Pizza
It's no secret that I made hand-spun pizzas in my youth. I worked at Pirro's for six years, one month, twelve days, and an hour. I started off in high school as a delivery boy, became the dishwasher, prep cook, cook, and, finally, manager of the place. When I went into the Navy and was going to Culinary A school, Barry flew me up to San Francisco from San Diego on weekends to work. PSA SFO to SAN - $24.50. Every hour on the half-hour. When I was stationed at Hunters Point and later Alameda, I worked for him whenever I was off. When I got back from Viet Nam, I was working, immediately. I was gainfully employed the day I was separated from Uncle Sam's Yacht Club.
I made a lot of pizzas. Pirro's back in the day, was one of the best pizzerias in San Francisco.
Fast-forward almost 50 years, and I can still make a damned good pizza!
Tonight's pizza came about because Victor had seen a photo of a pizza with an egg on it. There are few culinary things in life that cannot be enhanced with an egg... we decided to give it a try.
The pizza dough is my most favorite 2-day dough. It really is just like the dough we made back at Pirro's, lo, these many years ago. It's perfect for spinning, tossing, and it just bakes up perfectly every time.
Pizza Dough
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (100º to 105º)
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- olive oil for bowl
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. Let proof about 5 minutes.
Mix together flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed about 4 minutes or until dough forms a coarse ball. Stop mixer and cover bowl with a towel. Let dough rest about 5 minutes, then remove towel and continue mixing another 2 minutes or so.
Lightly oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball, transfer to bowl and turn to lightly coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
Punch down dough, re-roll, and return to bowl. Tightly cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Divide dough into 2 pieces; shape pieces into balls and place on a lightly floured work surface. Loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.
Pizza needs to be baked in a really hot oven, so I preheat to 500°F for at least an hour before putting the pie in the oven.
The sauce was a fresh tomato sauce made in the blender with tomatoes, a bit of onion, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper.
It was topped with fresh mozzarella, slices of salami, and fresh tomatoes - sprinkled with black pepper and pecorino romano. About halfway through the cooking, I added the egg.
I do have to admit that the egg was not earth-shattering or life-changing. It was really good, but, in the grand scheme of things, probably unnecessary. That first bite with the egg was excellent, but the rest of the slice was pretty damned good, on its own.
Would I do it, again?!? Probably. But it won't become a signature dish, if you know what I mean...
The two of us cleaned that plate. What else can I say?!?
The pizza dough recipe makes two crusts...
I think I may make a stromboli or some such creature, tomorrow or the next day.
The dough only gets better as it sits...
Flour Power
Flour has not been easy to find in our local grocers. Pre-pandemic, we baked a lot - and we've been baking even more since the onset. Seems everyone else is, too.
Early on, we were able to score a 25 pound bag of flour from Adluh in Columbia, SC., but it's a soft wheat flour. It's perfect for cakes, cookies, crusts, muffins, biscuits and all of the dessertish-type things, but it's not a great yeast bread flour.
I will mix it with whole wheat or other flours to bulk it up, but... when it comes to bread, I'm particular. We were finally able to order bread flour from King Arthur - limited to two five-pound bags - and I got some white whole wheat and whole wheat bread flours from Palouse in Washington.
In the meantime, we had almost six pounds of wheatberries I had bought from Palouse many months ago. I like cooking them up and using them in salads, dropping a few handfuls into soups... they're fun and versatile - and also what one would grind into flour - if one had a grinder.
We don't have a flour mill, per se, but we do have a KitchenAid burr coffee grinder. We've had it for years - and years.
I decided to give it a try. It's pandemic time, we're staying at home... It's not like I don't have the time, ya know?!? I cleaned it out well, ran a few grains through to get rid of the last of the coffee, and went to town.
It pretty much, more-or-less, worked.
It's not quite as finely-powdered as a commercially milled flour, but it's very reminiscent of the flours from places like Anson Mills. It's definitely flour.
First thing to make was a banana bread. We have a plethora of bananas, right now, so we're getting creative...
I think everyone probably has a favorite banana bread recipe. This one is based on mark Bittman's from the NY Times. I add chocolate chips and Heath Bar chips to the batter just for grins and giggles. It came out great.
