recipe: grilled pizza

Directions for pizza dough:
1 lb pizza dough, pre-made store bought is fine

Remove dough from fridge and cut in half. Roll each into a ball and place on a lightly floured board. Cover with a damp cloth until dough comes to room temperature, about 45 minutes.

Directions for toppings:
—ricotta spread:
8 oz fresh ricotta
1/4 C sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
+1 tblsp sun-dried tomato oil
pinch of dry oregano
salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined and set aside.

—asparagus:
1/2 bunch asparagus

In a fry pan, fill three-quarters with water and bring to a boil. Gently drop in asparagus spears and cook for three minutes then move to a bowl of cold water. Once cooled, cut asparagus into bite-size pieces and set aside.

—have set aside:
6-8 oz cheese per pizza—mozzarella or fontina
salt and pepper
herbs
chili flakes

Directions for grilling pizza:
Pre-heat grill to medium.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Take your time and work the dough until its about 1/4” in thickness. Roll into a traditional circle or a more oval flat bread shape. Brush one side with olive oil and place on the grill—once on the grill you can easily brush the other side.

The dough will cook quickly, about 2 minutes. Flip the pizza and continue cooking an additional 2 minutes or until done. A little char is good, just don’t burn it.

Remove from the grill and add toppings. Place the dressed pizza back on the grill over indirect heat and close the lid to the grill to warm the toppings. Depending on the toppings this can take between 2-4 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove pizza from the grill with tongs and serve hot.

Adam’s hints:
—pizza is all about the toppings. Shop for in-season veggies and local cheeses.
—pre-made pizza dough is often at your local market in the deli department and a 1 lb bag can make two pizzas.
—roll out several pizzas at a time, stack with parchment paper between, then cover with a damp dish towel.
—prep out all of the toppings for guests to personalize their own pizza. If using a sauce, make sure it’s kept warm. This allows the pizza to cook quickly on the grill.
—think outside the box when it comes to toppings and blending flavors. For example, caramelized onion, sage, blue cheese and walnuts. Or, fontina, roast sliced potato, sausage and rapini.

recipe: pimm's pitcher

Serves 4
1 C soda water
1 C fresh sweetened lemonade
3 C Pimm’s No. 1
1/2 apple sliced thin
1/2 orange sliced thin
1/2 lemon sliced thin
1/2 english cucumber sliced thin
few sprigs of mint

Directions:
Fill a pitcher with soda water, lemonade and Pimm’s. Stir to mix and serve over ice. Garnish each glass with sliced cucumber, apple, lemon, orange and mint. Can be made in advance and kept cold in the refrigerator.

Adam’s hints:
—no one wants to leave guests to keep running into the kitchen to mix another cocktail, so make pitchers of drinks and set up an easily accessible bar area complete with all the fixings.
—unless they’ll be served right away, keep the ice on the side when mixing pitchers of drinks to avoid melted ice diluting the cocktail.

recipe: grilled corn with feta + lime vinaigrette

8 ears of corn, in husks
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp fresh lime juice
zest from 1 lime
1/2 C feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 bunch of cilantro, washed and chopped
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat grill.

Pull back corn husks and remove the silk. Remove the husks completely or pull them back and tie in a knot. Soak cobs in a large bowl of cold water for 15-20 minutes. Drain then place cobs on a hot grill for 15-20 minutes turning them often.

While corn is cooking, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice and zest.

When corn cobs are evenly cooked, remove from grill and plate. Brush on the vinaigrette, sprinkle with crumbled feta and chopped cilantro—salt and pepper to taste and serve hot with a wedge of lime for extra zing!

recipe: pineapple ginger agua fresca

Directions for the simple syrup:
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C water

3 pieces of fresh ginger cut into 1/2” coins

Bring water and sugar to a boil, then add the pieces of ginger. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Strain and discard the ginger.

Directions for the drink:
4 C fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
10-14 C water

Puree the pineapple with 2 to 4 cups of water and strain to remove any pulp. Hint: puree in batches and use a fine sieve or cheesecloth to strain solids out of the liquid.

Add the simple syrup to the strained liquid and dilute with the remaining water—adjusting sugar and water to taste—then serve cold over lots of ice.

Adam’s hints:
—these recipes are very easy to alter to your taste so if you have a sweet tooth, use a little more syrup. Or, if you like a thicker drink, use less water—it’s a very forgiving drink.
—remember that when blending the fruit, work in batches so the blender isn’t overloaded—and the fruit stays in it instead of all over the kitchen walls!
—make a little extra herb infused simple syrup to use in other drinks like margaritas or punches—it’ll kick them up a notch!

recipe: spicy shrimp skewers

12 tiger shrimp, cleaned and peeled with tails
4 bamboo skewers
2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tblsp garlic powder
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper
…
1 head butter lettuce, separated
1 orange, peeled and segmented
2 radishes, thinly sliced
…
1-1/2 tblsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tblsp Dijon Mustard
2 tsp honey
juice from 1/2 lime
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Serves 4

Directions:
In a large bowl, toss together the shrimp, olive oil, garlic powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, lime, salt and pepper.
hint: while this mixture is marinating, separately soak skewers in water and pre-heat grill to medium-high—about 30 minutes.

In another bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, mustard, honey, lime juice and olive oil—salt and pepper to taste.

Insert a skewer through 3 shrimp and grill for a few minutes on each side.

Create a bed with the lettuce leaves, radishes and orange segments and place a grilled shrimp skewer on each—drizzle with vinaigrette and serve.

Adam’s hints:
—this is a great summer salad and nice additions or alternatives are avocado and grapefruit.
—when plating this salad, be conscious of showing off all the great ingredients—remember guests will be eating with their eyes first!