Cheesy Chicken Sandwiches
I love sandwiches.
Anything-and-bread. My kind of meal.
Sandwiches really can run the gamut from simple to extravagant - and it doesn't really take a lot to go from simple to way over the top. A couple of ingredients and a little imagination.
One of my favorite tricks is to use tapenades as sandwich spreads. Roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade on a roast beef sandwich?!? Excellent. Add cheeses, something green and crunchy like lettuce, pickles, sprouts, pea shoots... And then put it on focaccia or ciabatta, or another rustic-type bread and it's over-the-top. Grilled cheese sandwiches with Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish... Turkey with lingonberry sauce, onions, and spicy mustard... So many concepts, so few meals...
Tonights sandwich was cheesy chicken with mushrooms and bell peppers on a french roll.
I chopped up a couple of small chicken breasts and sauteed them with bell peppers and mushrooms. When all was cooked, I stirred in a Welsh cheddar with chives and shallots. Creamy goodness! The cheese just coated everything and every bite was crusty bread, cheesy chicken, and crunchy peppers with little bits of mushroom.
Really good. And really simple.
It doesn't take a lot of effort to change the ordinary to extraordinary.
Use your imagination next time you're making a sandwich and take it over the top!
Chicken-Fried Steak - Adluh-Style!
Back when my parents were still with us, we'd often go to a restaurant in Daly City called Lyons. Actually, whenever we'd go out to dinner with them we always went to Lyons. And my father would always ask me if I was getting the Chicken-Fried Steak - and I almost always did.
Lyons was a bit of an upscale diner that had been around as long as I could remember. At their peak, they probably had 65 or 70 restaurants. The food was typical of a diner-type chain... Glossy menu with a dozen types of burgers, salads, and a host of standard dinner entrees - of which the aforementioned Chicken-Fried Steak was one. They went bankrupt right around the turn of the century. I don't think any of them are around anymore.
Their CFS was served with the requisite Country Gravy - a cream sausage gravy - and almost always with either peas or green beans. My parents liked the predictability. I just found it amusing. While the food was adequate, one didn't go there for the grand cuisine. We went for the company.
Fast-forward a few years and I have in my kitchen, a bag of Adluh Carolina Breader. Just the thing I need to make a Chicken-Fried Steak at home! I make CFS at home a coupe of times a year - and made it last year after we got the deep fryer - but I was really looking forward to seeing what "Carolina Breader" would do.
What it did, was make a most-excellent Chicken-Fried Steak!
I was quite pleased with the end result. Knowing that it was a fully-seasoned mix, I didn't add a thing. I dredged the tenderized steaks in the breader, dipped them in egg, and then dredges again.
Just for grins and giggles I fried them in a combination of grapeseed oil and bacon fat.
After they were cooked, I pulled them out of the pan, added some mushrooms, and make a quick pan gravy. I used the dredging flour as thickner.
The Carolina Breader has a great crunch and an excellent white pepper kick. That was the one thing that really reminded me of all those dinners with mom and pop! Pronounced but not overpowering. Great balance.
I'm glad there's still plenty left. I see a fish-fry in my future.
You can buy Adluh products online at Adluh.com.
Beef and Peppers
The poor stove. It takes such a beating day-in-and-day-out. As do the ovens. We just cleaned the ovens and already there's a spill causing billowing clouds of smoke in the kitchen.
We are just destined to never having a pristine kitchen.
Oh well.
We eat well - and that's really all that matters.
And speaking of eating well... the backyard pepper plants are still producing peppers. It's amazing.
And they're really good, too! The bell peppers are sweet, crisp, and full of flavor. Unfortunately, while they have nice flavor, the red peppers have absolutely no heat, at all. None. Zero. Zip.
I'm thinking they just needed more heat, less water, and less humidity to really develop, but flavor-wise, they're okay.
With still more peppers growing, a pepper steak stir-fry seemed to be in order.
