Minestrone: Must Go (clean out the fridge) Buon Appetito!

Minestrone has deep Italian roots. 

Its name is spelled the same in Italian as in English like so many of my favorite Roman foods, for example, gelato! Considered a basic peasant necessity, minestrone was listed in one of the earliest known cookbooks written in 30 AD by Marcus Apicius, De Re Coquinaria (On The Subject of Cooking). His early version included chick peas, fava beans, and farro. Doesn't that sound delicious?!

With holiday cooking nearly behind us, and with many chilly nights ahead, this is a perfect time of year to make soup! Let’s start with perusing the refrigerator to make use of those partial servings and not-so-crisp veggies lurking in the drawers and containers. We all have some leftovers, so let's repurpose them.

For example, I found a bag of unused raw chopped cole slaw! Yeah - cabbage already chopped and prepped! Why not buy a bag on purpose to add interest, color, fiber, and taste? Here is a brief suggestion of putting a nice batch of meatless minestrone to serve four. Of course, any vegetables you have will be a terrific way to reduce waste and add to your daily meal ideas.

Most recipes for minestrone include legumes, carrots, herbs, tomatoes. To that base you can add broth, small pasta or pieces of pasta, root vegetables fresh, nearly fresh, or frozen. Duplicate starch choices are welcome, as you will see in my batch below I used both small pasta and diced potatoes nearly ready to sprout. After all, this is a MUST GO recipe of items to use up!

Start your New Year off with a warm cup of soupa! You will make Marcus proud 👌

COTF Minestrone

(4 servings 45 minutes from pot to bowl)

Leftover chopped vegetables diced in similar sizes

Olive oil

Onion, garlic, celery, carrots, spices (all or some)

Can of tomatoes chopped (or leftover partial jar sauce 16-24 ounces)

4 cups Boiling Water (set kettle while preparing to jump start the cooking) 

1 Tablespoon dried broth base beef, chicken, or vegetable

1 can cooked beans of any type such as green beans, chick peas, kidney beans

1 cup uncooked small pasta like ditalini shown or break spaghetti into small pieces 

Fresh or frozen spinach

Toppings: Fresh herbs, grated cheese

Method

Heat oil, add the onions, garlic spices just briefly. Add the chopped vegetables, tomatoes, and broth. Heat to rolling boil, and reduce heat to simmer uncovered 30 minutes. The last 15 minutes add the cup of pasta and spinach. Total cooking time of 45 minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh herbs and grated cheese. 

It will be a Happy New Year!

Buon appetito!

Apple Strudel You’ll want to Doodle!

A fall filled with apples made me think outside the pie box. I also had a package of frozen fillo (phyllo) sheets from my early pandemic shopping spree of strange things I purchased but never used. Those early days of shopping in stores with nearly empty shelves were indeed strange. 

Apple strudel and wiener schnitzel are considered the national dishes of Austria. Traced back to 1697, it is often mistaken as being German perhaps because the word strudel means whirlpool in German. When you slice the strudel, the layers resemble a whirlpool pattern. 

Inspired by my daughter-in-law’s birthday requisite baked treat, combined with a quick search of apples and fillo, the result was a plethora of apple strudel recipes! I spent a week reading and comparing ingredients and techniques. My recipe below is the best tricks and treats for your favorite folks. 

There are a few steps so don’t get discouraged. It truly is easy! No flour! You will not believe that you made this bakery-worthy dish in less than one hour. It is crispy and fragile and recommended to be eaten the day it is made. No problem!

A few tips:

The box of fillo shown has 25 sheets. You will take the box out of freezer the night before baking. Keep the box in the refridgerator until ready to use. They are very fragile. You cannot refreeze them. This recipe is for 1 strudel, and each strudel uses only 8 sheets. Depending on the brand you purchase, you will have enough sheets to make 3 strudels. The extra sheets will age quickly if not used, so I made 3. 

Read the entire recipe before you begin. 

Because the mixture of bread crumbs and ground almonds has to cool, I made that first. I tripled the ingredients so I had that mixture ready for 3 strudels. If you only plan to make one, you should use the amount of ingredients listed. 

