Pane Bianco

It's raining outside.

It started yesterday and will continue through tonight. Lots and lots of rain. It's also pushing 60°F outside. Just a tad unseasonable for the Mid-Atlantic states in early February. The radio pundit said this would have been three feet of snow if it had been cold. I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad that it's not.

I've always loved a good close-down-the-eastern-seaboard snow, but, all of a sudden this year, I'm kinda over snow. I refuse to admit that it's old age on my part, so I'm going to blame Nonna. If we get snow and the power goes out, we're screwed. Victor and I can handle it - we have books, we can read, we can cook, and even play on our phones - and stay warm with a fire in the fireplace. Nonna can't do any of the above. Without her TV, space heater, and electric throw set on high, she would be miserable - and so would we.

Nah... I'd rather it be rain.

In honor of the rain, I decided to bake a loaf of bread. I know... how unusual for me to be baking bread, eh?!? But since it's raining and I had decided soup was on the menu for dinner, bread seemed like a good idea. And since a simple soup was for dinner, I decided we needed a bread I hadn't made before. I headed over to the King Arthur website to see what was up.

I was scrolling through the French and Italian bread recipes and a figure-8 loaf caught my eye. It was stuffed with cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, basil... sounded pretty good.

I have to admit that I don't have a lot of luck with King Arthur recipes. Their measurements and what I should be achieving never seem to jive with what is happening in reality. Today was no exception.

The cooks notes at the end of the recipe stated if I was using all-purpose flour instead of bread flour, I should decrease the water from 1/3 cup to 1/4 cup. It also stated that I should have a smooth and very soft dough, slightly sticking to the bottom of the mixer. I started with the full 1/3 cup and had to add another 1/4 cup of water to make that smooth dough. I also take issue with a recipe that calls for adding oil at the beginning. Flour need to be hydrated with water before oil is added. Adding the oil directly to dry flour inhibits water absorption.

It also stated I should loosely cover the baking bread after 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. I didn't cover it and you can see that after 40 minutes in the oven, it did not over-brown by any stretch of the imagination.

Complaints aside, I ended up with a really good loaf of bread!

I changed the filling, a bit, using my favorite Italian cheese blend, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and kalamata olives.

Pane Bianco

adapted from King Arthur Flour

Dough

  • 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast
  • 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
  • 1/3 cup lukewarm water
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Filling

  • 1 cup shredded Italian-blend cheese
  • 1/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 10 chopped kalamata olives

Directions

To make the dough:

Combine all of the dough ingredients in a bowl and mix and knead to make a smooth, very soft dough. The dough should stick a bit to the bottom of the bowl if you're using a stand mixer.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let it rise for 45 to 60 minutes, or until it's doubled in size.

On a lightly-floured board, gently deflate the dough. Flatten and pat it into a 22" x 8 1/2" rectangle. Spread with the cheese, tomatoes, garlic, and olives.

Starting with one long edge, roll the dough into a log. Pinch the edges to seal. Place the log seam-side down on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

Using kitchen shears, start 1/2" from one end and cut the log lengthwise down the center about 1" deep, to within 1/2" of the other end. Keeping the cut side up, form an "S" shape. Tuck both ends under the center of the "S" to form a "figure 8;" pinch the ends together to seal.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, 45 to 60 minutes. While the loaf is rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Uncover the bread, and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting it with foil after 20 to 25 minutes to prevent over-browning. Remove the bread from the oven, and transfer it to a rack to cool.

The crumb is light and rich just as an egg bread should be. The filling ingredients are strong, so a little goes a long way. You could probably up the cheese a bit, but I wouldn't add too many more olives or tomatoes. This is one of those less is more moments.

Even though I usually have issues with the King Arthur recipes, I'll be back there again and again for ideas. I think with any recipe it's important to read them through before beginning, and use your best judgement when making them. If a recipe states you should have a soft dough and you're dealing with a brick, slowly add some water. If it says it should be pulling away from the bowl and yours looks like plaster of paris, slowly add flour.

