Budget Minded Modernist
Just a photo dump of what we’ve been up to when I’m (clearly) not here. Sadly it’s almost over…school starts back next week…WAY too soon.
We’re trying to make the most of our last 9 days of freedom…long walks in the woods, Shark Week, lounging at the pool and not getting out of pajamas on rainy days…they grow up too fast to consider otherwise….
Can you tell we had a lot of rain recently? Yup, more food.
So, I made another pizza rustica/pane farcito so I could show you the steps this time. I had all my ingredients grilled and ready for a sunny day to cook and take photos for you by the window, and that day just wasn’t coming. I finally gave in and had to make it on one of the darkest days in a long time. This means flashbulbs and no natural light for the food shots. I almost didn’t post it, but figured you just might forgive me…AGAIN.
Let’s go….
We grilled these….as well as 3 chicken breasts.
Photos via Bon Appetit, highdesertgarden.com and agewell.org
I personally prefer to use ichiban eggplant for these, but that’s just me. I’ve made it with the globe variety as well.
I was lazy and used Trader Joe’s Quattro Formaggio (Paremsan, Asiago, Fontina and Mozzarella) but by all means, source some locally made fresh goodness in your area and elevate this baby. They key is to include some hard cheeses with a lower moisture content so as not to make your creation soggy.
Roll out your pizza dough to stretch across an oiled, nine inch round baking pan. I used 2 packages of TJ’s whole wheat pizza dough. Again, go homemade on the dough and make it even better! These days, if I have to take the extra hour to make my own dough and grate that much cheese, I just won’t make it, whereas right now, I can knock this out in less than 2 hours total: 30 minutes to chop and grill, and 20 minutes to assemble. Bake for one hour. That’s doable for me…maybe when the Things are grown I’ll go back to those recipes that take all day to make…or not…
I digress.
Start layering! I actually prefer to do a layer of the zucchini/eggplant before the cheese first, and I don’t really know why I put the cheese down first, but once it was there, I decided to roll with it. My sequence was cheese, zucchini/eggplant, chicken, cheese, pesto, peppers, zucchini/eggplant, chicken, cheese, and pesto.
I chop the chicken into thin strips that can be scattered into a layer like so….
Oh, I almost forgot…I had some tomatoes from the farmers market that I oven dried a few days before for this top layer…if you use jarred sundried tomatoes, make sure you drain the oil off well before putting them in.
Now comes the fun part. The ole pinch and flip. Thing One was using my tabletop tripod so I couldn’t photograph this (I tried) but I’ll talk you through…it’s not as hard as it looks, but you need two hands.
The good news about this little maneuver is that it doesn’t have to look good, it just needs to seal everything in. Since pizza dough is stretchy, it’s not too hard to gently pull at the sides to bring it up to the top and pinch together with the other ends. Now you take the pan in one hand and very gently flip the whole thing into the palm of your other hand, and set back into the pan pinched side down. See? I told you the pinching didn’t have to be pretty! Then score the top for ventilation and call yourself fancypants.
Pop this puppy into a 350° oven for an hour, YES an hour! Remember last time I said I thought 40 minutes would do it? It didn’t for me. I checked by pulling the whole thing out of the pan to make SURE the dough was done at the bottom, and it still needed a bit more time.
Then you get this. It’s best to let it cool in the pan so that it keeps its shape. At this point, you can serve right away while it’s still a bit warm, or let it cool completely and wrap up and put into the fridge. Either way, you’ve got a meal that is easily transportable for picnics and poolside.
The sun finally came out again today so I could get at least one decent shot of a slice. This one is a little doughy for me, but we’d eaten the rest of the slices over the week of the rains!
I’m ready to make the Cuban version next. We grilled some pork tenderloin this week and the leftovers are crying out for a higher purpose.
While I was cruising around on Pinterest, I saw a pin of these Martha Stewart Waffle Cookies and knew that this would be the perfect surprise treat for the kids to have in the treehouse with their friends. The Things seem to like only 2 kinds of cookies…chocolate chip and ginger snaps. Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies is just too much to say, so we have renamed these Treehouse Treats.