Peel and slice your apples before you begin buttering the fillo sheets. 

Assemble the strudel on a 12 x 15 cookie sheet lined with 2 sheets of parchment paper or foil. One sheet will be used to roll up the strudel. You will bake it on the remaining sheet. You will add the apples on the 15 inch side. 

Optional: add raisins use yellow to compliment the apples and add by hand about 20 on top of apples before rolling. You want the apples to be the star!

Amazing Apple Strudel

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Defrost fillo in refrigerator the night before baking. 

Makes one 15 inch strip serves 6-8 

Ingredients

8 fillo sheets

1 stick melted butter or 8 Tablespoons Ghee to baste each sheet

Crumb to sprinkle on each sheet - use when cool

3 Tablespoons butter melt in pan

1 cup bread crumbs toast lightly 

1/3 cup ground almonds add to bread crumbs

3 apples peeled and thinly sliced (gala, red delicious or yellow delicious or combo)

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Powder sugar to sprinkle when cool. 

Method

Prepared Crumb of bread crumbs and ground almonds so it is cool. This I triple for 3 strudels. See photo. Set aside. 

Peel, slice apples add sugar, cinnamon set aside. 

Melt 1 stick butter or 8 Tablespoons Ghee. Keep warm. Gather pastry brush. 

Remove fillo from refrigerator gently unroll stack of 8 sheets into one pile. Keep rest refrigerated. Place the 8 sheets on a clean towel. Keep them covered as you work. 

Place first sheet on the baking pan that you covered with 2 sheets of parchment. It will take up entire 12 x 15 cookie sheet. 

Take pastry brush and butter one fillo sheet. Sprinkle 2 Tablespoons bread crumb mixture on fillo sheet. Repeat  butter and crumbs for the next 7 fillo sheet creating 8 layers. Take the apples and along the long side of rectangle leaving 1 inch open on 3 sides place apples in a linear pile layer. Use hands. Do not use the liquid in the bottom of bowl. It will make the strudel soggy. 

Taking top layer of parchment as a device begin to roll up the fillo. Roll using parchment as a tool.  As you begin to roll tuck in the 2 sides of the rectangle to avoid juice leaks while baking. Make sure the seam of your roll is on the bottom when you finish rolling. Toss the parchment away. You will bake on the remaining sheet. See photo. Butter the entire roll with the pastry brush. Do not cut steam slits like pie.

Bake 30 minutes at 375. 

Cool completely. Sprinkle with powder sugar. Serve from cookie sheet to avoid crumbling. 

Take your bows! 👏

Crumb of butter, bread crumbs, ground almonds

Brush for butter or barbeque!

Mac & Cheese NYM: Not Your Mama's

One pot, milk, water, cheese and pasta! Delicious!

I apologize to my children. The only Mac and Cheese they were served in my kitchen was from a box. It was pretty bad. This recipe redeems me from all those bad memories.

During the early days of the pandemic, I purposely purchased unusual shaped pasta knowing it would add interest to an ordinary meal. You may have done that, too. For this receipe, you will need a small pasta with lines in it to catch the cheese. I used Mezzi Rigatoni, as shown, but elbow macaroni with lines will work as well. 

The use of one pot makes this recipe convenient, and unlike other recipes, even my beloved Rachel Ray's, this recipe has no flour or other thickening agents. You simply get pasta and cheese cooked on the stove top in less than 30 minutes.

One Pot Mac & Cheese NYM

Serves 4 side dishes or 2 full servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup milk

8 ounces lined small pasta

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or your preference of shredded cheese

Method:

In a medium to large size pot at medium heat add:

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup milk

8 ounces of pasta with lines (use a scale to weigh out the pasta)

Bring these 3 ingredients to a boil then lower the heat and stir until liquid is absorbed - this will take 15 minutes for the pasta to absorb the liquid as shown in the photo below.

Remove from the heat, and add the 2 cups of shredded cheese. Mix gently and cover to allow it to melt. 

Serve with a smile!

Read, Write, and Blueberries!

