nick's christmas eve focaccia

This is Nick Malgieri's Christmas Eve focaccia - with a few changes, of course. I'll have to post the recipe later, since I'm running late and the computer is running sloooooow. Isn't it gorgeous?! Enjoy your day!

OK, I'm back. I found this post of Nick's here, and instantly went into the kitchen to try it out.

The dough was incredibly easy to make, and got to say, it's the best focaccia dough I've ever tasted. It's a keeper, for sure.

The topping was another matter. The recipe is based on an old Italian recipe from Bari, in Italy, and called for anchovies, onions, and olives. The anchovies I had were not those sweet little curls of little fishies, but more a mush when I turned them into the onion topping. Next time, I would not add the anchovies at all.

As I sauteed and tasted, I kept adding things that I felt honored the earthy taste of the topping - mushrooms ( not sauteed, but sliced in raw), then some scallions, then a little oil, then some rosemary and fresh pepper. Next time I might even add some bits of tomato and cheese - just a little.

I think this would be wonderful party food, as well as a brunch - or, well, breakfast? You make it in a jellyroll pan, so, cut up, that's lots of apps!

To make:

The dough:

4 cups King Arthur flour

a little salt

1 envelope dry yeast ( I use Rapid Rise)

1 2/3 cups warm water

3 T. olive oil

More olive oil for the jellyroll pan

One jellyroll pan or similar 11x17 inch pan, oiled with olive oil

Toppings:

1/3 cup olive oil

2 large onions, peeled, halved, and sliced thinly from stem to root end

fresh pepper

a little salt

1/2 cup oil or brine cured black olives, in halves or pieces

3 scallions, sliced thinly

6 or so raw white mushrooms, sliced medium

1 T. fresh rosemary

(1 tomato, diced - optional)

1/2 cup grated mozzarella - optional)

1 t. basil, dry, sprinkled over all

To make the dough:

Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir.

Measure water into a small bowl.

Using a fork, mix yeast in warm water and olive oil and briskly whisk.

Make a well in the center of the flour and add the water/oil/yeast mixture.

Using a rubber spatula, scoop the flour into the wet mix until incorporated.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in barely warm oven ( I do this by turning on the oven for a minute, then turning off. Feel the rack to make sure it isn't too hot.)

Let dough rise to double - about an hour or so, depending on temperature.

Oil the baking pan, if you haven't yet.

Scoop dough into pan and spread out with your hands, until the dough covers the pan. This is a soft, easy to press, dough.

Place dough in turned off oven and let rise about a half hour.

While it's rising, prepare the topping.

Topping:

Pour half the olive oil into a large skillet and heat. Add the onions and cook slowly, but turn often. They should look golden to slightly charred, about 20 minutes or more.

Add the mushrooms and cook five minutes. Add the olives.

Add the scallions, rosemary, and pepper and turn off heat.

Take out the risen dough and dimple with your fingers. Spoon the topping over the dough and spread out evenly. Add the tomatoes, if using, and the cheese, if using. Drizzle with the rest of the olive oil. Sprinkle with the basil and a little salt.

Place in preheated 425F oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Absolutely the best! Enjoy!

fresh apple pancakes - dairy free!

These pancakes have always been our special breakfast - or even sometimes dinner on a snowy evening. They're loaded with fresh, diced apples, a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg, and are deliciously thick and fairly small, just the way we like them. I usually serve them with a blueberry sauce ( for my son, who didn't like maple syrup) and warm maple syrup for the rest of us. So when I started to make them this morning, a little bell started banging in my head. Why not try soymilk instead of milk? The same son recently discovered he had painful reactions to dairy suddenly - I had never tried an alternative, but what the heck. So I did. Imagine my surprise when they tasted exactly the same!

So here you go - a fantastic pancake recipe that will work both ways.

To make:

about 3 apples, peeled and diced small

1 egg

1 cup milk or soymilk ( I used Silk Plain)

3 T. unsalted butter, melted in skillet ( or vegetable oil or butter substitute)

1 1/2 cups King Arthur flour

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. cinnamon

1/8 t. nutmeg

2 T. sugar

Beat the egg, butter or oil, and milk or soymilk together in a bowl.

Add the diced apples.

Add the flour, sugar, spices, and baking powder and stir well.

In skillet or griddle set on medium low, add a teaspoon of butter or oil to pan.

