Why Do You Bake?

Ciabatta Rolls

 The obvious, immediate answer is "Because I have no choice. Baking is part of me. I have to bake."

But the other, just as true, answer is that most of the time, the stores don't carry what I need or want.

We cannot get decent breads. It's like...super-soft ultra-processed white or MAX HEALTH WITH NUTS AND SEEDS!

Just. No.

It's been another hawt week, and I planned a bunch of salads and sandwiches for dinner.
The problem, of course, is finding suitable breads.

Or, you know, just making my own

The most recent was smoked chicken salad on ciabatta. Gorgeous dough, essentially hands-off. Overnight starter, then several rises. So easy, so good.

Because sometimes, you just have to bake.

Ants Not Included

 Happy National Picnic Day!!

(Picnic is one of those word, btw, that if looked at too long, ceases to be an actual word. Picnic. Picnic. Picnic.  Like summing Beetlejuice, only not like that even a little bit.)

Despite the pleasant weather in our part of the world, we held our picnic indoors. I respect all living creatures, but I prefer to enjoy my food without flies and mosquitoes joining in.

Deviled eggs, which never last long around here (looking at you, Matt), a garlicky roasted potato salad, an Earth Fare-like smoked Gouda pasta salad, plant-based barbecue chipped ham sandwiches (holla to Western PA), and, at Alex's request, Snickerdoodles. And a cool glass of lemonade. 

The only thing missing was a checkered, plastic tablecloth.

Mortadella Pizza Sandwich

 

I confess: I'm a sucker for a sexy food photo.

So when I saw the thumbnail for King Arthur's Mortadella Pizza Sandwich, I was both seduced and confused. 

Pizza? Sandwich? What?

Watching the video cleared the confusion, thankfully, and after sharing it with Matt, it went on the menu.

I've never had mortadella. I went vegetarian...oh, god.   Nearly 28 1/2 years ago!?
Wow.

I'm not convinced grocery stores in my little home town even carried the stuff back then.

In any case, I didn't encounter it until well after I'd stopped eating 'food with a face'. 
But again, now that Earth Fare is carrying plant-based deli style meats, I'm able to find something vaguely suitable for the recipe.

Matt, of course, had actual mortadella.

It's half pizza, half hot sub.  A gorgeous, long-rise dough gets stretched, lightly bathed in olive oil, folded in half, and baked in a blisteringly hot oven for a few minutes.

One last blast of heat from the broiler gives you a solid outer crust, while the interior comes out done, but softer.

Gently pry the ...bread? Crust? open, and distribute burrata over the bottom half. 

Next, add your mortadella, lemon zest and juice, roughly chopped salted pistachios, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and flaky sea salt to the sandwich.

Close, brush the top with some olive oil, and toss on a few more pistachios.  

 

It's stupidly good.  And stupidly easy. The dough's hands-off for the most part, with a little bit of shaping right before baking. The ingredients aren't numerous or complicated. 

And yeah, it's damn sexy.

 Edited to add: I forgot to mention the grated Asiago!!!

Getting Fancy

 

When you're only using a few ingredients, they have to count.

Alex kept getting these targeted ads for a sandwich from...I think it was Jimmy John's?

It's not a place we'd patronize, both for the lacking in vegetarian options and some social/political stances by the owners that don't align with our own.

But apparently they're now offering a caprese salami pesto sandwich, and well...that sounds pretty good, yeah?

 

Luckily for us, Earth Fare is now carrying a selection of plant-base deli meats, including salami.

They're all really good - I like the 'ham' in particular.

Their sandwich is 'salami and fresh mozzarella, slow-roasted tomatoes, basil pesto, balsamic glaze, oregano-basil, oil, onion and mayo, on French bread.'

We riffed a bit, using fresh but out of season tomatoes (helped along by a bit of sugar and salt to draw out the flavor), skipped the onions because...no, and a drizzle of this glorious, thick balsamic vinegar.

No need to reduce to a glaze, because this stuff is SYRUP.

With only a handful of ingredients, you use the absolute best you can get.

And this stuff is top notch.

My Weird Brain

 A couple of weeks ago, I woke up...with a recipe for a sandwich.

Fully formed.

I don't remember why dream me was making a sandwich. Only that I was.

So later that morning, I told Matt about it. 
And he wanted to try it.

It took a while before I got to it, because I'd already planned the menu for the week.

But at last, it happened.

The Dream Sandwich

Two slices of Texas toast. A slice of pepperjack, some smoked Mozzarella, then a layer Ruffles.

More cheeses. 

Secure with toothpicks because that monster is getting dunked in pakora batter!

Finally, fry until crunchy and golden.

And...it worked. As a template.

Very filling.  The chips stayed crisp!  But it needed more flavor. Alex suggested a smear of 'nduja. But the basic 'recipe' is sound.

Ridiculous? Yes.  Good? Also yes. 

Follow your dreams, eh?

Tea for Three

I recently purchased this (old) new tea set.

It's not fancy; no bone china here. But there was something about it; I was absolutely charmed by it.

The fact that there were three cups and saucers probably helped.

Which meant it was time for another tea-for-dinner night.

A savory scone, thyme and Gruyere, to go with espresso cups of tomato bisque.

Sandwiches, of course: egg salad, turkey (or faux turkey) and white cheddar, open-faced cucumber on dill- or mint-mascarpone, and pb&j for Alex.

Cream scones and our standard tea - almond from Adagio.

And little lemon cakes, topped with crystalized violets.

Which were not happy with the humidity, as shown above.  Buttercream and steamy weather do not mix.

IT’S BAAAAAACK! (for now)

BLOG PARTY!