Banana Bread
Ingredients:
- 1/4 pound butter
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork until smooth
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup butter brickle pieces
- 1/2 cup grated dried unsweetened coconut
Instructions:
Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9- by 5-inch loaf pan.
Mix together the dry ingredients. Cream the butter and beat in the eggs and bananas. Add vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients. Gently stir in chocolate chips, brickle pieces, nuts, and coconut.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for about 60 minutes, until nicely browned. A toothpick inserted into the center of the bread should come out fairly clean when it is done. Do not overcook. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
Moist, not too sweet... a really good loaf.
And speaking of loaves... next was my favorite Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread!
This has become my go-to sandwich bread. It is just too easy to make. I usually have buttermilk powder on hand, so I use it with regular milk, but if you don't have the powder or buttermilk, add a teaspoon of vinegar to the milk.
Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup rye flour
Dissolve yeast in the sugar and a bit of the buttermilk. Blend flours and salt together.
Add remaining milk to yeast mixture. Add butter. Mix in flour.
Knead by machine for about 8 minutes or by hand for 10 – until dough is smooth.
Roll into a ball and proof until double in size – about an hour.
On a lightly floured board, form dough into a loaf and place into a well-greased standard bread pan.
Lightly cover and proof, again, until double in size.
Bake in a pre-heated 350°F oven for about 35 minutes – until top is nicely browned.
Immediately remove from pan and cool before slicing.
I usually put the bread in a store-bought bread bag because it's easier than wrapping/unwrapping, but this loaf rose too much - it won't fit!
Everyone should have such problems!
Tonight's dinner will be pizza using my favorite 2-day rise pizza dough.
This really is the perfect pizza dough. It develops a great flavor with the slow refrigerated rise. This is a take on a pizza dough from La Cucina Italiana, but it’s also pretty darn close to the dough I used to make at Pirro’s in San Francisco back in the ’60s and early ’70s.
2-Day Rise Pizza Dough
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (100º to 105º)
- 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 4 cups “00” flour or unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- olive oil for bowl
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer fitted with dough hook. Let proof about 5 minutes.
Mix together flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Mix on low speed about 4 minutes or until dough forms a coarse ball. Stop mixer and cover bowl with a towel. Let dough rest about 5 minutes, then remove towel and continue mixing another 2 minutes or so.
Lightly oil a large bowl. Form dough into a ball, transfer to bowl and turn to lightly coat with oil. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, then refrigerate overnight.
Punch down dough, re-roll, and return to bowl. Tightly cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Divide dough into 2 pieces; shape pieces into balls and place on a lightly floured work surface. Loosely cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.
More on this, later...
A Strange Few Months...
Calling this a strange few months is the ultimate understatement.
The pandemic has hit us harder than most people with the death of Victor's mother, but we've been spared the fear that far too many have of how to pay their bills and feed their children - or figuring out if the jail time would be worth murdering the little blighters. I can't even imagine what that would be like. With six of us, I'm sure my mother would have gone for the jail time.
There's no question that this has taken a real emotional toll on almost everyone, but we've been able to isolate with high speed internet and a roof over our heads in relative quiet and comfort. We're lucky we like each other.
And, we're eating well. I guess that pretty much goes without saying - we have always eaten well. We're just getting more creative as ingredients run out or become unavailable.
The last time I was physically in a store was the end of March - wearing a mask before they were mandated. Since then it has been all delivery - from the local grocery store and a local restaurant. to a local brewery and a local distiller. It's been great being able to put money into the local economy - and we've been tipping really well. That's important, also.
I miss grocery shopping - it's the only shopping I actually like - and I like walking up and down the aisles at my leisure, stopping and looking at things, getting ideas, creating recipes on the fly. Although I always shop with a list, I also like being able to make an impulse buy when something catches my eye, or change my mind and not get something on the list. None of that is possible with online shopping - and with product availability being what it is, you're never quite sure what you're going to get, so it's impossible to really plan meals. One merely gets ingredients and hopes for the best.
And then... get creative.