Let pan heat evenly, then scoop out batter with a ladle - mine holds about 3/4 cup of batter - and make two medium pancakes.

Allow pancakes to cook for about 4 minutes, or until you see little bubbles on the sides and top of the pancakes, then flip and let cook another 4 minutes. Because of the apple, they need to cook at a lower temperature than regular pancakes. Check to make sure they're not charring.

Remove pancakes to a platter, then add a little more butter or oil, then more batter - and so on.

This should be enough for 8 fat pancakes.

If you have a griddle that will cook more pancakes than two at a time evenly, by all means try.

Serve with warm maple syrup, honey, jam, or blueberry sauce.

Blueberry Sauce:

1 cup frozen blueberries

squeeze lemon juice

2 T. orange juice

1 T. honey or sugar

Simmer until it makes a thin, fruity sauce.

Enjoy the snow!

Featured in TasteSpotting!

the day after

Is there anything more welcome today than a steaming cup of turkey soup? Enriched with rosemary, parsley, and thyme broth, chunky with sweet carrots and fresh celery - and a little jasmine rice.

Featured in TasteSpotting!

cranberry scones for thanksgiving day breakfast

As far as I'm concerned, fresh cranberry sauce is right up there with the turkey and whipped potatoes on Thanksgiving Day. Cranberry in any shape or form is right at the top of my list of favorite foods. I buy cranberries now and freeze them in bulk for these delicious scones or my chocolate-chip-cranberry cookies - that's how much I love them. And these scones are so easy to pull together and stick in the preheating oven for the rest of the dinner, well - why not make a batch? If you're traveling, nothing is easier to bake and stick in a plastic bag for the road trip to Grandma's - or the long flight home. Can you still stash some homemade goodies in your bag, or are you stuck with peanuts?

All you need is ten minutes to mix up, and a half an hour for baking. Why not wrap some in cello for your host, or to slip to a hungry 3 year old? These are tried and true, so I do hope you'll give it a whirl and enjoy nibbling on these tangy, rosy pastries, as you wait for the Big Thanksgiving Show to go on.

To make:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.

4 cups King Arthur flour

1/2 cup sugar plus more for sprinkling tops

7 T. unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

1 T. baking powder

1 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1 1/2 cups buttermilk ( more if you need it, dough should not be dry)

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

egg wash for tops (1 beaten egg and a pastry brush)

In mixer bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and butter until mixture resembles cornmeal.

Add dried cranberries and mix again.

Add buttermilk and fresh or frozen cranberries and mix until dough forms a ball.

Roll dough out to a 9" circle.

Cut in half, and cut each half two more times - you will have eight triangles.

Place triangles on baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle heavily with sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until scones are golden and light when you pick them up. If they feel heavy, let them bake a little longer. All ovens are different, so baking times do vary.

Let scones cool very well ( 30 minutes) before packaging for giving.

Enjoy!

profiteroles with ginger ice cream and chocolate sauce

This is one of the desserts I'm making for Turkey Day, and what a delight! Delicate cream puffs filled with a creamy ginger ice cream from a local producer, Walpole Creamery, and a thick chocolate sauce. I know, I know - it's not pie - though it's possible a little pumpkin or apple pie might end up in this, since everyone will be assembling their own cream puffs.

For the profiteroles, I used Julia's recipe, since I'm pretty sure it's the same one I have scribbled - and lost - somewhere in my stack of clippings.

To make puffs:

1 1/2 cups water

9 T. unsalted butter

1/4 t. salt

2 t. sugar

1 1/2 cups King Arthur flour

5 large eggs, plus one for the egg wash. ( at room temperature)

Preheat oven to 425F.

Cover two baking sheets with parchment or foil.

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, bring water, butter, salt, and sugar to a boil. When the butter has melted, remove pan from heat and throw in the flour all at once. Furiously stir with a wooden spoon until the dough makes a ball. Plop into mixer bowl.

Using the paddle attachment, add the eggs, one at a time.

The dough will be sticky. Very sticky.

Spoon dough into a pastry bag ( or just use two spoons) and pipe out 3 circles of dough for each puff - one on top of the other. If you're using spoons, just measure out what looks right and drop onto baking sheet.
Mix up the egg wash by beating an egg in a small dish. Use a small pastry brush to dab the tops of the puffs so it will brown up a little as it bakes.

