Grilled Barbecue and Ham Pizza #Evergriller #sponsored

When I was growing up in the Chicago area, winters meant snow, mittens, freezing cold, and hibernation. When I moved to the Denver(ish) area of Colorado, I found out that winter doesn't necessarily mean "white." It snows here, but most often in the spring than in the dead of winter.

And of course it gets cold, but not as bitter as Chicago winters. And when it's sunny - which it often is - it can be pretty pleasant outside. Not shorts and flip-flops pleasant, but pleasant enough to do some grilling without turning into an icicle.

Yup, if you've got a yen for grilling, the smart thing to do is pick a sunny day, and, well, grill in the sunshine. If you wait until after dark, it feels a lot chillier.

When I got an offer through Clever Girls to work with Kraft on an outdoor, out-of-season grilling recipe, I figured it would be a no-brainer. I love barbecue sauce, and the grill was waiting. They sent along some of their revamped barbecue sauce (which they said features high-quality ingredients like tomatoes, sweet molasses, cider vinegar and cane sugar. And  NO high fructose corn syrup).

I received the Original, Hickory Smoke, and Sweet Honey; the other flavors are Mesquite Smoke (oooh, I need to try that!), Sweet Brown Sugar, Sweet & Spicy, Spicy Honey, and Thick & Spicy.

Besides the sauce, they sent some grilling gear, including an ingenious mitt called the Evergriller Grill 'N' Flip Mitt that has a pocket-like mouth on the front end, so you can insert the handle of your chosen barbecue tool and grab onto it while keeping your hand safe from both the heat of the grill and the chill of winter air. And from the chill of the barbecue tool, if you left it outside in a snowbank, I guess.

Armed with sauce and swag, I tried to decide what to make.

For inspiration, I opened the Hickory Smoke sauce first, because I was curious if I'd like it or not. A lot of hickory-flavored sauces taste fake to me, but this one was pretty darned good. As in, I'll probably buy a whole lot more of it.

I slathered the sauce on chicken wings and baked it onto chicken thighs - got to do some quality control tests, right? I was thinking about buying some ribs for the official test and post, but I thought ribs might be way too simple.

I wanted to do something different. Creative.

Then the idea hit me. Pizza. But not just any pizza. Pizza with HAM.

The idea of combining ham with barbecue sauce came from a sandwich served one of my favorite places in Chicago that served a barbecue ham sandwich. I know it's not traditional, but it's really good.

And I figured that pizza would be a perfect vehicle for my barbecue sauce and ham, because it gave me an excuse to add some melty cheese.

For my crust, I used a flour tortilla, to make a super-thin-super-crunchy crust. I used the smallest ones - labeled "fajita" size - about 5 1/2 inches in diameter. While you could use a larger tortilla for larger pizzas - the burrito size are pretty big - the smaller ones are easier to handle, and you can customize the toppings, if you like. And since these are small, two of them make a nice serving size.

The key to these little pizzas is to prep the tortillas ahead of time, cooking and flipping them on the grill until they've become somewhat crisp. That can be done ahead of time, and then the pizzas can be topped and finished as needed.

Grilled Barbecue and Ham Pizza

For each pizza:
1 flour tortilla, about 5 1/2 inches in diameter
1 tablespoon Kraft Hickory Smoke barbecue sauce
1/4 cup (about 1 ounce) shredded cheese (I used the Kraft Mexican four-cheese blend)
1/2 of a slice of deli ham, torn or sliced

Figure out how many pizzas you're going to need and multiply the ingredients accordingly. You can adjust quantities to taste, but I thought this ratio worked well. Extra tortillas won't go to waste, if you grill them until they're crisp. You can break them up to make crackers, or save them for another day of pizza-making.

Make sure you've got the grill set up with direct heat to pre-cook the tortillas, and indirect heat for finishing the pizzas.

Over direct heat on your grill, cook the tortillas, flipping them regularly so they cook and get grill marks, but they don't burn.

The tortillas are done when you can pick one up and it's rigid rather than floppy. They don't need to be completely solid - just rigid enough to hold their shape.