For me, that is the fun part of all of this. Once Upon A Time, I got paid good money to be creative with different foods, create recipes, and sell the hell out of things. I find it's actually quite easy to take an idea and completely rework it to fit what you have in front of you. A large part of that, no doubt, is because I grew up with a mother who fed her family like that. To boldly go where no man - or woman - has gone, before...
Monday's dinner is a perfect example...
I saw a post from a Facebook friend about a Southern Italian dish called a Tiella - a layered casserole of sorts. I didn't have the ingredients that were used in the original recipe, but, in reading through the post, there are as many variations on the recipe as there are people making it. It's often used as a side dish, but can also be used as a main dish. Without a single Italian ingredient, I gave it a go. Later, I realized that years ago I made a totally different style of Tiella based on a recipe from Lidia Bastianich. You can check that one out, here...
Into a small casserole, I layered:
- sliced potatoes
- chopped onion
- barely cooked chicken
- sliced andouille sausage
- a can of cannellini beans
- colby jack cheese
- white wine
- sourdough bread cubes drizzled with olive oil
- thyme
- garlic powder
- salt & pepper
I covered it and baked it at 375°F for 30 minutes and then uncovered and baked at 425°F for another 15.
It came out great. Taste-wise, it was nothing like the original recipe, but it followed the concept in spirit - and was a damned fine meal!
Yesterday was a use-things-up-because-we-have-more-coming day.
The thought was open-faced burgers on the last of the Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread - because I was baking more and making some rolls - and a salad Victor had found a recipe for a fennel salad with a creamy dressing of mayonnaise, olive oil, anchovies, lemon, olives...
We didn't have the fennel, but we had the ingredients for the dressing. To work he went!
Creamy Olive and Lemon Dressing
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp anchovy paste or 2 anchovy fillets, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped
- 1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mix all ingredients together, cover, and refrigerate until use.
For the actual salad, Victor sliced celery, cucumber, and green unions and mixed them with the dressing, topping it all with fresh chives, a sprinkling of parmigiano reggiano, and crushed black pepper. It was perfection.
And then it was the burgers...
Thick slices of toasted Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread topped with the same dressing as the salad, lettuce, thick slice of tomato, and a burger topped with provolone cheese.
Today, we have fresh bread and fresh rolls - ready for some BBQ Brisket, tonight...
It really doesn't get much better...
Corona Cooking
We're definitely not going hungry at our house. Last time I was grocery shopping in the real world was 2 weeks ago when I was at my favorite Trader Joe's. I did an online order from Wegmans through InstaCart and we received it this past Sunday. Today was a delivery from Atlantic Spice, and on Friday, we're expecting a delivery from Founding Farmers. I'm really looking forward to that.
The Wegmans/InstaCart delivery was interesting... Some decidedly different substitutions. My favorite was Flushable Fragrance-Free Dude Wipes im place of standard disinfecting wipes. We chose not to get them... I didn't even know they made such a thing! The wrong cereal pulled, bananas a bit too ripe, an odd substitution for grapefruit seltzer... but all-in-all, not horrible for having someone do your shopping for you and bring it to your home. It was definitely a lot more money, though... Ka-CHING!
The Atlantic Spice order was something I definitely needed but had put off because I thought we were going to be in the process of moving west, right about now. That's on hold for the foreseeable future, so an order was placed. I was able to get lentils, orzo, unsweetened coconut, and dehydrated soup and dehydrated stew mixes - along with a ton of other stuff. When the fresh veggies just aren't around, we can always make soups and stews.
We ain't going hungry.
To add to the fun, I made a loaf of sourdough bread, today... Wanting to conserve flour, and all, I kinda screwed up in my fermenting and rising... Where one is supposed to take out a portion and add flour and water - I just kept adding the flour and water, resulting in a dough that was a lot more acidic than it should be - which caused the gluten structure to collapse. I have a really great tasting loaf of bread, but it's definitely not what it could have been.
Great crusty crust and a tight crumb...
It may not be worthy of an artisan bakery, but it worked just fine for home use...
And on to dinner... We now have more bacon in our house than we've had in a really long time - with another pound arriving Friday. Time to start eating some of it!
