Weave a Thousand Flavors

Food from the Manverse ~ Deep Dish Reuben Pizza

Once in a while I pull out all stops and cook for the boys.

I mean really cook for the boys.

The kind of food that deserves a cold beer (for the dad) and a cold glass of milk for the munchkins. The kind of food that involves stringy cheese and thick bread and loaded with meat & cheese.

No sign of a green leaf anywhere in sight.

All hail food from the Manverse!

For a family that loves it's Reubens, this comes as no surprise.

Now, a quintessential American sandwich, this country's love for the Reuben sandwiches began in the 1920's though the jury is still out on whether this creation is all thanks to a Lithuanian grocer from Omaha, Nebraska or a deli in New York city.

Either way, America has had a good 93 years loving this sandwich and the fervor has dimmed not.

A classic Reuben sandwich consists of corned beef or pastrami, sauerkraut (pickled cabbage), swiss cheese and Russian dressing (a lot like Thousand Island Dressing) or Dijon mustard.

I've taken all of elements of the sandwich and using home made pizza dough, hand pressed it into my favorite Emile Henry clay pot brazier hence, the deep dish.

Next, I slathered the pizza base in home made Russian dressing, sauerkraut, sliced swiss cheese, folded layers of thick cut pastrami followed by even more sliced cheese.

All that in a super hot oven and the result is an incredible, what's got to be a sandwich's gift to a pizza!

Like I said, all hail the manverse and I leave now you with a recipe and the image of Tarzan beating his chest.

A Kiddie Favorite, All Grown Up ~ Cheese & Z'atar Straws

 
There are few things yummier than puff pastry cheese straws.

I don't care how old you are, a batch of these coming out of the oven will have you swooning.

So here's taking a classic and turning them into a all-grown-up-gourmet variety that will appease not only the kiddies around the holiday table but all adults with discerning paletes.

Let's be clear about one thing though - this post hardly classifies as a recipe. After all, can a recipe with 3 ingredients, namely, aged parmigiano reggiano cheese, z'atar and frozen puff pastry sheets and 15 minutes in the oven be classified as such?

Who the heck knows!

One bite and they'll be your next best friend when ever company is over or you want to make a ooh-la-la statement without letting on that you hardly broke a sweat fixing these.

For kitchen divas everywhere, here goes!

Erbazzone ~ A savory pie with Spinach, Swiss Chard & Pancetta from Parma, Italy

Have you ever come across something, anything, where you look at it and say, I must?

And then leave it on the back burner in your little gray cells only to revisit the thought off and on and once again do nothing other than exclaim, I must. No, I am not talking about joining the gym though that could very well apply.

I am in fact talking about a pie. 

Erbazzone an original of Reggio Emilia,  constitutes street food a.k.a fast food and is packed with enough flavor and nutrition to give the  big mac a giant black eye any day of the given week.

I first heard of this 'sandwich' during a PBS travel special a couple of years ago and it appealed to me at every level. What is not love about a savory pie a.k.a 'sandwich' filled with a rich and extremely tasty spinach and Swiss chard greens mixture and pancetta? Loosely related to bacon, pancetta is a much more delicate and less salty version of the cured meat. And as far as I am concerned if it's got bacon (or it's relative), I'm in!

I can't however bring myself to call this a sandwich because essentially the filling is nestled in 2 layers of pie crust, not bread, so sandwich? I think not so let's just call this a pie and get on with it.

After my 'incident' with the struffoli, I said my prayers as I opened my Mario Batali recipe book and got cracking. The most challenging part is always the pie crust and the quality of the crust in essence defines the pie. I don't care how yummy a filling is, if the crust yucks, then the pie yucks.

I must say that as sceptical as I was about Mario's recipe (and don't get me wrong, I love that guy in orange crocs but it's his recipe writing skills that I question), I had never made a crust quite like this one and oh so apart from my 'go to' pate brisee recipe.

The results fortunately are astounding especially with all that lovely garlic oil that is slathered all over the flaky crust. I have however done away with certain steps in his version that I thought to be tedious and unnecessary.

So what are you waiting for? Don't be like me - stop dragging your feet and actually do something a bout this!

What will you do with 50 Bucks from The Fairy Hobmother? And A Stinkin' Room mate = Fabulous Yorkshire Puddings

Don't you deserve a visit from The Fairy Hobmother?

One who not only visits but  rewards you a USD 50.00 Amazon gift ard just for saying hello right here in the comments section?

Sigh! I wish all of life's quandaries were this simple. Never the less with all this talk of economic doom, gloom and people running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to make sense of this financial cesspit, its nice to know there are simpler things in life that can put a smile on ones face.

So when the fairy Hobmother from   appliancesonline in the UK paid me a visit and not only gifted me this very thoughtful 50 dollar gift card but actually offered to share the love with my followers, who was I to say no?

So go on, leave a thought or two and you might be the next person the fairy hobmother might visit.

That being said, we must now return to the topic at hand - that being stinkin' room mates. I am of the opinion that hellish room mates are an important rite of passage I think - a reminder that have left the sanctuary of our parents and now very much on our own (for most part) in the big bad world. The older we get, these colorful characters fade into distant memories only to leap forward by some odd event or in my case a particular sort of food.

I was in my twenties, alone in Singapore and I was at the brink of my many firsts.  My other room mate and I decided that we really ought to sublet the vacant third bedroom to generate some extra income to pay rent and of course we wanted a girl, non-smoker, professional and an expat like ourselves.

Our advertisement was answered by Kathy - a pofessional woman of English-Korean heritage who on the surface fit the bill perfectly. And so it was with great relish that we welcomed the first occupant to the the third bedroom. Now, you  all know what they say about first impressions....

Anyway, into the first month while we were still in the 'honeymoon phase' Kathy announced that she would invite over some of her friends to have dinner with us and make a classic English dinner. She made lovely salmon cakes, minted peas, roasted potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.

It's a good thing that all this loveliness unfolded in the first month - because you see Kathy didn't last with us long enough to see her third! After putting up with a shattered toilet seat, stripped wall paper from her bedroom (need I remind you it all belonged to the apartment owner) flooding the kitchen with 6 inches of water because she forgot to turn off the tap, we were done! 

We packed her off and all that she's left me with is this story and her Mum's recipe for Yorkshire puddings. So here we go but before I do, don't forget to leave me a thought or two!

Home made Naan - A quintessential unleavened flatbread from South Asia

 
There is nothing quite like hot, buttered Naan with a North Indian meal. To this day, Naan is usually prepared in a clay oven or tandoor.

So I'm tickled to death that I was able to recreate this quintessential Indian bread in my American kitchen with no special equipment but for a broiler oven and a baking stone.

It took a few trials and errors but I think this is IT! 

This recipe is so close to the real thing,  that as I had my nose glued to a hot Naan as I buttered it - I was hit by a wave of nostalgia and I was instantly transported to a dhaaba (road side eatery) in India. Here's why - wait for it...... NO yeast!

If you've ever eaten a Naan prepared with yeast, I think you'll agree that it's a bit like eating a naked pizza crust and then it has that unpleasant smell to it. Not here, folks!

 If I haven't yet sold you to the idea of homemade Naan , how about the savings - it cracks me up when I see people check out a $3.99 piece of pre-made Naan at the grocery story when for that, we could make enough for 6 people! And, we can use the  dough cycle or knead cycle on the bread machine or food processor - so no back breaking kneading involved.

  I don't know if you can tell, but I am so excited about this recipe coming together, that I can break  into song and dance. So lets get cooking instead!