focaccia focaccia

I’m back after an unanticipated hiatus.  Life gets busy, people get lazy, and the camera I document all the eats with has been acting up since a day at the beach this summer, when it almost got swallowed by a wave.

But the time away means we’ve accumulated some great stuff.  I’ll start with some focaccia I made Friday, after being inspired by my dear friend, Hannah.  Her boyfriend has domesticated her since her move back to Texas from New York, and she made focaccia last week, along with a cauliflower-potato soup and an apple pie.  I’ll share her food in the next few days, but for now I’ll leave you with my own focaccia– one is rosemary with garlic, parmesan and a healthy drizzle of olive oil; the other is garlic, some tomato sauce, parmesan, oregano and turkey pepperoni (a take on pizza, but more the Sicilian variety).  It is yeasty and fluffy and chewy and you’ll be sure to enjoy it.

(I doubled the recipe for my 2 loaves)

For one loaf:

1 cup of slightly warm water

1 tsp. yeast

1 tsp. salt

2 c. flour

olive oil for drizzling

Mix half of the flour and salt together.  Dissolve the yeast in the water then and it to the flour mixture and stir for a minute or two then add the rest of the flour and stir for a few more minutes.  Don’t overwork the dough!  It should remain soft and slightly sticky.

Refrigerate overnight.  Remove from ther fridge and let it rest until it comes to room temperature (a couple hours).

Heat the over to 450 degrees fahrenheit  and slide the dough onto a greased backing sheet, carefully to not flatten it out too much.  Shape to your liking, add the toppings you wish, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Panzanella ella ella

This is a good way to use up stale bread and any surplus of veggies you have before they go bad.  Panzanella is one of my favorite summer dishes because it is light while still filling, easy to make, healthy, impressive for barbecues and picnics and you don’t have to turn on an oven. Woohoo!  You shouldn’t need any more reason than that.  I’ve made it on several occasions this summer.  Here are photos from two of them followed by a roughly estimated recipe.

3-4 large, ripe heirloom tomatoes

1 cucumber

1 medium red onion

1 can of ceci beans

1 stale loaf of Tuscan bread (or any other bread than won’t get mushy)

(dressing)

2 parts olive oil

1 part red wine vinegar

2 tsp basil (dried)

2 tsp oregano (dried)

salt to taste

2-3 cloves of garlic

Roughly chop the tomatoes (de-seeded), cucumber and onion and put in a bowl with the drained ceci beans. Cube the stale bread and set aside.  With a mortar and pestle work the garlic into a paste with the oregano and basil mix with olive oil and vinegar.  Add the dressing mixture to the vegetable/bean mixture and add cubed bread.  Make sure all is coated well and enjoy! You may also like to add tuna, anchovies, boiled egg, carrots or celery–whatever you happen to have on hand.

Spicy sweet ay ay

The peaches had been taunting me for several days from their bowl on the kitchen table.  I needed to use them before they went bad, but making a cobbler on a 97 degree (and disgustingly humid) day is for the insane. What to do…Well, I love spicy sweet and sweet salty combinations, so I (rather quickly) made this salsa with stuff I had on hand (leaving my air conditioned apartment to get groceries wasn’t going to happen either.)

Here is as close to a recipe as I can give you, as I just started throwing things in, eager to eat.

3 large peaches

almost a full dry pint of cherry or grape tomatoes

5 scallions

juice from 1/2 lime

1 jalapeno (seeded)

1/4 tsp. salt

Chop the scallions and mince the jalapeno — reserve in a bowl with lime juice. Toss almost a full dry pint of cherry or grape tomatoes into a food processor until desired consistency and put into the same bowl.  Place peaches in a large pot filled with water, bring to a boil, remove from the water and toss directly into ice water.  (I was able to peel their skins off easier, this way.)  Roughly chop these into little pieces–not too small or it will become mush.  Add the peaches and salt, mix well and enjoy in a taco, with corn tortilla chips or all by itself.

All in all I had two extra peaches…guess I’ll be making that cobbler sometime this week.

Presto..Pesto..Pronto!

I realized after moving away from home, that having grown up under my parent’s roof, and specifically my mother’s kitchen, I’m incredibly fortunate.  I knew food for more than it’s sustaining factor.  Food has always been a pleasure, an experience to share with others, to bask in and look forward to.  Despite this, my mother rarely let me use her kitchen; the times she did, she’d pace around, anxious about the mess I was making.  It was not until I came back for a visit during the holidays, and cooked for her and my dad, that she realized I’d been watching her, retaining the information, and using it.

There are a few things, such as pesto, that weren’t in my mother’s repertoire.  So I had to figure it out all on my own.  Here is my version pesto, which after browsing a few recipes, I came up with my own.

4 cups basil, coarsely chopped

1 cup arugula, coarsely chopped

3 cloves of garlic

1 cup Grana Padano, grated finely (you may use less, but I love cheese)

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and cooled (you may use sunflower seeds, pistachios or pine nuts if you can afford them)

7 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil (more or less to the consistency of your liking)

With a mortar and pestle, smash up three cloves of garlic with the salt, until it becomes a paste.  Slowly add the coarsely chopped basil and arugula, mashing as you add more.  It should become a paste.  Once the mixture is relatively smooth,  add the olive oil and cheese, mixing well, then add the nuts– again–mashing until smooth.  Serve hot or cold with raw vegetables or on bread, pasta, etc.  You can freeze it, but if you refrigerate it, it should be eaten in 5-7 days.