It has been a long, drawn out winter and we have endured more than our regular share of gray, rainy days and bone-chilling weather. The good news is March is here, which means longer days and warmer temperatures.
One way to get out of the winter mindset is to start grilling. Many people grill year- round. If you are not one of them, now is a good time to start, and I have a recipe that will give you the incentive.
If you are like me, bread on the dinner table is a must, but I sometimes tire of eating traditional bread such as baguette or Como bread.
To break up the monotony, I make this recipe for grilled bread with olive oil and garlic. I came up with the idea several years ago, inadvertently, while developing a recipe for grilled pizza. The process took me by surprise as to how easy it is, and the result was a huge success.
The key ingredient is ready-to-bake pizza dough, which saves you valuable dough preparation time and means you can prepare this recipe just a half hour before you sit down to dinner. Grilling dough is easier than it may sound. Just remember to remove it from the refrigerator 30 minutes ahead of time and preheat the grill.
To flavor the bread, I stir minced garlic into olive oil and let the flavors infuse while the dough is coming to room temperature. But you can eliminate the garlic and just brush with olive oil, if you prefer.
If you have a wooden pizza peel it makes the process easier as you can use it to roll the dough on the grill, slide the dough off, and serve the cut bread on the peel itself.
My family likes the grilled bread on its own. However, every once in a while I make this recipe for yogurt tahini sauce and serve it with the bread for dipping. Warm marinara sauce or hummus are good dip accompaniments, too.
If you have not grilled dough before, don't be frustrated if it seems awkward. Remember, cooking is just like anything: you get better at it the more times you do it.
Makes 4-6 servings
The finished grilled bread reminds me of Indian naan; a crispy outside and a chewy inside, with the caramelized, light smoky flavor from the grill.
1 pound ready to bake refrigerated
pizza dough (I use Trader Joe's brand
available in their refrigerator section)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Kosher salt, to taste
Stir garlic into olive oil; allow to sit 20 minutes to blend flavors. At the same time, remove dough from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature 20-30 minutes.
Lightly flour a work surface (I do this on a wooden pizza peel because I can then transfer the dough onto the grill with it and remove it from the grill for ease in serving on the peel) and roll out the dough or shape it with your hands into a circle about 11-12 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick. Do not over work the dough. Preheat grill to medium heat. Put shaped dough onto grill and cook until the side next to the grill has charred marks on it and is no longer doughy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn dough over; brush grilled side of dough with olive oil and garlic mixture; season with Kosher salt, to taste; cook until the other side has charred marks on it and is no longer doughy, about 2-3 minutes (if one part of dough starts to get too charred during cooking, flip the dough).
Immediately remove the bread from the grill; using a pizza wheel or a knife, cut into wedges or squares. Makes about 1-1/3 cups
Makes about 1-1/3 cups
1 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup tahini*
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
Stir together yogurt, tahini, lemon juice, cilantro, garlic, honey, cumin and cayenne; season to taste with salt. *Tahini is a thick paste made of ground sesame seed. It is used in Middle Eastern style cooking and available in the international section of many grocery stores.
Linda Augustine may be reached via mptimes@nwlink.com. [[In-content Ad]]