Pane al Pistacchio

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One of my go-to books for Italian breads is Carol Field's The Italian Baker. I have had her book for probably 30 years and it's still one of the best books out there for making rustic Italian breads. The recipes are all easily adaptable and if you make bread on any sort of regular basis, you can easily play with them and get outstanding results every time.

Today, I took her Walnut Bread and turned it into a Pistachio Bread.

I love baking bread on hot, humid days. The weather is perfect for proofing bread outdoors - Mother Nature's Perfect Proofing Box.  Since I've been day-dreaming about Sicily, I thought a loaf of bread with pistachios was in order. Sicily has some excellent pistachios - grown mostly in the volcanic soil around Mount Etna. They don't export many, but I can pretend my California nuts are their Sicilian cousins...

The recipe is pretty straightforward. There are no starters - biga - in this bread, so you can get it done start-to-finish in just a couple of hours.

A couple of things to note... When chopping the nuts, I used a food processor and made them fairly fine, but made sure there were still some chunks. Also, after the first rise, you take the dough out of the bowl and form it into a ring without punching it down or kneading it. The dough is also just a tad sticky. Resist the urge to add more flour.

The end result is outstanding!

This is the dough right out of the mixer, ready for the first rise. Note the chunks of pistachio.

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It's then formed into a ring on a cornmeal-sprinkled bread peel and left to rise, again, until doubled.

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And here it is right out of the oven.

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Half of this is going into the freezer.

It's actually quite a quick recipe. Most of the time is waiting for it to rise - and on nice, hot, humid days, it does it quite quickly.

Pistachio Bread

adapted from Carol Field's The Italian Baker

  • 2 cups roasted, unsalted pistachios
  • 2 1/2 tsp or 1 package active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup cane syrup or honey
  • 1 1/3 cups warm water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Chop them to coarse crumb in a food processor.Stir the yeast and cane syrup or honey into water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until foamy.

Combine the flour, salt and pistachios and stir into the yeast mixture. Mix until the dough looks brownish and coarse. Knead for 8-10 minutes. The dough should be soft, moist and fairly dense, but easy to work, although not elastic.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover tightly and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. WITHOUT PUNCHING IT DOWN OR KNEADING IT, shape it gently into a log and join the end to make a ring.

Place on a cornmeal-dusted bread peel. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven with baking stone to 400° F. Slide bread onto stone and bake for 10 minutes; reduce the heat to 350° F and bake 40 minutes longer.

If you don't have a peel and baking stone, you can place the loaf on a cornmeal-dusted sheet pan, let it rise, and then place the pan in the oven to bake.

But I really do recommend getting a peel and stone. They're not that expensive and they really do make for a better loaf of bread!


Leaving Modica, Sicily, May 31, 2014

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One year ago, today, we were boarding a plane in Catania to Rome. It was the end of two glorious weeks in Sicily at The Villa Modica. It was tough leaving.

Really tough.

We had more fun than six people should be allowed to have. We've thought of the place often since we returned and even called our host, George, for more of his olive oil back in December. Liquid gold, indeed.

It was seriously one of the most fun and relaxing times I've ever had.

To celebrate this most auspicious occasion, I decided to use up the last two chocolate bars we brought back. Modica is the chocolate capital of Sicily and we brought back several dozen bars to give as gifts and to nibble on when we needed a Sicily fix.

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The chocolate is totally unique to the area and made the same way as it has been since the Spaniards brought chocolate from Mexico way back when. It's has a grainy texture and the flavor combinations they have come up with are great, from oranges to cinnamon to hot red pepper to vanilla to lemon and a score more flavors.

Pretty outstanding stuff.

I had been holding on to these two, but decided what I really need to do is use them up and then go get more.

Cookies seemed to be the right thing to make.

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I used my basic oatmeal chocolate chip recipe, but tweaked it a bit. I spaced out what I was doing and flattened the cookie balls which helped them to spread a bit too much, but what they lack in thickness they make up for in flavor. They work really well.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 2 cubes butter (1 cup)
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp Cinnamon liqueur
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 bars chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 375°.

Cream butter and sugars together until light and creamy.  Add eggs one at a time and mix well.  Add cinnamon liqueur and mix well.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add slowly to butter mixture, mixing well.  Add oats and mix well.

Add chocolate and mix until blended.

Scoop onto ungreased cookie sheets and bake about 14 minutes.  (I use a #30 scoop – about 2 1/2 tbsp per cookie.)

