Q: How do you use wood planks for grilling?

A: Wood planks add another dimension to smoke-cooking. It's the most fun you can have with smoke—without breaking the law! Read more on the Burn! Blog here.

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Don't want to heat up the kitchen? Tired of bland commercial pizza? Heard enough about Godfather's Pizza to last a lifetime?  Try this spiced up Southwestern pizza cooked on your grill! 

Pungent Pizza on the Grill

In this recipe we attempt to recreate the wonderful thin-crust pizza from wood-fired ovens in your very own backyard. Our homemade crust has something that Pizza Doodle Express does not: chile. But if you’re lazy and don’t want to make your own dough, you can use a 12-inch, pre-baked pizza shell. You can also easily make the dough in your bread machine. It is very important to have a clean grill for this recipes, as any residue on the grill will give the crust an off flavor. Why not make both toppings and divide the pizza?

You can read another article about grilled pizza by Mark Masker on the Burn! Blog. In it he celebrates National Pizza Day—February 9.

The Chile Dough
1 cup warm water (100 degrees F.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons crushed red chile
Freshly ground black pepper

Yield: 1 12-inch pizza

Powerful Puttanesca Topping
3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes, such as cherry or roma
2 tablespoons chopped capers
2 tablespoons chopped nicoise olives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons crushed red chile
Garlic salt
1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino romano cheese
Olive oil

Southwest Green Chile Topping
8 New Mexican green chiles, roasted, peeled and cut in half lengthwise
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated provolone cheese

To make the pizza by hand, combine the water and sugar in a bowl and stir in the yeast. Let stand for 10 minutes until foamy.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, chile and pepper. Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast water and olive oil. Stir until almost mixed, turn onto a floured board and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft free location and let rise until doubled, about an hour and a half.
Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls. If preparing ahead of time, place in the refrigerator until ready to use. Bring the dough back to room temperature and then proceed with the recipe.

Roll out each portion into a round or oval pizza or do it free-form. If it will fit on your grill, you can also combine the balls into one and make one large pizza.
Heat a gas grill to hot. If using charcoal bank the coals to one side, creating a hot side and a warm side.

Brush each of the pizzas with olive oil and gently drape, oil side down on a hot grill. Shortly, within a minute or two, the dough will start to rise and bubbles will appear. Gently lift an end to see that the underside is browned and has grill marks. Immediately invert the crust onto a pan, and turn the gas grill to low
Brush the dough with additional oil.

To make the puttanesca, place the tomatoes on the cooked side of the pizza, sprinkle the capers, olives, pepper and cheese over the top. Shake a little garlic over the pizza and sprinkle some olive oil over the top.

To make the Southwestern topping, lay the green chile strips over the cooked side. Top with the cheese and sprinkling of the olive oil. Slide the pizza(s) back onto the grill. Cover and cook, rotating once or twice until the toppings are heated through and the crust is browned, about 5 minutes on the cooler part of the grill.

Yield: 1 12-inch pizza or 2 small individual pizzas
Heat Scale: Mild to medium

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As three-year-olds go, the Disc-It Round Up is pretty developed and well-behaved. It’s an event the folks at Disc-It started in 2009 as their way of giving back to New Mexico's UNM Children’s Hospital for all the care that Disc-It front man Nevin Montano’s daughter and nephew received in the past. Round Up year one saw 350 attendees; that number ballooned to 2500 people for 2010. This time, an estimated 5000-7000 people showed up at the Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque on July 16th looking to sample a wide range of Disc-It grilled creations.

Find out who won and check out some killer recipes from the Round Up on the Burn! Blog here.

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Over the July 4th weekend, a new world's record for the biggest burger was set, featuring 777 pounds of beefy fun. We congratulate the folks at Juicy’s for the record, with one caveat: while it may have passed muster (or mustard!) by California standards, and it may have been a whopper according to the poofs at Guinness, here in New Mexico we all know that a real hamburger has green chile slathered across the patty! Read all about the World's Largest Commercially Available Hamburger on the Burn! Blog.

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Grilling authority Chef Mike Stines shares his recommendations about using wood chips with a gas grill. Read all about it on the Burn! Blog here.

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From Harald Zoschke in Kressbronn, Germany.