Remove the tortillas from the grill (if it's freakishly cold out, bring the finished tortillas indoors to prep them.Spread the barbecue sauce on top of each one, almost to the edge. Top with ham and cheese.

Place the pizzas back on the grill over indirect heat and close the lid. Let them cook until the cheese has melted and the ham has warmed - this takes just a minute or two, depending on your grill.

These are nice served with a green salad, but if you want to offer additional toppings on the pizzas themselves, then diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, and pickled jalapeno peppers would work well.

About that MITT:

If you're interested in winning your very own Evergriller Grill ‘N’ Flip Mitt, along with a year’s supply of Kraft Barbecue Sauce, go to GrillinFools.com between now and January 30. The winner will be randomly selected at the close of the giveaway.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and provided product samples by Kraft Foods, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

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Cheddar and Ham Biscuits

This post brought to you by Sargento. The content and opinions expressed below are that of Cookistry.

I absolutely LOVE making biscuits. They're like instant bread. And these are super-easy - you don't even need a biscuit cutter! With the holidays coming up, these are perfect for breakfast when you have guests - they'll be amazed that you made your own biscuits.

These would also be great for mini sandwiches or just a little snack.

This post is sponsored by Sargento, and they asked me to create a recipe using one of their shredded cheeses. I chose the fine-cut sharp cheddar from their Off the Block line of cheese, first because of the color. I had been brainstorming ideas, and I decided that a bright, cheery orange cheese would look really good in a recipe.

Once I decided for sure that I was making biscuits, I knew I wanted small bits of cheese rather than larger chunks, so I was pretty happy to find the fine-cut shreds. And of course, cheddar has a lot of flavor. I love all kinds of cheese, but even when I've stocked up on all kinds of fancy stuff, there's usually some kind of cheddar on hand.

Cheddar and Ham Biscuits

2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 ounces (1/2 cups) Sargento fine-cut cheddar cheese
3 slices thin-sliced deli ham, diced (1-2 ounces depending on the slices)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Heat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the self-rising flour in a bowl and add the salt, sugar, cheese, and ham. Give it a stir to disperse the cheese and ham throughout the flour.

Grate the butter directly into the flour mixture using a coarse grater. The easiest thing to do is to freeze a whole stick of butter, then unwrap and re-wrap the stick so that only 2 tablespoons are left wrapped. That way, you know when to stop grating and you've got a little bit to hang onto as you grate. Just make sure you don't grate the wrapping into the biscuits.

As you grate, stop now and then and mix the butter in so it distributes through the flour before it has a chance to clump together.

Add the buttermilk and stir until the flour is all moistened. If you have dry spots, add more buttermilk, as needed. If it seems wet and a little sloppy, don't worry about it.

Flour your work surface and turn out the dough.Flour the top of the dough as well, just to keep it from being too sticky. Use your hands to pat the dough to form an evenly-thick square about 12 inches square. Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter, then fold in thirds in the other direction to form a fat square.

TIP: You don't need to measure 12 inches exactly. You know how big an 8 1/2 x 11 standard sheet of paper is. Try to make the sides of your dough about the same size as the length of that paper. It will be close enough.

If the dough is still sticky, flour your work surface and the top of the dough again. Pat the dough down to form a 12-inch square again. It doesn't need to be exact. Fold as before.

This time, pat the dough to form a 9-inch square. Again, you don't need to measure precisely - it should be about the width of that imaginary piece of paper. If you want taller biscuits, feel free to stop patting and make a smaller square of thicker dough.

Using the sharpest, longest knife you have (or you can use a rolling pizza cutter if you have one) cut about 1/2 inch off the outer edges of the square. Having a cut edge will help them rise properly. When you cut, don't saw like you're slicing - you want to cut straight down. If the knife is curved, you can rock it so you cut all the way through. Just don't saw.

Now, cut the dough in thirds in one direction, then in thirds in the other direction, like you're cutting a tic-tac-toe pattern that creates 9 square biscuits. Or, if you want smaller biscuits, cut in a 4x4 pattern to make 16 small biscuits.

