Cheffzilla’s Kitchen

So I made another focaccia!

I got this one from the website of King Arthur’s baking products (www.kingarthurbaking.com), the recipe of Gael Clauson, who bakes regularly in the Baker’s store in White River Junction, Vermont. According to the website, Gael bakes fresh, hot focaccia for customers on Saturday mornings. I can’t think of anything better on a chilly New England Saturday morning than a slice of fresh hot and spicy bread slathered with cream cheese or marmalade with a steaming cup of coffee. Makes me long for my wonderful years in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts (which is not too far away).

So I played a bit with Gael’s recipe, which called for semolina flour. I substituted whole wheat flour because that’s what I had on hand. The recipe calls for olive oil, but on a whim, I substituted my homemade garlic-infused olive oil, a rich and flavorful condiment I’ve been making for several years now (I’ll tag that recipe at the bottom of this post, just in case you want to try it; it goes wonderfully with most green veggies in an air fryer). As a nod to King Arthur’s flour products–which I use exclusively–I listed them by brand in the ingredients [editor’s note: I get no support from King Arthur].

The recipe calls for round cake pans, but I love using my 8×8 square baking pans, so I used them instead. This was about the easiest bread I’ve made, three and a half hours start to finish with two rises.

Ingredients:

2 cups (454g) lukewarm water
1 tablespoon (14g) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon (18g) table salt
2 tablespoons (25g) olive oil
1/2 cup (82g) King Arthur semolina or whole-wheat flour
4 1/2 to 5 cups (540g to 600g) King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour
2 to 3 tablespoons Herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons (25g) olive oil for the pan
herbes de Provence

freshly snipped chives
coarse salt

coarsely ground black pepper, optional
extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:

1. Measure all the ingredients in grams–you’re baking here. Spend the twenty bucks on a digital scale. If you plan to do much baking, you’ve GOT to measure in grams for everything!
2. Combine the water, sugar, yeast, salt, and olive oil, stirring to dissolve the sugar and yeast.
3. Stir in the semolina or whole-wheat flour, then 4 1/2 cups of the all-purpose flour, the herbs, and the black pepper. Knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or in a bread machine set on the dough cycle — until it’s smooth. It’ll be quite soft. Gael says, “Your finished dough should be like a marshmallow, very easy to knead. It should clean the sides of the bowl, if you’re using a mixer. If the dough seems too slack, add more flour a tablespoon at a time until it comes together. It should feel moist and soft; tacky like a sticky note, but not sticky.” I started with 540 grams of AP flour, and measured 60 more in a separate bowl, and added a little more, two tablespoons at a time until the dough came together and cleaned the sides of the bowl. Trust the process. It WILL come together, but you’ll likely need most of the last 60 grams of flour–I did.
4. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and turn the dough on all sides to coat with oil. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap, and let it rise for 90 minutes in a warm place–like your oven with only the light turned on–or until doubled in size.
5. Gently deflate/de-gas the dough by pressing lightly. Turn it out onto a lightly floured counter; it should feel like a big marshmallow, very pliable.
6. Lightly grease two 8″ or 9″ cake pans, and drizzle 1 tablespoon garlic oil or olive oil into each pan, brushing it across the bottom. “The oil will ensure that the bottom of the focaccia will be crispy and tasty,” says Gael.
7. Divide the dough in half and gently shape it into rounds to fit whichever pans you’ve chosen. Place the rounds into the prepared pans, cover the pans, and let the dough rise for 45 minutes in a warm place (not the oven this time, you’ll need it) until puffy.
8. While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 425°F.
9. Use your fingers to gently but firmly dimple the dough, making focaccia’s signature little hills and valleys. Sprinkle the top with herbes de Provence and some freshly snipped chives, a bit of coarse sea salt for crunch and flavor, and coarsely ground black pepper. Drizzle with garlic oil or olive oil.
10. Bake the focaccia in the middle of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until it’s lightly browned and baked through. It should be brown and crispy on the bottom.
11. Remove the focaccia from the oven, and turn it out of the pans onto a rack to cool just slightly before serving. Serve with warmed marinara sauce as a dip, or just as is with soup or salad.

Tips from a professional baker:

• Substitute an overnight rest in the refrigerator for the dough’s first rise, if desired. Let the dough come to room temperature before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
• For heartier bread, choose any of the following toppings (or whatever strikes your fancy): chopped fresh rosemary, grated Parmesan cheese, chopped Kalamata olives, halved grape tomatoes, shredded Asiago cheese, crumbled feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, anchovies, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, sautéed mushrooms, diced red peppers.

