The barbecued chicken pizza was the second installment of a triple play in The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin that was titled "Fourth of July Three-Pizza-Party." I made them separately, because I really didn't think we needed three pizzas at one time, and certainly not three pizzas with the same sauce and cheese. How boring would that be? Now, I might have changed my mind had it really been summer, and I really had three different barbecued meats left over in my refrigerator. That being said, it is far from the fourth of July, and I had no leftover barbecued meats in my refrigerator. So, I faked it.
The chicken started out as frozen boneless skinless thighs I had in my freezer. I love these pieces of the chicken. They have the extra flavor and juiciness of the dark meat, but the bones and icky parts have been removed for me. They are especially resistant to drying out, so overcooking is rarely a danger.
The chicken started out as frozen boneless skinless thighs I had in my freezer. I love these pieces of the chicken. They have the extra flavor and juiciness of the dark meat, but the bones and icky parts have been removed for me. They are especially resistant to drying out, so overcooking is rarely a danger.
Adapted from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin
Crust:
½ cup warm water
1¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
1¼ cup bread flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons olive oil
Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces minced onion
2 ounces minced green pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ounce cooked bacon
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons water
dash of Tabasco
Pizza:
crust (see above)
sauce (see above)
2 ounces shredded provolone cheese
2 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 ounces mozzarella
7.5 ounces grilled or broiled chicken thighs
Make the crust: Combine the yeast, water, and sugar in a bowl and set aside for at least five minutes. Stir the salt and flour together in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil and stir on a low speed until the mixture forms a ball around the hook. Continue mixing a little longer until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Let rest for an hour in a greased bowl in a warm, dry place.
Make the sauce: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine oil, onion, green pepper, and garlic. Sauté for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Put vegetables and remaining ingredients into a blender and purée until smooth. Pour sauce back into the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about twenty minutes or until thickened.
Assemble the pizza: Preheat the oven to 450º F with a pizza stone inside, if using. Roll or stretch the dough out into a 15 inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board. Spread the barbecue sauce from the center of the circle almost to the edges. Sprinkle the cheeses over the sauce. Arrange the chicken over the cheese. Slide onto the preheated pizza stone or onto a pizza pan and into the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned and the cheese is melted.
Make the crust: Combine the yeast, water, and sugar in a bowl and set aside for at least five minutes. Stir the salt and flour together in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil and stir on a low speed until the mixture forms a ball around the hook. Continue mixing a little longer until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Let rest for an hour in a greased bowl in a warm, dry place.
Make the sauce: In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, combine oil, onion, green pepper, and garlic. Sauté for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Put vegetables and remaining ingredients into a blender and purée until smooth. Pour sauce back into the saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about twenty minutes or until thickened.
Assemble the pizza: Preheat the oven to 450º F with a pizza stone inside, if using. Roll or stretch the dough out into a 15 inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board. Spread the barbecue sauce from the center of the circle almost to the edges. Sprinkle the cheeses over the sauce. Arrange the chicken over the cheese. Slide onto the preheated pizza stone or onto a pizza pan and into the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned and the cheese is melted.
I actually broiled the chicken. Wednesday was too cold and snowy to go outside and grill. Granted, it wouldn't have been too cold or snowy to send Jeff out to grill, but he wasn't around, and I wanted to get going on it. I cooked the entire package of chicken, even though I only needed about two-thirds of it, so Jeff and I could have some for dinner Wednesday night. I sprinkled both sides of the thighs with a chipolte pepper rub blend I had from Pampered Chef. I added a little bit of garlic granules and threw them on a piece of tin foil with the edges folded up to keep any juices from spilling into the bottom of my oven. I broiled them for a little over four minutes per side, and they were beautiful. I used the larger pieces for the pizza, just in case they didn't get cooked all the way - they would be cooked again on top of the pizza.
I left the rest of the preparations for Thursday, because I just had one job interview in the morning, and the rest of my day was pretty much clear. I would have plenty of time to get everything ready before people started arriving. Or, so I thought.
During my interview, I received a voice mail from a company I had previously interviewed with, asking me to come in for a second interview. I called them when I got home and got their voice mail - I left them a message, requesting that the interview be sometime today.
While I was waiting for the call back, I made the dough and started in on the sauce. When the sauce was starting to thicken, I got the call that they wanted to see me in thirty minutes. I quickly changed my clothes and flew out the door (I turned the sauce off before leaving).
Once I got home, I was ready to start in again on my pizzas. I rolled out the dough. My sauce was now cool enough to handle, so I spread it over my newly rolled-out dough.
During my interview, I received a voice mail from a company I had previously interviewed with, asking me to come in for a second interview. I called them when I got home and got their voice mail - I left them a message, requesting that the interview be sometime today.
While I was waiting for the call back, I made the dough and started in on the sauce. When the sauce was starting to thicken, I got the call that they wanted to see me in thirty minutes. I quickly changed my clothes and flew out the door (I turned the sauce off before leaving).