I made a bean and bacon soup, yesterday that will be lunch for the next few days, and tonight, wrapped a couple of bacon slices around chicken breasts and green onions. Baked in the oven. Total simplicity. The potatoes were a gateau I had made a few days ago. Layers of potatoes, onions, and cheese baked in the oven. How could it be bad?!?
So... until we can freely grocery shop and sell the house and move west, we're going to hunker down, eat well, and do what we need to do to stay healthy. This ain't exactly what I planned to be doing at this stage of my life - but I'm not going to fight it.
Stay well and have some fun in the kitchen. Not everything is going to be an Instagram meal.
So what?!? Enjoy it, nonetheless!
Pasta and Bread
Around 2:30 yesterday afternoon, Victor asked what I was planning for dinner... I had taken a pork tenderloin out of the freezer and was going to braise it with some cherry tomatoes. He said how about some pasta? and I immediately said yes. He then said we needed bread...
Fresh bread usually takes a few hours to do - mixing, kneading, multiple risings - but I do have a couple of James Beard recipes that can be done quicker...
James Beard is definitely one of my culinary heroes. He just had the right attitude...
James Beard Single Rise Loaf
- 2 package of active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups warm water (100-115 degrees)
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp water
- course salt, sesame seeds, poppy seeds
In a large mixing bowl combine yeast and sugar. Let proof about 5 minutes. Add oil and 1/4 cup water. Mix.
Add salt. Add 1/2 cup of flour and continue mixing. Slowly add remaining flour.
Knead for several minutes until the dough springs back and is satiny and smooth. It is a fairly wet dough.
Form into a loaf about 20 to 22 inches long, let loaf rest about 20 minutes.
Brush lightly with egg wash and sprinkle with salt or seeds.
Bake in a preheated 300°F oven about 55 minutes.
Fresh bread in less than 90 minutes... I didn't do the egg wash on this one...
While the bread was cooling, Victor went to work...
Olive oil, garlic, fennel, anchovies, crushed red pepper, oregano, and cherry tomatoes, along with a pinch of salt and pepper.
It took longer to boil the water than it did to make the sauce.
Totally delicious.
We do feel it's important to eat well during a pandemic.
We're selflessly doing our part...
Irish Country Bread
The great white flour shortage of 2020 is about to come to an end at our house - I have an order in to Adluh in Columbia, South Carolina for a delivery on Saturday. We have a reasonably well-stocked pantry, right now, so I am definitely not going to leave the house just to try and find flour. Ain't gonna happen. Besides, we were low on grits and I've been buying grits from Adluh for years. I ordered some of them, as well.
Far from feeling cabin-fever or confined, I'm much more leery about mingling with the great unwashed masses, right now. There are still way too many people out there who are not talking any of this seriously. I'll stay home, thankyouverymuch.
We were also able to have a bit of liquid refreshment delivered since the State Stores have closed down. It's always good to have a bit of medicinal elixir in the house...
But back to baking...
It's not that we were totally out of flour - there are varying amounts of Anson Mills Red Fife, whole wheat, rye, sprouted wheat berry, semolina, cake flour, organic whole wheat pastry flour, and Tipo "00" in the pantry. Just no all-purpose or white bread flour. Yes, one can make a perfectly acceptable loaf of bread using 100% whole wheat or 100% rye flours - or even 100% white - but I tend to like my breads a bit lighter and like to blend flours. Even in times of national emergency, I'm spoiled.
Since we have flour arriving, I felt comfortable splurging and making a few loaves.
These loaves are based upon a recipe from Andrew Zimmern via Food and Wine magazine. I followed his recipe fairly close, except I used a blend of 2 cups Tipo "00" flour and 3 1/4 cups Anson Mills Red Fife. Two were topped with sesame seeds and two with poppy seeds.
It has a lovely light crumb and the perfect - slightly chewy.
Irish Country Bread
adapted from Andrew Zimmern
- 2 cups warm water
- 3 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 5 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing
- 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- Poppy seeds and sesame seeds, optional
In a small bowl, whisk 1/2 cup of the warm water with the yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, sift the flour with the salt and sugar into a food processor bowl. Add the butter and process until it is mixed in well. Place into a stand mixer.