Recipe from Gael Clauson, courtesy of kingarthurbaking.com

Okay, folks, here’s one you’ve all been waiting for: Ted’s shortbread cookies (“biscuits” in the UK). I’ve tried several different recipes for these, including the one that alleges to be the original one from the TV show. This one is the easiest to pull together, and also the one I find to be the tastiest of the bunch. I’ll be making these for my Valentine this year, and likely all the years to come. Oh, and a link to instructions to craft the lovely pink gift box in included at the bottom as well. All it takes is a simple printer, one sheet of heavy card stock, a glue gun, and a pair of scissors. And it’s worth the effort. Trust me.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
• coarse sugar, for topping (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment on all sides. Set aside.
• In a food processor combine the flour, sugar, salt, vanilla, almond, and butter. Pulse until just combined and the mixture starts to form a dough around the blades of the food processor.
• Press the dough into the prepared pan, using your hands to spread the dough into an even layer.
• Sprinkle the tops of the bars generously with coarse sugar.
• Bake at 350°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until just light golden brown. Take out of the oven and allow the bars to cool completely before slicing the bars into your desired size! Enjoy!

• Prep Time: 15 MINUTES
• Cook Time: 40 MINUTES
• Total Time: 55 MINUTES
• Yield: 18 bars

• Courtesy of BromaBakery.com

Ted’s cute little pink box–perfect size for six bars, so you can give the gift to your favorite Valentine and keep the rest for yourself. Simply print both pages on one sheet (both sides) of a piece of heavy card stock, cut carefully along the lines, and fold and glue the box. Nice!

It’s our Christmas Eve Swedish feast. It’s a special night around here—why should we be any different from anyone else? We do Christmas Eve Swedish style, a nod to E’s maternal-side heritage. It’s a traditional Swedish smorgasbord, complete with sliced cheeses, lingonberry jam, pickled herring, and of course, Swedish meatballs, that creamy, meaty, saucy confection the younger ones look forward to all year. But because we don’t eat red meat, turkey is the order of the day. Ground turkey, that is.

Because turkey can be a bit more bland than beef, I take an additional step to up the robustness quotient—I use reduced vegetable broth instead of beef broth (See note below). And I add a surprise ingredient, fennel, for another subtle layer of flavor. Toasted fennel seeds, which are ground fine with a mortar and pestle.

It’s a family favorite. You owe it to yourself to try this one.

SWEDISH MEATBALLS

Ingredients:

• 20 ounces ground turkey, 93/7
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon parsley chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon toasted fennel seeds, ground
• ¼ cup onion finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon fine-ground white pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 5 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 4 cups vegetable broth, reduced by half (2 cups needed for the recipe)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
• additional salt and black pepper, to taste

Preparation:

• In a small saucepan, bring the vegetable broth to a boil, turn the heat down to medium-low, and simmer until reduced by half.
• In a medium-sized bowl combine ground turkey, panko, parsley, allspice, nutmeg, fennel, onion, garlic powder, pepper, salt, and egg. Mix until combined.
• Roll into 20 small meatballs. In a large skillet heat olive oil and 1 Tablespoon butter. Add the meatballs and cook, turning continuously until brown on each side and cooked throughout. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
• Add 4 Tablespoons butter and flour to the skillet and whisk until it turns brown. Slowly stir in broth and heavy cream. Add Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard and bring to a simmer until sauce starts to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the meatballs back to the skillet and simmer for another 1-2 minutes. Serve over egg noodles or rice.

• NOTE: if you’re a fan of the “Better Than…” products, make your vegetable stock from 4 cups water and two tablespoons of their roasted vegetable base, then reduce by half

Got a bunch of fresh vegetables in your garden you’d like to turn into a magic dish? I sure do. Squash, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and lots of fresh herbs. To me, that spells ratatouille, a garden-fresh vegetable stew. Add some chicken, and you’ve got a wonderful, protein-rich, vegetable-rich dinner to dazzle your family. It’s one of my favorites; we make it all the time in the summer, to use the delicious fresh veggies we grow in the back yard.

I’ve been making the ratatouille for years, and last year we decided to add the chicken for a protein-jolt, and to make it a complete meal. We love it. You will too.

Here’s the recipe:

Chicken Ratatouille

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

8 bone in chicken thighs, skin removed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 medium onion, diced

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium eggplant, 1-inch dice

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme

2 medium zucchini, 1/2-inch chop

1 yellow pepper, 1/2-inch dice

5 ripe cooking tomatoes, 1/2-inch dice

1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Set a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add ½ tablespoon EEVO, heat to shimmering
3. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, season well on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken in the Dutch oven and brown, unmoved, for 5 minutes. Flip and brown the other side until the chicken releases from the pan, about 4 minutes more. Remove from pan and set aside.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining EVOO. Add the onion and garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and thyme, and continue to cook until the tomato paste begins to brown.
5. Add the eggplant and another pinch of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant just begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
6. Add the zucchini, peppers, tomatoes, and another pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and partially submerge the chicken into the vegetables. Place the pan in the preheated oven, uncovered, until the thickest part of the chicken registers an internal temperature of 160 degrees F., about 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven, cover, and allow to rest 10-15 minutes.
9. Stir in the basil and serve.