I marinated strips from a couple of sirloin steaks in 2 tbsp sriracha sauce (Thai hot sauce), 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp rice wine, and 1 tsp ground ginger. Into the hot skillet they went with a bit of sesame oil. Onions and peppers followed. I drizzled in a bit of the marinade, brought it all to a boil, and served over the red rice.
I really, really like the whole grain red rice I get from Lundberg. Actually, I get several of their rices and blends. Since our local stores stopped carrying it, I now buy it online. Helping to keep the United States Postal Service in operation, one package at a time!
It had just enough heat to be interesting, and the rice added a great textural balance.
And there's even more peppers to come!
Sauerkraut
Victor hates sauerkraut.
Actually, Victor hates cabbage in all its forms - except coleslaw on a Corned Beef Special.
It's sad. He grudgingly ate Corned Beef and Cabbage - once - but otherwise it's just never in the house. No diced cabbage in soups, no Cabbage Rolls, no sauerkraut on hot dogs.
Not sad. Tragic.
So what's a sauerkraut-and-cabbage-lover to do? Cook it, anyway, of course!
I usually limit my sauerkraut-eating to hot dogs when Victor is away on a business trip, but last night I really had a hankerin' for it. I had picked up some knockwurst and planned some Beanie Weenies for dinner - and sauerkraut was just calling my name. I keep a small can of sauerkraut in the cupboard - up and behind other things so I don't disturb Victor's sensibilities - and down it came!
Victor saw it and went into shock. In a panic-stricken voice he let it be known it just couldn't be anywhere near his dinner.
I promised to keep it separate. I'm good that way. I'm loving, caring, and have a great sense of self-preservation.
So we had Beanie Weenies with Cheese, and I had a side of kraut.
Gooey monterey jack and cheddar cheeses atop baked beans and knockwurst. And huinks of homemade bread from the night before.
And on my side of the table... a small can of sauerkraut.
It was great. And Victor survived being in the same room with it.
I call that progress!
Spicy Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
I've known for a couple of days that we were having a butternut squash and apple soup tonight. I had the squash, I had the apples... It was just a matter of putting it together.
Soups are the easiest thing in the world to create - and I do mean create. In our house, soups are generally of the clean-out-the-refrigerator variety. Literally anything can go into the pot. All of those odd little tupperware containers of that little bite of whatever? Into the pot. Fresh vegetables that have seen better days? Into the pot. A bit of chicken and a bit of pork tenderloin? Cut them both up and into the pot.
It's a great system.
Every now and again, however, I'll look for a specific flavor profile and and be a bit more circumspect in my ingredients. A Mulligatawny Soup needs fairly specific ingredients. A butternut squash soup can go in many directions, but the ingredients have to be true to the direction you take...
My original thought was butternut squash, apples, and sage. It's a fairly classic combination and perfect for the season. But as I started cooking, I knew I wanted something else.
I kept thinking of my Uncle Dick's Jalapeño Pumpkin Soup. Unkie Dickie was a great guy - married to my father's baby sister. We shared Giant's season tickets with them at Pac Bell Park. He was just one of the really good guys.
I love that soup but it wasn't quite where I wanted to go. I was leaning southwest, but didn't want cumin. I decided to start with a couple cans of diced green chilis and build from there.
That definitely put me in the right direction. I next needed a bit of heat. I first thought of cayenne pepper but ended up with my spicy-standby - Sambal Oelek. Granted, an Asian chili paste is not exactly southwestern, but it's my recipe - I can do anything I want.
While I thought the finished product was pretty good, Victor declared that it was one of the best soups I've ever created.
I thought that was pretty good!
I also baked a loaf of bread but we both filled up on soup and barely ate a slice each.
The soup can easily be made vegan. Just switch the chicken stock for vegetable stock and don't add the sour cream topping. I added a can of pumpkin because my squash was small and I kept adding to the pot. If you use a larger squash you don't need it. I probably didn't really need it, either, but it was in the cupboard...