Once I got home, I was ready to start in again on my pizzas. I rolled out the dough. My sauce was now cool enough to handle, so I spread it over my newly rolled-out dough.
The cheeses and chicken went on next, and it was ready for the oven.
With that done, I was ready to work on the Corn & Tomato pizza.
Adapted from James McNair's Vegetarian Pizza
1 cup warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1-1/8 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
2 cups tomatoes, freshly diced
2 cups fresh, drained canned, or thawed frozen corn kernels
1/4 (packed) cup fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
6 tablespoons spicy mustard (such as Koop's Arizona Heat)
8 ounces shredded Havarti cheese
5 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese
Combine the yeast, water, and sugar in a bowl and set aside for at least five minutes. Stir the salt and flour together in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and a ½ tablespoon of the olive oil and stir on a low speed until the mixture forms a ball around the hook. Continue mixing a little longer until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Let rest for an hour in a greased bowl in a warm, dry place.
Preheat oven to 450º F with pizza stone inside, if using. Roll dough out into a 15 inch circle on a cornmeal dusted pizza peel or board. In a bowl, stir together the tomatoes, corn, basil, salt, and pepper. Brush the dough with one tablespoon of olive oil. Spread the mustard over the olive oil, leaving a small border around the outside edges of the pizza. Sprinkle the Havarti cheeses over the mustard. Evenly distribute the tomato-corn mixture over the Havarti. Top the pizza off with the Parmesan.
I had sent Jeff on a wild goose chase for the cheese that was originally called for in this pizza. It was supposed to be teleme (which I had never heard of) or Bel Paese (which sounded familiar but I didn't know what it tasted or looked like). He couldn't find it at the cheese shop at all. In fact, he had to explain to them (after calling me, of course) what it was. When he went to Festival, there was a tag in the cheese case that said "Bel Paese" but the actual cheese was not there. I had already purchased Havarti at Cub on Monday in case we couldn't find those cheeses, so I was ready to go anyway.
The dough recipe didn't really make much dough, especially compared to the amount of ingredients in the pizza, and I think if I were to make this again, I might either double the dough or decrease the amount of toppings. I really had to stretch and pull and strongly roll out the dough to make it to fifteen inches (the original recipe instructs a 10 inch circle, but there is no way all the ingredients would fit on a 10-incher).
Pam had arrived by the time I was ready to start putting stuff on this dough. Her eyes bulged when I heaped the six tablespoons of mustard onto the dough. "That's too much," she said. I shrugged and explained that it was the amount the recipe called for, and it was really yummy mustard, so I thought we could handle a larger amount than we would a regular mustard.
Once I had that on, it was time to "shred" the Havarti. Havarti is a very soft cheese, and I figured that I would end up pushing it through the grater like an extruder rather than actually grating the cheese, so I cut into little pieces that resembled shreds. It wasn't pretty, but I figured it was on the bottom, and it was all going to melt together anyway.
I enlisted Pam's help with the vegetable topping. She diced the tomatoes while I shredded the basil, and she tossed it all together with the corn. It was colorful and fantastic-looking. I wanted to eat it right then without the pizza.
After draining it a little to get rid of the excess tomato juice, we packed it on top of the Havarti. It was quite thick, and there were no signs of my ugly shreds once we had all the veggies on there.
The original recipe had all of the cheese underneath the tomato-corn mixture. We opted to put the Parmesan over the top to aid in cohesion. And, there was a lot of Parmesan.
With the pizzas in the oven, it was time to concentrate on our drink of the week. I was really looking forward to it. The pizzas were sort of South American-ish, and so was the drink. It was like a daiquiri without the blending, but don't ask me to pronounce it - especially after drinking a couple of them (which I did).
3/4 fresh lime cut into wedges
2 measures light rum
3/4 agave syrup
Muddle the lime wedges in the bottom of a rocks glass. Add the rum and the agave. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Stir, sip, repeat.
It was fabulous! It was refreshing and limey without being too sour. It was tart and sweet and utterly delicious. I was excited to be able to use my new suction cup glass markers, too!
Jennifer brought us a fantastic spinach, candied walnut, cranberry salad to round out our meal. It was dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. It was tangy and crunchy and sweet. It had a great earthy flavor punctuated with a nice pop of dried cranberry. The richness of the blue cheese just pushed the ensemble right over the top. This is a great way to eat your vegetables. I am hoping she comments on this page with the recipe for everyone to share.
The pizzas came out of the oven, and they were well worth the wait. The barbecued chicken pizza was sweet and spicy and zippy. The blend of mozzarella, provolone, and cheddar kept all of the toppings secured to the crust. The sauce gave it a zip with a slight hint of brown sugar on the finish.
The corn and tomato pizza was the true star of the show. Again, the creamy cheese kept everything together. The corn was sweet, the tomatoes juicy and flavorful. The basil gave it the right amount of licorice kick. We couldn't get enough of it. It wasn't exactly pretty, because I had issues loading it and unloading it from the oven, but it was definitely filling and gave us enough energy to play a few rounds of dice games - or was that the Caipirissima that did that?
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