July is not only our patriotic birthdate, it is also the epic harvest for those lovely, versatile, blue pellets everyone loves: Blueberries! The world's largest supply of wild blueberries are grown and shipped from Quebec, Canada. If you check your grocery containers, you may be lucky enough to capture some of their little wonders, known in French as Bleuets, as I did below.

The Canadian wild blueberries are used as the main ingredient of my favorite preserves made by the French company Bonne Maman shown below. Wild blueberries are smaller in size than the typical domestic blueberries, but due to their small stature, they have more skin per pound. The skin of the blueberry contains the vitamins and anti-oxidants that are so precious and loaded with many health benefits. For instance, blueberries have vitamins B6, C, and K1, as well as minerals manganese and copper, and fiber. They are a super food for sure!

Canada Blueberries aka Bleuets.

Made with Canada Bleuets

Blueberries have been celebrated in writing, such as this very long poem by Robert Frost written in 1915. You can read it here:  Blueberries by Robert Frost

In order to savor these gems all year, you can freeze blueberries immediately from the store or orchard "as is." Place the entire pile in a freezer bag, and you can add them frozen to recipes or pancake batter. They will defrost as they cook in the recipe, so do not defrost, just throw them in!

I am sharing my favorite recipe for Blueberry Muffins, after many tweaks and tests. If you want to up the level of professionalism order these fancy muffin liners on Amazon. People think I purchased my muffins at Starbucks, and they are pretty impressed when I humbly admit I baked them myself! The beauties shown below were about $16 for 200 liners. You can order here on Amazon Fancy Muffin Liners

Bon Appétit!

Read before starting - a few steps but worth it!

Best Blueberry Muffins 

(makes 12 large)

Bake preheated oven 425 for 5 minutes reduce heat to 350 for additional 35 minutes. Check at 30 minutes with a toothpick that should come out dry.

Part 1

First prepare 1 lemon by removing the zest by holding the tool upside down and run the lemon underneath one swipe at a time. This will prevent including the bitter pith. A typical lemon will give you 1 tablespoon of lemon zest that you will use in the batter and in the streusel. Save this on the side. Cut the lemon in half and add that juice to the wet ingredients listed below.

Mix wet in one bowl by hand no beater needed:

1 stick melted salted butter

1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

Blend into above:

1 cup sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Mix dry in one bowl no beater needed:

2.5 cups of all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine dry into the wet ingredients. Do not overmix the batter. Just combine. OK if some flour shows.

Then add 2/3 of that tablespoon of lemon zest you prepared. The rest will be added to the streusel below.

Fold in 2 cups or 1 pint of fresh blueberries / or frozen. Do not overmix of the blueberries will bleed.

Part 2

The streusel topping to be added to top of each muffin before baking.

Combine with a fork like pie crust should be left with pebbles:

3 tablespoons soft salted butter

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 of that tablespoon of lemon zest you prepared above.

Pour muffin batter in cupcake papers as shown. Then cover each muffin with the streusel mix. That really is the secret to keeping the muffins so moist. The topping creates an insulated barrier as they bake.

Zest lemon swipe once and catch.

Fold do not over mix.

Finished product!

Oozing moist blueberries! Tres Bon Appetit!

Quarantine Creative Cues & Baking With Julia

There have been a few gold nuggets of goodness resulting from our lockdown time. For example, in hoarding root vegetables early on, I woke up one morning to find a sweet potato had blossomed into a houseplant! I chopped off the blooming upper part, and I placed it in a glass of water held up by tooth picks. I peeled, chopped, and baked the remaining part of the sweet potato. No waste! You should try this with your children or by distance with grandchildren and compare the vine growth via Zoom.

I have been participating in some excellent, free, cooking demonstrations taking place around the world. Many are taped for later viewing, so I am including my favorite link below, and you can find others by searching them on FaceBook. Take advantage of the skills of these great folks that would not be accessible in ordinary times.

In addition to the cooking demos, I have been following concerts given by one of my favorite singer/song writers, Pete Yorn. I am not his typical demographic. I am a total Beatles fan, and if the Beatles had a 5th member it would be Pete Yorn. Say no more. The link to his many FaceBook Live appearances is below, so judge for yourself.