Spicy Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
- 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
- 5 small mcintosh apples, peeled and sliced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 quart chicken stock
- 1 can pumpkin
- 2 cans diced green chilis
- 2 cans cannellini beans
- 2 tsp sambal oelek
- Salt and Pepper
Saute onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in a bit of olive oil until aromatic and the vegetables are limp. Add the squash, apples, and broth and simmer for about 30 minutes or until everything is temder.
Using an immersion blender, puree soup to desired consistency. I prefer a few chunks. At this point you can decide whether to add a can of pumpkin, or not.
Add the diced green chilis, cannellini beans, and sambal oelec - or cayenne - to taste.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with sour cream, if desired.
Yeah... this was a good one - and there's plenty left for lunch tomorrow.
The bread was a variation of the Pane Pugliese...
This one lasts for a couple of days and makes great paninis!
Grilling Steaks
Temperature is falling. Time to grill!
Well... Anytime is the time to grill, but there's something about those colder-weather grillings that are just a tad more special.
I've been slowly slipping into soups-and-stews mode. Lots of homemade bread. But I also still have several steaks in the freezer that should be used before Memorial Day 2012.
We're lucky we can grill year-round. The grill is under cover and even in the worst snow storms, I've been able to get out there and get it going. As long as I don't run out of gas...
So tonight's dinner was a s basic as basic can get - strip steaks, baked potatoes with sour cream, and green beans. Oh, and not pictured was toasted garlic bread made from the bread I made a couple of days ago.
And it was good.
Nothing fancy, no exotic seasonings, just a good steak and a good baked potato - oven-baked, not microwaved.
Bring on the weather. I'm ready!
Chipotle Chicken
Back when I was a kid there was a standard oven-fried chicken recipe that was pretty much chicken dipped in mayonnaise, rolled in crushed corn flakes, and baked. Very basic, but also very good. Actually, I think the original recipe may have been for Miracle Whip, but as my mother loathed the stuff, we were never subjected to it. We ate what mama liked. Fortunately, mama had good taste.
I had a bit of a hankerin' for oven-fried chicken tonight, but I was looking for something a bit more zesty than plain ol' mayo. I opened up the cupboard and there was a can of chipotle chilis in adobo! There was my zest!
I made a chipotle mayonnaise by putting 2 chipotles and about 3/4 cup of mayonnaise in the small bowl of the food processor and processed until smooth.
In the big bowl, I smashed about 2 cups of corn chips.
I dipped the boneless, skinless chicken breasts into the mayo, rolled them in the corn chips, and baked at 425° for 20 minutes.
For the rice, I just added about a half-cup of salsa to the cooking water. Plenty of flavor with no muss or fuss.
The chicken had a bit of a fun childhood-memory taste to it. I don't think my mother ever knew what a chipotle pepper was - or, at least, never cooked with them while I was living at home - but it still had a comforting crunch from days gone by.
I can see some fun variations on this.
¡Olé!
Bread and Beef
Tonights dinner came about courtesy of Cooking Light magazine.
I've subscribed to Cooking Light on and off for years. It can be good for ideas now and again and it can have some useful information now and again, but I rarely actually follow any of the recipes.
Nothing unusual in that as I rarely follow any recipes...
We had some dates in the 'fridge that needed using up and this months issue had a recipe for chicken and dates. The Cooking Light recipe, printed below, really sounded fun. Problem was, I didn't have any chicken. But I had some beef. Not having an ingredient has never been a good reason not to make something.
A recipe was born!
Chicken with Dates, Olives, and Cinnamon
David Bonom, Cooking Light
October 2011Ingredients
- 12 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons butter, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 cups sliced onion
- 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
- 18 pitted manzanilla (or green) olives, chopped
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
- 2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup whole pitted dates, chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Preparation
- Sprinkle chicken with pepper and salt. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a 10-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 6 chicken thighs to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove chicken from pan. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon butter, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and remaining 6 chicken thighs.