Recipes just can't take in every variable there is... age and moisture content of flour, humidity, kitchen temperature, temperature of all the ingredients, and the relative hardness or softness of your water can really play havoc with bread. Water that is too hard toughens the gluten structure and screws up fermentation. Water that is too soft does the opposite and creates soft, sticky dough.

The only real solution is to bake lots of bread and learn by touch and feel what a good dough should be!

So start baking!

The simple soup for dinner became A Chicken Vegetable soup with little noodles, rice, farro, carrots, onion, celery, shallots, peas, green beans, navy beans... throw it in the pot and make it all hot!

 

 


Pineapple Upside Down Cake

It's Saturday Night. We need a new dessert!

Dessert is a nightly adventure at our house. 7pm. like clockwork, Jeopardy comes on and I get dessert. Even Blanche gets into the act. She hears the Jeopardy theme and into the living room she comes for her own cookies. She has us trained well.

Since the Olympics are on, we're having dessert in front of the tube, cheering on all the gay boys and girls who are making our vice president all squirmy with impure thoughts. But enough of that idiot... on to the dessert...

I wasn't sure what I was going to make, today, but I knew it was going to be pineapple-related in some way, shape, or form. I was up in the cupboard the other day and found 2 small cans of pineapple that needed to be used - one chunks and one rings.

I searched all my mom's recipes, looked through the blog, pulled out a couple of cookbooks, and then finally settled on my old standby. It's quick, easy, and never fails!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

topping:

  • 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
  • 1 lg can pineapple

cake:

  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tbsp. rum
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a round 9” cake pan.

Make topping: Melt butter and pour into pan. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Place drained pineapple rings on top of sugar.

Make batter: Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Cream butter with sugars. Beat in egg, vanilla, rum, and sour cream. Add flour and juice in 2 additions.

Spoon the batter over the pineapple, spreading it evenly.

Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

As I said... quick, easy, and never fails...


Chicken Parmigiana

Thursday, I made polenta with a really meaty ragu. It was pretty good, if I do say so, m'self, and we had plenty of the sauce left over. Victor was going to freeze it for another day - but I had other plans. Nefarious plans that finagled him into cooking dinner, tonight.

This was what we had Thursday...

There are two things I do pretty regularly on workdays... the first is take something out of the freezer for dinner, the second is to call home during my lunch break. I took out thin-sliced chicken cutlets this morning, thinking chicken parmigiana would be a fitting dinner, tonight.

When I called home, I casually asked if the sauce had been frozen and mentioned chicken parm. My clever ruse worked! Victor started planning dinner and when I got home there were breaded cutlets in the 'fridge and a baked pasta being prepared.

The cutlets were fried and then topped with sauce and cheese and placed into the oven to heat through and melt the cheese. The pasta was mixed with the sauce, topped with cheese, and baked until hot and the cheese melted. The sat one atop the other in a 350°F oven.

And it was a great dinner! The chicken perfectly crispy-crunchy and saucy and cheesy and the pasta was perfectly cooked, meaty and cheesy, too. Meals just do not suck at our house.

My contribution is a Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

More on that from the link.

 


Sausage Roll

I love it when I see a recipe on Facebook and it's actually something I want to make! I swear, some of the things passing as food nowadays are downright sad - but the real stuff coming through is something to jump for!

Take tonight's Sausage Roll, for example. We have an online friend named Michael who is Italian and just happens to be a really good cook. It's great fun to see what great dishes he's whipping up. They're generally rustic Italian from his family and his cooking style is very much Like Victor's - things you learned in your youth from older relatives that just stayed with you. More often than not there's no real recipe involved - at least not exact measurements of things. It's more intuition than anything else, usually staying within a style or parameters, but still open to tweaking as needed. You know... real cooking.

So... the other day, Micheal posted a recipe and pictures of a Sausage Roll he made with pizza/bread dough, Italian sausage and cheese. I kinda knew we were going to be making one before the week was up.