Place baking sheets in the upper and middle levels of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350, and bake another 10 minutes. The puffs should be golden and almost twice the size they were before baking.

Check the puffs to make sure they're golden and puffed. If all is well, turn off the oven and leave the puffs in the oven, with the oven door slightly open. This helps them to dry correctly.

While you're waiting, make the chocolate sauce:

1/2 cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips, good quality

3 T. heavy cream

1 T. unsalted butter

1 t. vanilla or Grand Marnier

Place ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave a few minutes, until the chocolate is smooth and melted when you stir it.

To assemble:

You will need ice cream. I used ginger, which was awesome, but feel free to pick your own. Traditionally, vanilla is used.

Gently break the cream puffs in half, scoop the ball of ice cream on the bottom, cap it with the top of the profiterole, then drizzle chocolate sauce on.

Enjoy!

kidstuff: lemon sponge

I was sifting through my stack of old recipes and came across this crazy recipe my mother used to make - a lemon pudding/souffle/cake. The batter separates as it bakes, leaving you with a soft cake and a tangy lemon pudding, all in one. It's one of those fascinating, and delicious, desserts that also doubles as entertainment - and kids ( and adults!) never get tired of it.

To make:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter a souffle or other ovenproof dish

a pan to hold the dish as well as a few inches of water ( also known as a water-bath)

3/4 cup sugar

2 T. soft unsalted butter

2 t. grated lemon zest

3 eggs, separated

3 T. King Arthur flour

1 cup milk ( I used 2%)

1/3 cup plus 2 T. fresh lemon juice

pinch of salt

Beat egg whites until stiff in mixer bowl. Scoop into a bowl and set aside.

Cream the sugar, soft butter, and lemon zest in mixer bowl. No need to wash it after mixing the egg whites.

Add the egg yolks, milk, and flour.

Beat in the lemon juice .

Fold in the egg whites and pinch of salt - some lumps are fine.

Scrape into the buttered dish and place in the pan ( I use a brownie pan) Add a few inches of hot water and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 45 minutes and remove to cooling rack. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes.

Using a large spoon, dish out portions and scoop up some of the pudding, as well as the souffle cake.

Have fun!

classic french beef bourguignon: chasing away the chill

I knew I was coming down with something last night - was it the faintness after shopping, the chill in the air, the brooding grey sky, the frozen toes? As soon as I woke up, I craved chile peppers in soup. I managed to pull together a hasty red pepper and udon noodle soup for breakfast, but I knew what I really needed - this classic French red wine and beef stew, fragrant with bacon, thyme, merlot, and beef, balanced with a touch of garlic and salsa.

Although I normally eat almost vegetarian, there are times when the deep flavors of meat and wine with herbs can resurrect me like nothing else. Forget the pre-Thanksgiving jitters, the memories of my father on Thanksgiving, the silent phone, the bleached grasses just before the snow, the tension that November brings. The hours of the wine blending with the beef make for an extraordinary experience. This is, indeed, Slow Food at its best. This is the one stew I don't add carrots and onions to, because it's perfect, just as it is. There is a deep robustness to this stew, that is unlike any other I've made.

So throw a log on the fire as the pot bubbles, and take joy in this day.

To make:

a pound of stewing beef

4 strips of bacon ( I use thick cut), sliced into slivers

3 cups merlot, or other robust red wine

olive oil and unsalted butter for the saute ( about 2 T. each) butter is optional.

2 cups beef bouillion

2 T. good salsa (I use Green Mountain Gringo, from Vermont)

3 cloves mashed garlic

1 t. thyme

bay leaf

salt and pepper

Place beef on paper towels and blot until dry.

Put bacon in a skillet and cook until brown. Remove to paper towels.

Add olive oil and butter to the skillet and brown, about five pieces at a time, the beef chunks. Remove beef when browned, reserve, and continue to brown beef until all the chunks are done.

Place browned beef in an oven-proof dish or pot.

Drain the fat from the skillet, then add the merlot and beef bouillon, and the thyme, garlic, salt and pepper, and the salsa. Simmer for a few minutes, scraping up the browned bits.

Pour over the beef, then add the bacon bits.

Cover and place in a 325F oven for two hours.

Taste the stew and adjust seasonings, then serve with good bread and butter, or buttered noodles.

Enjoy!