Homemade Pizza Dough

Mix
1.5 cups of warm water (100-110 degrees)
2 tsp dry active yeast
1/4 tsp sugar

Wait ten minutes for yeast to set.

While that is going, mix together in big bowl:

4 cups flour
pinch of salt
1/4 cup of olive oil

After the ten minutes is up pour the yeast/water mix in the big bowl.  Let dough hook beat it up for about 15-20 minutes.  You can tell its ready when it begins to cling to the hook and stays in one big glob.

Remove from mixer, cover and let stand for an hour (couple hours is fine).

Dough mass should more than double in size while it sits.  Now "punch" the dough a few times in the center to remove all the air.  Move the dough to somewhere that you can work on the dough.  Sprinkle flour and knead a few times.  This should make enough for about 4 pizzas.

Homemade Calzones on the Big Green Egg

If you want to shake up your pizza night, make a calzone!  It's literally all the same ingredients you would use in a pizza.

400-450 degrees, 12-15 minutes, indirect heat, place setter legs down.  Two setups I've used:

• PS, legs up, grate on, pizza stone on grate
• PS legs down, cook directly on PS

1. Roll out your dough to about the size of a pizza.  
2. I used the Big Green Egg calzone mold thingamajig, but I'm learning now i could probably easily do without it.
3. Spread dough over the calzone mold or just lay it flat on a cutting board.
4. Pile all ingredients, starting with the sauce, on one side (see pic below)
5. Fold one side of the dough over the other making a half circle.
6. Dab some water on your fingers and rub onto the dough where you plan the two ends of the dough to meet.  This will help seal the dough together.
7. Poke a few small holes or make a small slit in the top of the calzone to all eliminate air pockets.
8. Cook for about 12-15 minutes.
9. Tip #1:  Parchment paper is my new favorite tool.  Instead of dusting the stone with flour or anything, I start off cooking the calzones (or pizza) on a sheet of parchment paper.  About 3-4 minutes in, I pull the sheet out and discard.  The dough has cooked to a point where it's no longer sticky and will freely move around on the stone.
10. Tip #2:  When  using the calzone maker, you'll have small pieces of excess dough come off.  Use with olive oil and Parmesan cheese and make little bread stick bites for an appetizer.

How to Cook Gulf Shrimp Pizza on a Gas Grill

This pizza is a version of a pizza we had at a place called Cobalt in Orange Beach, Alabama.  This recipe is done on direct heat, directly on the grate, and not (necessarily) using a stone.

The Prep:

• Get the shrimp cooking on the stove in a pan
• In a different pan, get the onions and mushrooms cooking, season to your taste
• Fire up the fire to a little over medium on gas or 350-400 range
• Roll out the dough into the desired size and shape
• Brush ONE side with Olive Oil
• Put the dough on the grill OIL SIDE DOWN (this is tricky because it will likely flop down awkwardly, doesn't have to be perfect, you can try to straighten it out if you really messed it up)
• Close lid and cook for 1-2 minutes, (literally)
• Pull dough when crust starts to brown and hold it's own shape.

Most people say to, flip it over and start adding toppings, leaving the dough on the grill the whole time.  I pull it off completely, take it inside, flip it over and add toppings to the ORIGINAL OIL SIDE (the side you just cooked on), then return it to the grill.  (You do not need to add oil to the other side.)

The Toppings (the order is important to follow):

1. Lay a red sauce down first and spread it out with a spoon.  You don't need a ton of sauce, it's probably less than you think if you've never done it before.  You just want a thin layer and it doesn't have to be perfect, it will even out while cooking.
2. Add the cut up cooked shrimp from pan
3. Add the onion/mushroom mix from the pan
4. Add sliced jalapenos, avocados, roma tomatoes 
5. Package of goat cheese crumbled/smeared on the pizza (8 ounce)
6. Maybe a half cup of mozarella shredded cheese to fill in the gaps the goat cheese doesn't cover

Return pizza to grill for final stage of cooking.  I usually drop the temperature slowly throughout the final stages because you're walking a fine line between burning the crust and not melting the cheese.  Usually cook for another 5 minutes.

TIP:  Sometimes I introduce a pizza stone in the last part of the cook.  I will return it to the grill on a stone and let that cook for a few minutes, which really protects the crust.  Then after about 5 minutes, I pull the stone out from under the pizza and let it cook more directly on the grate for another couple of minutes which makes the crust crispy.  This is purely optional, but I've had good results with this method, just make sure the temp is not too high or you can crack your stone.

You can also cook directly on stone using Big Green Egg at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Cheesy Steak Pizza

Cheesy Steak Pizza

The Prep:

• Obtain or make some dough.
• Get a pan simmering on the stove with sliced mushrooms and onions.  Seasoned to your liking.
• Light the BGE, put the place setter in legs down (let the setter warm up with grill to sanitize)
• Get it stabilized around 500

The Dough:

I am in the process of learning how to toss dough, so when I master this technique, I will post about it.  In the meantime, just use a rolling pin to iron out your dough into the shape of a pizza.  Mine usually looks more like an outline of the state of Montana.  

(TIP: Use A LOT of flour to keep it from sticking to the board and the pin)

The Toppings (the order is important to follow):

1. Lay a red sauce down first and spread it out with a spoon.  You just want a thin layer and it doesn't have to be perfect, it will even out while cooking.
2. Leftover steak from tenderloin the night before, probably about 4-6 ounces worth, chopped up into small pieces, but it's your pizza, make it however you want.
3. Add sliced jalapenos, and the onion/mushroom mix from the pan.
4. Add shredded cheese of your choice.  We usually stick with mozzarella, goat, or pepper jack

The Cook:

Dust the top of the place setter with some flour and slide pizza directly onto it.  Alternatively you can use parchment paper between the pizza and the stone for the first few minutes of the cook, about 3-4 minutes in, pull the paper out from under the pizza.  It will keep the dough from sticking.  Start your timer for 10 minutes and make sure your temp stays in the desired ball park.