Sausage Gravy

Making pizza on the barbecue is fun and delicious. They are very easy and quick to make, which is great when you have company with kids. I have also found that grilling pizza adds a wonderful smoked flavor to the crust.

I’ve made pizza for the oven before, so I wanted to do something a little different. I decided to make these pizza’s in the Roman style. The kind of pizza you would find throughout Italy. They are thin, long and an oblong shape. When it comes to grilling pizza, less is better. What I mean by this is you can’t fill a pizza with the same amount as you would with a oven baked pizza.
You also want to grate your cheese finely, because the pizza will only be baked for a few minutes, or it will burn. You also need to grill the dough first and then place the topping. This way you can grill both sides of the pizza first.

I made two pizzas for the blog. The first one is a grilled leek with Italian sausage pizza. The cheese used in this is gruyere, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. The second pizza is a prosciutto, red spinach and cherry tomatoes. The cheese I used for this one is feta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. After I grilled both pizzas I drizzled a little balsamic vinegar on top. It was amazing and I loved the sweet, sour flavor of the aged balsamic vinegar. You could also use a pesto or a pizza sauce, but use sparingly. Just brush the sauce on the pizza then place the ingredients. For both of mine I used a herbed olive oil with rosemary and garlic. After they were grilled I brush the herbed oil and then placed the grilled vegetables and cheese.

When using vegetables on a grilled pizza you will need to grill the vegetable first. Unless you like them raw, like I did with the red spinach and the cherry tomatoes. As we all know grilling vegetables on the BBQ adds a wonderful flavor. Next time you have a barbecue why not try making a pizza … you’ll love it.

For a step by step class for this great bread recipe BBQ Pizza Dough click here

For more free bread recipes go to our parent website at Cookingbread.com

Here’s a delicious recipe that would be perfect as a meal on it’s own. A Russian Cheese bread made with fresh leeks and a mixture of cream cheese, ricotta and a soft goat cheese. I have to warn you, this is a very filling bread, so a small piece will go a long way. I wish this was a scratch and sniff blog, because the three cheese’s and the leeks fill the air with the most amazing aroma while baking.

The dough is made with sour cream, which adds lots of flavor and gives the bread a soft moist texture. This bread comes from the quick bread family and can be made in about an hour, from start to finish. I would serve this with a side salad and perhaps a glass of red wine would be wonderful. You could even make these as small individual tart style breads if you wanted. The bread has a beautiful glossy color from the egg wash and the cornmeal of the bottom adds a crunch and great flavor to this unique and delicious bread.

For a step by step class for this great bread recipe Russian Leek and Cheese Bread click here

For more free bread recipes go to our parent website at Cookingbread.com

These funky, crazy doughnuts are so much fun. They’re not a light, fluffy doughnut that you would get at you local doughnut shop. These doughnuts use no yeast or baking powder, they are soft yet chewy and with a firm texture to them. The ingredients are very simple and anyone can make this.

They do look a little complicated, but ,after you make the first one ,they go very quickly. These can be made the day before and then you cab deep fry when you want them.It takes only about a minute and a half to fry them you can make them for your guests and serve them warm.

I wanted to make something to go serve with these doughnuts. So, I decided to make a Chai tea to go with the Asian doughnuts. Chai tea is a spicy, delicious, warm tea made with aromatic Indian spices. You will find many versions of this tea on the internet. I think every family has there own version. So, I decided to make my own version also. I used cardamon seeds, star of anise, cinnamon sticks and sliced fresh ginger. This tea was perfect with the Asian doughnuts. Here is the recipe for the Chai tea that I made.

Chai Tea

8 tea bags of black tea
4 cups bottles water
4 cups milk
16 cardamon seeds ( cracked )
3 cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
8 slices of fresh ginger

In a pot add all the ingredients together. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it comes to a boil, turn down to a simmer and simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain and serve hot. Add what ever amount of sugar you would like. This tea should be sweet to help bring out the flavors of the spices.

For a step by step class for this great bread recipe Asian Doughnuts click here

For more free bread recipes go to our parent website at Cookingbread.com

Whenever I think about old fashioned breads, I always think about an Oatmeal bread. To me Oatmeal breads are the perfect breakfast bread. But, when you add the sweetness of brown sugar and some plump raisins, you get something delicious and sweet, a treat that the whole family will love.

You can shape this Oatmeal bread into a traditional loaf by baking it in loaf pans, or try free forming it and baking it the way I did it. Loose and fancy free lol. Break pieces off the free form loaf rather than slicing to create a more rustic look. Add a bowl of fresh fruit and you have a lovely simple meal.