My favorite cooking class to date is by Gale Gand, a Chicago legendary chef, and partner at the former Michelin rated restaurant Tru. A renown pastry chef, her twice weekly episodes from her kitchen include one day for savory and one for sweets. Chef Gale appeared on the Julia Child show in 1997, S3 E12 (if you have access to Passport), where she taught Julia how to make lemon meringue treats using phyllo sheets. This was part of the popular Baking with Julia Series. You can see, she is a pro (and there will be a blow torch!): Click on link below:

Julia Child & Gale Gand YouTube

You can view Gale Gand's current and past classes held on Tuesday and Thursday @ 10 am CT on her FaceBook page. They are free episodes and below is the link to her FaceBook page. Even if you don't feel like cooking, you can spend 1 hour with one of the most genuine and kind kitchen pros. She has a tips segment, too. You will find her methods and recipes for a summer asparagus tart made with store bought frozen puff pastry and a terrific Greek salad in the segment from this week. Click on the link below:

Gale Gand's FaceBook Cooking Classes

After all the cooking, you can relax and listen to great music. Pete Yorn. Just listen. . . while you cook! Click on the link below:

Pete Yorn FaceBook concerts May 25 and others

Enjoy these three opportunities to Grow, Cook, and Listen during these slower paced summer days.

Top of Sweet Potato May 1, 2020, no waste!

Sweet Potato Vine on June 16, 2020, ready for dirt!

Bread: I Want To Make It With You

Ah. . . Bread.

No country in the world values bread like France. Today, bread is rarely baked inside a French home, as the country subsidizes and controls the price of their national treasure, the French baguette. You will find your daily baguette at a reasonable .99 euros at all boulangeries in France. During my last trip to Antibes, the shopkeeper wore an apron with a pocket to quickly return the one cent euro coin change. Well-prepared for high volume sales with low technology.

Bread is the origin of the word pantry, so frequently used in conversations today. The French word for bread is pain (pan) and after baking, ancient French homemakers would place the coveted poofs in a room or cupboard to retain freshness. Voila - a pantry!

Yeast is used to make bread rise, as well as making beer and wine. Cheers! Its use in making bread can be traced back to the Egyptians. Until World War II, when commercial dry yeast was introduced, bakers around the world relied on a homemade yeast or sour dough starter for their daily bread. In fact, homesteaders on the Oregon Trail carried their starter around their necks to retain its ambient temperature.

During this pandemic, dry yeast was one of the first products to go missing from grocery store shelves. That seemed like a good launching point to share my recipe for sour dough starter! You can find many recipes on the internet, but this one I made myself. It works - be patient. This uses simple ingredients, but it does take time; no muscle, just time. Flour is abundant on store shelves again so grab some whole wheat and bread flour. If possible, rye flour will be useful for future loaves to mix it up. You will need either rye or wheat with bread flour being essential in each loaf.

Sour dough starter begins with making a batch of starter called the mother. This will take 5 days to develop.

At the end of 5 days, you will test a spoonful of the mother to see if it floats. If it does, you will create a batch of leaven from the mother to use as an ingredient to make your first loaf of bread!

The mother remainder can continued to be fed for repeated baking of loaves, or it can be refrigerated and fed weekly to be kept alive for future baking. Just bring to room temp, feed over 5 days and you can create another leaven.

First, for baking it really is necessary to measure ingredients using a digital scale as shown in the photo. They cost $10-15 on Amazon. I converted the mother starter to tablespoons, so you can make that while you wait for delivery of your scale. You will love your scale! During this period, purchase your 3 types of flour mentioned above.

Here are the steps and tools:

Tools: digital scale and pot with lid to withstand 475 degree oven. Bowl or brotform to proof in refrigerator overnight, lame or sharp blade to score the loaf before baking. Link at end for Amazon proof bowl and lame like shown in photos.

Timeline:

5 days for mother starter to grow
1 day for loaf to shape and proof overnight in refrigerator
1 day to bake (actually bakes for 45-50 minutes)

Mother Starter:
Day 1
2 Tablespoons whole wheat or rye flour (best) or all purpose
4 Tablespoons bottled water NOT tap as the chemicals will prevent bacteria needed to grow.
When using a digital scale the conversion is:
25 grams flour
50 grams water

In a quart size glass jar combine above with a spoon and cover with a lid or I used a basket coffee filter. A reused plastic tub like Cool Whip works perfectly, too. Place in a dark warm place on kitchen counter on top of a towel if counter is stone or cold. You want ambient heat.