- Add onion and ginger to pan; sauté 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add olives; sauté for 1 minute. Add flour and the next 4 ingredients (through cinnamon stick); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broth; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook for 1 minute. Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 12 minutes. Stir in dates; simmer 10 minutes or until chicken is done. Stir in juice, and garnish with basil.
I more or less followed the recipe, substituting cubed beef for the chicken thighs and beef broth for the chicken broth. The spices worked perfectly with the beef - and I'm sure they'd work equally well with just about anything. It was rich without being overpowering.
Of course, what started the whole stew-ish dinner idea was that I wanted to bake a loaf of bread. I still have starter from my last pugliese loaf and thought a cruisty loaf of something would be the perfect way to enjoy this slightly-chilly day.
What I didn't expect was for it to literally be an all-day event.
This particular bread calls for a biga - a starter - but doesn't call for any more yeast - as do most other breads. Since I was starting out with a refrigerated starter and the house wasn't exactly hot, it took several hours for the various risings to happen. But it was worth the time!
Pane Di Como Antico
Carol Field The Italian Baker
- 3/4 c Biga
- 1 1/2 cups water at room temperature
- 1/2 cup Whole wheat flour
- 3 cups To 3 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 tsp salt
- Cornmeal
Cut the starter into small pieces in a large mixing bowl. Add all but 1 to 2 Tbsp. of the water and mix until the starter is in fine shreds and the liquid is chalky white. Stir in the whole wheat flour and most of the all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time. When the dough is a fairly rough and shaggy mass, stir in the salt dissolved in the remaining water. Knead on a floured surface, sprinkling with up to 1/2 cup additional flour and using the dough scraper to scrape up the fine film of dough that will accumulate on the sork surface, as well as to turn and lift the dough. After about 5 minutes of kneading, slam the dough down hard several times to help develop the gluten. Continue kneading until the dough is smooth, a total of 8 to 12 minutes. The dough should still be soft, moist and sticky.
By Mixer:
Mix the starter and all but 1 to 2 Tbsp. of the water with the paddle in a large mixer bowl. Mix in the flours and then the salt dissolved in the remaining water. Change to the dough hook and knead at medium speed until soft, moist, and sticky but obviously elastic, about 4 minutes. Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface, sprinkling with additional flour, until smooth but still soft.By Food Processor:
Refrigerate the starter until cold. Process the starter and 1 1/2 cups cold water with the steel blade and remove to another bowl. Change to the dough blade and process the flours and salt with 2 or 3 pulses to sift. With the machine running, pour the starter mixture through the fed tube as quickly as the flour can absorb it. Process 30 to 45 seconds longer to knead. The dough will be moist and sticky. Finish kneading by hand on a lightly floured surface, sprinkling with additional flour, until the dough is smooth but still soft.First Rise:
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it has numberous bubbles and blisters under the skin.Shaping and Second Rise:
Divide the dough in half on a lightly floured surface without kneading it. Shape into 2 round loaves. Let them relax under a cloth for 20 minutes. Line baking sheets or peels with parchment paper and flour the paper generously. Roll each ball into a fat cylinder and place seam side down on the paper. Dimple the loaves all over with your fingertips or knuckles, as for focaccia, to keep the dough from springing up. The dough should feel delicate but extreme.ly springy. Cover the loaves and let rise until doubled, with many visible air bubbles, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.Baking:
Thirty minutes before baking, heat the oven with a baking stone in it to 425° F. Sprinkle the baking stone with cornmeal. Carry the peel or baking sheet to the oven and very gently invert the dough onto the stone. Gently remove the parchment paper, peeling off very slowly. Immediately reduce the heat to 400° and bake until golden, 35 to 40 minutes.
Cool on wire racks.This dough can be made ahead and placed in the refrigerator for the second rise; the flavor is better with the long cool development of the yeast.