Next year we're planning another European adventure and we're seriously thinking Sicily, again. We'd like to see more of the western and northern coasts this time and maybe stay somewhere between Trapani and San Vito Lo Capo.

With so much of the world we still haven't seen, there's a draw to Sicily that almost defies explanation.

I really could live there.

Really.

 

 

 

 


Summer Salads - In Spring

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It's been stifling all day. August heat and humidity at the end of May. We really have ceased to have a measurable Spring, anymore. We go right from winter to summer with a couple of decent days interspersed along the way. It sucks.

Right now, we're having a typical summer thunderstorm. It's banging away with some pretty heavy downpours - the first rain we've seen all month. There's no denying Climate Change around here.

This is also Blanche's first storm. She's handling it pretty well, but she's not exactly thrilled. No distress or acting crazy, but she'd rather it be sunshine and quiet. So would I - except we need the rain.

So... Since it's hotter than hot outside, I thought salads were the way to go for dinner... I grilled a flank steak - added a dry rub of our various Kansas City spices - and threw it on the grill. Meanwhile, I cut up a cucumber and a zucchini, sliced up some mini tomatoes, added a couple of hard cooked eggs, olives, and blackberries. I love berries on my salads!

Victor made a really good dressing with our stash of Sicilian olive oil and thick, syrupy really-aged balsamic vinegar.

Outstanding, in fact.

The storm seems to be losing steam and the rain has slowed to a mild shower. The heat and humidity are still ridiculous, however... Oh well.

At least dinner was good.


Memorial Day 2015

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Memorial Day. The official start of summer and the day people get confused with Veterans Day and Armed Forces Day.

As an actual live veteran, it's always a bit disconcerting when people thank me for my service, today. (I don't really like being thanked for my involvement in Viet Nam on any day - but that's another story for another time.)

Today is the day that is set aside for remembering those who died in service to our country. Those who came back in flag-draped coffins - if they were lucky - and those who are buried in Gettysburg, Flanders Fields, along the road to Bataan, Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Beirut, the bottom of every ocean on the planet... It's an endless list.

1,400,000 Americans have been killed in wars since our country was founded. One Million, Four Hundred Thousand. Dead.From.War.

The day to thank Veterans like myself who came home alive, is Veteran's Day - November 11th. It was originally Armistice Day - the day WWI ended. That was the war to end all wars. It is celebrated with Veterans Day Sales since it's too cold to BBQ.

That would also be the day to thank the 1,500,000 wounded veterans and the day to kick yourself for voting for that Congressman or Senator who keeps voting to cut Veteran's benefits while simultaneously pushing to go to war somewhere else. Yes, your vote counts.

The day to thank active duty military is Armed Forces Day - the third Saturday in May. Not many people know about this day because it's on a Saturday and no one gets the day off.

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It was on May 15th this year. It will be May 21st, next year. Mark your calendars.

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So, on this Memorial Day, I toasted a couple of guys I knew who didn't make it back from Viet Nam, and cooked a couple of steaks, a couple ears of corn - with chipotle butter - and potato salad, tomato salad, and watermelon. And a Coca-Cola from Mexico. You can really taste the difference.

Peach bars are gonna be cut for dessert in a while. I may be a left-leaning Liberal but I can still take part in American Traditions.

And something to ponder while you're eating that burger or hot dog, or whatever...

Think about who profits from war. Think about how much money we spend every day on bombs and guns and our own weapons of mass destruction. And then think about why we don't have any money to fix crumbling bridges or educate our children.

And think about how many more young lives we're going to extinguish between now and Monday, May 30, 2016 - Memorial Day, next year.

We, The People could put a stop to it if we all started paying attention.


Escarole and Sausage over Crispy-Cheesy Bread

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I was perusing a few of the websites I have linked to this, this morning, and came upon a recipe I immediately knew we were having for dinner, tonight on Rustico Cooking.

I actually don't remember how I came upon their website but I immediately bookmarked it because the food looked so intriguing. The recipes seemed simple but with complex flavors. And today, I decided to jump in!

I have a huge bookmark section on the computer devoted to food - what a surprise, eh?!? - and as I was saying earlier, if I just cooked the recipes I already have I'd never have to buy another cook book in my life. This has made me revisit not only my blog links, but the bookmarks, as well. I have been in a huge rut as far as cooking goes. It's time to break out and get creative, again.

This was a great start. Naturally, I switched things around a bit, used different cheeses, but the recipe is basic and pretty much calls for your own interpretation. The bread is important. Use something fairly light that will toast well and give a nice crunch without being too heavy or overwhelming.

