Focaccia

Make this today!! Focaccia is easy, fast, unbelievably yummy, and will make you feel like you are in Italy.

Yes, Dr. Sue is deep into Italian cooking. My recent experience was in the Lunigiana region where the cooking is rustic and honest. In terms of your kitchen this translates into very good ingredients with a minimum of preparation.

Focaccia is so easy you really must make this right away - preferably today or over the weekend. For goodness sakes, they charge $5.00 for a small round of focaccia at my farmers market and yours will be much better.

I have been looking at Focaccia recipes. This is my adaptation for rosemary focaccia but it will work just as well with other toppings such as pesto, tomato, herbs, or cheese:

Dr. Sue's Easy Focaccia
Active time mixing ingredients: about 5 minutes.
Waiting time for dough to rise: about 2 1/2 hours.
Cooking time: about 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup hot water (bath temperature)
1 packet active dry yeast
2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup good olive oil plus more for drizzling
fresh rosemary leaves (buy a rosemary plant if you do not already have one)
course sea salt for sprinking on top

Method:
Pour hot water into a bowl. Dissolve the sugar in the water. Feel the temperature - it should be like a comfortably hot bath. Sprinkle the yeast from the packet on top of the water and let sit for about 10 minutes until the yeast forms a thick foam.

Stir in one cup of the bread flour into the yeast mixture. Stir the mixture vigorously 100 strokes or more with a wooden spoon. This is the key step. You will see the mixture transform from lumpy to smooth and shiny - a miracle in the bowl! I learned this step a long time ago from the Tassajara Bread Book and it still works beautifully.

Let the mixture rise for about one hour. Then stir in the salt, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and the remaining cup of flour. Knead the mixture for a few minutes the best you can by folding it over itself in the bowl. It will be very sticky. Wet or oil your hands so the dough does not stick to you. It does not have to be perfect - just well mixed. Pour the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over the entire ball of dough so it does not stick to the sticky bowl. Cover the bowl and let rise for one more hour or 1/2 hour if you don't have enough time.

Punch the dough down. Generously oil a baking sheet. Put the dough on the oiled sheet and push it out into a rectangle. Let the dough rise for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour. Heat the oven to 475.

When the dough has risen some, poke depressions in the top with your fingers. Generously sprinkle olive oil, fresh rosemary, and coarse salt on top. Bake until the bottom is brown and the top lightly browned - about 10-12 minutes. Do not overbake. You can easily double this recipe for a larger batch. Once the initial rising is complete, the bowl rising and the baking pan rising can be shortened if need be. This recipe is very forgiving especially when you use generous amounts of good olive oil. Cut into squares to serve.

Testaroli Della Lunigiana

Trip to Italy this summer was fabulous. Our house was in the north west corner of Tuscany. Much to our delight we discovered that we were in the Lunigiana region. One of the specialties of this region is testaroli which I read about in the Michelin guide, a pasta dish served with pesto and peccorino. Naturally, Dr. Sue wanted to try it. Aulla was our shopping town. In the window of a little grocery store with the door guarded by a beaded curtain I saw a sign for "Testaroli." Using my best Italian "(testaroli?") the store owner nodded her head yes and reached into a shelf behind her. She brought out a package that looked like a flat brown boboli that had been run over by a truck, turned to rubber, and shrink wrapped. Expecting something that looked like pasta as I know it, I was most surprised. Somehow I managed to ask her how to prepare it and she proceeded to give me a cooking lesson in Italian. As a fellow cook I followed her exactly. Knife - cutting gesture - cut the giant pancake into squares. Hand gestures of a large rapidly boiling pot of water. Drop in for due minutes. Pesto? She had a large tub of beautiful green pesto and she ladled some into a container. Peccorino? NO! NO! PARMEGGIANO!!! I agreed and she grated a hunk of Parmesan for me. She asked how many people I was serving. I told her 4. She indicated that one testaroli was not sufficient and that I needed 2. I opted for 1 since this was an experiment. We went home and I followed her directions and put together the ingredients. The testaroli was amazing. The rubbery chunks of the brown crepe floated to the top of the pot in about 3 minutes. Drain, added the pesto, olive oil per her instructions, and the Parmesan. See above for the results. I was so thrilled that we returned to her store. I showed her this photo on my I-phone of the finished dish. She got out her glasses, studied the photo, and gave me the equivalent of an Italian cheer. I bought 2 more Testarolo packets to take back home. I prepared testaroli last night for our daughter's birthday celebration. Everyone loved them. Two testarolo packets served 7 adults and 2 toddlers. I made a combination of home-made pesto and Trader Joes from the refridgerated case and pulsed an chunk of Italian Parmesan in the Cuisinart. The proportions - pretend you are Italian and have fun with these wonderful ingredients. Now am trying to find out how to mail order more or send emissaries to Aulla to purchase. If anyone knows how to buy testaroli when you live in the U.S. please let me know. Yayy for travel. Yayy for Italy. Yayy for testaroli.

