Frisco's BBQ Chicken Pizza

[indyfrisco]

I was going to put this on the pizza stone thread but decided to start my own. Feel free to add your pizza concoctions below. if you try this, let me know how it turned out.

I use the paddle and stone for my homemade pizza.

Here's an excellent dough recipe:

1 T active dry yeast
1 T sugar
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup semolina flour
1 tsp salt
2 T olive oil
1 T italian seasoning

Pour the water in a small bowl. Add the yeast and sugar. Use a fork to stir until the yeast dissolves. Let set for 5 minutes to activate the yeast.

I make this in my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook. If you do not have one but have a bread machine, use the bread machine dough only cycle.

Add the flour, salt and italian seasoning to mixer bowl. Stir all dry ingredients thoroughly. Secure the bowl in the mixer stand. Using the spoon, create a little cavity in the middle of the flour. Pour the activated yeast into the cavity as well as the olive oil. Attach the dough hook and lock in place. Set the speed to 2 and let it mix for about 3 minutes. Raise the speed to 4 and let is continue to knead the dough for about 5 minutes. This takes a lot of the kneading out of your hands.

Use the same 2-1 AP flour/semolina flour mixture for your board. Set the dough on the board and knead it a little more with your hands. Put just a little olive oil in a bowl and use a paper towel to spread it around entire bowl. PLace your dough in the bowl and dab the dough with the paper towel with the olive oil on it.

Use plastic wrap and cover bowl. I like to place in fridge overnight and then set it out a couple hours prior to using it. However, you can jst put it in a dry place to rise right after making it. Just be sure to give it a couple hours to rise.

When ready to use it, toss it and roll it as you would any pizza dough. The semolina flour is the key to this recipe. It makes for a really crispy crust on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside.

Here is my specialty pizza I always make:

I take 2 onions and slice them up in to rings. In a large skillet, I put the onions, 2 T butter and ~ 4 T olive oil in the pan. Cook the onions until caramelized. Set aside.

Take 1 large or 2 small chicken breasts and grill them up with salt, pepper and olive oil. You can do this in a pan or on your outside grill. Dice into small pieces once done.

PLACE THE DOUGH ON THE PIZZA PADDLE. Be sure to put a bit of corn meal on the paddle first so the dough will slide off. Top the dough with Brent's BBQ sauce (or whatever BBQ sauce you prefer). Make sure to use a liberal amount. Put as much cheddar cheese as you like to cover the dough. Spread caramelized onions on top of cheese. Spread chicken on top of onions. I like to put jalapenos on top as well, but if you're not into that, skip them. To finish it, drizzle BBQ sauce over top of pizza.

I use a pizza stone. Here is what I do. Place stone on bottom rack of oven. Heat to 500 degrees so the stone is hotter'n'hell. Slide the dough onto the stone with the paddle. Let cook for about 3 minutes. Now, turn off the oven and set to Broil. Keep an eye on the pizza now as you do not want to burn the crust. As you see the outer crust brown (should only be 3-4 minutes), cut off the broil and set the oven back on to 350. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Remove stone and pizza from oven. Let pizza rest on the hot stone for 5 minutes before you cut into it.

That's it. This is one of the best pizzas you will ever eat.

[ppanther]

Just came out of the oven:

Roasted vegetable calzones. I have NO IDEA how they are, I've never made them before. They look fantastic, though.

Crust:
3.5 c AP flour
0.5 c cornmeal
about 1 tbsp fennel seed
about 1 tbsp dried oregano
about 1 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp salt
1 packet active dry yeast
3 tbsp EVOO
1.5 c warm water

Put the first 7 ingredients in food processor, pulse to combine. Turn the processor on/dough and stream in water/oil mixed through top. Count to 30, pray the machine doesn't burn up. Turn dough (should be pretty much in one piece at this point) onto lightly floured surface, knead until smooth. Place in oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap... leave it alone in a warm part of your kitchen for about 1.5 hours.

While that's rising...

1 bulb fennel
1 red bell pepper
half a large onion
1 lb. mushrooms
3 cloves garlic

Heat oven to 400F.