This is a delicious sweet bread, with a soft crust and a soft flavorful texture inside. Wonderful toasted or just eaten plane with melted butter.

Yahooo!!!! BBQ season has finally come to Vancouver. We planted flowers set up the new BBQ and placed the patio furniture out. Now it’s time to get down to some serious barbecuing. I’m so excited to show you all my favorite Hamburger Bun recipe. These have to be the most flavorful Hamburger buns in the world. Well, OK I haven’t tasted all the Hamburger buns in the world. But, I know these are at least in the top 5.

The buns are light with a very thin crust on top that I just love in a good hamburger bun. I hate the ones that are so hard you have to rip them with your teeth to get a bite, then all the filling falls out the sides. The interior is soft and the cornmeal on the bottom of the buns adds a slight crunch and extra flavor. I used 3 different size cookie cutters to score the tops of each hamburger buns. I think this really gives them a unique look. Don’t you think they look beautiful? Much nicer than leaving them flat. The poppy seeds and sesame seeds add a wonderful eye catching appeal.

I used Havarti cheese on top of the hamburgers and fried red onions mixed with balsamic vinegar and a little brown sugar then added some sour cream to give the onions a creamy texture. Simply delicious. Then we grilled fresh pineapple for that sweet warm delicious pineapple flavor too. I think it was the perfect summer weekend. With amazingly delicious food.

I really hope you will give these tantalizing hamburger bun recipe a try. It’s truly one of the best.

A few weeks ago I came across some cream horn tubes at a local kitchen store here in Vancouver. These tubes are usually used to make those tasty treats filled with whipped cream and made from a pastry dough. I thought they would be perfect filled with chicken salad. I used a sweet dough rather than a pastry dough and they came out better then I had expected.

The tubes are large, about 6 inches in length, with a larger hole, making plenty of room to fill them with a delicious chicken salad, tuna salad or an egg salad. Within a few minute of removing them from the oven I stuffed them with a chicken salad that was filled with diced long english cucumbers, finely chopped green onions and diced seedless green grapes. I love the sweetness of the green grapes. I also added some mayo and mustard with freshly ground salt and pepper. The warm bread cones and the cold flavorful chicken salad was a match in heaven.

I wrapped them with parchment paper and sliced some cucumber sticks and drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic on top. A perfect accompaniment with the warm bread cones and chicken salad. If you are planning a family get together I would highly recommend making these delicious, unique and tasty bread cones.

I’m very fortunate to be living on the West Coast of beautiful British Columbia. If you ever get the chance to visit here you will see some of the most gorgeous and stunning scenery in the world. We have many cruise ships that come through our port each year with many of the visitors saying that Vancouver has one of the best ( if not the best ) skylines in the world. On a clear day when the snow topped mountains are visible, Vancouver becomes a breathtaking experience.

We’re also very lucky to have the Pacific Ocean on our door step and a very large salmon run every year. If you go to some of the local streams in the summer/fall all you will see is red from the salmon spawning. It’s an amazing sight to see. Smoked salmon is very popular here and very reasonably priced. I just love the deep rich color of the salmon after smoking and the flavor is not so fishy anymore.

My parents are very active in the aboriginal community here. They always seem to be off on some potluck filled with amazing native foods. A friend of my mom’s gave her this recipe to give to me. She thought that the visitors to my website and blog would like these tasty smoked salmon treats. I did make a few small changes to the recipe and made them into mini loaves. The rye flour really adds a wonderful texture. The fresh dill and smoked salmon with the lemon juice is a perfect combination in these mini loaves. Each loaf is topped with a little cream cheese, fresh dill and lemon zest that really add to the flavor of these smoked salmon loaves. Hope you give them a try.

Well, as you can see I’m on this roasting kick these days. Everyone loves tomatoes in a sandwich, so why not place roasted tomatoes into the bread itself. I’m using these tasty trio-colored tomatoes. I cut them into wedges with a little crushed garlic, olive oil, thyme and freshly ground salt and pepper then roasted them in a 300 degree over for about 1 hour. This really intensifies the flavor and color of the tomatoes.

The bread is a perfect sandwich bread with a soft and delicious interior and a tasty crisp crust. I thought the addition of rye flour and the semolina would be a great accompaniment with the roasted tomatoes. The color of this bread is a light orange from the different colored tomatoes. It makes a wonderful and tasty bread with a slight tomato flavor that would make the best sandwiches for any summer lunch.

For a step by step class for this great bread recipe Tomato Bread click here