Articles from August 2017

Grilled Mediterranean Pizza

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Grilled Mediterranean Pizza

Ingredients

Basic Pizza Dough

  • 1 pkg dry yeast
  • 1 1/3 cup hot water (110 degrees)
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 3/4 cup flour

Toppings

  • olive oil & 4-7 finely chopped garlic cloves (in place of traditional sauce)
  • 20 medium pre-cooked shrimp, detailed season with Bay seasoning, salt, pepper, lemon
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil
  • 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
  • 4 oz Feta crumbled cheese
  • 4 oz grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 lemon squeezed and ready to squeeze over pizza before serving

Instructions

Dough

  1. Mix yeast and water and let stand until yeast foams.

  2. Kneed for 12 minutes or until elastic. Place dough in bowl lightly covered with olive oil and coat dough with a bit. Cover with towel and let rise in a warm place (at least 80 degrees.) Allow to rise until doubled in size 1 ½- 2 hours. 

  3. Roll out into circle or square and flour each side until stable and ready for grill.


  4. Heat grill to 500 degrees, turn off one side of gas grill and turn down flames to medium on the one operating side. Place dough directly on hot side until browned then flip and move to side turned off. 

  5. Put olive oil garlic and all toppings on and shut lid so the dough bakes. If the dough browns before the inside is fully baked, put on a baking sheet and continue to bake on the side turned off. (This Houdini maneuver prevents your dough from burning before it is cooked all the way through.)


  6. Just before serving pizza squeeze with fresh lemon and enjoy the smells and salty ocean flavor of this non-traditional pizza.

Orange Creamsicle Cake

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Orange Creamsicle Cake Recipe

This cake tastes like none other. It is intense, very sweet and a nice change for people who are tired of a vanilla and chocolate dominated world. If you’ve ever had a Creamsicle Popsicle or an Orange Push-up, then this is an exact flavored Deja vu of that childhood experience. The only hard part about this recipe is shopping for the many ingredients it calls for—but so worth the extra wow and kids love it.

I like this recipe because it DOES NOT involve the extra step in other Creamsicle Cake recipes that requires holes poked into hot cake and Jello poured over the top. This is a much more simple recipe. It makes a fantastic pancake, two-layered cake or even cupcakes. However, the original Creamsicle Cake frosting needs to be refrigerated so I provided another option if you can’t keep your dessert refrigerated until ready to eat. 

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 box lemon cakes mix
  • 3 oz box of orange jello
  • 1 1/4 cup orange juice (to replace water in cake mix recipe)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup canola oil (as called for in cake recipe)
  • 1/4 tsp orange extract
  • 1/4 tsp orange flavored drink mix (like Kool-aid, reserve the rest for the frosting).

Frosting

  • 20 oz can of crushed pineapple
  • 3 oz cream cheese
  • 3 oz box of vanilla instant pudding
  • 1 tub of whipped topping (or 2 cups whipped cream)

Instructions

Cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together until moistened and then beat for 2 min. on medium speed with beaters (I prefer to mix all dry ingredients in a bowl first, then all wet into a second bowl and then combine the two.) Pour into pan and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

  1. Mix all ingredients.  Allow icing to set up in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes before frosting and put the whole thing back into the fridge. 

Recipe Notes

Make a cute cupcake version of this cake with the follow frosting and decor changes:

Orange Soda Pop Cupcakes
 This recipe is for any 1950s themed party. It looks fantastic when presented and isn’t all that hard to pull off like a pro. Just use the above Creamsicle Cake recipe and pour batter into cupcakes. I use a 1/3 cup and pour the exact same amount into each cupcake for a more uniform look and it’s easier to pour the batter into cupcake papers without making a mess. Once the cupcakes have cooled then you can apply the frosting.
 
 Frosting Recipe 2:
 2 cans Whipped Supreme Vanilla Frosting.
 One large Ziploc bag
 Non Pareil Sprinkles rainbow color
 Cut bending soda straws shorter for beautiful presentation
 Remember the ¼ tsp of Orange Kool-Aid we used in the cake? Don’t throw it away. Instead mix remaining Kool-Aid into one can of vanilla frosting until it turns a beautiful orange—mmmmm tasty and sweet without having to labor over food coloring. Leave the other can white and mix also. Load a Ziploc back as neatly as you can with all the White frosting parallel to orange frosting. Cut large slit in bottom of bag and watch as you get a white/orange swirl frosting that goes on gorgeous without having to individually frost each cupcake with a spatula. Add sprinkles, cherry and straw for “soda fountain” effect. (Note: This technique—although easier and visually more appealing—uses tons of frosting so may need 3-4 cans to frost 24 cupcakes.)

Blind Date Appetizer

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Blind Date Appetizer

Your guests will have fun guessing the ingredients of the Blind Date Appetizer. The sweet, salty and nutty combination of these little gems produces rave reviews. Simple, easy to assemble and unique--be sure to have extra copies of the recipe on hand.  

Ingredients

  • 24 pecan halves
  • 24 large pitted dates
  • 2 oz parmigiano-reggiano cheese
  • 4 oz sliced prosciutto
  • freshly ground pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place pecans on a baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes or until fragrant. Cool.


  2. Set oven to 450 degrees. Make a slit along the top of each date. Cut the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into thin slivers. Stuff a pecan half and sliver of cheese into each date. Quarter prosciutto slices lengthwise. Wrap each date with a strip of prosciutto.


  3. Place dates on a baking sheet; bake 6 minutes, or until prosciutto is crisp and cheese softens. Transfer dates to a plate and finish with a fresh pepper. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.