Cut the tops/bottom off fennel, remove core and cut into about 1/2" pieces. Cut red pepper into similar sized pieces. Same with the onion. Put all three on cookie sheets, toss with EVOO, season with kosher salt, roast until nicely caramelized. Toss them around every 10-15 minutes. It should take about 30 minutes to get them just right.

While they're roasting, slice mushrooms and sautee in large pan with EVOO. Don't stir too much and don't season yet. Let 'em brown, let them do their own thing. When they're almost done, add in 3 minced cloves garlic, keep cooking until garlic is no longer 'raw'. Season to taste with salt and freshly-ground pepper. Remove from heat.

When the vegies in the oven are done, combine them in a large bowl with mushrooms. Lower oven to 350.

Grate Parmesan cheese.
Grate Mozzarella cheese.
Chop Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes.
Chop Kalamata olives.
Toast pine nuts.

When the dough is ready...

Divide in 2 and press each into about a 12" round. Sprinkle with parm, pile on vegies (in the middle ONLY, avoid edges), sprinkle with olives, pine nuts, and sun-dried tomatoes, cover with mozzarella cheese and more parm. Moisten the outer edges and carefully fold over and seal up edges. Sprinkle crust with remaining parm.

Bake in 350 oven for ~40 minutes.

I'm pretty sure they're going to be delicious.

[Dinsdale]

Do you slather those in Killer Chocolate Sauce?

[ppanther]

Do you slather those in Killer Chocolate Sauce?

Nope. I save most sauces for my freshly-caught U&L salmon.

[Dinsdale]

Hazelnuts?

[ppanther]

Actually, it turns out I can eat them. So yes, they will be used in the Killer Hazelnut Chocolate Salmon Sauce.

[Dinsdale]

You were hallergic, but now you're not?


Them women...always changing their mind.

In that case, I know a couple places you can score hazelnuts cheap.

[Headhunter]

Damn, I know she's not really a "catch" But I didn't know she had nuts. And I certainly didn't know they could be aquired cheap.

[indyfrisco]

Saw there were replies and was hoping someone made my pizza and was looking forward to a review. Sadly, not the case.

[ppanther]

Feel free to add your pizza concoctions below.

:roll: Sorry you were so disappointed with my contribution.

Yours looks tasty, IndyFrisco. BBQ Chicken Pizza isn't exactly groundbreaking here in CA. It's all in the sauce, and if your homemade sauce is as good as you say, I'm sure your pizza is very good. If you feel like changing it up ever, try using smoked gouda instead of cheddar. It's fantastic on BBQ Chicken pizza.

[indyfrisco]

Oh I was just kidding pp. Most recipes I've seen here aren't "ground breaking" but I'm always interested in seeing different variations. Hell, that's how I came up with my BBQ sauce. I printed off about 30 recipes from cookbooksonline.com for BBQ sauce. I had no idea how to make it. I took the common ingredients as my base and just added to it. I always made 1 gallon at a time. After about 20 gallons, I came up with my recipe.

I'm definitely a calzone fan. I may try your recipe with my BBQ chicken. I definitely like gouda so I might give that a shot as well. I'm not too much into the "Cali" style pizzas you get at CPK. more of a meat and taters kinda guy. Except when I bake...I love baking so I make all kinds of different things.

I will post my Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mouse Icing sometime. I don't have the exact measurements memorized. It is damn good and rich though.

[ppanther]

Oh I was just kidding pp. Most recipes I've seen here aren't "ground breaking" but I'm always interested in seeing different variations. Hell, that's how I came up with my BBQ sauce. I printed off about 30 recipes from cookbooksonline.com for BBQ sauce. I had no idea how to make it. I took the common ingredients as my base and just added to it. I always made 1 gallon at a time. After about 20 gallons, I came up with my recipe.

I'm definitely a calzone fan. I may try your recipe with my BBQ chicken. I definitely like gouda so I might give that a shot as well. I'm not too much into the "Cali" style pizzas you get at CPK. more of a meat and taters kinda guy. Except when I bake...I love baking so I make all kinds of different things.

I will post my Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mouse Icing sometime. I don't have the exact measurements memorized. It is damn good and rich though.

I love baking too... I'd definitely be into that recipe. There is no such thing as too much chocolate!!

