Grilled Greek Pizza

Spring came back to Atlanta today, so of course I wanted to use the grill tonight. Greek pizza, fired on the grill for a few minutes, was the perfect end to a lovely day.

1 refrigerated pizza crust
Olive Oil
1 Italian sausage
1/4 onion, sliced very thin
1 garlic clove, minced
Feta cheese crumbles
1/2 lemon, sliced very thin
Oregano to taste
Shredded mild cheddar (or mozzarella)

Brown the sausage, breaking into crumbles (easiest if you remove the casing first). Remove to a paper-towel lined plate once done, leaving the remaining fat in the pan. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and cook down until the onions are nicely carmelized. Scoop out and add to paper-towel lined plate. Add a bit of olive oil into the pan now if the fat has mostly gone - just enough to cover most of the bottom. Add the lemon slices, and fry until they just start to brown. Add these to the paper towel once done also.

To build the pizza: drizzle olive oil onto the crust and spread out very thinly. Start with less oil than you think you need - you can always add more, but you just want to make sure the crust is covered throughout, no more than that. Sprinkle the sausage on first, then spread out the onion/garlic mix. Cut the lemons into small chunks and sprinkle those on, then the chunks of Feta. Sprinkle a bit of oregano over the top (to taste - but you generally don't need much, it's a strong flavor). Since Feta doesn't melt, add some other shredded cheese to pull it together. I used mild cheddar, because I had it on hand, and the flavor worked really well with the fried lemon (which is not bitter anymore, but just the perfect slightly sour punch). Bake the pizza at 450 for about 10 minutes, then pull it out of the oven and slap it on the grill for another 5-7 minutes - this gives the crust an awesome charred flavor, perfect for enjoying on a lovely spring evening!

Grill Time! Peach-Barbecue Pork

Daylight Savings Time started today...so I thought it was a perfect night to grill. Since it was also a Cobb Symphony weekend, I was playing a concert most of the afternoon. So, I made up a new marinade and left the pork loin to get flavor-licious while I was gone. I called Hal on the way home, and he threw it on the grill. By the time I got home, we had an awesome meal, all ready to go.

It was the easiest marinade I've done in a while! Only 3 ingredients: barbecue sauce (whatever you have), peach nectar (I bought a single can for $1 in the international section at Kroger), and hot sauce (whatever you have). If you feel like making homemade barbecue sauce to have on hand, I highly recommend the Neely's version. It's great on ribs.

I just mixed the 3 to taste, and make enough to cover the pork loin in a zipper bag (don't forget to take the tough membrane off the pork first). Cook the pork to 160 degrees - remember pork can still be pink inside if it's the right temperature. The meat went really well with instant mashed potatoes (flavored with dried rosemary) and some fruit. I finally felt like summer was on the way!