Fig Pizza and Big Victories

A few years ago the leash that we used to walk Guinness wore out and my husband made a big mistake in tasking me to go online and see what hours the humane society was open.  Suddenly he hears me call out to him to come and look at the photo of the cutest dog.  We had been thinking about getting another dog but we were having a hard time pairing one with Guinness.  Guinness had been termed an inappropriate punk.  He is a lovely dog but is insecure around other dogs and tries to dominate them.  So we kept failing.

But this day we trooped down to the humane society to meet this goofy dog.  They did warn us that he was on prozac and that was my big oops.  We don’t know Murphy’s history but we do know he spent 6 months in 3 different humane societies.  But I thought we should take him off the meds.  Try training, that sort of thing.  It’s been a tough few years.  It took him a long time to trust us, understandably, and while he was a sweetheart in the home, he was a nut job on the walks.  His anxiety overran any attempts for him to listen.  He isn’t malicious just a big nut job.  We were despairing with my back being thrown out and my husband starting to feel it as well.

There is now light at the end of the tunnel!  We found a new harness that fits him better and a low dose med that takes the edge off of him without making him a drooling fool.  We still wanted Murphy to be Murphy.  I was able to take him back to training this past week and it’s been amazing.  He’s listening and we aren’t being jerked around.  I can’t tell you how big a victory this is for us!  I’m not dreading the walks, woot!

In the midst of all this the kids were getting ready to head to Florida to see their grandparents so for their last night here I made a light meal for us.  Given that figs are in season I thought it would be fun to do a pizza with naan using the figs.

I grilled the naan on a cast iron grill until it was almost cooked.

Fig pizza 1 2014 Fig pizza 2 2014

While the naan is cooking chop up a shallot and a couple of cloves of garlic. Saute in olive oil until softened.

Fig pizza 3 2014

I am late to the whole fig thing.  But now I love it when fig season swings round.  It works so well with many different recipes.  And I love it with the saltiness of prosciutto.

Fig pizza 4 2014

Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.  Layer the naan with the shallots and garlic, figs, prosciutto, and goat cheese.  Fontina also works for this.

Fig pizza 5 2014

Bake until the cheese is warmed and melty.

Fig pizza 6 2014

This is perfect with a small side salad.  The tomatoes in the picture are the last we’ll buy in awhile as our tomatoes are starting to ripen.  Can’t wait to start eating them!

And oh get this!  I finally have a preview button.  🙂  They never responded to my note to support but at least I’m seeing positive changes.

 

10 thoughts on “Fig Pizza and Big Victories

  1. Hmmmm. I think part of the problem is naming the dogs after Irish drinks. Both are stouts. The more recent addition being a smooth variety brewed in Cork.

    Nice pizza too.

  2. As an owner of a “trying” dog, I can sympathize. In training class, Max was often used as the distraction for the other dogs and, worse yet, as the example of what a dog shouldn’t do. Oh, he graduated but I still think it was just to get him out of there. The idea of having him repeat the course was unthinkable. 🙂
    I do love naan pizza and yours here looks terrific. Figs and prosciutto belong together.

    • Oh dear! I bet they are still talking about Max. 😊. When we were back in England I was envious of all the people who were walking round with dogs who heeled off leash. I’d love to go on hikes with our dogs like that.

      • Did you get him from a humane society? As I get older I may need to start with puppies to train where I know the history. Otherwise I risk getting seriously injured later in life. I’ll have to see.

      • He was a rescue puppy. I think they overestimated his age, saying he was 8 or 9 weeks when he was probably no more than 7. He was supposed to grow “no more than 40 pounds, 45 at the most.” He’s about 85. And yes, 3 years ago, while on a walk, he darted after something and pulled me to the ground. I ended up with a bruised rib. Even given all of this — and so much more — I wouldn’t trade him for the world. He’s 6 yo now, calming down, and becoming quite a nice companion. FINALLY!

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