Bear Cuisine

Italian "Strit Fud"

Christine Hickman took a break from her summer sojourn in Italy and gnocchi testing to teach a class at Las Cosas focusing on Italian Street Food. The class was packed and all of us had fun creating hand-held snacks that would be extremely tasty at a dinner or cocktail party. 

Johnny Vee tells us what he thinks. Inquiring minds want to know.

Christine explains Piadina

Piadina is a flat bread from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Rolled very thin and cooked on a griddle it can be filled with almost anything you like. We used ricotta, cooked Italian sausage and shredded onions. Absolutely delicious.

PIADINA

(makes 7-8 piadine)

1. 4 cups unbleached flour
2. 2 teaspoons salt
3. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1/2 cup shortening preferably lard, at room temperature
5. 1/2 cup lukewarm water
6. 1/2 cup whole milk
7. A 10-inch cast iron skillet or griddle 

In a standing electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, baking soda and 2 teaspoons of salt. Add the lard and mix at medium-low speed until evenly combined. Slowly add the milk and water, mixing until the dough forms a mass around the hook. Add more liquid if necessary to make a medium-stiff and workable dough. 

Increase the speed to medium and knead until smooth, 5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or refrigerate up to 12 hours. Bring to room temperature before shaping and rolling.

When the dough has rested, cut it into pieces about the size of a large egg, making about 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Taking one ball at a time, flatten it into a disc and roll it out, flipping and rolling in different direction to make a very thin disk about 1/16-inch thick. Keep rolling, reserving the rolled piadine on a tray.

Heat the cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium heat until a drop of water skips across the surface. Place one of the disks of dough on it, cook without moving it for 10 seconds. If it puffs up, tamp down the bubbles with a spatula. check the underside and when it is white with dark spots, flip it over with a spatula to cook the other side. Prick it here and there with a fork and continue cooking another 3-4 minutes, rotating and flipping it frequently to cook it evenly and keep it from scorching. When done, it should have a dull, parched, white surface mottled with random burn marks.

Slide it out of the skillet onto a plate or wooden surface and over with a clean cloth. Continue cooking the rest of the piadine.

Piadina 

Cracking Good Crackers

Jonathan Perno

Chef Jonathan Perno of Los Poblanos recently taught a class on bread. My favorite recipe  was for Lavash Crackers. It was revelation to make these from start to finish. Chef Perno writes his recipes for other professional cooks and sometimes his directions are, for home cooks, a little sketchy. But I found virtually the same recipe with more detailed instructions in Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. What follows is a combination of these two sources. These are fairly easy to make and they taste great. If your guests are anything like the students in this class, they will snarf these down in seconds.

LAVASH CRACKERS

(Makes one sheet pan of crackers)

1. 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2. 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
4. 1 tablespoon honey
5. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6. 1/3 to 1/2 cup water, at room temperature
7. Poppy seeds,sesame seeds paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds or kosher salt for topping

 

Mix together the flour, salt, yeast, honey, oil and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

Lightly flour the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. [If you are mixing in a stand mixer, mix for approximately 5 minutes on medium speed.] The dough should be firmer than French Bread dough, satiny to the touch, not tacky and supple enough to stretch when pulled. The dough should pass the stretch or windowpane test.*

Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover it with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 90 minutes. Or put in a covered container and store in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If you need to to accommodate your pasta machine, divide the dough into  sections. Roll out the dough, a section at a time, in a pasta machine until you have very thin sheets. Roll the dough in successively smaller numbers until you reach #2 on the dial of the pasta machine.

Rolling out the cracker dough with the pasta machine

When the dough is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment.Carefully lift the sheets of dough and lay them on the parchment.

If you want to pre-cut the crackers, use a pizza cutter and cut the dough into whatever shapes you desire. Diamonds or rectangles work well. Brush the dough with olive oil and season with salt and seeds. