Herb and Cheese Focaccia

I'm not really into making bread... but I don't mind making focaccia at all.  It only takes 20 minutes to rise.  You don't have to do much kneading.  And the stand mixer makes it even easier (though it's not necessary.)  We've been making this recipe since I first moved out to California about 9 years ago and we like changing it up.  Pepperoni... grilled onions... green olives... jalapeños... different cheeses.  It's a pretty versatile recipe.  Sometimes we use the dough for pizza crust!  Sometimes we use it to make pepperoni twists or bread sticks.  I've sliced a loaf in half, made a pesto mayo, and then made a giant sandwich with pepperoni, salami, Mortadella, provolone... sliced it up into little finger sandwiches with toothpicks stuck through 'em and took it to a work party.  It's pretty great.  I made a quick and easy marinara dipping sauce to go with the pepperoni version I made today.

I was actually in a soul mood (as I often am)... usually I go with some 60s soul; Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, James Carr.  But today, I felt like some doo-wop soul and was listening to The Drifters, The Temptations, some old James Brown.  I couldn't really think of any punk covers of soul music... which is a shame, because those are probably my two favourite styles of music.  (Anyone think of any?)  But The Dirtbombs from Detroit came to mind... a little punk influence, some definite soul influence.  They seemed the way to go!  So here they are, doing "Your Love Belongs Under A Rock".  -jen

HERB AND CHEESE FOCACCIA
Time:  50-55 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  1 loaf

• 1 packet (1/4oz) quick rise yeast (or 1 tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (or any combination of dried oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, etc)
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (separated)
• pepperoni
• 2-3 tablespoons grated Paremesan
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, sugar and water.  Stir until dissolved.  Let sit for about 5 minutes until bubbles form on top.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and black pepper.  When yeast mixture has proofed for five minutes, mix in flour mixture and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil.  If using a stand mixer, use the kneading attachment and knead dough for 10 minutes.  If mixing by hand, stir until combined.  Then on a lightly floured surface, knead dough by hand for 10 minutes until dough is  and elastic. 

Form dough into a ball.  Using 1/2 a tablespoon of olive oil, lightly coat a large bowl and place dough into bowl, rolling around to coat with the oil.  Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 20 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size.  (I like to preheat the oven to 450 at this point and let the dough rise on the top of the stove towards the back near the heat.)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Beat down dough and place onto parchment paper, patting flat and forming into a 1/2"-3/4" loaf.  Using the remainder of the olive oil, lightly brush the top of the loaf.  Place desired amount of pepperoni over the top, then sprinkle Parmesan and mozzarella over it.  Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes.  Cool and serve.

Italian Chopped Salad with Dressing

In keeping with Justin's summer theme on the last post, I made this fantastic summery vegetable salad with a homemade Italian dressing.  I'd been feeling like raw veggies lately, and one thing with veggie salad is that it's usually cut into large pieces that you can fit two, maybe three veggies on the fork.  I wanted this salad chopped a little smaller so that I got all the flavours with every bite.  It reminds me of a large-chopped relish.  But it was really good... especially after it sat refrigerated overnight.  And it's versatile!  The first night, we just ate it in a bowl.  The next night, we sprinkled it onto lettuce greens.  I was thinking it might be tasty warmed and served on crustini, too!

When we make olive oil and vinegar based dressings, we usually just whisk all the ingredients together and you get big bits of dried herbs.  It's always good, but I was thinking about the dressing packets you can buy at the store, so I took all my dry dressing ingredients and blended them into a fine powder with our herb grinder and then used the stick blender to blend it into the oil. It came out good, so you could do it that way... but for the ease of those without herb grinders or stick blenders, I posted regular blender instructions

As soon as I started thinking about posting this salad as a summer salad, I got The Atari's "Boys of Summer" song stuck in my head.  Well really, it's Don Henley's song, I guess, but it's their version that got stuck on repeat.  It's a little poppy... but so was the original, and I still like that one too. :P  -jen


the Ataris - boys of summer by dairygalpal

ITALIAN CHOPPED SALAD WITH DRESSING
Time:  15-20 minutes prep
Difficulty:  Can you handle a knife?
Serves:  About 6, as a side dish

