Guest Grillin' (and bloggin') from Seattle

Lately I've been reading blogs alot more often than writing and right now I'm hooked on food blogs. Food writing is fun to read for so many reasons, but the best reason is that food is fantastic - to make - to eat - to look at - to smell - to read about - well, you get the idea. I found this "klutzie" blog via my college roommate who came for an extended visit and got me cooking again. She spoke of a friend who regularly made her own pasta and just like that - there was a post about just that! (I just might have to guest-post about the working-mother-of-two's attempt at making her own pasta in the future...)

Now that Summer has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest, I've been scouring the blogs for fun outdoor recipes. One led to another, then led to another, until suddenly, all of these blogs led me back to what a friend introduced us to a couple of years ago: GRILLED PIZZA!

Yes, it may sound totally crazy, but I actually even think it was Martha Stewart who was the initial inspiration for these.

Since my children (especially my son) enjoy eating pizza above all other foods, and they LOVE to help roll out the dough, we celebrated the 20th sunny-day-in-seattle-in-a-row by grillin' up some 'za! The kid-caveat here is that they don't always like the burned parts of grilled food, and they didn't get to build the pizza themselves since the grill is hot-ish but it was still a pretty huge success.

My treat was that I got to fill up my pizza with whatever I wanted! I used up all my farmer's market treats (in Seattle, the Spring Farmer's Markets are a little slim pickins).

Here's what we did:

Roll out your pizza dough (either pre-made or bought) into round-ish shapes and let it rest for a little while.

Heat up the grill so it's REALLY hot.

Grab a pizza peel/non-edged cookie sheet and sprinkle some corn meal or similarly-textured flour (semolina) on top and load up the dough.

Slide the dough onto the grill and close it.

Give it a couple minutes to puff up a bit and get brown, then flip it and let the 2nd side do the same.

Then TURN OFF THE GRILL! (otherwise... burn marks)

Dress your pizza time! 

Our kids: prefer just tomato sauce and cheese. 

Hubby: tomato sauce, cheese and any cured meat - preferably Salumi

Mine: olive oil base, potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, gruyere and bleu cheese. I think if I could have fit more on, I would have!

I think we'll be grilling lots of pizza this summer. I'll keep reading food blogs for ideas, and maybe even find a few more to pass along.

Thanks, Mary, for the guest spot and I hope you enjoyed your day off!

until next time... yum

Why I Roast My Chicken Under a Brick

Chicken under a brickI think the first time I ever had chicken roasted under a brick was at Obelisk, one of my favorite restaurants in DC.  I had never seen it prepared this way before--a golden brown crispy skin with a juicy, juicy, juicy interior-- and honestly I was hesitant to "just get chicken" at a restaurant of Obelisk's calibre.  (It was actually called "poussin" on the menu, which is a chicken less than 28 days old).  Our waiter assured me that it would be chicken like I had never tasted before.  She was right!

I think I finally perfected my recipe, but please comment if you would do something different.  I've tried making Cooks Illustrated's version (in the Jun '09 issue), but I thought that cooking the garlic and herbs added an unnecessary extra step and the grill, although it added a nice flavor, dried out the chicken.  I cook mine inside, starting it on the stove and then finishing it in the oven.  I brine my bird first and then (thanks to the Cook's Illustrated recipe) add a combination of herbs, lemon zest, olive oil, and salt directly under the skin of the bird.  This adds tons of flavor, but prevents the herbs and garlic from burning when you crisp the skin.

If you want to taste the juciest chicken you have ever eaten before, try this recipe.  I promise you won't be disappointed!

By the way, I'm taking the day off tomorrow.  Luckily my friend Jannine has graciously agreed to fill in for me!  Happy eating.