Add the yeast water and another 1 1/2 cups of water and mix on low until dough starts coming together. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Form a ball and transfer to a large buttered bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450°. Punch down the dough and scrape it onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Gently shape the dough into 4 rounds and transfer to a large baking sheet. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place until nearly doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes.
Brush the rounds with the egg wash and sprinkle poppy seeds or sesame seeds, if desired. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until well browned and firm. Let the loaves cool on the baking sheet for 20 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
An excellent loaf! And, if made smaller, would make excellent hamburger buns!
This will definitely get us through the weekend... Time to start looking for the next batch.
If we're going top be stuck at home, we're gonna eat well, dammit!
Shrimp Ravioli and Sourdough Bread
We're still cooking and eating - it's just that there hasn't been a lot that has been truly remarkable, lately. Looking back over the archives, how many times can I write about a particular dish?
So... when Victor said he wanted to make a shrimp ravioli - based upon a lobster ravioli he had seen made - my ears and tying fingers perked up!
My second thought - the first just being drool - was we would need a loaf of bread for this. Victor is the pasta-maker. I'm the bread-baker. Teamwork!
He used his basic pasta dough from Alon Shaya:
Pasta Dough
- 1 1/4 cup 00 flour
- 1/2 cup semolina
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tsp olive oil
Mix flours. make a well and add the eggs, egg yolks, and oil. Slowly mix in the flour and knead until smooth. Let rest 30 minutes before rolling to desired shape.
and then made a simple filling of:
- shrimp
- ricotta
- egg
- parmigiano reggiano
- lemon zest and juice
- salt & pepper
And, finally, a sauce of
- butter
- sage
- lemon
Very simple - and ridiculously flavorful.
The trick in making the ravioli is after rolling out the dough, brush half of it lengthwise with an egg wash. Place the filling in dollops along the unbrushed side, fold over, press. and cut. It's so much easier than trying to brush edges and they seal so much better - not a single one leaked!
Since I knew the night before that we were having the ravioli, I decided on a sourdough bread, using our friend, Susan's sourdough starter.
I didn't follow a specific recipe - it was more just some basic technique. And even that was streamlined.
I used bread flour and Anson Mills Rustic Red Fife Bread Flour at about a 50/50 ratio. The starter was all basic bread flour.
It had a really nice, chewy crust and a really delicate crumb.
It made a pretty large loaf, so half went into the freezer.
It really was the perfect dinner.
Breadsticks
Victor's making homemade pasta, so I decided to make some breadsticks. My first thought was a loaf of crusty bread, but we'll be having one of those on Tuesday with our Crab Cioppino.
Yes, our Christmas Eve tradition continues... I already have the Dungeness crab and most of the other seafood. I'll pick up the clams tomorrow.
It has been a really long time since I made breadsticks . This recipe is really easy - it's a dump, mix, rest, roll, and bake. Not a lot of thought has to go into it.
I really like using a scale and weighing out ingredients, but... not everyone does, so I've included both weights and volume measurements. My advice is to get a scale and learn metric.
Really.
Breadsticks
- 380 g (2 3/4 cups) bread flour
- 3 gr (1 tsp) active dry yeast
- 190 ml 3/4 cup lukewarm water
- 65 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
- 30 g (2 tbsp) butter, melted and cooled
- 7 gr (1 tsp) salt
- olive oil, sesame seeds, grated cheese
Place everything in a mixing bowl and mix until well combined - about 3 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes.
Increase speed to medium and mix for another 5 minutes. Cover bowl and let rise for an hour at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 375F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper.
Divide dough into 16 pieces, each weighing about 40g. Roll each piece into a thick pencil shape about 10" long. Brush with olive oil and roll in cheese or sesame seeds.
Place on sheet pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until light golden and crisp rotating pans halfway through. Cool and enjoy!
I made two different kinds, but you can do one or the other -= or leave them plain.
Really simple, really basic, and a nice crunch!
Sunday Dinner
Sunday Dinner.
I feel like Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof singing Tradition - except I'm Irish eating Italian. I guess it's the ultimate in cross-cultural recognition.
As a kid growing up, we'd have Sunday Dinner now and again - usually a roast or something that could be stretched into several meals in the coming week. My mother was a professional food-stretcher.
Victor's family, on the other hand, did the whole Italian pasta, meatballs, and lord knows what else eat for hours starting early in the afternoon...
Over the years, I've come to embrace that.
Granted, we no longer start early in the afternoon and eat all day, but a homemade pasta with a homemade sauce and homemade meatballs with a homemade loaf of bread sure makes for a great dinner!
Victor’s Pasta Sauce
- 2 – 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
- 1 – Sm can tomato paste
- 1-2 cloves of garlic (or to taste if you like more) chopped fine
- Olive oil
- Dried Italian seasonings
- Hot red pepper flakes (a tsp or more or less to taste)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Red wine (always cook with a decent wine, never “cooking” wine) about a cup or cup and a half
- Meat – such as Italian sausage or some nice beef or pork ribs or pork chops
Ok…I ALWAYS make my sauce with meat, so start with a deep, heavy pot and add about 3-4 TBS of olive oil. On high heat, once the oil is hot, start frying the sausage or pork, Let the meat get good and caramelized although you don’t have to cook it all the way through because you’ll add it back to the sauce to finish. Once the meat is browned take it out of the pot, put it on a plate and set aside.
Lower the heat to medium and sauté the tomato paste for a couple of minutes until it begins to “melt”. Add the chopped garlic and sauté with the tomato paste for just a minute (no longer or it will burn). Then add about a cup of the red wine and deglaze the pan with it, scrapping up all the good bits that stuck to the bottom when cooking the meat.
When the wine reduces by about ½ start adding the canned tomatoes. Add one can of hot water for every can of tomatoes you use.
Now start adding the dried Italian seasonings. I eyeball it but I would guess a good 2 TBS is fine. Add about another ½ cup of red wine, with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir everything into the sauce. It will be very thin at this point.
Add back the cooked meat. Now this is important….at the bottom of the plate you let the meat rest on will be some of the oil and juices that seeped out. Pour that back into the pot. It has a lot of flavor in it.
Bring the sauce back to a boil then turn the heat down low and let it simmer for at least 1 and a half hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes to keep it from burning. It should reduce by about a third or a little less and get thicker. The meat will absorb the sauce and get very tender.
When I make meatballs, I don’t fry them, I bake them on a sheet pan. When I do, I add them to the simmering sauce when they’re done so they also absorb the flavor.
I usually make the sauce early in the day and after it’s done, just let it sit on the stove until dinner then I re-heat it. This should make enough sauce for a couple of dinners or good sized lasagna.
Fresh Pasta
- 1 cup tipo ’00’ flour
- 1/3 cup semolina flour
- 2 eggs
- pinch salt
- 1 tbsp water – maybe
Mix flour, salt, and eggs until fully combined. Knead on a floured board until smooth, adding a drop or two of additional water, if needed.
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, and then roll out using pasta machine. You can roll this with a rolling pin, but a pasta roller is so much easier!
Lightly dust and then fold the pasta strips.
And then cut to desired width.
Unfold and place on a floured sheet pan.
Cook in lightly boiling salted water for about 3 minutes. Then add to sauce and cook an additional 2 minutes.
Aleppo Tomato Bread
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 1 pgk dry yeast
- 2 tbsp aleppo pepper
- 1 cup tomato juice and pulp from 3 or so fresh tomatoes
- 4 cups flour
- 3 tbsp softened butter
- 1 tsp salt
Place yeast and warm water in mixing bowl. Let proof about 5 minutes.
Add juice, salt, 3 cups flour, and aleppo pepper. With dough hook, mix well, adding softened butter a bit at a time to make a soft but not too sticky dough. Mix for about 10 minutes.
Turn dough out to a floured surface and knead briefly.
Roll into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise until doubled.
Punch down and form into a round or oblong loaf. Place on a well-floured or corn meal-covered bread peel – if using a baking stone – or onto a floured or corn meal-covered sheet pan and let rise again, until doubled. Make a slit across the top about a half-inch deep.
Place into a 350°F oven and bake about 45-55 minutes.
We were reasonably good - we didn't eat nearly as much as we wanted to - but every bite was perfection.
Viva la Sunday Dinner!
Russian Black Bread
This is an interesting recipe...
