BBQ Chicken Pizza

Thanksgiving is probably the most traditional food holiday around. Let's just say we turned Thanksgiving on its ear this year.

No turkey for us. Dressing was nowhere to be found. Grits took the place of mashed potatoes and gravy. The closest thing to a traditional ham was bacon.

To follow up our South Carolina shrimp and grits Thanksgiving dinner, Brent and I collaborated on BBQ Chicken Pizza for supper. A friend in his master's program had brought a similar pizza to a party. I looked at some recipes online. He tried to remember what she'd included in her version.

And we came up with a pretty tasty pizza. I'm fairly confident it will appear on his table and in the County Line kitchen again.

Brent's apartment kitchen isn't what we would call spacious. Counter space is at a premium, and let's just say that his pantry isn't quite as diverse as mine. We purchased a refrigerated pizza dough at his neighborhood grocery store. (His sister will be glad to see that we got whole wheat.)

Using the prepared crust was easy and tasty, too, but you can certainly make your own homemade version. I probably will, since my grocery store doesn't have handy, dandy bags of pizza dough (plus it's easy to do with some flour, yeast, water and salt)!

Serve with a green salad or some fresh vegetables, and enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 pound chicken tenders
1/2 to 1 whole red pepper, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
4-6 slices of bacon, cooked until crisp, then chopped
Approximately 2/3 cup barbecue sauce of choice (We used Sweet Baby Ray's)
1 pkg. refrigerated pizza dough (or make your own homemade)
Approximately 2 cups shredded cheese (We used a fiesta blend with cheddar and mozzarella)
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Chop chicken tenders into bite-sized pieces and saute until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside. Toss with about 2 tablespoons of barbecue sauce.

In the same skillet, cook diced peppers and onion in oil, sauting until tender. (We cooked the bacon in the microwave, but you could also add the bacon to this step, cooking until browned and crispy.) Combine the vegetables, bacon and chicken; toss together until ingredients are evenly distributed.

In a large pan, spread your pizza dough out evenly. You can use a large pizza pan or a 15- by 10-inch rectangle pan.

Top with remaining barbecue sauce. Spread chicken mixture evenly over the BBQ sauce. Top with shredded cheeses and sprinkle with Parmesan cheeses. Sprinkle minced cilantro leaves on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Cut into pieces and serve.

Notes: If you really wanted to make this easy and you live in a larger town than I do, you could use a rotisserie chicken instead of browning your own chicken. You could also get peppers and onions from a salad bar so you didn't have to chop. The grocery store where Brent shops doesn't have a salad bar, so we did the chopping ourselves.

We were in South Carolina, so we didn't have Curly's BBQ sauce, which is what we usually use. But Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce was good, and I did see it's available in Kansas as well. Also, we didn't actually measure. Just spread a thin layer of BBQ sauce over the pizza dough. I got the measurement from another recipe because I know some people don't like the whole "use your own judgement" recipe notes!

Italian Pizza Bake

This Italian Pizza Bake is ready in no time ... with no freezer burn in sight. It may not be quite as quick as pulling a pizza from the freezer case or as easy as calling for pizza delivery (if that were even an option around here!). But it is a great choice for supper - whether you're sitting around the kitchen table or serving it up on paper plates.

The guys were finally were able to work wheat stubble ground after it rained a couple of inches in early August. So it was Meals on Wheels time at the County Line kitchen. The guys are fans of Taco Pizza, which uses a crescent roll dough for the crust.

But I saw a version of this recipe on the biscuit mix box and decided it was time for something new. The original recipe was made in a loaf pan, and I knew it wouldn't make enough for both guys. So I looked at my Bisquick cookbook and came up with a dough to fit my pizza pan, then multiplied the topping ingredients.

The end result was a success. Even my farmer, who prefers beef over chicken any day, gave me a thumbs up. It's going in the "keep" pile.

Italian Pizza Bake

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup diced green or yellow bell pepper (I used yellow)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used green onion, both bottoms and tops)
1 cup canned diced tomatoes with Italian herbs
1 1/2 cups cut-up cooked chicken breast (I had grilled extra at the noon meal for this purpose)
1/4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Original recipe called for mozzarella. I used a fiesta blend)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pizza pan with cooking spray. Stir together Bisquick, water and garlic powder until a ball forms. Using a little extra Bisquick, knead the dough about 10 times on the counter, adding a little Bisquick if it's too sticky. Using floured or Bisquick-coated fingers, spread dough in pizza pan.