I make a lot of stuff.

Regular (or even occasional) visitors to my Facebook or Instagram pages are aware of my frequent posts chronicling my various attempts at food production, both meal ideas and my current passion for preserving and canning. Some are wonderful and some not so. I keep practicing and will continue to do so until I get it right.

Among my better–and most often produced things–is my applesauce, which I make in collaboration with my lovely wife, Ellen. She picks and chooses the apples, after which I peel, core, chop, cook, and can the apples every Sunday in October while watching football. This year we produced 60 quarts and 12 pints of applesauce, to be enjoyed until next year’s apple season.

My other favorite product, and certainly Ellen’s favorite, is sour cherry jam, again the labor of picking, pitting, cooking, and canning. We pick together, and then I pit, cook, and can. This perfect product began as an outing to a local orchard with the kids and Ben and Cristina, visiting from California and wanted a fun local Lancaster experience. So, off to Cherry Hill Orchard we ran and spent about an hour picking sour cherries, after which we enjoyed marvelous ice cream from Pine View Dairy.

The resulting sour cherry jam was so delicious that the exercise has become another annual event (this year Ellen and I picked 30 pounds of cherries). Again, we picked together, and then I spent a day washing, picking over, and pitting all those cherries and stuffing them into 4-cup freezer bags, to be cooked and canned over the course of the fall.

I made my fourth batch from this year’s harvest yesterday. It was perfect.

And so, having perfected my own personal jam recipe, I now share it with you all, so that you can either try it yourself or wish you had. For the record, eight cups of frozen cherries yield seven nine-ounce jars, plus a little more for your immediate enjoyment on a freshly toasted English muffin (as I did moments before I began writing this post).

You can work out the logistics of obtaining the sour cherries for yourself (we now pick them at the Kissel Hill Fruit Farm behind the Lancaster airport–they have both sour and sweet cherries). But here’s the recipe for the jam…

SOUR CHERRY JAM

Ingredients:

8 cups sour cherries, washed and pitted

Zest AND juice from 3 lemons

1 teaspoon almond extract

6 cups cane sugar

Preparation:

1. Add cherries, lemon zest and juice, and almond extract to a large non-reactive pot. Bring to a gentle boil, reduce the heat and simmer, just barely bubbling, for 45 minutes. Chop them up with an immersion blender, leaving about 1/4 of the cherries mostly whole, or just slightly mashed (don’t want too many whole cherries rolling off the toast now, do we?)
2. While the cherries are simmering, prepare jars and lids for canning: wash them thoroughly with warm soap and water, rinse completely, and then place the jars in a 215-degree oven for 30 minutes, and bring your canning pot to a boil, then turn the heat under the pot to low and place the lids or disks in the hot water for at least five minutes. Alternatively, you can boil place the jars in the canning pot and boil them for five minutes. But either way, keep them hot until ready to can the jam.
3. Add sugar and bring slowly to a gentle boil, stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved. Allow to simmer gently for 30 minutes, then gradually turn up the heat until the cherry jam is just boiling, stirring occasionally to prevent the sugar from caramelizing. Continue slowly increasing the heat, stirring every few minutes, while monitoring the temperature with a candy thermometer, until the temperature approaches 220 degrees F. At that point I check the temperature with a digital thermometer, allowing the brew to maintain 220 degrees for at least three minutes. If the temperature reaches 222, STOP BOILING and turn the burner down to low. To check for the proper set, you can do the “freeze the plate and drop a spoonful of jam on the cold plate” test if you wish, but I’ve not had much luck with that method–I trust the science.
4. Scoop the jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4″ head space, wipe the rims carefully, and affix the lids, closing only finger tight. Allow the jars to rest for five minutes, then place them in the canning pot, return the canning pot to a rolling boil, and process for 10 minutes, covered. Turn the heat off under the canning pot and allow the jars to sit undisturbed for five minutes, then remove them to a cooling rack or a folded towel. Allow to sit, undisturbed for 24 hours before you move them to storage.

It’s an oxymoron.

How can a dish be both “shepherd’s” and vegetarian? Doesn’t “shepherds” imply that some herd has or is being shepherded? Perhaps. No animals were harmed in the making of this dish. Maybe what I’m doing is shepherding lentils. Is that a thing?