I had pulled sausage out of the freezer to make a sausage and potato dish for dinner, and off to work I went. The weather was nasty, business was slow, and I volunteered for an early out. I let Victor know that I'd be home at 1 instead of 4 - plenty of time to make a Sausage Roll!

When I got home, there was a beautiful Sausage Roll waiting for me! Victor whipped it up and it was warm-from-the-oven waiting for me! I had a slice just to check it out., and then another because the first one was so good. Then I had just a small one as I headed to the office to check out a few things. Back to the kitchen 15 minutes later for another slice, then another one 30 minutes after that. And one while I was preparing dinner...

Life just doesn't get any better!

Sausage Roll

adapted from Michael Salvatore Gottuso

pizza dough

  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 3 to 3 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Proof yeast in the water about 5 minutes. Slowly add the flour and salt and mix with dough hook about 5 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes, and then add the oil and mix on low another 4 to 5 minutes, or until the dough is not sticky.

filling

  • 8 oz Italian sausage
  • 4 roasted red peppers
  • 1 cup shredded Italian cheeses
  • bread crumbs

assembly

Remove sausage from casings; crumble, and cook. Cool completely.

Liberally oil a half-sheet pan with olive oil. Spread dough out, completely covering pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in pan about an hour.

Sprinkle dough with bread crumbs and top with crumbled sausage. Top with cheese, and then with strips of roasted red pepper. Sprinkle on a few more bread crumbs if the peppers are wet.

Roll jellyroll style, crimping ends as you go. Seal seam and arrange seam-side down in pan.

Place in preheated 425°F oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through and browned.

It was awesome!

Michael's recipe calls for cubes of provolone or mozzarella - or both. Victor used a shredded 4-cheese Italian blend and added the red pepper, as well.

The end result was similar to a pepperoni bread he has made at Easter - although not as gooey. Another variation on the theme is a Sicilian Focaccia we had when we were in Sicily that I've made several times, since.

Leave it to the Italians to figure out a dozen and one ways to stuff something good into bread dough. Then, again, they have 350+ shapes of pasta.

I like Italians.

 

 


Super Sunday

Well, that was fun. Nerve-wracking, nail-biting, blood-pressure-rising, screaming, yelling fun.

I really don't remember the last time I had that much fun watching a game - although the Niner's game against Dallas with Montana and Clark with "The Catch" does come to mind.

I actually watched the entire game - as in every moment, every play. Normally, at some point I have to leave the room for something. But not yesterday. I was there standing through it all. Okay... standing is my default position - I just find it a lot easier to stand when watching an exciting game. A nice, unobtrusive space with a good sight-line to the TV...

And yesterday's game was exciting.  If the Eagles had just kept it to 38-33, I would have won a thousand dollars on a pool - but... I'll take my loss and their win. I'm magnanimous, that way...

It's fun how so few people can make so much noise - there were only 7 of us and 2 tykes. At one point, our 5 year old great-nephew was covering his ears with a look of shock on his face at the tumultuous roar in the family room.

What fun.

And, as promised, it was fun food, as well.

Braised short rib sandwiches with grilled onions on Amoroso rolls, homemade french fries, and a whole array of pickies and finger foods for the grabbing. And cookies.

The food never disappoints.

The game didn't disappoint, either.

So, as we bask in the glory of the first ever Super Bowl win by the Philadelphia Eagles, we pay homage to the City of Philadelphia. A city of contrasts, a city of haves and have-nots. A city that stretches its European history back to the 1600s and is firmly rooted in the past while stretching forward into the future. A city that is a mixture of people from all countries and all walks of life. And a city where people really do more-or-less get along.

A bit of Philly Attitude...

So, tonight's dinner is a play on that Philly Attitude. A dish of lots of different things that can all stand on their own, but are all the better for being combined - just like the folks in Philly.