Serve this with stews and meats with rich sauces, with green salads, fresh cheeses, sliced salami, and smoked meats.
The long, slow rising made for a most excellent bread! This was very reminiscent of the San Francisco sourdough breads of my youth. It was crusty, chewy, and really flavorful.
It's amazing what nothing more than flour, water, salt, and yeast can produce.
Macaroni and Cheese
All day long today, I planned to cook a pork tenderloin for dinner. I did a pretty large shopping trip after work - and forgot to buy a pork tenderloin.
I got home, put away groceries, and looked into the fridge. Plenty of cheese. Time for a good ol' batch of Macaroni and Cheese.
I can honestly say that I have never - ever - bought boxed Mac & Cheese. Ever.
We never had it as children growing up - my mom made mac and cheese from scratch to feed the six kids - and because of the jobs I had in restaurants, it just never occurred to me to buy it.
And I still don't.
I've tasted it before. That's been impetus enough not to spend money on the stuff. I don't see the reason for it.
But real Macaroni and Cheese?!? Food from the gods...
At its most basic, it's a thin white sauce with cheese added, mixed with cooked elbow macaroni, topped with buttered breadcrumbs, and baked. After the cheese is added to the sauce it thickens nicely.
Very simple.
Tonight, I took it a bit further by adding diced ham and peas.
I cooked up a pound of elbow macaroni and ended up with enough mac and cheese to feed the neighborhood. I made a separate casserole for Victor's mom that we'll bring over tomorrow, and Victor has lunch for days...
And we had leftover biscuits.
Here's a recipe from Gourmet Magazine that's pretty close to what I do. I add a few shots of Tabasco and a few shots of Worcestershire sauce. I'll use whatever breadcrumbs are in the house - we always have them in the cupboard.
Macaroni and Cheese
Gourmet | August 2007
Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez
The toasted crumbs on top have a cheesy crispness, and the pasta beneath is creamy and rich. Kids will appreciate the individual servings, but the recipe makes plenty, so why not pour the extra into a baking dish to feed the ravenous parents?
Yield: Makes 20 servings
Active Time: 35 min
Total Time: 1 1/4 hr
ingredients
For topping
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 2 cups panko (coarse Japanese bread crumbs) or 3 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from 6 slices firm white sandwich bread)
- 1/4 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
For macaroni and sauce
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 cups whole milk
- 1 pound coarsely grated extra-sharp Cheddar (6 cups)
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
preparation
Make topping:
Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
Melt butter, then stir together with panko and topping cheeses in a bowl until combined well.
Make sauce:
Melt butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes, then whisk in milk. Bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly, then simmer, whisking occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in cheeses, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until smooth. Remove from heat and cover surface of sauce with wax paper.
Make Macaroni:
Cook macaroni in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 tablespoons salt for 4 quarts water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain macaroni in a colander. Stir together macaroni, reserved cooking water, and sauce in a large bowl. Transfer to 2 buttered 2-quart shallow baking dishes.
Sprinkle topping evenly over macaroni and bake until golden and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.
Meatloaf and Adluh Biscuits
Light, flaky biscuits are any cooks dream. I've made a few of them in my time and have always remembered "a light hand produces a light biscuit." Biscuits are not difficult to make, but I must say I've had some that were - to be kind - less than light. Basically, you don't over-mix them.
I have always mixed my biscuits with my hand because it's the quickest way to mix and takes the least amount of working the dough. So when my goodie-box from Adluh arrived, I was just a tad skeptical when I saw the Adluh Yellow-Flake Biscuit Mix.
It's no secret that I don't use a lot of mixes - any mixes. I generally just like to put my own things together. But I was making meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mushroom gravy and those biscuits were calling my name.
First thing I did was add too much milk. I added some self-rising flour to compensate and hoped for the best.