99.999% of the breads I make are pretty basic combinations of flour, water, salt, and yeast. It's rather amazing that how you play with those four ingredients can create such a variety of different breads.
This bread, on the other hand, reads like a science experiment! There are a score of ingredients - and ingredients you don't often see in a savory bread - like cocoa powder and espresso powder. And every one of them work to create a decidedly delicious loaf!
The basic recipe comes from King Arthur Flour... I don't know how authentic it may be, but it's a damned good loaf!
Russian Black Bread
- 1 1/8 cups (255g) lukewarm water
- 2 tablespoons (28g) apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup (106g) pumpernickel or rye flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons (43g) dark corn syrup or molasses
- 1 tablespoon (14g) brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons (18g) black cocoa
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant coffee powder
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, to taste
- 1 teaspoon rye berries
- 1 3/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 1/2 cups (298g) bread flour, divided
Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl, reserving 1 cup (4 1/4 ounces, 121g) of the bread flour.
Mix to make a thick batter-like dough.
Mix in the remaining cup of flour and knead for 7 minutes, or until the dough becomes soft and elastic, but may still be somewhat sticky to the touch. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
After the first rise, shape the dough into an oblong loaf.
Place in a greased standard loaf tin, cover with greased plastic, and let rise until almost doubled, about 60 to 90 minutes.
While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375°F. When the dough has almost doubled, brush or spray the top with water, dust with pumpernickel or rye flour, and score (slash) the top.
Bake the bread for about 35 minutes, until it sounds hollow when you thump the bottom.
Remove the loaf from the oven and cool it on a rack before slicing.
It's one of those loaves that's pretty much perfect in every way. It has a great crust, a soft crumb, and it's just loaded with flavor.
I didn't have black cocoa so I used Scharffen Berger Dark Cocoa Powder. Any good cocoa powder will work, but Dutch Process is probably better...
I also added some rye berries for a bit of crunch - just a teaspoon. The fennel seeds added a really nice surprise. Again, just a teaspoon.
This is definitely a keeper recipe!
Taboun and Spiced Chicken
It seems that the more I learn, the less I know. I learn a bit of something and next thing I know, I need to learn a dozen more things to learn the how's and why's for the first thing to make sense - or to put something in perspective. The minutiae...
We were watching a Netflix show on street food and the host was in Amman, Jordan. One of the things he focused on was refugees bringing different foods to the table. Amman has welcomed literally millions of refugees from throughout the Middle East - Iraqi, Palestinian, Syrian to name but a few - and is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Much of the street food reflects these different groups.
The show had a lot of different flatbreads being made. I know that different cultures have different versions of flatbreads - from injera to lavosh to focaccia or pizza - but I didn't know of the bazillion cooking techniques that can turn the basic ingredients into such different things. As a guy who has never been to the middle east, I kinda figured your basic pita was pretty universal. It is - and it isn't. From baking on a rounded dome, baking on stones, in an oven, on a flat stove... the same but different. For someone who loves to bake, it's fascinating to see.
The flatbread I made today is based on a taboun - but baked on a flat baking stone, not rounded stones - so, I guess it's really just a pita. Another thing I've learned over time is there is really no such thing as a single authentic recipe of anything. Every home has their own authentic version.
Taboun Flatbread
based on several internet recipes
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tsp yeast
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Combine the water, honey, and yeast. Let it stand for about 10 minutes until foamy.
Combine the flour and salt with the yeast and water mixture, and stir to form a soft dough.
Add the olive oil and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Form it into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until it doubles in size.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Place a baking stone or baking sheet in the oven as it heats.
Knead the dough briefly and divide it into 8 balls. Place the balls on a lightly oiled baking sheet, cover, and let stand for about 15 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, flatten each ball of dough and roll it into a circle 1/8-inch thick and about 7-8 inches in diameter.
Place on baking stone and bake until lightly browned and crisp, about 6 minutes.
The final dish is based on a Palestinian dish called Msakhan - a sumac chicken with sautéed onions.
