Outdoor Eating

Everything tastes better eaten outdoors. That’s certainly true of the new-on-the-menu pizza at Falconer Vineyards. It seems that everyone else in town has been out there to try the pizza except me—so I forced my friend and also innkeeper, Deb Bylander (Pratt-Taber Inn) to repay a favor by taking me out to sample the wares at Falconer’s.


We chose a beautiful sunshiny day; not too hot, not too cool to sit on the large patio overlooking the grapes far below and stretching out to the bluffs covered in their summer finery. It really was magnificent. The delicious, crisp whole-wheat crust cooked in 90 seconds in their wood fire oven so the now-famous signature “Grapes of Wrath” pizza (red grapes, sausage, cheeses and jalapeno pepper) and “Northern Tropics” (Canadian bacon, pineapple, and 4 cheeses) pizzas were served pronto. They are baked in “personal size” (about 8 inches) but two fed three of us just fine. They were complemented with a light, slightly sweet Chardonnay and a red that was also semi-sweet and served chilled—Chambourcin.

I’m not sure if it was the lovely view, the delightful company or the heady wine, but I decided that I would slough off my antagonism to grilling and try my own pizza recipes on our grill and serve them on our porch. I could keep my kitchen cooler and enjoy the outdoor advantage at the same time.

But I am not very sure of myself on a charcoal grill—especially not with pizza—so I decided to start small. Pita bread serves well for personal pizzas and felt safe to try since they are already baked. These turned out to be delicious!

Grilled Pitas with Tomatoes, Olives and Feta Cheese

1 cup diced seeded tomatoes
½ cup pitted coarsely chopped mixed olives
½ cup chopped red onion
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 whole wheat pita breads

Prepare grill to medium-high heat. Stir tomatoes, olives, onion and 2 Tbsp. oil in small bowl to blend. Brush one side of each pita with remaining 2 Tbsp. oil; place pitas, oiled side down on grill. Cook until lightly charred, about 2 minutes. Turn pitas over; top with tomato mixture, spreading almost to edges. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover barbecue and grill pitas until topping is warm, about 2 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve.

Well, that was simple and successful! I got brave and decided to try a homemade dough pizza cooked entirely on the grill. I must admit that I turned to the internet to find instructions on grilling pizza and came across a step-by-step recipe on simplyrecipes.com that turned out just great!

My whole-wheat pizza dough

1 pkg. dry yeast
¼ tsp sugar
1 ½ cups warm water
2 ½ to 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 ½ tsp salt
Cooking spray

Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water in large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, oil and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until well blended. Turn dough out onto floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough remaining flour, 1 Tbsp at a time, to prevent the dough from sticking. Place dough in large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in warm place for 45 minutes. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide in half and roll each half into 12-inch circle on floured surface. Top and bake as directed.

To grill pizza:

Prepare grill for high direct heat. Prepare a small bowl with olive oil for greasing the grill grates and for brushing the pizza. Prepare the toppings so they are ready to go on the pizza—tomato sauce, cheese and anything else you are going to use.

Shape pizza dough with hands; let it sit for 5 minutes and push out edges with your fingers until you have a nice round shape, about 12-inches in diameter. Do not make a raised rim; it will interfere with the grilling process. When you can hold your hand an inch over the grates for no more than 2 seconds, dip a folded up paper towel in olive oil and use tongs to wipe the grill grates. Then place a pizza round on a lightly floured rimless cookie sheet or pizza peel. Let dough slide off onto the hot grill grates. Close the lid of the grill and let cook for 2 minutes. Open grill and check underneath dough to see if is browned. If on one side only, use spatula to rotate dough 90 degrees and cook 1 more minute. If not browning, cover grill and cook 1 minute at a time until bottom has begun to brown. Use your cookie sheet or peel to remove it from the grill. Use spatula to flip dough over so grilled side is up. Keep grill covered. Paint the grilled surface of the pizza with olive oil, then cover with 1 ladle of sauce. Sprinkle on toppings, ending with mozzarella cheese and then meat if using. When bottom of dough is deeply golden use peel to remove. Cut and enjoy.