Arrange the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. If you leave them very close together - barely touching - they will have soft sides and tend to rise just a little higher. If you spread them a little further apart on the pan, the sides will be more brown and crisp.

Gather up the scraps from the edges you cut off and form them into biscuits of whatever shape you like. Bake until the biscuits are nicely browned, about 15 minutes.

Optional: Before baking, you can brush the tops of the biscuits with butter or milk, or sprinkle a little extra cheese on top. Or, if you don't want to bother with melting butter to brush onto the cold biscuits, bake the biscuits for about 10 minutes, then rub the tops with the remaining nub of butter, then continue baking.

Do you think YOU could create a recipe using a shredded Sargento cheese? They're holding a contest on Facebook where the winner will receive $2,000 toward kitchen supplies and ingredients for the perfect holiday meal, plus a year’s supply of Sargento Shredded Cheese. Just submit an original recipe and photo of a dish featuring a Sargento Shredded Natural Cheese variety, plus an explanation of why using real, fresh-tasting ingredients like Sargento Shredded Natural Cheese matters to you.

Look for Sargento on Facebook to submit your recipe.

Want more cheese? You can also find Sargento on Pinterest.

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The Turham - a ham stuffed into a turkey!

I've always wanted to create a new food-related portmanteau. And there are so many related to turkey. I mean, think about it - there's the Turducken, and Tofurky.

Wait, I see we've lost a few people running to Wikipedia to see what a portmanteau is. We'll give them a second to get back here before the fun starts.

For those of you who haven't fled, portmanteau translates to "suitcase" and it's two (or more) words that have been mashed together. So, a tofurkey is tofu and turkey, and a turducken is turkey, duck and chicken. And we also have this year's Thanksgivukkah and the lovely menurkey.

So, I came up with the ...

But wait. Let me tell you a story first.

When I was a kid, we always had turkey for Thanksgiving. Never failed. Always. Then, when Christmas rolled around, mom would ask if we wanted turkey again, or if we wanted something else.

Ah, the vague and nefarious "something else." Because the problem was that the list of possibilities was pretty short. Chicken was too common. Ham was a possibility, but that's what we usually had for Easter. We didn't really do fancy beef or pork roasts.

So, we were back to turkey again. Or sometimes ham.

And that got me thinking ... and thinking ... and portmanteau-ing. I mean, if you can stuff a duck inside a turkey, why not stuff a ham in there?

Yes, I'm serious. One problem with the turducken is that it has to cook for a long time for all the meats to cook. But I figured that a fully-cooked ham only had to get warm, so I could pull it out of the oven as soon as the turkey was done.

So, I bought a 10-pound turkey and a 10-pound bone-in ham. I de-boned a turkey, leaving just the leg bones (I removed the thigh bones) and all the wing bones. For easier access, I cut it at the backbone, so I could lay it flat.

Then, I took the bone-in ham and removed those bones. I also removed the tough skin and some of the excess fat. And then I put some seasoned bread crumbs inside the turkey put the ham on top of that, and then wrapped the turkey around the ham and skewered it shut.

In retrospect, I would have been better off using one of those rolled boneless hams, because getting the ham to fit neatly was a bit of a chore. I had way more ham than I needed, but the shape wasn't optimal for getting it to fit inside the bird.

But I got it done. It took about an hour for the prep, and then I popped it into the oven and roasted it just like I'd roast a turkey. It took a bit under 3 hours for the turkey to be fully cooked.

And that was that.

The neat thing about having the bones removed from the turkey was that after I removed the legs, I could slice straight through the bird and have slices of ham surrounded turkey. Like this:

Presenting the Turham!

Next time I might also use less ham and have a slightly thicker layer of stuffing instead of the thin layer of bread crumbs. but overall, I think it was a pretty successful attempt.

What do you think? Would you do it?

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Five English Muffin Sandwiches

A while back, I posted a review of the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker and some folks thought I was a little crazy. Yes, you can fry an egg in a pan and heat your ham in a pan or in the microwave, and toast your English Muffin.

