Guest Cook in Bemidji and on TV

Last week when I was in Bemidji to teach a couple of cooking classes with my friends Sue Doeden and Carmela Hobbins, I taped a segment with Sue for her cooking spot on PBS, Lakeland Cooks. You can view it using the following link. I made Lemon Mascarpone Tarts and the segment went well, mainly because Sue is a gracious host and easy to chat with. The tarts were also a hit at the lunch class topped with fresh fruit and berries from the farmer's market. You can view it with the following link:

http://www.lakelandptv.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=35&Itemid=97&recipe=196

Monday night I attended a class at The Kitchen Window in Minneapolis. I will be teaching a baking class there on October 4 and this was a good way to get familiar with the kitchen. The class was "Pizza on the Grill" with Dan Darnell, their executive chef. We made two pizza doughs and baked them several ways on the grill. The thin crust dough was baked in the grill and served with hummus and a yogurt dip. Other possibilities were topping it with a marinara sauce or a slightly sweet tomato sauce. The sweeter sauce was then topped with dates and goat cheese for a dessert pizza. I think I'd prefer a dessert pizza without a tomato sauce but I really like the combination and it was unusual.

We also made a pan pizza which was fabulous and cooked quickly on the grill. (I'm going to develop a recipe for two individual pan pizzas because deep pan pizza is my favorite.)The "secrets" to success were preheating a pizza stone on the grill, having the grill very hot and not loading too many toppings on the dough. I will definitely do pizza on the grill at home. It would be fun for a casual supper with friends- everyone could pick their own favorite toppings and we could visit while dinner bakes!