Days 2-4
At the same time each day add another 2T flour and 4T water to the jar and mix. Return to covered spot. This is called feeding the starter or mother.

Day 5
Before feeding, take a small spoon sample and drop it into a glass of room temp water. This can be from the tap but it can not be warm or cold. If the starter floats, you can start making the leaven for bread. If it drops to the bottom, feed the starter again, and repeat the test the next day. You can not make the leaven until the mother floats. It can take a day or 2 more.

Make the Leaven - early in day as it need 3 hours to rest

Once the sample floats, you will remove from the mother starter jar add these ingredients into a bowl on your digital scale. Leftover leaven can be refrigerated for later use. Just bring to room temp before repeating the recipe steps below.

25 grams of mother starter
100 grams of bottled water NO tap
50 grams bread flour
50 grams wheat OR rye flour
Combine and let sit on the counter covered for 3 hours.

Mix the Bread Dough

One loaf (double for 2)

100 grams of the leaven you just made
300 grams bread Flour
200 grams wheat or rye flour
375 grams room temp bottled water (if cool heat briefly in microwave to 98 degrees)

Mix the above measured ingredients with a spoon or your hands for 3 minutes just to consolidate all the flour and water. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. It is very sticky. SET A TIMER.

Add at this mixing period add:
13 grams table salt
Blend the salt into the mixture by hand until you can no longer feel the grit. It is still very sticky. About 4 minutes.

Ferment Period - About 4 hours 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set timer for 30 minutes.

When the timer goes off you will now be doing four turns of the dough inside its bowl by pulling it up onto itself. Think of it as north, south, east, west. This folding over a period of the next 2 hours is the equivalent of kneading traditional dry yeast bread. For sour dough starter bread this is called fermenting.

Second turn: After 30 minutes uncover the dough and make the 4 turns. Recover. Set timer 30 minutes. Dough will begin to be less sticky. Yeah!

Third turn: same.

Fourth turn: set the timer for 2 hours.

When the 2 hour rest period timer goes off, now you will begin the shaping process as you ready the dough to be put in the refrigerator overnight.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on work surface. Cover with a towel and rest it 30 minutes.

Now, add some wheat flour on the surface just a little so it doesn't stick. Make 4 folds onto itself north, south, east, west. Move the blob of dough away from the edge of the surface. You will now roll the blob onto itself as you roll it toward you. You are shaping it into a very round ball keeping the dough as tight as possible. Do this about 4 times so you don't overwork the dough. You are creating air pockets inside the tight ball that will rise when you bake it.

Lightly sprinkle some flour inside the proofing bowl or the bowl you will use for overnight proofing in the refrigerator. Place the tightened dough ball inside the bowl. Cover with a towel and let it sit on counter for 30 minutes.

Put Dough to Bed

Final preparation step:
Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough ball in the brotform (shown) or bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and place the bowl in the refrigerator for 12-14 hours.

Bake the Loaf

Remove bowl dough from refrigerator and let it sit for 30 minutes while preheating oven and pot with lid on in oven at 475 degrees 30 minutes. The pot and lid need to be the same temperature as the oven before you add the dough. After 30 minutes, ease the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper so the bottom of the dough that was in the bottom of the bowl will now be the top of the bread. Gently score your dough with a lame or sharp knife in any shape you would like. This helps the bread release air pockets. If you do not score, the bread will create its own release by bursting a bit.

Quickly take out the preheated pot and cover - it will be VERY HOT and steamy when you release the top of the preheated pot so be careful. Quickly place the parchment paper with the dough on it inside the steaming pot. Close the lid and return to the 475 degree oven. Set the timer for 25 minutes. Quickly open the oven and remove the lid from the pot. Set timer for 15 minutes. At that buzzer turn the pot inside the oven and turn it 180 degrees. Set the timer for 12 minutes. When the buzzer goes off the bread is done! Allow it to cool on a rack 30 minutes before cutting.