Philly Attitude

  • 1 strip steak, cut into pieces
  • 1 andouille sausage, sliced into rounds
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 jalapeño pepper - with seeds, chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 1 roasted red pepper, chopped
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 cup beef broth
  • 1 can black beans, drained
  • S&P, to taste

Brown the steak cubes and andouille in a bit of olive oil. Set aside. Add the onion, peppers, garlic, and celery to pan and saute until wilted. Add the tomato paste and cook a bit until slightly browned.

Add the red wine and broth and stir until all is smooth - adding a bit more broth, if necessary.

Stir in the black beans and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes.

We served ours over hunks of cornbread, because... why not?!?

A fun dinner in a fun city with its very own Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Not bad...

 

 

 

 


Chocolate Ganache Peanut Butter Cookies

We're off to watch the Super Bowl at Victor's brother's house later, today. I think if it were just any two teams playing, we'd sit at home with the game on in the background while we did our normal lazy Sunday routine. But it's not just any two teams - it's Boston and Philadelphia.

Philadelphia and Boston have been rivals since Day One. Pre-Revolutionary War Day One. Ben Franklin was born in Boston and moved to Philadelphia. I think that pretty much says it all. Of course, that's not all... Boston has Irish South Boston and Philadelphia has Italian South Philly. The Italians are better cooks. Boston has Lobster Rolls that cost an average of $17.99 and are served on hot dog buns. Philadelphia has cheese steaks served on foot-long Amoroso rolls for less than half of that.

Gastronomically speaking, I think Philly wins.

And it's going to win, today, as well. Marie is a great cook, so we never have to worry about having mediocre fare - it's always top notch. And top notch fare requires a fun dessert to bring.

I've had a recipe for a stuffed peanut butter cookie for a long time and finally decided today was the day to make them! The concept is fairly simple - a ganache of sorts is made with chocolate and peanut butter, formed into balls, and then stuffed into cookie dough, rolled in sugar, and baked. How could it be bad?!?

Well... they're not. In fact, they're really, really good. Really, REALLY good. A lot good. I highly recommend heading into the kitchen right now and baking them. They will be ready in time for the Super Bowl.

I'm a chunky peanut butter fan, so I only have chunky at home. If you like creamy, use it.

Chocolate Ganache Peanut Butter Cookies

for the filling:

  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup semi-sweet/bittersweet chocolate

cookie dough:

  • 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 2/3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt

for assembly:

  • demerara sugar - or granulated - for rolling before baking

make the ganache:

Microwave the chocolate and peanut butter in 30 second spurts until melted. Refrigerate until thick enough to form 18 balls. Keep balls refrigerated until ready to use.

make the cookie dough:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and peanut butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix until dough forms.

to assemble:

Portion dough into 18 balls. With thumb, make hole in dough ball and insert a ganache ball. Completely seal balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through.

Cool completely before eating!

I have a new favorite peanut butter cookie!

 

 


A Super Bowl of Soup

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. It's The Philadelphia Eagles vs Those Bums Up In Boston. Yeah, I know I used to live in Boston. I saw plenty of games at Foxboro - my old roommate, Jeff, was regional sales director for Seagram's - and we saw quite a few games courtesy of Seagram's. And a lot of liquor, too, but that's another story for another time. We were out there for a snow game where you literally could not see across the field. We had flasks of Seagram's 7 in our pockets to keep us warm. We drove home drunk in a snowstorm. We had to drive - we were too drunk and too far away to walk.

Yeah, while I have some fond - albeit fuzzy - memories of the pre-Brady Patriots, it's officially 17 years since we moved to the Philadelphia Main Line. The Eagles are the Local Team, today.

The day was crazy - work was a total zoo with more Eagle's Green than I've ever seen in my life. There are some serious parties happening around here, tomorrow. Work really was fun, though,  because everyone was in great spirits, lots of laughter, lots of camaraderie... and not a lot of trash talk against New England. I think folks were trying to keep Karma in check.