There is one thing I would do differently for the next batch, and that is to use MINI chocolate chips. The larger ones make the thin areas of the waffle grid too fragile, making if difficult to remove from the waffle iron. I think the mini chips will be perfect for keeping enough dough for strength, while still adding chocolate flavor. Otherwise, just use your favorite cookie recipe.
I tend to cook when it’s raining out, which is very difficult in the nice, natural lighted photo department. Behold poorly lit treehouse treats.
I also think that the mini chips will make them MUCH more attractive….just saying.
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, I learned how to make these parcels of goodness that are best described as a cross between Pizza Rustica and Pane Farcito. Below is my chicken/pesto version.
It has zucchini, eggplant, red and yellow pepper, chicken, pesto* and sun dried tomatoes, all layered with cheese in between. Grill all the veg/chicken and let cool, then start layering inside your dough. Back then, they always used a white bread dough, but I cheated and used 2 packages of Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough.
I have not tried to make one in well over a decade, (remember when sun dried tomatoes were all the rage?) I was nervously expecting a big fail, but instead, I got lucky with only a minor glitch easily remedied next time around. I didn’t cook it long enough and the bottom crust wasn’t quite finished. An extra 5 minutes would have fixed it.
Rediscovering the Rustica/Farcito will make packing picnics for summer outings SO MUCH better, since I think that these are best served room temperature.
Back when we were making these in the cafe, there were 3 flavors…the Chicken/Pesto above, the Italian, with lots of cured meats and low moisture cheeses, and the Vegetarian, that mainly substituted the chicken for a layer of omelette. I can’t wait to play around with some other styles this summer.
I had no idea this would work out or I’d have photographed the process…sorry, but if you’re really interested, let me know and I’ll take some snaps of the next one I make.
*Sage/Almond pesto rather than Basil/Pine Nut. The CC hates pine nuts.
UPDATE:Â I’ve posted the step by steps here.
Today is Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rabbit…. Gong Xi Fa Cai or Gong Hei Fat Choi!
This year, we are postponing our big celebration until the weekend. Of course we’ll Americanize the whole thing and make my fortune cookies to enjoy after our Dim Sunday meal. Wait, what is Dim Sunday, you ask?
Dim Sunday was born out of a soul crushingly bad experience at the ONLY restaurant we know of that serves dim sum in the Nashville area. If you’ve ever lived anywhere with even half way decent dim sum, you know it’s addictive power.  Going without those delicious morsels of goodness is a sad, sad state of affairs. I don’t recommend it.
We’d had enough disappointment and deprivation, so it was time to take matters into our own hands. Schedules permitting, we now make a heap of dim sum on Sunday afternoons for the family. This weekend we’ll try and add some some traditional CNY fare like noodles, etc.. We try to keep it exciting for the Things by surprising them with what’s on the menu….and yes, (nerd alert!) we make a menu. Here’s one from a couple of weeks ago we still had laying around.
You like Thing One’s ploy for candy? When we bring an order to the table, we let them stamp it for us – just like in the restaurants. They love it. Now I need to find a cool vintage bar cart to wheel to the table and we are O. fficial! (Aalto anyone?)
I’ll confess that the BBQ pork bun is frozen as I have not attempted to make that puffy white dough yet…I’m kinda skeered of royally screwing it up, but I will be trying it soon as it’s Thing One’s fave. Everything else is made by us. I’ve found egg rolls are a great way to sneak in veggies they normally don’t go for. One item we are excited to try and make is soup dumplings, or xiaolongbao. They key is a good homemade stock made with lots of bones to create the gelatin. We’ve been stashing chicken carcasses in the freezer in anticipation. Wish us luck!
We’ll go to the Lion Dance and drummers show on Saturday at K & S to get in the spirit…and pick up ingredients! For glimpses of our past Chinese New Year geekiness…go here.
For a great local post about CNY from someone who is actually Chinese, therefore knows what the hell she’s talking about, check out Tabitha’s post about her family traditions.
Have an amaaaazing New Year…be safe and smart, and most importantly, have fun..even if it’s in your PJs. I’m saving my yearly recap crap for the bloggiversary in a couple of weeks….you’re welcome.
I think I’ll be sporting one of these later…nothing accessorizes your outfit like a festive cocktail, no? Cheers to a fantabulous 2011…see ya on the other side!