And something Victor and I both noted is this would be outstanding with a fried egg on top.

Next time...

Escarole and Sausage over Crispy-Cheesy Bread

adapted from Rustico Cooking

Sausage and Escarole:

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp chili flakes
  • 1/2 lb hot Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
  • 1 lb - a large head - escarole, chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Place the olive oil, fennel seeds, garlic, and chili flakes in a wide pan with a tight-fitting lid. Warm gently over medium heat until it becomes aromatic - a minute or so.

Add the sausage and cook  stirring often and breaking it up, until the sausage is nicely browned. Add the chopped escarole, season with the salt and pepper, and cover.

Cook about 10 minutes, stirring once in a while, or until the escarole cooks down.  The liquid is essential to this dish, so keep the lid on. Set aside while making bread.

Crispy-Cheesy Bread:

  • 4 cups cubed Italian focaccia or other light-textured bread
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 lb low moisture Mozzarella, shredded
  • 2 oz Ricotta Salada, shredded
  • 2 oz Pecorino Romano, shredded
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Spread bread cubes onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and add a pinch of salt & pepper, if desired. Place in 400° oven for 5 minutes. Remove.

Move bread cubes to center of pan, keeping them fairly close together and in one layer.

Sprinkle cheeses on top. Return to oven and bake about 5 more minutes - until cheese is melted and bread is slightly more toasted.

To Assemble:

Reheat sausage and escarole.

Place about 1/4 of the cheesy bread on each of 2 plates. Top with 1/4 of the sausage and escarole. Add a second layer of each.

Drizzle any remaining juices from the escarole on top of the plates and enjoy!

As we were oohing and awing and deciding what else would be fun - like that fried egg - Victor's mom just looked at us as if we were crazy. She had ziti and mild Italian sausage. Her adventurous eating days are behind her.

Ours are just starting up, again, after a bit of a hiatus.

 


Tri-Tip on the Grill

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One of my mostest-favoritest things to grill are tri-tip roasts. Tri-tips are really a west coast cut of meat, although they are finally showing up on the eastern seaboard. Tender, juicy, and lots and lots of flavor.

I did a fairly standard take on a Santa Maria rub and then brushed it with a mustard and vinegar sauce while it was grilling. It came out spicy-good. At the last minute I realized Nonna wasn't going to go for either the beans or the beef, so she got a chicken cutlet.

The beans were Phoebe's famous baked beans - the only ones I've made for years, now... And french fries because I didn't feel like going to the store just for a couple of potatoes. I'm lazy like that...

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Phoebe's Baked Beans

  • 1/2  cup minced shallots
  • 1  tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1  tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/2  cup tomato puree (I use tomato paste – I never have puree in the house!)
  • 1  tablespoon canola oil
  • 1/4  cup honey
  • 1/4  cup cider vinegar
  • 2  tablespoons molasses
  • 1  tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4  teaspoon salt
  • 2  chipotle chiles, canned in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
  • 2  (28-ounce) cans baked beans

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add shallots; sauté 4 minutes or until golden. Add cumin and garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Add tomato puree and oil, and cook for 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients (except beans.). Reduce heat; simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine beans and shallot mixture in a 2-quart baking dish. Bake at 300° for 1 hour or until thick and bubbly.

And the rub and marinade...

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Tri Tip Spice Rub

  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp celery seed
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/4 tsp Guamanian boonie pepper (or cayenne)

Mix all ingredients together and rub liberally on tri tip roast. Cover and let stand in refrigerator about 4 hours.

Grilling Sauce

  • 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/3 cup neutral oil
  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Brush on roast while it is grilling, turning every 4 or 5 minutes and applying more.

It came out spicy-good. And it's going to make some great sandwiches tomorrow!

 

 


Cherry Upside-Down Polenta Cake

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Ah... what to do with 2 pounds of fresh cherries...

If you're a normal person, you just grab 'em and eat 'em. If you're me, you turn them into a dessert. I was actually a semi-good boy with this one. It's not nearly as over-the-top ooey and gooey as I could have gone. And not a drop of heavy cream!

The original recipe came from Bon Appetit about 10 years ago, I think. That was back when I actually still liked the magazine. They've pretty much lost me, nowadays. I stopped subscribing several years ago but had a subscription to La Cucina Italiana - another Conde Nast magazine I loved and always found recipes to make. Conde Nast ceased publication of the US version of La Cucina - it's still available in Italian - and I ended up with a subscription to Bon Appetit in its place. I should have taken the cash refund.

Oh well.

