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"The only real stumbling block is fear of failure.

In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude."

~ Julia Child


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Me & My Big Ideas: A Dinner Dilemma

I live in Phoenix, Arizona.  Sounds nice right?  Sun, cactus, cowboys, palm trees and the Kokopelli... um and 115 degree temps in the shade! This can make dinner a dilemma especially if it's pizza or anything else the requires an oven or stove.  'Round these parts we keep the curtains shut and the lights off, let alone even thinking 'bout turning on the oven. What to make, what to make?  So as I was driving home I got the bright idea to pull out my pizza stone, walk down the grill, turn it on, wait a bit and grill some pizza.  Great idea.  And it worked... well, sort of.
I would normally make my own crust, however, with as hot as it is I don't even want to turn on my KitchenAid.  I made a trip to Fresh & Easy and picked up a whole wheat crust.
Hint: Do you see the charred cornmeal on the pizza stone? This should have been my first clue that something was wrong.
Next, make some pesto or do what I did and pick up a jar.  Unless pine nuts are on sale I will almost always pick some up rather than make it fresh.  Don't get me wrong I love fresh pesto and it is easy to make, I just don't want to shell out the cash for the nuts!
Throw on some nitrate free peperoni, sliced mushrooms, cheese, bell pepper and tomato and close the grill.  and...
You will have perfect, black bottom pizza.  Yup you heard right, black bottom pizza.  This pie looks amazing from this photo.  It just has one major issue.  I burnt the crust on the bottom.  I think I may have resolved this issue, at least in theory.  Two things, one assemble the pizza then place it on the stone.  I did it on the hot stone... bad idea? not sure. This leads me to the second part of my theory, don't make the grill so flippin' hot! Turn the damn thing down. Oh and remember, even if you turn it down, them pizza stone things stay HOT for a long, long, long, long time! 
Even with the black bottom, I ate this pizza and it was good.  I just could not serve it to anyone.
If you have any tips for grilling pizza on a stone feel free to comment!  I am student foodie!!

3 comments:

  1. I did that the first time I grilled a pizza. I found that indirect heat is the way to go.

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  2. LOL! Great post! Nick is absolutely right--Indirect heat is the key--turn on one side of the grill and cook it on the opposite side..so right side ON, left side cook.

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  3. Oh no! What a shame because your pizza looks absolutely delicious...all of those glorious toppings. Apperances can be deceiving, I guess!

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