Looks professional! Roasted artisan sour dough bread.

Samples of digital scales from Amazon see link below.

The Mother Starter must float to be ready to mix into leaven.

Measure by grams for perfect bread. So easy!

Dough after turn and resting 30 minutes.

Dough resting after 4 turns and 2 hour rest. 

Dough after rolling into a tight ball. Very little flour used.

Dough placed in brotform for overnight rest.

Dough after 25 minute bake lid just removed.

Proofing basket and lame and digital scales on Amazon when back in stock Amazon proof and lame

Go For Gourmet With Mock Chocolate Mousse Pie!

This little blog reaches folks around the world. For all of us, April has been a challenging month. Between your career duties, family obligations, and health concerns these are pressure filled days.

Beyond the obvious, most of us have been preparing our own meals non-stop for nearly two months. It is exhausting! Here is a quick, tasty, no cook, dessert that I challenge you to delegate to even the most insecure non-cooking partner OR your very young child. It is that easy!

For your next venture to the grocery store - be sure to grab prepared graham cracker crusts. These are inexpensive, versatile, take up little storage room, and they have a long shelf life. I purchased mine at the Dollar Tree back in January. I love the BAMA brand, as they are a designated bakery for McDonald's world-famous apple pies! Kudos to their female leader, Paula Marshall, a friend and author I have known for two decades. Check out the company link below. 

Keeping track of products on hand in order not to waste our precious inventory is also a new domestic job. In this recipe, I had half & half ready to expire, so I used it up. It added a depth of texture and taste to the pudding. 

Especially during these times of long days, gathering at the table to enjoy a meal should be the highlight of your day. Adding a simple, yet luxurious dessert caps the day perfectly.

Bon Appetit!

Easy Gourmet, No Cook, Mock Chocolate Mousse Pie (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

1 prepared graham cracker pie crust or prepare your own with grahams or cookies

1 small package chocolate pudding

1.5 cups milk or half & half

1 regular 8 oz container defrosted Cool Whip

Shredded chocolate for topping (optional) crumbs work, too

Method:

Prepare the pudding using only 1.5 cups of milk or half & half. Allow to thicken about 5 minutes. Take the defrosted Cool Whip and gradually, lightly add 1/2 container to the pudding to create lighter consistency using a whisk. Add the mixture to a prepared graham cracker crust. Lightly spoon remaining Cool Whip on top. Sprinkle shredded chocolate on top. Refrigerate until serving.

They will line up for Mock Chocolate Mousse Pie!

Three Ingredients + milk = YUM!

Pudding in base before topping with remaining Cool Whip.

Click here for the BAMA website for their variety of products and interesting company history:

BAMA (pie crust here)

Shakshouka For Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner

There are as many ways to spell this dish as there are countries that take credit for its origin. I am sticking with the Irish spelling. It is one country that does not claim to have invented it!

Historically, Shakshouka has roots to North Africa, which covers a large piece of geography. The word Shakshouka translates to, "all mixed up" and it is! A perfect recipe for using ingredients you likely have on hand - or - can easily substitute.

There are three ingredients that are the stars: eggs, tomatoes, and spices! I offer a general recipe below, as well as possible substitutes. Be creative, courageous, and glow in the kudos from your grateful consumers.

Despite the ideal of serving this dish with soft eggs, if you have left overs just reheat on the stove (not the microwave) and the eggs will be transformed to hard and just as delicious.


Irish Shakshouka

Ingredients: Serving of 2 people @ 2 eggs each for a total of 4 eggs, takes 20 minutes only.

In a skillet, non-stick shown here, heat up the spices. Just until warm to wake them up. If they smoke that's too much. Just remove pan from stove to reduce the heat quickly.

1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika

Add:

1 Tablespoon cannola or a clear oil
1 Tablespoon dried onion or 1/2 small chopped onion
1/2 chopped green pepper
1/2 chopped red pepper (if you have or double green)
Bring to rolling bubble until peppers soften about 3 minutes

Add:
1 clove chopped garlic (adding it too soon causes overcooking and bitterness)

Cook until you smell the garlic 1 minute or less.

