COWBOY CAULDRON PIZZA
As Mike Bertelsen of the Cowboy Cauldron Company puts it, making your own pizza is “bonehead easy,” especially over one of his epic firepits and using one of our cast-iron pans as a de facto pizza stone. Settle in for summer grilling and let the flame do the rest.
Best cooked in the Lili.
INGREDIENTS
- 500 grams (or roughly 2 cup) AP Flour
- 310 grams (or roughly 1 1/3 cup) warm water
- 7 grams (or 1 tsp.) kosher salt
- 10 grams (or 1 ¼ tsp.) olive oil
- One pack (1 tbsp.) of active dry yeast (SAF is our preferred brand)
- Sauce and toppings of choice
METHOD
For the crust:
Whisk water, yeast, and olive oil in the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor until combined. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
Using dough hook or blade attachment, add flour and mix until the dough mostly comes together (it should be a little shaggy). Add the salt. Continue to mix until the ball of dough is cohesive. It should be a little tacky, but not wet or sticky. If it’s a little sticky, mix slowly and add another tablespoon of flour until the texture is achieved. Note: this can be mixed ahead of time and refrigerated for up to 3 days prior to use.
Meanwhile, get your coals going in a chimney or via your preferred method using a fire-starting device. Once ready, pour into bottom of your cauldron or grill. Place the cast-iron skillet directly over the coals to pre-heat. You can also place the skillet on the grill grate for less intense heat.
Prepare your pizza dough by rolling it out on a well-floured surface. Use a rolling pin, wine bottle, or just your hands. If you don’t have a peel, you can prepare the dough on the backside of a well-floured sheet pan. Once your dough is the shape you like, add sauce and toppings of your choice.
Carefully slide the pizza into the pan on the cauldron. Pro tip: turn the pan upside-down, cooking the pizza on the bottom, like a pizza stone, for easier removal.
Once your pizza dough is getting crispy on the bottom, pop that sheet pan on top of the cast-iron pan and, using heat-protective gloves, remove the pan from the cauldron. The pan combo creates an oven-like effect, and the residual heat will melt your cheese. If you want extra crispy cheese, pop the pizza in the oven under the broiler for a minute or two.
Remove from pan, cut into your desired slice sizes, and enjoy.
Recipe courtesy of Mike Bertelsen of the Cowboy Cauldron Company.
SEAFOOD FRITTERS
The Eastern Shore of Virginia is, for all intents and purposes, clam country. In fact, the Old Dominion State has the largest clam fishery in the United States, hauling in hundreds of millions of both farm-raised and wild varieties, from little necks, cherrystones, and razors along the coastal peninsula’s Chesapeake Bay shorelines to quahogs off the banks of the Atlantic Ocean. And if you’re not eating them raw or roasted, there are few ways better to indulge than the local delicacy of a pan-fried fritter.
CHESAPEAKE OYSTER STUFFING
A round of oysters is always cause for celebration, and this time of year on the Chesapeake Bay, that shows up in the form of oyster stuffing. Whether stuffed into a bird or cooked in a cast-iron pan, it’s a time-honored tradition during the holiday season. Or, as Harris’s book reports The Baltimore Sun putting it in 1914, “Inside the oyster belt at Thanksgiving time, it is nothing short of heresy to fail to serve turkey with good old-fashioned oyster stuffing.” Throw it into a Joan and consider it tradition.
SEARED HANGER STEAK WITH CHARRED SCALLION SALSA
There was a time not that long ago when you’d walk into certain butcher shops, ask for a hanger steak, and get a quizzical look. Perhaps that’s because, for some time, the secondary cut was also known as a “Hanging Tender,” hailing from inside the ribcage (in fact, it’s part of the diaphragm), as well as “the Butcher’s Steak,” with those cunning meatmongers often keeping this deeply flavorful, textured specimen for themselves. “But the gig is up,” says Pryles, who shares her pan-cooked version with us, featuring wagyu, no less, and a bright salsa to boot.
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