I miss you guys. I miss Blog Party.

So I’m bringing it back...as a sort of test run.  We’ll see how it goes.

(We kind of skipped #43 because of reasons, but I’m still counting it.)

BLOG PARTY #44: Tea Party!

I love tea. I love everything about it. The scones and crumpets and finger sandwiches and cakes and cookies and soups and SO MANY TINY FOODS!

And yes, the tea.  And other fun drinks associated with it.

So I’m opening up the house and inviting you all to a tea party. A BLOG PARTY TEA PARTY!

Since it’s been a while, I’ll sum up BP for you (of course, there’s a handy guide right here, too).

Blog Party is the original virtual cocktail party.  It’s friends - old and new! - coming together to share drinks and small and bite-sized treats.  

I ‘decorate’ with themed party accessories, get the tunes playing and introduce everyone as they arrive (translation: I find cool stuff and music that ties in with the party, and do a short recap of every entry).  We hang out, we chat, we eat! It’s fun.

And this time? It’s all about tea!  

Want to join in? Send me a link to your post (and for those who don’t use Blogger, etc but still want to come, Tumblr, Instagram...whatever. Take pics, write about what you’re ‘bringing’ and send that! I’ll make it work.) any time between now and Friday evening, 21 April. I’ll post the round-up on the 22nd.  (My email address is located below ‘Links’ and above ‘100 Things About Me’.)

I know Blog Party has been quiet for a very long time, but I hope you’ll remember the way!

(This is a re/cross-post from my Tumblr, for Misfit Day.)


You didn’t think I’d let the day go by without another culinary creation, did you??

(Truth: I have three more, but my camera has been behaving badly and I either can’t take photos - as in, it won’t turn on - or because it won’t turn on, I can’t upload anything. It’s frustrating, for obvious reasons and the fact the darn thing’s only a few months old! So, with any luck I’ll have a few more treats to share with you tomorrow. If I can coax the darn thing into working again.)


Behold! The Charlie Chicken Sandwich of Awesome!!

I wanted to come up with a sandwich of ridiculousness (kind of like the Outrageous Burgers Turhan’s Bey Company and I like to make), using the sort of components Charlie might assemble from a diner’s menu.

So, I give you this surprisingly well-balanced (flavor-wise), messy-as-all-get-out (seriously, don’t wear anything nice or make this for a first date and make sure you have a stack of napkins handy) and definitely not calorie-friendly concoction.

Ok.

Start with a layer of (deep-fried) onion rings. Add (this is a brilliant little recipe/hack I learned about last year and had been dying to try out) cheese sticks - but not just ANY cheese sticks! string cheese that has been rolled up in egg roll wrappers and quickly fried! Genius. You get self-contained, crunch and wow, so much easier than battering/coating and less mess- I layered three across.

Next, and I really and truly wish the color hadn’t faded, chicken tenders that have marinated in buttermilk for an hour or so and then dredged in a mixture of rice flour and CRUSHED ANDY CAPP HOT FRIES.


YES.


The color was the same as Charlie’s hair. It was meant to be.

Fry ‘em.

Two slices of melt-y cheese, I used organic ‘orange’ and a Pepperjack.

Bacon. Super-crispy and lots of it.

BARBECUE POTATO CHIPS.

(not pictured here because this was the omnivore version and he won’t eat them - spear/slices of bread and butter pickles*)

Lettuce (for this I like to use Bibb or Boston), nice slice of tomato (we’re finally getting into tomato season!) and a hearty slathering of mayo.

All on a squishy roll.

Smoosh to eat. Laugh at the mess but make lots of “mmmmmm!’ noises.

Happy Misfit Day!




*I made a vegetarian version for NinjaSpyBoy and me - Gardein (and several other companies) makes decent faux ‘tenders’ that hold up to just about any cooking preparation, and of course you can get veggie bacon from companies like Morningstar Farms. All are becoming more and more available in mainstream grocery stores. I’m sure a vegan recipe could be worked up, but we’re ovo-lacto, and that’s not my area of ‘expertise’, but I can point you in the direction of places like VeganEssentials, who carry vegan alternatives for just about everything.

McSpicy Paneer-ish

I read an article from NPR last week, about McDonald's plans to open stores in India near temple sites, but featuring vegetarian menus. (My feelings about that will have to wait for another time and place.)

One of the dishes mentioned was the McSpicy Paneer; a sandwich made with a tempura-d slab of paneer.

Ok; I don't eat fast food. And if I did...it wouldn't be at a McD's.  But this? This intrigued me.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find much beyond a general description for the sandwich so I decided to just wing it.

A spiced mayo spread on the bottom half of a roll, followed by lettuce and a thick slice of tomato, then slices of batter-dipped and quick-fried paneer, and finished with raita.

The result? Quite good, actually. A bit too much food (which I suppose is on par with a chain restaurant sandwich), but tasty.
We'd rather have used a tamarind chutney in place of the spiced mayo, but couldn't find ours.

Definitely worth further experimentation, though.

It's Ridiculous

This sandwich, I mean. It's kind of ridiculous. We were sitting around the dining table one night, at dinner, & I had this idea for a sandwich. (What? You don't discuss food while eating food with your family?) I knew I wanted something along the lines of a Primanti Brothers sandwich, but a little different.

 A mayo-smeared roll topped with French fries, slices of fried chicken, prosciutto, avocado, shredded lettuce & tomato.

What a mess. What a delicious mess.

It wasn't exactly right: a spicy mayo or even spiced fries would improve things. And mashing the avocado would help structural integrity.

But it was good. (Alex & I, of course, had a similar sandwich using faux chicken & bacon).

Good, & let's face it: ridiculous.