[Dinsdale]

A foo-foo pizza without artichoke hearts is...well....it's just not the West Coast way.

[Headhunter]

I'll give your dough a try next time I make Pizzas.

I've tried about 4 different one and haven't found the right mixture yet.

I am looking for the crispy crust with it being a freaking toasted flatbread.

[indyfrisco]

HH,

You're looking for a basic flat dough? I've used my dough as well. However, what I did was use about half of the dough above and really roll it out flat. It turns into a crispy shell.

I actually do that quite often because my wife is a plain cheese pizza eater and I like my BBQ chicken or a loaded pizza. So, I make one batch of dough, cut it in half and really roll it out. No way to hand toss it as thin as you'd want...at least not me. I hand toss my dough when using the whole thing, but only enough to get me started as I'm no pro hand tosser.

[Headhunter]

HH,

You're looking for a basic flat dough?

No. I'm looking for typing skills. I'll let you know how that works out. I'm looking for a crispy crust and semi-crisp crumb. One that crunches a little, and breaks up nicely without being overly crispy and tasting like unleavened flatbread. The later being what many "Pizza" places deliver from their ovens. Keep in mind I've been working with Artisan breads for about a year and a half now and am quite accomplished in such areas. I'm just a real picky when it comes to my homemade Pizzas and I haven't found that perfect measure that suits my needs. I refine it a bit each time in search of "My" crust. I just don't make Pizza often enough to have that particular recipe down pat yet. I've aspirations of opening a bakery in a small town on retirement and personal Pizzas is something I plan to offer. So I will continue on my quest to get "My" Crust down.

Maybe yours will be the missing link.

I hand toss my dough when using the whole thing, but only enough to get me started as I'm no pro hand tosser.

Sicko. I hope you wash your hands before making Pizza.

[indyfrisco]

I do wash my hands...up to my elbows.

So anyway, like I said, my dough really is crispy on the outside and chewy in the middle. I, too, have always been searching for "my" crust. I finally found it.

My wife eats pizza ALL the time. She's a vegetarian (doesn't eat many vegetables though) and her diet consists of bread and cheese. So, I make pizzas quite often.

I struggled with many different crusts over the years. I never made them to my satisfaction yet my wife has always said my pizza is her favorite. Ever since I started using the semolina flour about 2 years ago, I found "my" crust. Every pizza she eats, she says "This was your best one ever". That is how I know I found the right one.

I wish you well in your "Quest for the Crust." It took me 8 years to find the one I have now. It's worth a try because once you've found it, it is amazing.

[Headhunter]

I'll give it a shot.

FYI, It is very close to the recipe I've been tweaking with two major exceptions.

1) the addition of Semolina

2) Act Dry yeast. I use Instant for just about everything.


I don't think the yeast will be that big a difference maker. The semolina interests me, though.

I've been trying to find some Italian Style Flour which has a much lower protein percentage than all purpose.

Durum has a much higher protein percentage than unbleached all purpose, but does not form gluten. Vital Gluten is often added back to recipes to make the bread chewy. If overworked Durm (Semolina is the course version of durm) makes bread very chewy, so it stands to reason that a mixture of the two would lower the overall gluten and protein of a bread. Thus making it lighter and crispier.


Seems reasonable.

One of the elements that has been hard to overcome in my bread making is the availability of different flours. I've mixed some different flours with varied results. I'll give this a shot and let you know.

[PSUFAN]

Indy,

I also make a lot of pizza dough. I basically use the same recipe you listed above (never used seminola flour, though, I'll try that). I never use sugar.

A couple of variations, though...sometimes I roast garlic and onions, and puree them with a lot of EVOO, then use that to pat down the dough after it raises the first time. I let the mix permeate the dogh, and then bake it off for 5-7 minutes, then add toppings.

I also like to experiment with potato on Pizza. Again, I roast and puree potatos, then mix them with water and brush them on the rising dough. I did this with peruvian purple spuds the other day, it ended up really nice.

One of the best pies I ever made was a garlic dough, coated after pre-baking with potatoes mashed with cream cheese and dijon mustard, then topped with serrano spanish ham, braised Kale, shaved fennel, and danish Blue (or another STRONG blue)...exceptional.

