May 2009
After about five minutes, faint grill marks should begin to appear on the undersides of the vegetables; if necessary, adjust their position on the grill or adjust the heat level.

Ingredients
1 large red onion , peeled and cut crosswise into four 1/2-inch-thick rounds
3 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), ends trimmed, sliced lengthwise into 3/4-inch-thick planks or a mixture of several different squash
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 small garlic clove , minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1/2 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon finely grated zest from 1 lemon plus 1 tablespoon juice
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
1. Thread onion rounds, from side to side, onto 2 metal skewers. Brush onion and zucchini evenly with ¼ cup olive oil and season with 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt) and pepper to taste.
2. Whisk remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, mustard, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt (or ¼ teaspoon table salt) together in small bowl; set aside.
3. Grill vegetables over medium heat, turning once, until tender and caramelized, 18 to 22 minutes (move vegetables as needed to ensure even cooking.
4. Transfer vegetables to platter; remove skewers from onion and discard any charred outer rings. Rewhisk vinaigrette and pour over vegetables. Sprinkle with basil and serve.