Zesty Cook » pizza

Brick Oven and Masters Golf

zesty — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:39:34 +0000

This means that you are so full your belly hurts.

Why is it every time I visit my in laws – I feel like I gain 5lbs. Am I a pig or do I just love to eat? Let’s go for the latter as calling someone a pig may be a bit rude.

From opening pretzel snacks and jelly beans, to salsa, guacamole and nachos, followed up with brick oven pizza and chocolate cream cheese cupcakes… I mean seriously – you cannot eat that. That would be a damn shame!

Ok, so we did enjoy the masters. Great finish going into a playoff and one of my favorite tournaments to watch. Between you and me ( but don’t tell anyone) I would not care what was on TV as long as I get invited to the brick oven show!

I have been practicing on manual setting with my camera as of late so – not sure what you will think of the pictures today. I took a few from the festivities yesterday in hopes I could share them with you.

enjoy

A Little Salsa Heat

Fresh Made Guacamole.... YUM

Getting the Paddle ready for some dough. I am smiling even though you can't see me.

Sauce it up.... homemade to boot.

Would you like a little Mozzarella?

Freshly sliced mushrooms.. I like!

The Inlaw in action.... I am thinking hand model yet again!

The Finale.... tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and a little salami - All for me

Another shot... cause I love this

Chocolate Cream cheese Cupcakes make a return. Click the picture for all the details

That is the wrap up! As I sit here on Monday morning… I am still somewhat full. Yesterday’s food was fantastic. Company was fun and the golf enjoyable! A great Easter Sunday. I will talk to you on Wednesday with a little news of what’s to come with Zesty.

Take care

zesty

Simple Barbecue Salad Pizza

zesty — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:00:12 +0000

A simple crust and simple toppings made for a fresh summer pizza without all the grease and without the summer.

This dough recipe comes from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart. I really enjoyed this recipe as it turned out really well. For me pizza is all about the crust! Toppings are good but I am a huge fan when it’s light on the toppings and sauce but heavy on the crust.

If you are interested in a new whole wheat pizza dough, I highly recommend this recipe. It is very simple and produces a great texture. I opted for a thin crust and placed the pizza directly on the grill for a little crunch. YUM!

Ingredients

Dough

1 1/2 Cups Warm Water
2 Packets (1/4 Ounce Each) Active Dry Yeast
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Tsp. Salt
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

Pizza Toppings

Basil Pesto ( Love this! )
Pine nuts
Mozzarella Cheese
Tomatoes
Arugula

Method

Place water in large bowl – sprinkle with yeast.
Let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes).
Brush another large bowl with Olive Oil.
In bowl with yeast, whisk sugar, oil and salt. Stir in flours until a sticky dough forms.
Transfer to oiled bowl (brush top of dough with oil).
Cover dough with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm place until it doubles in size (about an hour).
Turn dough onto a well floured surface and knead until smooth.
Preheat Barbecue to Medium-High on one side.
Prepare in shape of pizza and begin to assemble pizza dough.
Spread pesto and then some cheese.
Add toppings from above except arugula
On the BBQ, place pizza on the side with no heat and close the lid
Time varies depending on the thickness of your crust (12-20 minutes).
Add arugula at the very end with some more feta cheese.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I like to use indirect heat for the pizza so that the barbecue acts like an oven and doesn’t burn the pizza before it is cooked. Indirect heat refers to putting heat on one side of the barbecue and placing the food on the opposite side.

Have a super weekend and hopefully we get some warm sun… this cold air is killing me.

Take care

zesty

A “Corny” Cobbler and Pizza Weekend!

zesty — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:00:16 +0000

Hi and happy Monday… or so I hope it is a happy start to the week. I am still recovering from the excitement over the weekend. There was absolutely no time for house work this weekend, minus a little bit of tidying and cleaning up. It started on Saturday and ran through right until Sunday evening. We were invited to a pizza party at the zesty in-laws on Saturday which to me simply means…. wear the loosest pants you have because you are going to be stuffed. They never disappoint and Saturday was no exception.

Not only did we have amazing pizza for a couple of hours… including a really nice combination of shrimp, basil and tomato but the phenom baker of the group decided to dazzle us with a Peach and Maple Crumble for dessert. As I was looking in the kitchen at the start of the night, I noticed the Pioneer Woman’s cookbook out on the counter and I had a funny feeling something was in store.

I had never tried this dessert before but … oh man! This is a must at some point in your life. Delicious!

A photo courtesy of Pioneer Woman

Now not only was Saturday night full of fun, Sunday was packed with a corn maze walk, shooting cobs of corn from a cannon, driving around on John Deere peddle tractors and eating ice cream.

Oh did I forget to mention that we also bought some corn ( 19 to be exact – a baker’s dozen and 1/2 dozen ). We did some boiled and some grilled. Oh, this corn was delicious!!! Such a fun weekend and now back to the grind of … real life.

Have a super Monday and I will talk to you all on hump day.

Take care

zesty