Dr. Sue Goes to Italy!

Landed in Milan this morning. Tonight first dream of Italy came true - the BEST Negroni ever. Will have to research this. It was extra bitter. I wonder if they added some kind of Campari bitters. It came in a big glass with ice and an orange slice. Happy Hour buffet included. Not your mother's chicken wings... mortadella...artichoke pasta salad...melange of roasted vegetables... I read in a guidebook that this "Aperitivo" experience is not to be missed - and we stumbled upon it on our first night in Italy.

Negroni Recipe as I know it - but will need to do some research to improve based on tonight's night on the Milan town.

Negroni
2 parts gin
1 part Compari
! part Sweet Vermouth
Orange slice

Stir. Serve on the rocks.

PS Lunch was amazing too. Farro salad with some kind of salumi (braseola??) dandelion greens, olive oil and shaved parmesan. Other people got salads in a crostini bowl - that looked good too. Mr. Dr. Sue got an omelette with gorgeous veggies on the side.

PPS Walking around Milan is an immersion in the city culture - vespas, cars, people, dogs, babies in strollers, bikes all on the sidewalk. Yes - saw lots of high fashion dressing - and city is oriented to the hip, the gorgeous, the young, and Dr. Sue!

Tomorrow to the small villages of Cinque Terre.

Moroccan Chicken and/or Moroccan Chick Peas

Here is a two way recipe for Moroccan Chicken and a vegetarian variation - Moroccan Chick Peas. Make the flavorings first - then add half to a cut-up chicken and the other half to two cans of chick peas. Here is how:

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut up. Cut the breasts into two pieces each.
2 cans chick peas with liquid

Flavoring:
1 large onion coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 TBLS olive oil plus extra for the chicken
2 tsp paprika plus extra to sprinkle on the chicken
1 tsp cumin plus extra to sprinkle on the chicken
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
salt
pepper
1 cup green olives with pimento sliced or coarsely chopped
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 meyer lemon sliced
1/2 cup water
cilantro and/or parsley and fresh lemon slices for garnish

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. When soft, lower the heat and stir in paprika, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric. Combine with the onions and garlic. Stir a few minutes until the mixture is well blended. Add 1/2 cup water. Add raisins and olives and stir until blended. Pour half the mixture into a casserole dish. Add the 2 cans of chick peas and stir. Reserve the other half of the mixture in a bowl.

Add more olive oil to the pan. Sprinkle chicken pieces with paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Saute in olive oil until golden on both sides. Transfer chicken to a 9x 13 baking dish. Pour the other half of the reserved spice/olive/raisin mixture over chicken.

Place lemon slices on top of the chicken and the chick peas. Bake both dishes at 350 for approximately one hour until the chicken is done.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and or parsley. Serve with cous cous.

Fig Tart
Variation on a Theme

Theme: My daughter-in-law gave me a present, a yummy goat cheese fig tart.