But I sort of like the idea that I can do it all at once, in one compact device. I use this thing several times a week, making breakfast sandwiches that my husband can take to work. And sometimes I make one for myself, as well.

And then I got a bunch of coupons for Thomas' English Muffins. Oh yeah. Now we're talking. I've tried the store brand muffins, and they're not even close to Thomas's. I mean, I'm a bread snob, so I want the good stuff.

The obvious choice for a breakfast sausage is eggs and sausage, I think, but I've been venturing beyond that a bit. Here are a few of my creations.

Ham, Cheese, and Egg

Sliced ham (from a bone-in ham) is on top of the bottom half of the English muffin, topped by a slice of muenster cheese, torn to fit the muffin. That goes on the bottom of the breakfast sandwich maker. Then an egg  goes on the next layer. I break the yolk, but don't scramble it. Then the top of the muffin goes on top of the egg and it cooks for five minutes. A perfect breakfast treat.

Cream Cheese and Jam

Yeah, it sounds simple, but it's sooooo good. Spread the bottom half of the muffin with cream cheese, top with a little dollop of jam (I used this home made cran-raspberry jam) and put it into the bottom part of the sandwich maker. Put the top of the muffin in the top part of the sandwich maker.

Cook for 2 minutes, just to warm everything and lightly toast the muffin.

Bacon, Egg, and More

Spread a very small amount of cream cheese on the bottom half of the muffin and spread a small amount of tomato pesto on top of that. Place that on the bottom part of the sandwich maker. Crack an egg into the top half, break the yolk, then sprinkle one cooked and crumbled slice of bacon on top of the egg. Cook for 6 minutes.

The tomato tapenade I used came from Frieda's. If you can't find it, you could use chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

Omelet Muffin

Most of the recipes I've seen for the sandwich maker suggest putting an egg on the top portion of device, then putting the top piece of bread on that. But you can also cook your eggs in that top portion, without the bread. You can add more egg and more fillings if you do it that way.

So, for two breakfast sandwiches, I used 3 eggs, diced ham, diced mild cheddar, and a spoon full of salsa. The total volume was 1 cup. I blended it with a fork. I put the English muffin (both halves) in the bottom part of the sandwich maker, then put 1/2 cup of the egg mixture on top.

Five minutes later, I had a big fluffy toasty omelet with a nice brown crust. I opened the bottom part of the sandwich maker and took out the top piece of muffin, then slid the divider out to put the egg on the muffin. Put the top of the muffin on and, voila! Omelet muffin!

Fluffer-More

If a fluffernutter sandwich and a s'more had a child, it might be something like this. Yes, our final sandwich is a sweet one, with a smear of peanut butter on the bottom piece of muffin, a smear of chocolate Hershey's Spread (It's new stuff - not even on the Hershey site yet!) on the underside of the top piece of the muffin, a little dab of marshmallow fluff on top of the peanut butter, then a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs for a little texture.

I assembled the sandwich, then put the whole shebang into the sandwich maker for about two minutes to warm.

OOooo. Melty and gooey.

Note: This is NOT a sponsored post. I bought some of the muffins with coupons, but the sandwich maker came quite a long time ago for the purpose of review. I think the statue of limitations on that freebie has already expired.

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Breakfast for Dinner: Ham and Scrambled Egg Grilled Cheese

There are a lot of days when I need to put together a quick meal. Sure, I love the complicated recipes where I can spend the day peeling, chopping, stirring, tweaking ... but those are for days off.

Most other days, I can afford some time in the kitchen to do put together something tasty. Maybe there aren't any fancy garnishes, but it's well thought-out and nicely presented.

And then there are those days when I'm running like a maniac to get dinner on the table ten minutes ago.

The simplest dinners are the breakfast-for-dinner meals, usually something like scrambled eggs and toast. That's sort of a last-resort, can't-think-of-anything-else meal.

But it doesn't take much more effort to make this sandwich, and it's definitely more creative than simple scrambled eggs. Even better, it can be made in one pan, so cleanup is easy. Some pickles or chips or sliced tomato on the side would be great. Or, if you've got the extra two seconds, a simple green salad.

