italian

Focaccia

- Elspeth Leave a comment

Hello Friends. You’re all going to be drawn to this recipe like a moth to a flame because it’s just that good. For those of you blessed enough to see me on a regular basis, you probably have already tried this and are beating your heads against the wall as your body goes into withdrawal. Before you get out the crack pipe in an attempt to find a substitute for this food high, take a moment to calm your nerves and read the recipe. This comfort food will soon be nestled in between your chompers:

Focaccia spiked with garlic, rosemary, and chili flakes and topped with sliced shallots. As Britney would say: Ooh Ooh Baby!

Don’t shy away from this recipe because it has yeast in it; it is NOT like normal bread, which takes hours to rise and is as temperamental as a menopausal rhinoceros. I’ve made this a bunch of times and I’m pretty sure my instructions are idiot-proof, but let’s see!

During my Italian adventure I was lucky enough to be a part of a bi-monthly Pizza Night on the farm where I was working. That place has all the stereotypical Italian facets that make that country so fantastic: the gigantic brick pizza oven, the wizened old man singing to himself as he stokes the fire, large older women who dote on their 30-year old sons who still live at home, and a really awesome pizza dough recipe. I could name a thousand other things, but you can wait for my novel release for the rest of the juicy details. It’s going to be called “I’m a winner and you’re fat” (Glee reference? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?).

Focaccia is essentially pizza dough without the sauce and toppings. I love the original recipe from Spannocchia, the Farm I worked on, but something got lost in translation over to focaccia. I felt that the crust hardened too much and was too much of a separate entity, rather then melding with the rest of the bread. I perused several other recipes and found that the addition of mashed potato made all the difference! Color me confused because who thought of that one?

Potato makes the finished product moist and spongy with a chewier crust. My addition of the herbs and garlic are easily omitted if they’re not up your alley, but they add a ton of extra flavor. You would basically be foolish to exclude them from the party.

Here’s what you’ll need:

3-4 cups flour
2 t salt
1 cup water
2.5 t dry active yeast, or one package
2 T olive oil
6-10 cloves garlic
sprinkle of chili flakes
1 sprig rosemary
1 medium russet potato
1 shallot

Peel and smash the garlic and place it in a small bowl with the oil. Chop the rosemary and add it to the bowl with the chili flakes. Set aside and let marinate for anywhere from 5min-1hour, depending on how much time you have.

Peel the potato and cut into quarters. Place in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with a moist paper towel. Microwave for ~5 minutes or until cooked through (easily fluffed with fork). Mash it up and let cool. You should have about 1/2-3/4 cup.

Place the water in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for about 1 minute. The temperature needs to be between 115-130 in order for the yeast to activate. Too low and it will not grow (poor parenting), too high and you will kill it (murder). My method may seem a little weird, but it works:

Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir the water around. Place your pinkie into the bowl (unless it’s unbearably hot) and, if you can hold it submerged in the water for 20 seconds, then it is the proper temperature. It should get unbearable right around the 20th second. I know, I know: we’re not living in caves anymore, so why would I bother with this archaic practice? Because not everyone has a food thermometer lying around and it’s good to know! I tested my pinkie-method against my thermometer and it hit the nail on the head.

When your water is at the proper temp, evenly sprinkle the yeast over the surface and don’t touch it. Do not stir. Do not swirl. Just don’t! You want the yeast to have a good amount of surface area to cover, but not so wide that the water will cool down quickly. Just aim for perfection and you’ll be fine. It will take about 5 minutes for the yeast to dissolve.

Meanwhile, mix the flour (I use about 3.5 cups) and salt together in a large bowl. Mix the mashed potato, which should be cool enough to touch at this point, into the flour with your hands. It won’t look much different with the potato than it did without:

Make a well in the center and pour in the oil

then the yeast/water mixture.

Mix with a fork until the dough is cohesive and comes together. If the dough is sticky add a bitmore flour, but not too much since it can make the dough tough. If the dough is too dry add a tablespoon of warm water. Go with your instincts, if you have any!

Remove the dough from the bowl and give it a quick knead to make sure it sticks together. Rinse out the bowl and spray it with olive oil. Place the dough back inside and cover with saran wrap or a dish towel. Put the bowl in a warm, dry location that is far away from any drafts or windows. It should take about an hour or two to rise to double it’s original size.

Once it is good and large, take it out of the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Preheat your oven to 500 and finely slice your shallot.