I have a folder full of recipes I've cut out of magazines over the years and if I actually stopped and made the recipes I already have, I wouldn't have time to make any others. I have slowed down on the cook book acquisitions, though. Well... except for the digital ones I keep downloading. But that's different. Sorta.

The cake is baked in a skillet, which makes for easy prep and clean-up. You will want to use a straight-sided pan - and one that can go into the oven for 45 minutes or so. It also calls for a couple teaspoons of balsamic vinegar in the cherries. I used a really nice, aged balsamic because we have lots and I figured if I'm going to pit 2 pounds of cherries, I'm going for the gold, so to speak.

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Cherry Upside-Down Polenta Cake

  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, divided
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 1/2 pounds pitted fresh cherries
  • 1 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup stone-ground polenta or cornmeal
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • hefty pinch salt
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs, separated
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix 1/4 cup butter with brown sugar and vinegar in 10" skillet. Stir over medium heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Add cherries and bring to boil. Remove from heat.

Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt together. Beat remaining 1/2 cup butter in large bowl with sugar and beat until pale and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.

Add flour mixture alternately with milk in 2 additions mixing until just blended. Beat egg whites in another bowl with cream of tartar and beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into batter to lighten slightly. Carefully fold in remaining whites. Spoon batter over cherries in skillet, then spread evenly to cover cherries.

Bake cake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool in skillet on rack 5 minutes. Place cake plate atop skillet and carefully flip. Leave skillet atop cake 5 minutes. Remove skillet. Rearrange any cherries that may have become dislodged. Cool at least 45 minutes.

Enjoy!

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A few cherries stuck to the pan but they were easily placed back on the cake.

And it's a winner! Not too sweet and with a nice little corn crunch from the stone-ground corn. I'm thinkin' that this will be good with fresh peaches when they arrive...

I'll have to see what other fun I can have with this...


Strawberry Pie

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Strawberries have been looking good. It seems to be kinda early in the season, for me, but...  good berries are good berries. I don't know if the heat and drought in California are responsible, but here I am buying strawberries the first week in May.

I was hankerin' for a pie, so I thought I'd try my hand at a strawberry pie. I hadn't made one in years, but that never seems to stop me.

I just reworked the basic cherry pie I've made in the past - and seriously underestimated the amount of liquid the strawberries vs cherries would produce.

It was a bit of a runny pie.

I'm not posting a recipe because what I did really didn't come together all that well - although it did taste really good. Hell... How could it not with 2 pounds of sweet strawberries in it?!?

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It's not a good picture, either, but what the hell. We ate it all!

 


Sunday Dinner

 

Spring has finally sprung.

Sunny, 80°, chirping birds, and a dog running through the sprinkler... It doesn't get much better. Except for dinner, that is.

Even though summer means tomatoes, the sunny skies meant a bit of a tomato salad. Victor got our tomato plants into the ground, today - along with 8 pepper plants - so... in a few months we'll be making these with our home-grown.

In the meantime, it's store-bought. I don't buy a lot of store-bought tomatoes. They're usually pretty flat-tasting. But now and again I'll find a couple that seem okay. I know... picky, picky, picky... What can I say?!?

These were actually okay. Combined with fresh mozzarella and basil, and dressed with our stash of Sicilian olive oil and aged balsamic, they passed muster.

For dinner, Victor made focaccia and baked ravioli.

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He doctored up a jar of his homemade sauce with a pound of ground beef and made a really meaty ragu. he took jumbo ravioli out of the freezer and placed them in the dish, covered them with sauce, and baked them for about 40 minutes.

Excellent!

And then the focaccia.

Victor makes a basic focaccia with a recipe he originally found in Better Homes and Gardens. He plays with it when he's of a mind, but the basic works just fine.

Better Homes and Gardens Dough

Ingredients

  • 2-3/4  to 3-1/4 cups  all-purpose flour
  • 1  pkg.  active dry yeast
  • 1/2  tsp.  salt
  • 1  cup  warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)
  • 2  Tbsp.  cooking oil or olive oil

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl combine 1-1/4 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt; add warm water and oil. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Lightly grease a large bowl; place dough in bowl and cover with a damp towel (make sure the towel does not touch the dough). Let dough rise in a warm place until double in size (30 minutes).

3.  Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 16×12-inch rectangle. Place in a greased 16x12x1-inch baking pan.  Let rise 20 minutes.

4. Top with toppings of choice and bake at 375° about 25 minutes.

He brushed it with some thinned sauce and baked it off. Simple perfection.