[indyfrisco]

HH,

Semolina is the base flour for pasta, which is a chewy dough. Seems to reason that is the reason for the chewyness of my version.

Semolina is a relatively expensive flour. I found a wonderful website where I buy it in 10 lb. bags. http://www.bulkfoods.com A 10 lb. bag of semolina costs $12.62 including shipping. I bought 2 bags about 10 months ago and have about 2-3 cups left in my first bag. This website is great for lots of things. I buy my spices from them for my BBQ sauce as well since they are so cheap.

PSU,

I use sugar to activate the yeast. When I put the yeast in the warm water (which will activate it by itself I know), I add the sugar to give it a kick start. It's such a small amount that it is not even tasted.

[Headhunter]

Ok, I tried the dough out over the week-end. Not bad. Everyone enjoyed it, but I still have some tweaking to do.

I think part of my tweaking will include additional pre-bake time. The crumb was the right consistency, but I didn't get enough crisp in the crust before the toppings were cooked to the right amount.

I'll keep working on it, and keep you posted.

I think I'm on the right track with the semolina.

[indyfrisco]

HH,

Did you preheat your stone to 500* and slide the pizza onto it like I suggested? That is the key to my recipe because it allows for the crust to cook rather quickly.

Anyhow, glad you gave it a shot. The semolina was what finally made it the way I want it. Everyone has different preferences I understand so the way I like it may not be the way you like it. Mine has never came out undercooked though.

[Headhunter]

I wouldn't say it was underdone, just needs some more pre-bake time to get nice and crispy on the outside with out the cheese and toppings begining to overcook.

And yeah, I make sure the stone is nice and hot. It's just a matter of tweaking the cook times a little.

[indyfrisco]

See, for me, I used to prebake my crusts some, but the crust would always get overdone. Then I noticed NO pizza place prebakes their crusts so I started using the method above. I like my cheese to get bubbly and even somewhat crispy. I don't like a gooey cheese on my pizza.

Anyhow, like I said, everyone has their preference. Sounds like you may have found the right ingredient in the semolina. I know I did.

[King Crimson]

the proper crispiness with thin pizza is always going to be tricky as long as we all have ovens that don't have the BTU's to go much higher than 550.

ideal temp for a real italian wood burning pizza oven is about 750-800. the dough has to "seize" right away off the peel. but i love reading about good pizza. rack you folks.

i wish i knew more about baking....and i've made some good italian style breads and foccacia in the past but yeast is kind of weird at altitude.....and i haven't lived in a place with much a workspace for a few years so i haven't pursued it as much.

[Headhunter]

King...

Check out Rose Levy Berenbaums Bread Bible. It's a little advanced when it comes to cookbooks. It is very technical and gives you the science behind the breads. She also makes adjustments for altitudes, and goes into detail about how to make these things work. I'll look at it tonight and see how she spells it out, whether it was per recipe, or a conversion table in the back. I can't remember off the top of my head.

At any rate, if you like baking bread... This is one book you should not be without.

As to the temp, I've seen some guys doing Pizzas one grills, and that always looks tempting. Should solve the BTU issue for sure. I've ordered a laser thermometer for cheching temperatures acurately. Can't wait until it arrives. No more messing with oven thermometers, or long cables dropped in grease. Just point, click, and read! Should give me a better idea of what the oven is actually cranking out.

[Atomic Punk]

I was listening to Sports Radio today and for an hour they were talking about tailgating spreads. This might sound crazy and lame, but this one guy said he gets those Pillsbury biscuits things and pops them open to use as his dough.

Does that sound right if you are going to BBQ a pizza? It actually sounds like it would work from how he was describing it. It's cheap, fast, and prolly loaded with sugars and unsavory additives... but when your drinking before a game, then it sounds possible. I would imagine you have to roll that dough out very flat.

[indyfrisco]

AP, you just described what I do ALL the time.

I go buy the Pillsbury Grands Wheat biscuits as I prefer wheat to white for health reasons. I use a small semolina and flour mixture (1 to 1 parts) and dust the bread board. I have one of the pampered chef rollers (mine is wooden but looks like the new ones are plastic).



