California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Pizza Or My Take On It

If you have ever been to a California Pizza Kitchen, I hope you have ordered their BBQ chicken and gouda Pizza (called The Original BBQ Chicken) because it is delicious. It is great to dine at CPK, but I have figured out a way to make the pizza at home and it really is just as good!

BECKY’S CPK BBQ CHICKEN PIZZA

Please read the recipe through before starting as there is some prep work involved.

One pizza crust – now there are a lot of ways to do this. My grocery sells pre-made crusts as well as nice soft dough you can make a crust from and there is always Pillsbury with their ready-made dough in the refrigerated section of your store. You can also make your own. I taught you how to do this last summer when I made the Rosemary Pizza Crusts.

Lay the dough on a cookie sheet. Top with your favorite BBQ sauce (I love Cincinnati’s Montgomery Inn Sauce) and spread to the edge. Don’t overdo it – this pizza is not as mellow as a traditional pizza. Top with about 1c. shredded mozzarella. Next, top with 1-2 chicken breasts you have already roasted and diced into small pieces. Now, here, we vary from CPK and we add my FAVORITE ingredient – BACON! Fry about 6 slices of bacon in a pan, drain and chop and layer on the pizza. Top with sliced or shredded smoked gouda cheese, then drizzle with more BBQ sauce. Cook in a 425 degree oven about 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bottom of crust is nice and brown.

CPK adds sliced red onion but I personally feel it can overpower the cheese and chicken and let’s face it – I just love bacon way more! I think this would be a great cocktail appetizer – cut the pizza in small squares and serve with drinks. Your friends would love it!

Slo Joe BBQ

I know summertime is perfect for making a beef barbeque with brisket on the grill or pulled pork sandwiches, but with all the rain in my part of the country sometimes you need to stay inside to cook.

Our family has a great recipe for BBQ made in the oven. It is made with ground beef and a number of simple ingredients which you mix all together and then bake for a few hours. It is really more of a Sloppy Joe mix then real BBQ. It is so delicious and I have made it for many gatherings and have been asked for the recipe often. I have never made it in a crockpot, but I do have friends that have warmed it up in a crockpot. It is great no matter what the season or weather and it freezes so well!

I serve this yummy sandwich with "Sue's Sweet and Sour Slaw" and dill pickles. And, of course a handful of potato chips!

Slo Joe BBQ

2 lbs. ground beef (I use one lb. of the 80%-20% fat content and one lb. of the 90%-10% content – you need some fat or there is no flavor)

In a dutch oven, brown the meat until no pink remains and break into small pieces. Drain off the fat by pouring the meat into a colander, then return to pan.

Add:
One large green pepper, diced
One large yellow onion, diced
Two stalks celery, diced
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper

Cook this all together on low until vegetables get a tiny bit soft. I only do this for about 5 minutes and then I add the rest of the ingredients:

One 16oz can tomato sauce
1/8 c. sugar
¼ c. apple cider vinegar (do not use red wine or balsamic vinegar)
½ c. catsup
1 tsp. dry mustard

Mix all together, let it get bubbly, then put the lid on and bake in a preheated 300 degree oven for 2 ½ hours. If you let it cook longer, it is not a problem.

Serve on a sturdy bun (I like Pepperidge Farm sandwich rolls) brushed with butter and broiled until toasty. This keeps the BBQ from saturating the bun too quickly and making it all smushy and soggy.

*Becky Knows Everything: So easy to make and can be done the day before or even weeks before since it freezes so well. I usually make this in advance of a trip and freeze it in small containers, so when we return home we have something delicious and easy to prepare for dinner.

Finger Lickin Good

Becky's Basic Pork Ribs

All you need to make this recipe is one slab of baby back pork ribs (try to find ones that look lean since there is plenty of flavorful fat hidden) and your favorite bottle of BBQ sauce.

Talk about simple - all I do is generously salt (I use garlic salt) and pepper the ribs. Be sure to do both sides. I put them on a rack in a pan (no rack, no worry), add ½ c. water and cover it tightly with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours. I use my broiler pan but you may have a nice pan with its own lid, so use that. If anyone wants to buy me a nice rectangular pan with its own lid, feel free to do so.

At the end of the 3 hours (try not to peek since you will never really get that foil back on) I drain the liquid, remove the rack and flip the ribs over so the leaner bony side is on top. Preheat the broiler, spread sauce on the meat and broil until very dark and sauce is thick and sticky. Flip and repeat on top side. Of course, these can be done on an outdoor grill too after you have baked them in your oven.

*Becky Knows Everything: Many people use a rub on the meat and let it sit in the fridge overnight. Frankly, I don’t do this because it never tasted any different to me after the sauce went on. But if you want a rub, there are many available out there.

*Becky Knows Everything DOUBLETIME: My favorite sauce is a Cincinnati special - Montgomery Inn BBQ Sauce. You can order it from their website.