New Venture

As we all know, there's always something new for me to try. I just can't be happy with the way things are, culinarily speaking. Last night, I used my gas grill in a way that I've never done before. I've been rather adventurous with it since purchasing it a year ago. Prior to that, it was always charcoal. I still prefer the taste of food prepared over charcoal, but gas has opened up a whole new world for me. Outside of charring several different types of meats, I've done a fair amount of veg on the grill, and once used the additional burner to fry cajun style chicken in an iron skillet (the boss insisted on keeping the mess and odor outdoors). Many may have caught wind of my next food exploration, due to my Facebook junkie wife, that I'm going to make a wood fire pizza oven, and start creating, what is known as, artisan pizza. Now that the snow has been gone for two solid weeks, people are asking if I've finished my three month long project. Due to the hype, I guess everyone is a bit anxious to get their share of the pie (pizza). First step is finalizing a location in the yard, clean up the sticks and dog poop, and excavate. Free manual labor is welcome. But in the meantime, there is a poor man's version of artisan style pizza making. According to last year's taxes, I qualify! I recently purchased some unglazed Mexican saltillo tile. It's a soft red clay tile with NO finish (very important, so your pizza does not poison you). You have to purchase a whole box, even though I needed only two. So I have extras to break. This is a key element in baking your pizza. The raw clay tile retain heat, and draw moisture from the dough to help move along the baking process. So last night I put the grill, and the newly installed tile to work. The maiden voyage was a smashing, tasty success! Called a couple of close friends, otherwise known as 'guinea pigs', at the last minute, to help experience my new experiment. When they left, I got the vibe that we're still friends. My oldest daughter enjoyed it also. She wanted to invite her friends over for the leftovers. It was too late and they had other plans. All in all, it was a lot of fun, and 'yes', there will be future pizzas cooked this way until the oven is built.