Anyhow, I roll the biscuit out with the roller to about 1/8" thick. I have really gotten into these Tyson Frozen Chicken Breasts With Mesquite flavoring. These chicken breasts are like $7 for about 10 of them. You just reheat them in the oven at 400* for like 20 minutes. For this "quickie" recipe, they are perfect.

So, I usually cook the chicken up first while I get the biscuits ready. After I roll out the biscuits, I place them on the cookie sheet. Actually, I've been using pizza stones. Since I have the double oven, I can usually cook 6 of these little pizzas at once. 3 for me and 3 for the wife. For mine, I spread my BBQ sauce on the dough. Then I sprinkle some finely chopped onion on the BBQ. Spread cheddar over the onion. Then dice up the chicken and spread that on top of the cheddar. Drizzle some more BBQ sauce over the chicken and cheese with a spoon. Voila!

Depending on how you like your crust, you may/may not want to preheat the stones some before you put the biscuits on them. I like a crisper crust so I preheat the stones while the oven in preheating. Then I dress the pizzas on the hot stone. If you are using a cookie sheet, no need to preheat. Also, if using a cookie sheet, be careful as biscuits tend to burn on them.

Awesome for quickie little pizzas. I make these every week or two. We always have cheese, biscuits BBQ sauce and frozen Tyson chicken on hand. The wife just eats cheese pizza and I always have a jar of my homemade pizza sauce in the fridge too.

[Atomic Punk]

That sounds kick ass! So you don't use all of the dough for one big pizza? I do have a pizza stone here. How long do you actually cook the prepared pizzas since you've already heated the chicken for 20 minutes? White onion? This has to be something I can do w/o fucking it up. I like a crisp crust also.

RACK!

[indyfrisco]

No, I do not combine all the biscuits to make one big crust. If you want to do that, they actually make pizza crust in the can if you want one big pizza. The beauty of using the biscuits is that we can opena a can of biscuits, make 4 or 6 little pizzas and we won't use all the dough.

You generally get 8 biscuits per can (of Grands). Sometimes we do 4, sometimes 6.

If you want to do one big pizza with biscuit dough, get the biscuit dough that is MADE for pizza. It is still VERY good. We used to make it all the time. Use the biscuits when you do not want leftovers. With the leftover biscuits, I put them in Press N Seal wrap and use them later.

As for the chicken, you are cooking that ahead of time. You can cook it right before you make the pizzas or you can cook it the day before. It's up to you. When you throw it on the pizza though, it is only for a reheat measure. You are basically heating up the sauce, crisping the crust and melting the cheese.

So, since you like the crisper crust, here is my reccomendation:

Get 2 boards ready (or 1 board and one piece of parchment paper that is dusted with flour).

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees with your stone IN the oven. Begin rolling out your biscuit dough. As you roll out each biscuit, place it on the secondary board (or parchment paper). Once the oven comes to temp, take out the stone and place the biscuit dough on the stone. Remember, this dough won't rise so you can butt up one piece of dough to the next.

Top your dough as I listed above and bake until your toppings are as cooked and crisp as you like.

And use whatever onion you have on hand. I prefer red, but whie is just fine in a pinch.

[Atomic Punk]

I see what your saying. If you decided to use a cookie sheet, would you put corn meal on it to prevent sticking like they do at a local place that kicks New Yorks ass in pizza?

I like the idea of the couple little pizzas better so there is no leftovers. The reason I'm now entering the cooking forum is I just finished a Nutrition class and want to start making simple things that are healthy. Over the last two years I've lost over 60 lbs due to changes of diet and a LOT of exercise. I just visited my doctor yesterday and he liked my slow but methodical weight loss. So I went from 272 down to 207 and have 10 to 20 more to go at most. Mikey, Harsh, and Y2K saw me at Applebee's a few months ago when I was 229.

So anyway, I've been reading the nutritional food composition tables so I have to be cool on the meats and other goodies like cheeses.

All I'm trying to do is make simple, healthy, and tasty things. I don't have the time with school and work to become a chef. Your thing sans a lot of chicken and adding more veggies sounds pretty damn good!

[trev]

Those canned biscuits probably have trans fats.

I hate to say it, bad stuff!

[indyfrisco]

trev is right. the canned biscuits aren't that great for you. they should have some reduced fat ones though.