Here in Germany, grilling & barbecue is getting more popular than ever, as evidenced at the newsstand. German BBQ fans can enjoy two dedicated magazines, as well as a whole bunch of special BBQ publications. "Fire & Food" is the oldest one, around since 2003 and very well presented, while "Grillmagazin" entered the market just last year. "Beef!" is a mens' cooking magazine with lots of grillin' stuff inside, and "Grillen" by giant magazine publisher Burda made its debut this year, as well as the "Grill Katalog" by German "Grillsportverein" grilling enthusiasts, also loaded with great articles on the subject. "Bookazines" by other publishers are popping up now almost every month for this years's BBQ season, and it seems like we have more rags to read while supervising that barbecue smoker than U.S. grillers!

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As part of our ever-expanding effort to bring you the best in barbecue, we have added barbecue videos to the SuperSite.  Check back often for new videos, but so far we've featured Butch Lupinetti of Butch's Smack Your Lips BBQ Team on making the best rib possible, Steven Raichlen of Planet Barbecue fame following up with preparing baby back ribs, the winner of $100,000 for the best hamburger, and the hilarious and most-viewed Brad's Buick BBQ Tour from Austin to Atlanta.  You can find them all here.

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This particular “burger” is a fired-up re-creation of a fish sandwich one of our editors devoured in the tiny town of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye, Belize. The restaurant was called Elvies Burger Isle, and the diners sat outside under a tamarind tree on picnic benches. If ever there was a simple to prepare, quick and easy fish recipe with significant heat, this is it. Serve with Curried Pineapple Serrano Salsa, french fries, crispy cole slaw, and to toast Elvie, a frosty tamarind cooler.

Belizean Rubbed and Grilled Fish Burger

1 teaspoon ground habanero chile
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground thyme
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 small white fish fillets, such as snapper, trigger fish, or grouper
4 rolls

Curried Pineapple Serrano Salsa

1 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut in 1/4-inch slices
3 serrano chiles, stems removed, chopped
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

In a bowl, combine the chile, salt, garlic, thyme, allspice and nutmeg. Brush the fillets with the oil and dust with the spice mixture. Allow to sit at room temperature while you prepare the grill. Cut the rolls in half length-wise and brush with 1 tablespoon oil. Grill the fish in a grill basket over medium heat until done, about 5 minutes per side, or until the fillets flake. Grill the rolls to slightly warm.

To make the salsa, grill the pineapple slices or heat in a pan for 5 to 10 minutes until the pineapple is browned. Dice the pineapple. Combine all the ingredients for the salsa, except for the cilantro, and allow to sit at room temperature for an hour to blend the flavors. Toss with the cilantro and spread over the fish burgers.

Yield: 4 servings
Heat Scale: Medium

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You totally need every single one of these.  Really.  From top left, the Condiment Gun, from Firebox; Roast My Weenie, from the perverted folks at the company with the same name; the artistic, woodie-inducing Breast Bar, discovered somewhere on the web by Harald Zoschke (Happy Googling); and the astonishing God-Grilla, large enough to barbecue 1,000 sausages, 500 burgers, or two whole cows. Read about it on That'sNerdalicious!  And Happy Start of Summer, everyone!

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Tuscan Devil Chicken

In Italian, this chicken is called pollo alla diavolo because of the addition of crushed red pepperoncini chiles, the same kind that is sprinkled on pizzas to liven them up. Traditionally the chickens are split before grilling, but you can use a rotisserie if you wish–it just takes longer to cook. Adding rosemary branches to the fire makes a very aromatic smoke. Make this a true meal off the grill and serve the devil chicken with Grilled Panzananella Salad and Grilled Jalapeño Polenta.

The Chicken 1 4-pound chicken

Devil Marinade
2/3 cup dry red wine such as Chianti
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh preferred
11/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary or 11/2 teaspoons dried
11/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage or 11/2 teaspoons dried
2 teaspoons crushed red chile, pequin for hot, New Mexican for mild
2 cloves garlic 1/4 teaspoon salt

Using poultry shears, or a heavy knife, cut down both sides of the backbone to cut the chicken in half. Remove the backbone and place the chicken on a cutting board skin side up. Press hard on the breastbone to break it and flatten the bird.
In a bowl, whisk together the marinade ingredients. Coat the chicken with the marinade, place in a plastic bag, and marinate for 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Lightly oil a clean grill surface. Remove the chicken and place the remaining marinade in a small saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes. Place chicken on the grill, skin side down and weight down with a cast iron skillet so the chicken remains flat. Grill for 15 to 20 minutes per side, basting frequently with the marinade until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork, or when the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. To serve, use a cleaver to chop the split chicken halves into quarters.

Yield: 4 servings
Heat Scale: Medium

Photo courtesy GailloZafferano.

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