Add:
One 14 ounce can tomato sauce, or chopped tomatoes, or tomato with chiles. This is whatever you have on hand. I used the Hunts below, but use only 1/2 can. Bring ingredients to bubble and cook 5 minutes.

Add:

4 eggs one at a time by breaking into a bowl 1 by 1 and place in a dent in the sauce you will make with a spatula. Lower the heat slightly and cover the frying pan with a lid. Let the eggs steam for 6 minutes you want them to be soft with juice ideally. Remove from heat.

To Serve top with:
Pieces of feta, or goat cheese, or pieces of cream cheese. Add fresh herbs if you have them parsley,
basil, or anything green. Serve with toasted garlic bread or crusty Italian bread. I buy mine at Dollar Tree - 6 for $1 for Texas Toast in the frozen section.

Can you tell the cream cheese blobs from the goat cheese? Me Neither!

Tomatoes 14 oz. whatever you have on hand. Spice up if needed. I used the Hunts. 

Toast spices in dry pan to wake them up!

Add oil and dried onion.

Chopped peppers red and green or whatever you have.

Goat cheese may not be in your fridge - cream cheese chunks worked fine!

Make hole in sauce for each egg you drop in from a bowl to avoid shells.

Where did the eggs go?! Leftover sauce for squirrelly.

There's Nothing Like Gnocchi. . . Swimming in Sauce

While we join our world neighbors in hunkering down in our homes, let's look at how we can make a delicious meal using only a few ingredients on hand. This recipe uses a few potatoes, a little flour, one egg, and a jar of tomato sauce.

In Tuscany, the word gnocchi translates to knuckle. I am told the word translates in southern Italy to something more derogatory (perhaps knuckle head?). Either way, these little knuckles of pasta will elevate a traditional pasta meal to a magical event. And. . . your kids can help shape them if they are Play Doh masters!

On the other "hand," the same recipe below for gnocchi can be prepared and added to a skillet of smoked sausage, onion, and sweetened sauerkraut to become a perfect Bavarian comfort food feast. This is a versatile potato pasta that is very easy to make, and it can be used in any recipe that calls for dumplings by providing a mouthful of comfort that we all can appreciate.

As usual, please read the entire recipe first. I bought my family and friends a digital scale for Christmas, so I am providing approximate weights of potatoes and flour. Weighing is useful in cooking!!

Ingredients: (makes 2 meal servings or 4 side dish servings)

3 white potatoes cooked unpeeled about 3-4 inches in size ~14 ounces by weight (peel after cooking)
1 cup all purpose flour ~ 4 ounces
1 egg mixed in bowl before adding to mixture
1 tsp salt
small pot with lid for boiling potatoes
pot of boiling salted water for cooking gnocchi


Method:

Place 3 whole potates in a small pot with lid covered in water. Boil them about 40 minutes until soft. Remove from water and while holding each one in a dish towel, peel off the skin. You want the potatoes to remain as dry as possible so do not run under water to peel.

Chop the potatoes using the bench scraper. Add flour to potatoes to cool off and then add the egg and salt. This will create a nice mound to knead. Divide into 2 mounds. Take pieces of each mound and roll into snakes either in your hands or on work surface. Remember play doh? Same idea.

Once you have a nice width of a snake as shown, take the bench scraper again and cut into one inch "knuckles" to form a row of gnocchi. That's it! Let them sit before boiling at least 10 minutes. Just like making pancakes, the flour needs some time to absorb the liquid in the dough. Sitting is important it incorporates the tastes of the ingredients.

Place the rested gnocchi in a pot of boiling water - about 20 at a time - don't crowd. This will take 2-3 minutes only. Once they begin to float, remove with a slotted spoon. Repeat in the same boiling water until done. You can store these in the refridgerator for future use once they are boiled. You can freeze once cooled in fridge, just separate them so they don't stick together like a blob!

Shown swimming below in a jar of Bertolli Vodka Sauce. YUM!

Use 3 medium potatoes about 3-4 inches in size as shown. With peels my 3 weighed 14 ounces.