Knead the dough for a few minutes, adding more flour if it gets too sticky. Roll it out to about 10in x 15in and place on an oiled baking sheet. Stab the surface all over with your finger so that it looks like it’s been riddled with Small Pox and drizzle with olive oil.

Scatter the shallot slices over the top, sprinkle with salt, and put the tray in the oven.

Bake until the focaccia is golden brown and the top is sizzling, 20ish minutes. Feel free to sprinkle it with some grated Parmesan during the last few minutes of baking, if you so desire.

I was a little impatient and didn’t let it rise to quite twice it’s original size, so mine was a tad thinner with a bit of a crunch to it. To ensure a fluffy end result, let it rise completely!

The garlic roasts in the oven, making it squishy and mild when you bite into it. This treat is perfect on it’s own or dipped in some balsamic vinegar. I bet it would make a great sandwich with some arugula and mozzarella…mmm yum!

Nommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Gnocchi

- Elspeth 2 Comments

It’s less boring than it sounds. My trusty associates and I decided to embark on an adventure of epic proportions for this week’s culinary delight: Gnocchi.

Topped with Tomato-Cream sauce and Arugula. Major noms!


I know what you’re thinking: WAY too difficult, especially when you can get it premade in stores! Duh, Elspeth. Duh.

But this is a great dish to make with people you like (not recommended for people you hate, who might get a hot potato to the face) at interactive dinner parties and family soirees. Again, I know what you’re thinking: what if I don’t like my family?

That’s another fish to fry.

I’m going to leave the Tomato-Cream sauce for another post, since the gnocchi is somewhat labor intensive and will take my full attention here. It could use some mild tweaking, but even more important is the fact that I didn’t take enough pictures to demonstrate properly…oops!

So ready, set, NOM!

You will need:
2 lbs russet potatoes, rinsed (you will be removing the skins, so don’t stress yourself about scrubbing the living daylights out of the poor spuds)
1.25-2 cups flour
1 t salt

Bake the potatoes in a 400 degree oven for 45min-1 hr, until you can skewer them easily with a knife or samurai sword.

Using a reliable oven mitt, a paring knife, and some dexterity, remove the skins and discard. Press the tatoes through a ricer or mash them with a smush-masher-thing.

A ricer is the best option because it gives you the fluffiest, lightest result; however, not everyone is as well-prepared as my friend Lauren with kitchen gadgets, so don’t fret if you are missing this piece of equipment. Spontaneity is always fun in the kitchen!

Like when Luci demonstrated, for our pre-gnocchi snack, how good traditional bruschetta can be with a little melted mozzerella and sauteed tomato-mixture:

From scary/sassy…

To tasty:

Mmmm a sea of fresh basil and yummies.

Back to the tots!

Spread out on a cookie sheet and let them cool for about 15 minutes, until you are able to touch them without reaching for the aloe with tears in your eyes.

Take this opportunity to get a big pot of water on the stove and light a fire under that sucker. Salt the water liberally.

Sprinkle 1 1/4 cups flour and the salt over the potato mash and mix together with your hands, until it forms a cohesive mass. Do NOT over-knead!

When your hands are full of gummy, messy potato dough you can watch as your friend takes the last bruschetta:

Wipe back tears as she gives you a mocking, but strangely winning, smirk:

What. A. Jerk.

So now you’ve got a pile of dough. Congratulations.

If it is excessively sticky you’ll want to add some more flour. We ended up using about 1.75 cups of flour, plus more for dusting the work surface.

Take a pinch of dough (3/4 inch ball) and throw it in the water. When it rises to the top, remove it with a slotted spoon and run a taste-test. If it is too gummy or mushy you should add more flour to your dough (a couple of tablespoons). If it’s perfect, then proceed to the next step.

Now for the fun part!

Grab about 1 cup of dough and lightly smush it with your hands so it is a cohesive lump. Working from the center of the lump out, start rolling the dough into a long rope. You will have to evenly apply pressure with your fingers and move your hands along the rope so that it’s not fat and ugly on one end.

You should end up with a bunch of ropes that are about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the ropes into 3/4-1inch pieces.

Now comes the part that takes a bit of practice. Take a fork in your non-dominant hand and hold the gnocchi at the base of the prongs with the middle section of your dominant-hand thumb. Roll the gnocchi towards the edge of the prongs so you create ridges on one side and a little dent from the tip of your thumb. This is the “sauce catcher”.