Za'atar Chicken with Grilled Vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Za'atar
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 chicken breast, sliced
- 3 cups mixed grilled vegetables
- 2 large thick flatbreads (taboun, lavash, pita, or Syrian saj)
Instructions
Combine the sumac with the lemon juice. Rub the mixture all over the chicken, then place in a baggie and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the grilled mixed vegetables and heat through. Add a splash of wine and simmer until wine is almost evaporated - but not quite. Transfer to a bowl with all the juices.
Wipe out the pan and place over medium heat. Add a bit of olive oil and when hot, lightly brown the chicken pieces.
Arrange the flatbreads in an overlapping layer in a large, lightly oiled shallow baking dish. Spoon over the roasted vegetables, then top with the chicken pieces and drizzle any pan juices on top. Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
I made two individual dishes because I tend to really over-do it when making things like this. I'd have enough food to feed the neighborhood, if left to my own devices...
And then, because eating them out of the casserole was impractical, we just slid them out onto plates.
A really fun and flavorful dinner. There was chewy bread, there was bread that had sopped up the juices from the vegetables and the chicken. It was pull-apart eat-with-fingers and a bit of knife and fork. The perfect meal. And you could make this in no time with store-bought pitas.
One of these days we really need to travel the Mediterranean countries from Morocco to Turkey.
There's a lot of good food to be had.....
Pickles, Buns, and Burgers
Sometimes, I amaze myself.
Actually, I often amaze myself. Usually it's in the form of how did I get to be 67 years of age and not know some basic bit of otherwise common knowledge.
Every once in a blue moon, however, the amazement comes in the form of some gastronomic treat where I'm thoroughly amazed that I actually made it.
That gastronomic treat, today, is pickles.
I have pickled many things over the years, from any number of hot peppers to our own version of a giardiniera - but I have never actually made pickles. Until yesterday.
I may have mentioned that we have a cucumber plant in the garden that is taking over.
It's huge - and producing cucumbers faster than we can eat them. There are a half-dozen this size, right now - and that's not counting the ones I picked yesterday for the pickles.
We've made different cucumber salads, tzatziki, chilled cucumber soup, added them to salads... I had even jarred a few of them in a spicy brine, but they need to be refrigerated. We don't often eat a lot of pickles - definitely not enough to fill the 'fridge with them - and they weren't pickles...
I decided to experiment.
I found a recipe for canning dill pickles online, but it called for fresh dill. I wasn't heading out into the heat, so I decided to wing it and hope for the best. I got the surprise of my life!
Crunchy, flavorful, not sweet but not sour little slices of wonder. I'm actually quite shocked. They're some of the best pickles I've ever eaten. And I made them from a plant that's taking over the backyard. It truly boggles the mind.
This recipe assumes you understand basic water bath canning. If you don't, read about it, here.
Dill Pickles
- 4 large cucumbers, washed and thickly sliced
- 8 cups water
- 1 3/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp dried dill per pint jar
- 8-10 peppercorns per pint jar
- 1 tsp dried shallots per pint jar
Prepare canning jars. (I used six for this.)
Place water, vinegar, salt, and sugar into a pot and bring to a rolling boil.
Meanwhile, place dill, peppercorns, and shallots into hot jars.
Pack jars with sliced cucumbers to 1/2 inch from rim.
Slowly pour boiling liquid over cucumbers, filling to 1/2 inch of rim.
Carefully slide a thin knife or chopstick into jars to release any air bubbles.
Place lids on jars and screw on rings finger tight.
Place in boiling water canning pot, making sure lids are covered by at least 2 inches.
Process for 15 minutes.
Because I was so amazed at how great the pickles were, I decided we needed hamburgers for dinner tonight. That meant we needed hamburger buns. I found the recipe from King Arthur Flour and used it to make some rather large buns.
In theory, the recipe makes 8 buns. Having made buns before and always getting buns that were too small, I opted for six. Naturally, the recipe would have made 8 large buns instead of the six overly-large buns I made. Live and learn.
We don't eat burgers the way we used to, so these were a treat.
Lots of pickles, tomatoes from the garden, lettuce, onions, avocado, mayonnaise...
Absolute perfection.
The four additional rolls went into the freezer. I'm thinking sandwiches or lunches.
The rolls really were light with lots of flavor on their own.
All-in-all... a very successful day in the kitchen!
Amazing, in fact.