Variation: Our brown turkey fig tree, my birthday present on the way home after the whale watching boat was was canceled, is making figs. It seems like it takes forever. The figs are green, green, green all summer and then one day in late fall, all at once, they are brown, sweet, and juicy. There is nothing like a ripe fig. But what to do with so many? Mr. Dr. Sue bought a fruit drier on Craig's List and he has already dried two large batches. And still the figs are coming. Yesterday, I picked a large bowl of figs. And this morning, here is what I created:


Fig Tart with Cream Cheese

Ingredients:
1 box frozen puff pastry (2 sheets)
1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Meyer lemon (if you are as fortunate as we are to have a fig tree AND a Meyer lemon tree) or a regular lemon
1 tsp vanilla
1 pint or more of fresh figs
Honey

Directions:
Night before - defrost the puff pastry in the refrigerator
Preheat oven to 400
Spray one large baking sheet pan with Pam (or use 2 smaller baking pans)
Unfold the 2 sheets of puff pastry and spread them to the edges of a large flat baking sheet pan. It is OK if they overlap in the middle.
Beat cream cheese until soft.
Add 1 cup sugar and beat until blended.
Add 2 eggs and beat until smooth.
Grate 1 tsp lemon rind into the mix and squeeze in the juice of one lemon.
Add vanilla. Beat until smooth.
Spread cream cheese mixture over the puff pastry.
Cut the figs in half.
Place cut side down at regular intervals throughout the cream cheese mixture.
Heat a few tablespoons of honey in the microwave - 15 - 30 seconds until thin and warm.
Brush honey over the figs.
Drizzle any remaining honey over the cream cheese mixture.
Bake at 400 until the pastry is browned and the cream cheese mixture is set - about 1/2 hour.
Let cool in pan.
Cut into squares with one fig or rectangles with 2 figs (that was how they did the goat cheese fig tart that started all this).

More variations: This recipe should work for other fruits in season. Some ideas: for fall, thinly sliced apples; winter, dried cranberries and sliced almonds; spring, strawberries; summer, plums or apricots.

If you ever have a choice - whale watching or a fig tree - I recommend the tree. Still hoping to go whale watching some day....

COCONUT BLONDIES - They came out about better than I thought....

Late at night I was wondering what birthday confection to make for someone who loves coconut. I had the thought of Blondies. I looked at several recipes with mostly mediocre reviews. I put together the best ideas and came up with coconut blondies. I never bake with coconut because processed sweetened coconut is so slimy. All that has changed. Last month I discovered that our neighborhood corner store turned into the Rajah Market. The first part of the store is what you would expect - Twinkies, Doritos, Slim Jims, lottery tickets, and cheap whiskey. The last isle is an Indian grocery store with spices, basmati rice, lentils, and my new favorite ingredient, unsweetened coconut. That is the secret to this recipe.

Coconut Blondies

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (I used medium)
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 13 x 9 baking pan with Pam.

Melt butter and stir until smooth. Remove from heat. Whisk in brown sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs one at a time. Mixture should be glossy and smooth.

Mix flour, salt, and baking soda. (If you use a sifter or even pour through a sieve you will be sure to get out any baking powder lumps)

Stir the flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in coconut and walnuts.

Spread into pan. Bake about 40 - 45 minutes. Check for done-ness at about 35 minutes. The top should be glossy and a toothpick will come out clean. Do not overbake - but do not underbake either or they will be too gooey. Cool and cut into squares.

Start the New Year with an Apple Pfannkuchen


Start the New Year with apples, eggs, and a cast iron skillet. Apple Pfannkuchen is easy to make and looks quite fancy.



Ingredients:
2 small or 1 large tart apple coarsely chopped (OK to leave on peel)
4 eggs
2/3 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon plus some for sprinkling on top
3 TBLS white sugar
3 TBLS brown sugar
2 TBLS butter
fresh lemon

To prepare:
Preheat the oven to 425. While the oven is heating melt the butter in the skillet and add the apples. Saute on low heat. Beat the eggs with the milk, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, white sugar and flour. When the oven is heated the apples in the pan should be soft. Pour the batter into the skillet, sprinkle with brown sugar and a dusting of cinnamon. Bake the pancake about 20 minutes until it is browned and puffy and pulls away from the edge of the pan. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Cut into wedges to serve.