As you will see during the consumption portion of the meal, this sauce catcher detail is key!

Place the gnocchi on baking sheets lined with kitchen towels, but keep them apart so they don’t stick together. This recipe yields about 3 baking trays worth.

Aren’t they cute? Take this moment to bask in how awesome you are for creating such a wonderful dish.

Turn the boiling water down so there are no bubbles– this will prevent the gnocchi from rising to the top too soon. Add about 1/3 of the batch to the pot and remove them with the slotted spoon ONLY when they rise to the top, about 1-2 minutes.

Place in shallow bowl (it’s a good idea to warm the bowl in a 170 degree oven to help keep the little darlings toasty).

Continue this process until all the gnocchi are cooked.

Top with your favorite sauce and some cheese. Enjoy!!

A good variation is to use half russets and half sweet potatoes, then top with a butter-sage sauce. You can add a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg to the dough to increase the awesomeness.

NOM!…nom nom nom

Caesar Salad

- Elspeth 2 Comments

Salad, that is. I know the Ides have passed, but that doesn’t make this salad any less tasty. Plus, it’s another easy recipe that is sure to impress even the most mentally-deficient of your friends. After all, we Italians are always impressive.

So prepare yourselves, earthlings! You’re about to be singing my praises to a chorus of “wham, bam, thank you ma’am.”
As a disclaimer, this dressing may not include raw egg, but it does include the little fishy known as anchovy. So be aware of that before you serve it to your shellfish-challenged friends. You might also want to steer clear of this if you have a romantic evening planned, because you won’t be getting any sugar with this on your palate. No one likes garlic-fish-face.
Here is what you’ll need:
3 cloves garlic or one small shallot (use the shallot if you want a less intense flavor than the raw garlic)
1 T anchovy paste or chopped fillets
1-2 T lemon juice
1-2 t dijon mustard
1/4 c good olive oil
2 large heads romaine lettuce, washed, chopped, and dried
1 cup shredded parm (don’t be lame and get the pre-shredded crap that tastes like cardboard. Get out the box shredder and put your back into it like you’re at a seventh-grade dance that’s pumping Juvenile).
Home-made croutons (recipe follows)
Put the lettuce in your fancy salad bowl with the chez (that’s French for “cheese”. I don’t actually know if that’s true, but it sounds cooler). Set aside.
Mince the garlic and mix in a small bowl with the anchovies, lemon juice, and mustard. Whisking constantly, add the olive oil in slow stream.
Toss the dressing into the salad, adding more olive oil if the salad looks dry. Throw on the croutons (after eating several, just to make sure they’re not poisoned) and taste test.
I don’t add salt in this one because of the high content in the anchovies and cheese, but to each their own (you’re the one who’s going to end up with high-blood pressure, but go ahead!).
Croutons:
Any bread you want that’s not a dumb choice. To clarify:
Dumb: Rye, anything with fruit in it, Cinnamon Bread, the 37-day old loaf that has mold on it and can’t even be sawed into smaller chunks that’s still (for some reason) sitting on your counter, or anything sweet.
Tasty: Most sliced breads (whole wheat, white, fiber-filled, etc), day-old loaves or baguettes, challah, etc
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
I don’t know why people find croutons so intimidating. It’s BREAD. Bread that’s already made and you’re basically toasting it.
Sure, toasters can be a little frightening. Sort of like Barney or a giant dust bunny.
Cube the bread into bite-sized pieces. People tend to go too big with croutons and end up trying to wrap their mouthes around a crispy hunk of bread that is roughly the size of a small boulder. Aim for 3/4 inch square pieces.
If you’re using the spray kind of olive oil then you are on the road to Easyville. Put the croutons in a bowl and spray lightly with the oil until they shine just a tad. 2-3 second spray, shake the croutons around to coat evenly, then spray again. If you’re using a bottle of oil, stream about 2 T into the bowl as your other hand shakes it around. The spray helps distribute the oil evenly, so it’s a nice investment.
Shake some S + P over the croutons and pour onto a baking tray. Bake at 400, stirring every few minutes, until desired brown-ness: about 5-10 minutes.
Make sure you make a big batch, because people flock to the kitchen as soon as they smell this delicious treat. By “people”, I mean me. Mmmmm carbs.
You can also get crafty and add your favorite spice or herb: rosemary, cayenne, cumin, chili flakes. You can even press some garlic and toss it with the oiled croutons.

As usual: NOM!