• 3 medium zucchinis (about 2 cups), large dice
• 2 carrots, large dice
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 orange bell pepper, large dice
• 1 cup crimini mushrooms (about 7), large dice
• 1 medium shallot, diced 
• 3 green onions, diced
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 and 1/2 cups mozzarella (12oz), diced
• 1/2 cup rough chopped green or kalamata olives 
• 1 can (15oz) garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 can (15oz) red kidney beans
  
• 3 teaspoons capers, drained
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 and 1/2 cups Italian Dressing (see recipe below)
• 1/4 cup pepperoni, diced (optional)

Place all ingredients into a large bowl.  Toss with dressing.  Serve at room temp.
Note:  I'd have put some fresh herbs in this if I'd had any on hand, but since I didn't, I didn't want to put it in the recipe.  Maybe 1/4 cup chopped basil or flat leaf parsley.

ITALIAN DRESSING
Time:  7 minutes
Difficulty:  E-Z
Makes:  1.5 cups

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Accent or MSG (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup olive oil

 In a blender, combine all dry ingredients and vinegars.  While blending, remove the middle spout of your lid (most blender lids have these) and very slowly drizzle in the olive oil so that ingredients emulsify.

Poppers Part I: Creamy Chorizo Poppers & Pepperoni with Mozzarella Poppers

A couple of days ago, I was messaging online with my older brother Chris, and he was telling me how he was going to make homemade jalapeño poppers on the grill whilst camping.  We started throwing a ton of ideas back and forth and it just made me crave poppers!  Since we're trying to eat a little more low-carb (but still make some good grub), we thought these would be great to incorporate into the weekly menu.  I took the list that my brother and I had come up with, wrote them all down, then Justin and I added some more ideas.  So we're on a popper kick and thought they'd be fun to share as we made them.

They were way good.  Surprisingly cheap, fast, and easy... three very awesome things to find all at once in a good food!  I highly recommend using gloves while you hollow out the jalapeños.  Sometimes I like to think I'm tough and don't need gloves, and then I take my contacts out with my oil-coated fingers.  When I go to put them back on my eyeballs the next morning, I end up looking like a stoned Popeye as my sockets burst into flames and have muscle seizures.  So gloves are good, that's all I'm sayin'.

Listening to a little Youth Brigade performing "Violence"  Warning - stage diving runs rampant.  -jen

CREAMY CHORIZO POPPERS
Time: 15 minutes prep, 15-20 minutes cook time
Difficulty: Super Mega Kinka Easy (but dangerous without gloves, ooooh danger!)
Makes:  30 poppers 

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack or sharp Cheddar (I used a smokehouse onion cheddar!)
• 5 ounces chorizo (Mexican sausage) 
• 15 large jalapeños
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil.

In a medium bowl, combine softened cream cheese and shredded cheese.

In a small skillet, over medium-high heat, cook chorizo for about 5 minutes, or until done.  Using a slotted spoon so that the grease drains from it, transfer chorizo into cream cheese mix and combine.

Slice jalapeños in half length-wise to make "boats" and remove membrane and seeds.  Fill with  creamy chorizo mixture just until it reaches the edges.  Do not mound.  Place onto greased baking sheet.


In a small dish, toss the panko in the melted butter until evenly coated.  Sprinkle a generous layer over the tops of the peppers.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until panko is golden brown on top.

PEPPERONI WITH MOZZARELLA POPPERS
Time:  12 minutes prep, 15-20 minutes cook time
Difficulty:  Still Super Mega Kinka Easy
Makes:  30 poppers

• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 15 large jalapeños
• 1/4 cup finely diced pepperoni

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil.

Toss Italian seasoning with shredded mozzarella.  Slice jalapeños in half length-wise to make "boats" and remove membrane and seeds.  Sprinkle half of the pepperoni into the jalapeño halves.  Grab about 2 tablespoons of the cheese and form into a quenelle (like a long football-shape) with your palm and the quenelles should sit right in the jalapeño boat on top of the pepperoni.  Sprinkle the remaining pepperoni across the tops.  Place on greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and peppers are cooked.