One cup flour weighs 4 ounces.

A few ingredients: salt, flour, egg, boiled potatoes.

Knead into a ball and cut in half.

Roll into a snake and cut into 1 inch knuckles. Let sit 10 minutes.

Place raw gnocchi in pot of boiling salted water. Remove when they float in pot .

Planning Focaccia Perfection

You cannot whip up a perfect focaccia by using up ingredients you think you have on hand. You will need to do a little planning ahead to make sure you have the few crucial ingredients that will make this focaccia recipe perfect.

It is not difficult or time consuming, but you do need to follow the recipe for this taste of heaven. This recipe will take 3 hours total from prep to palate, but it is EASY! Actual work time is about 30 minutes.

I have thrown away more dry yeast than I have ever cooked with. Yeast has to be fresh, so check the date on the package even at the store before you purchase it.

This recipe is based on Italian best practices, so you cannot substitute all purpose flour for the seminola or the bread flour. Seminola flour is made from durum wheat, and it is the basis of all homemade pasta created in Nonnas' kitchens in the old country. Both the bread and seminola flours contain higher levels of protein. They are readily available on your grocery shelf.

I only make this recipe using my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook. So easy! The alternative is to mix by hand, build your muscles, and enjoy your sticky hands. It will work using the same time method as the machine.

Finally, a tip when making yeast dough: I let my dough rise in a plastic container not on my marble counters. I find stoneware to be a bit cold and also marble counters are cold. The cold interferes with the warmth the yeast needs to bloom during rising. I place the plastic container of rising dough on my wood butcher block or a wood cutting board placed on top of the marble counter. Toasty! It works perfectly.

Read directions before starting! 

Time estimate: 20 minutes to assemble dough and mix. 1 hour dough rising in container. 1 hour dough rises in 9 X 13 pan. 20 minutes to bake. Total prep to eat time: 3 hours.

Ingredients for One 9 X 13 pan of Focaccia:

2 cups bread flour
2 cups seminola flour
1 teaspoon sugar
2 packages dry yeast (fast acting or regular)
2 cups warm water from tap not boiled just luke warm
2 teaspoons of salt

After rising will add these ingredients for toppings:
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons dry oregano or rosemary or both

1 cup rough chopped plum tomatoes or cherry tomatoes halved (squeeze tomatoes in bowl to removed liquid you want them dry when added to top of dough)
1 cup olives dried or mushrooms or vegetable of your choice

Method:
Combine flours, sugar, and yeast NOT salt in mixer fitted with the dough hook stir on low just to combine. Add the warm water slowly and then mix on medium 5 minutes. Dough will be sticky. Cover bowl on the stand with plastic wrap and rest it 10 minutes.

Now add the 2 teaspoons of salt and mix the dough on medium 5 minutes. It will come together like the photo below.

Sprinkle rising container with extra virgin olive oil and with oiled hands place the dough in the plastic container to rise. Shape it in the container as a rectangle so it rising to the shape of the baking pan.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise for 1 hour on a wood surface or someplace not cold.

Gently roll the dough into a olive oiled 9 X 13 pan that will be used for baking. Gently stretch it to fit the pan. This should be easy with your hands oiled. Try to not work the dough only touch it barely. With your pinkies make random presses into the dough, not all the way to the bottom, just to give it a slightly rugged surface.

Sprinkle the dough with the salt, oregano and toppings and more extra virgin olive oil as shown below.

Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1 hour while you preheat the oven.

Bake (heat oven during the second rising):

Preheat Oven to 500 degrees place a pizza stone in the oven to preheat (if you have one) or I use a cookie sheet so the 9 X 13 pan heats evenly on the bottom.

Bake 20 minutes. Remove and cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove gently from pan and cool 15 minutes.

Buon Appetito!

Dough will look like this after mixing.

Dough olive oil added placed in plastic container for 1 hour rising
covered with plastic wrap.

Looks like this after 1 hour rising. Gently move to 9X13 pan.

Add toppings and let rise again for 1 hour cover with plastic wrap.

Cooled in pan 5 minutes and moved gently
to rack for 15 minutes. Mangia!