This really has been fun, because the last time I actually cared about who won was in 2013 when The Niner's lost to Baltimore. The Eagles are the Local Team, but the San Francisco 49ers are the Hometown Team.

The Hometown Team has given me some great games and there are more than a couple that are mere blurs. There were a few games at my brother's bachelor pad house that rumor has were a wild and crazy time but I'll be damned if I can actually remember any of them. I only know that they were loud and raucous - but I don't think the police were ever really involved.

And then there were all the games - usually at my sister's house - once we moved east, celebrating Pop's Birthday and The Super Bowl. We'd fly into San Francisco, get our room at the Motel 8 in San Bruno on El Camino - along with all the rest of the out-of-town family - and have a big Birthday Bash/Super Bowl Party. Since we can't all get together for Christmas, it was our annual everyone get-together. It's amazing that we would move heaven and earth to get west for Pop's Birthday, but it just wasn't all that convenient to fly west once he died. Priorities, and all that...

We are all meeting up out west at the end of April, this year - we actually do get together now and again - but the Super Bowl is going to be celebrated with Victor's brother down the road. I'm sure it will be a tad quieter than those west coast soirées of yore.

And the night before Super Bowl is going to be a tad quieter, as well.

The quieter night started with bowls of steaming Roasted Red Pepper Soup. I roasted a dozen red peppers the other day and Victor has been eying them, ever since. Last night I stuffed burgers with some - along with some Fontina cheese - but today, he took half of them and made the most delicious soup, ever.

Rich, creamy, just slightly spicy... a total joy to behold...

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

  • 5 red peppers, roasted
  • 2 qts chicken broth
  • 1 qt water
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
  • 1 can white beans, drained
  • pinch cayenne
  • S&P
  • butter

Saute celery, onion, carrots, garlic, red pepper, and jalapeño pepper in olive oil until vegetables are soft. Add broth, water, beans, and roasted red peppers, and bring to a boil, and then simmer about 30 minutes.

Cool, and then blend soup in blender - or with an immersion blender - until smooth.

Check for seasoning and add cayenne, and S&P, as desired. When reheating to serve, stir in a couple pats of butter for richness.

I whipped up some garlic bread from some crusty bread we had, and dinner was served!

Totally excellent.

So here's to a Super Day tomorrow - and a Super Win by Philadelphia!

GO EAGLES!

 

 


Clean Out The 'Fridge Pasta

One of my more favorite things to do is clean out the refrigerator to make dinner. It's fun to see how I can take often disparate items and pull them together into a tasty meal.

Tonight, I was lucky - everything I had on hand went well together without having to think too hard.

I had a half chicken in the freezer from a month or so, ago, that I wanted to use. And there was a fennel bulb. And celery. And a leek. Carrots. Mushrooms. 1 lone red pepper and a dozen freshly roasted. A container of mushrooms.

Definitely pasta night!

I started by browning the chicken in a braising pan. Out it went and into the pan went the chopped fennel, celery, leek, red pepper, and carrots. And garlic. I sauteed them all and then added a cup of red wine, let it cook a bit, and then added a can of diced tomatoes and the whole mushrooms. I kept the mushrooms whole so I could fish them out of Nonna's plate. She doesn't like mushrooms, this week.

I nestled the chicken into the concoction, sprinkled on some salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried oregano, put a lid on it and into the oven at 325°F for a couple of hours.

After a couple of hours, I removed the chicken to cook a bit and put the pan back into the oven. When the chicken was cool enough to handle, I pulled all the meat from the bones and chopped it up a bit and added it to the pot.

Back into the oven, because... why not? I wanted the vegetables to more or less collapse into a sauce. And, they did!

I cooked up some Caputini pasta, mixed it all together, and sprinkled on some cheese.

Dinner was served!

The pasta is a fun shape. Victor has made it before - it's a royal pain-in-the-ass to do - and it went really well with a totally throw-together-slow-cooked sauce. I'm sure we will be seeing it again.