It is now.

A while back, Ellen and I decided to become vegetarian (vegetarians?). Why? The idea that we would become vegetarians (not vegan–not yet, at least…) was born with our becoming acquainted with a local organization called the Lancaster Farm Sanctuary. These are great folks. They do the incomparable goodness of rescuing farm animals (of which there are many, many here in Lancaster County–more than there are people, actually) that are abused, misused, ignored, forgotten…you get the idea. The owners/angels of the farm sanctuary, one of many across the nation, but the one closest to us, are brilliant at social media, and their frequent posts of the wonderful things they do just captured our hearts. The animals they husband seem to have personalities, likes and dislikes, friends among the herds–including friends of other species at the sanctuary. We were particularly taken by a friendship struck up between a dairy cow with a cleft palate and a chicken that followed him everywhere about the farm like a remora. They just seemed to get along perfectly.

These animals are sentient beings; they have souls. You simply can’t look into the eyes of these animals and not get the feeling that they are looking back at you and trying to communicate their gratitude.

And then there was the lamb.

We were driving someplace together (Ellen and I). We were stopped at a traffic light, and a large animal carrier cruised by us filled with animals, and likely on their way to a slaughterhouse. As we watched the truck pass by, one solitary lamb had extended its head out of one of the vent openings in the side of the trailer, and it seemed like it was smiling, enjoying the wind of a beautiful fall afternoon in its face. Unaware, most likely, of its destination.

Seeing that lamb enjoying its last moments alive crystallized something in both of us, and we haven’t eaten meat since. We haven’t yet forsaken seafood, but I can imagine us doing that sometime in the future. Having recently read David Foster Wallace’s essay, “Consider the Lobster,” I’m not sure that won’t happen sooner rather than later.

[END OF RANT]

And so, in search of alternatives, we have turned to other sources of protein, and recipes that are suitable substitutes for the dishes I have long prepared and enjoyed. Which brings me to Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie. It’s a mashup of lentils and mushrooms and aromatics and potatoes and herbs and spices that caught me entirely by surprise.

It’s one of the best dishes I’ve ever tasted. It has the bite and texture of a ground-meat casserole, and flavors that just burst on my palate.

So I decided to share it. It comes from the New York Times food section, originally written about by Samantha Seneviratne, and I’m telling you, it’s a winner. Somewhat labor intensive, but this recipe will satisfy eight hungry vegetarians (or even those who aren’t necessarily on board but are open to a new experience). Like I always do, I’ve changed up the recipe a bit, to suit my–our–palate, but it is, to my mind, better than the original.

Try it.

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

FOR THE TOPPING:

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 6 tablespoons butter or Earth Balance butter substitute
• ½ cup half and half or almond milk
• ½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• ½ cup packed grated Parmesan-style cheese
• Freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE FILLING

• ¾ cup French lentils

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 ½ cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 4 tablespoons butter or Earth Balance butter substitute
• 12 ounces sliced mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, and shiitake (remove shiitake stems)
• 1 large leek, white part only, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons AP flour
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons salt to a boil over high heat. Add potatoes to boiling water and boil for about 15 to 20 minutes, until soft; a knife should go in with almost no resistance.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: In a 10-inch oven-safe skillet with high sides or an enameled cast-iron braiser over medium-high heat, bring the lentils, thyme and 2 cups of the broth to a simmer with 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce the heat and continue to cook the lentils, partly covered, until they are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Transfer the lentils to a bowl.
3. Finish the topping: In a small saucepan or a microwave oven, heat 6 tablespoons of the butter and milk together until butter melts. Drain potatoes well and return to pot. Using a masher or a ricer, mash hot potatoes until smooth. Mix in the hot butter mixture and sour cream just until blended. Stir in 1/2 of the Parmigiano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.
4. Finish the filling: Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in the 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until they are deep golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add leeks, carrots and garlic, and continue to cook until tender, another 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste and stir, cooking until it is well combined, another 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the mixture, stir and cook for 1 minute. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups broth, cooked lentils and peas, and cook until thickened. Remove thyme stems and stir in lemon juice to taste.
5. Top the mixture with dollops of the mashed potatoes, then spread them out over the top. (Or transfer the lentil mixture to a 3-quart casserole dish and spread into an even layer, and top with potatoes.) Sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano. Transfer to the oven and, if the mixture is at the top edges of your pan, set a foil-lined baking sheet underneath the pan to catch any drips. Bake the pie until the potatoes have begun to brown and the edges are bubbling, about 30 minutes, then 3-5 minutes under a low broiler, until the potatoes begin to brown. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.