My favorite cheeses for grilled cheese sandwiches are yellow cheeses somewhere in the continuum between American cheese and a non-aged cheddar. As much as I like cheddar cheese, it doesn't melt the way I like in a sandwich like this. Swiss or pepperjack would also work well.

For the ham, this is the perfect use for left over baked ham, but you can also use deli ham, if you prefer. I like slightly thicker slices, but just about anything will work.

As far as this new butter with canola oil, it's got a few advantages. It's soft and spreadable, it tastes good on its own (I was really surprised when I tried it on bread), and since there's oil with the butter, it has a higher smoke point than straight butter. It doesn't have any strange ingredients - it's just cream, canola oil, and salt.

I've been using Land O'Lakes butter as my standard everyday for a long time, and I can remember my mother buying it, so obviously it's been around for a long time.

Ham-and-Egg Grilled Cheese

2 tablespoons Land O Lakes® Butter with Canola Oil (divided)
1 cup diced ham
2 eggs
4 slices bread
4 slices cheese

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a nonstick pan on medium heat. Add the ham and cook, stirring, just until the ham warms slightly. Add the eggs on top of the ham, and break the yolks. Stir to combine whites and yolks and ham. Continue cooking until the eggs are cooked through.

Transfer the scrambled ham and eggs to a plate or bowl and set aside for a moment.

Wipe out the pan - you don't need to clean it completely - just get rid of the egg bits that might burn.

Add the second tablespoon of butter to the pan. Place all four slices of bread in the pan. (If they don't all fit, you can do this one sandwich at a time.) Place a slice of cheese on each slice of bread.

Place half of the egg mixture on each of two slices of bread, then top with the un-egged slice of bread and cheese. At this point, the cheese should be lightly adhering to the bread.

Continue cooking, flipping the sandwiches as needed, until the bread is nicely toasted and the cheese is melted.

Serve hot.

The author was compensated by Land O’Lakes for this post. All opinions are my own.

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Almost Cuban Sandwiches

I love Cubans sandwiches, and I usually go all the way, making the bread specifically for the sandwiches and making sure I have all the right ingredients on hand.

This time, the sandwiches weren't that well planned. I had a chunk of ham and a chunk of pork roast in the freezer - leftovers from other meals - and I decided to use that for sandwiches. Perfect, so far.

But I decided not to make the bread. I had a nice loaf of sourdough, and I used that instead. I didn't have Swiss cheese, but I did have another white melty cheese on hand, and I figured that would work almost as well.

These weren't real Cuban sandwiches by any stretch of the imagination, but they were still good. Better than your average throw-random-stuff-on-bread sandwich.

The first time I had a Cuban sandwich, it was at a Cuban restaurant in Chicago. We went there several times for dinner, many more times for sandwiches, and whenever I was in the neighborhood, it was likely I'd get some carryout. Not really often, considering it wasn't close to home, but as often as was practical.

I tried Cuban sandwiches from a few other places in Chicago, and when we had an airline layover in Miami, we hopped a cab and went for sandwiches. Some to eat there, and a few more to take home.

A Cuban sandwich is a fairly simple thing. I mean, after all, it's just a sandwich. But this one's a classic for a reason. It's more than the sum of its parts. It's a perfect balance of tastes and textures. If you've never had one you should give it a try.

The mustard and mayo are sometimes debated - some people use one or the other, but the ones I had used both, so that's what I do.

These are best with something approximating the Cuban bread. A crusty baguette or a loaf of French bread will work.

Check back tomorrow for a recipe for a recipe for a different bread recipe to use to make Cuban sandwiches.

Almost Cuban Sandwiches

This is how it was assembled, from bottom to top: 
Slice of sourdough
Smear of brown mustard
Sandwich dill slices
Thinly sliced ham
Thinly sliced roast pork
White melting cheese (I used scamorza, which is sort of like provolone)
Smear of mayo on the top slice of bread

All of this spent some quality time in my sandwich press until the bread was toasty, the meat was warm, and the cheese melted a bit.

Sliced, and served while still hot.

This has been submitted to Yeastspotting.

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