Archive for the ‘food’ Category
Onion, Oregano & TimO Focaccia: O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
OK, raise your hand if you love focaccia! I do! I do!
I had never made it before, though, so I thought this What’s Cooking Wednesday would be a great time to learn, especially since I came across a recipe for Focaccia with Onions. In addition to the thyme (timo (TEE-moh) in Italian) that was listed in the ingredients, I threw in some oregano, because, you know O Foods and all.
What? You haven’t heard of the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest? Check out the details here.
As you can see, my onions were super-cooked when all was said and done, but they’re still really tasty. Note: I used red onions, so they’re not *as* cooked as they may seem. Anyway, I think next time I’ll slice them just a little bit thicker and maybe adjust the cooking temp.
If you have any other suggestions on making focaccia, please do share. Overall, I have to say that this is a fabulous basic recipe from The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia published by Barnes & Noble (with my adjustments below).
Onion, Oregano & TimO Focaccia
For dough:
- 2 1/2 tbsp fresh yeast or 1 package dry
- 1 c warm water
- pinch of sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 3- 3 1/2 c flour
For topping:
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- Sprinklings of dried thyme and oregano
- Coarse sea salt
1. Put yeast in warmed medium mixing bowl (swirl around some hot water and then dump it out to warm the bowl). Add warm water, stir in sugar, and mix with fork. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until the mixture starts to foam.
2. Mix in the salt and one cup of flour with a wooden spoon, then add in another cup of flour and mix until dough begins pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
3. Sprinkle some flour on a flat work surface and knead the dough, adding the rest of the flour a little at a time. Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is elastic and smooth, and shape it into a ball.
4. Place dough in lightly oiled mixing bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let stand in a warm place for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size. To test if the dough is ready, poke it with two fingers; if the indentations remain, it’s ready.
5. Preheat oven to 400°F.
6. Punch down the dough to release air and then knead for 3-4 minutes.
7. Brush a shallow cookie/baking sheet with one tablespoon of the oil.
8. Place the dough in the pan and spread it to the edges with your fingers. Leave this sit, covered with a towel, for a half hour.
9. In the meantime, heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan on low heat, add onions, and cook until tender.
10. Stir in thyme and oregano and remove from heat.
11. Remove towel from pan and make indentations in the dough with your fingers.
12. Brush oil from the onion mixture on the dough, then spread onions over top evenly. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.
13. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, until just turning golden.
14. Cut into squares or wedges, and serve focaccia by itself, as a side dish, or even as the bread of a sandwich. It is best warm or at room temperature.
Buon appetito!
Don’t forget to submit your O Foods recipe by September 30
and/or donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund!
Also, Megan’s Expat Snapshot of Italy Contest is still going on until tomorrow night–just head over to Career By Choice and fill in the blank: You Know You’re in Italy When….
Oatmeal Banana Craisin Muffins: O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
Here is a fast, easy, tasty (just like we like ’em!) O Food recipe based on one from Cooks.com.
Read on...four things to do this friday
I. Enter Alex’s La Cucina Italiana Contest
(for which I will be a recipe tester):
II. American cooking is back!
Check out Mary’s Potato Salad at Flavors of Abruzzo:
III. Celebrate Susan’s One-Year Blogiversary at
Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy:
IV. Tell me about all the fabulous things you will or won’t do this weekend!
Me?
After a very full work week, I plan on reading, writing (old NaNo novel!),
and generally relaxing with P and the pooches.
Buon weekend!
what’s cooking wednesday: pepper steak over white rice
I *loved* my grandmother’s steak hoagies. They weren’t exactly Philly cheesesteaks–they were better. Yeah, I said it.
The thing is, though, she used “Minute steaks,” which we don’t have here. Do you know them? Frozen, really super-thin slices of meat? Yes, it’s one of those things you can kinda sorta substitute, but still . . . it will just never be exactly the same.
Anyway, I made today’s What’s Cooking Wednesday recipe based on my grandmother’s original recipe, and we’ll get to that in a moment, but for those interested, let me tell you quickly how she made steak hoagies (no measurements because that’s the way she rolled):
- Steam broken up pieces of Minute Steaks in a pan, remove and cover them.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a pan and sauté peppers, then add onions as well.
- Add meat and sprinkle everything with garlic salt.
- Add a small can of tomato sauce and let cook until tomatoes no longer taste raw.
- Stir in cheese (she used slices of Kraft American).
- Serve on a big ole Italian roll. YUM!
Now, fast forward to my craving steak and peppers one night but having no tomatoes (fresh or sauce) or rolls in the house. This is what I made, a simpler, healthier, but still delicious version of an old classic:
Pepper steak over white rice
(serves 2)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3-4 thin steaks, in bite-sized pieces
- 1 green pepper, cut into strips
- 1 medium onion, cut into strips
- a few shakes of garlic salt
- 1 cup prepared white rice
1. Prepare rice according to package directions.
2. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in pan, and then add meat, cooking until brown. Remove from pan and cover.
3. Add other tablespoon of olive oil and peppers. Sauté for a few minutes until starting to become tender and then add onions and sauté until tender.
4. Add meat and sprinkle everything with garlic salt, combining well.
5. Let flavors mix together for a minute or so, and then serve over white rice.
Buon appetito!
Whatever You Do, Don’t Eat the Free Figs
The other day I came home and found this on my doorstep:
When P came home, I told him, but we still didn’t know the identity of our Fig Fairy even though I had asked around the neighbors.
P told me: “Don’t eat the figs!”
Because, um, we live in medieval times in which our nemici might foil our dastardly plans with tainted figs left outside our house? Please.
Needless to say, I ignored him and ate three of them later that evening.
And then was awake most of the night with a stomachache. Gah!
I pretended like I had no idea what I could’ve eaten to cause the discomfort as I certainly couldn’t tell P I ate the figs.
Thankfully, the pain passed and the next morning, before I discarded the figs, I ran into a woman who owned up to being our Fig Fairy. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as she’s certainly one of the nicest signore around–yet another one of my nonne in the village.
And only then did I tell P the full tale of the figs, which he, of course, found hilarious.
I’m thinking I’ll just listen to him next time — just in case.
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
Recipes