The hoped-for best was outstanding! These were some fine biscuits! Light as air, flaky, the epitome of what a biscuit should be. I was impressed. And I was even more impressed that even screwing them up didn't screw them up. Talk about a forgiving mix!
They went perfectly with the meatloaf! So perfectly, in fact, that Victor had meatloaf sandwiches on biscuits for lunch, today!
And trust me, the picture doesn't do them justice. They really were good!
And my meatloaf is as basic as basic can be, with no real recipe or set amount of anything.
I use:
- ground beef
- chopped onion
- garlic powder
- bread crumbs
- catsup
- mustard
- an egg or two
- worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper
Form into a loaf and bake.
Really. that's it. And it is virtually always served with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas. It's Victor's favorite meal. Who am I to argue?
It really is the most basic a meatloaf can be.
For more fun stuff from Adluh, you can order online at AdluhStore.com.
Panini with Pane Pugliese
The downside to fresh-baked bread is that it doesn't stay fresh-baked for long. A couple of days really is the most you're going to get from a loaf - and then it's bread pudding, stuffing, or bread crumbs. None of which are bad, but...
One way to extend the life of that loaf is grilled sandwiches... and if you're fortunate to have a panini press, all the better.
Grilled sandwiches are fun - and can have absolutely anything in them - and a score of things on the outside, as well. Butter, olive oil, even mayonnaise works well for grilling - and each adds its own unique flavor.
So today's sandwich was Pane Pugliese with cheddar cheese, provolone cheese, and Tomato Jam that I made a while back. I used a combination of butter and olive oil on the outside.
I really like adding different spreads and tapenades and such to grilled sandwiches. It's the unexpected that really makes them stand out.
Two sandwiches done in no-time flat and now plenty of time to think about dinner...
Leftovers and Pane Pugliese
Tonights dinner was really nothing more than having a reason to get bread and butter into our mouths.
Not just any bread, though... Pane Pugliese - one of my most-favorite rustic breads.
This recipe comes from The Italian Baker by Carol Field. I’ve been making this particular bread forever – and really do like it. It's a dark, crusty, hearty bread that just screams for soup or stew or pasta sauce to sop. It calls for a biga - a starter - that needs to be made the day before. There's also about 4 hours of rising time, so plan accordingly.
Pane Pugliese
- 1 packet dry yeast (or 1/2 package fresh yeast)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3 cups water; room temp
- 1 cup biga
- 7 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp salt
Proof the yeast in the warm water. Add 1 1/2 c water and the biga, mix till blended. Add flour and salt, mix till dough comes together and pulls off the sides of the bowl. Knead 3-5 minutes in a mixer, longer by hand. Dough will be very soft and elastic. Let rise about 3 hours, shape into 2 small round loaves or 1 big flattish one. If you have baking stones, place loaves on baking peel or on baking sheets sprinkled corn meal. Let rise about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 450°, and 10 minutes before baking flour the loaf tops and dimple them with your fingers. Bake 50-60 minutes for big loaves, 30-35 minutes for small. Tap the loaves to test for doneness (hollow=done) and cool on a rack.
Biga
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (or 1/10 package fresh yeast)
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 1/4 cup water (room temperature)
- 3 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Stir the yeast into the warm water and let stand until creamy – about 10 minutes. Stir in the remaining water and then the flour, one cup at a time.
Mix with the paddle attachment on the mixer at the lowest speed about 2 minutes.
Remove to a slightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise at cool room temperature for 6 to 24 hours. The starter will triple in volume and still be wet and sticky when ready. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
And the timing could not have been better. Earlier today, my sister booked our vacation rentals in Italy for June. A week in Rome and a week in Florence - with day-trips here and there... We won't be as far south as Puglia to get a loaf of this particular bread, but I can't wait to stray off the tourist path and besides eating fabulous meals - actually buy groceries and do a little cooking there!
What fun. I have to get going on my Rosetta Stone Italiano program!