Cook peppers and onion in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until tender (I had to add a little water so it wouldn't burn before the veggies were softened. It cooked off.) Stir in chicken, tomatoes and seasoning; heat until hot and liquid reduces some. Spoon over dough in pan. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake 12-15 minutes (depending on your oven) or until golden brown and cheese is melted. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.

If you prefer, you can use a use a yeast dough pizza crust. Click here for a recipe. Or, if you're short on time, you could purchase a refrigerated pizza crust from the grocery store.

A few photos of the process:

Pat the biscuit dough crust onto a pizza pan.

Cook the yellow bell pepper and green onion (with tops) in a nonstick skillet. I added a little water so they didn't burn before they got tender. No oil necessary!

Here's the mixture after I added the tomatoes, chicken and seasoning.

After the liquid reduces, spread it on the pizza crust.

Top with shredded cheese. (Measure if you must: I usually just put it on until it looks "right.")

Serve it up. (I put a piece on a plate for the photo. In reality, I put pieces on paper plates and took them to the field for the guys, along with grapes and homemade cookies.)




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A Pizza Christmas

You don't have to have ham or turkey to honor holiday tradition. We did have spiral ham for our own little family gathering. But at our Christmas Eve celebration with my family, beef brisket is always on the menu.

Our celebration with Randy's side of the family is less predictable. After his parents passed away, we have often celebrated Christmas with Mexican fiestas at Kathy's house.

And when we are here on the County Line, I often opt for pizza. And it's still all about tradition.

Randy's mom, Marie, was known for making pizza. When the kids were in high school, I'm told she made dozens of homemade pizzas to serve kids who came for youth group, for game nights and other gatherings.

She had a signature gift which she gave to young brides during church showers. She would wrap up a pizza pan with all the spices and seasonings needed to make their own pizza. She also included a box of hot roll mix, which she used to make the crust.

For Jill & Eric's bridal shower at the church, my sister-in-law, Kathy, wrapped up a pizza pan gift - a tribute to her mom. It was perfect, since Marie was so central to happenings like that at our church.

I make my own dough, but the sentiment - and the memories - are still there. It's a way to pay homage to my in-laws. Even though they aren't here to celebrate with us, it kind of feels like they are.

Marie, Jill, Melvin and Brent at a long-ago Christmas

This year, I made three different pizzas - a hamburger (pictured above), a cheese and a pepperoni. The other two were gone before I remembered to take a photo.

Kim's Homemade Pizza Dough

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour or combination

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients. Beat vigorously 20 strokes (If you need to, knead briefly to get it to form a ball.) Let rest about 5 minutes. Makes 2 crusts.

Divide the dough evenly and spread onto two pizza pans. I prepare the pans by rubbing with shortening and I have my hands well-greased with shortening to spread out the dough.

I don't really have a recipe for the rest. I use canned pizza sauce and just add hamburger, pepperoni, cheese, etc.

Once you have your toppings added, bake in a 425-degree oven for 15-20 minutes (or so), until cheese is light brown and crust is nicely browned. My oven bakes hot, so I always check it early.

Marie's Pizza

1 box hot roll mix
Salad oil
Onions, to taste
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
Oregano, to taste
Basil, to taste
Topping of your choice (mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, hamburger, veggies, etc.)

Prepare dough according to directions on hot roll mix package. Using greased fingers, spread dough on well-greased pizza pans.

Brown onions in small amount of salad oil. Add tomato paste and sauce and seasonings. Stir until well blended; simmer. Spread on pizza dough. Add topping and bake at 425 degrees for 15-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is crisp.

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My sister-in-law continued the pizza theme with the dessert she brought to the party. She made the treat with a little help from her cute assistants.

And here are Emily & Amanda, who at that point, had filled up on savory AND sweet pizzas and were ready for the main attraction - opening presents!

Fruity Brownie Pizza

1 pkg brownie mix (8 in. size)
1 pkg (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. sugar
1 can (8 ounces) pineapple tidbits
1 small firm banana sliced
1 medium kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
1 c. sliced fresh strawberries
1/4 c. chopped pecans (opt.)
1 square (1 ounce) semisweet chocolate
1 T. butter (no substitute)

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Spread the batter into greased 12 in. pizza pan. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Spread over crust. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Toss banana slices with juice. Drain well. Arrange banana, kiwi, strawberries, and pineapple over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with pecans. In a microwave, melt chocolate and butter. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over fruit. Refrigerate for 1 hour. 12-14 servings.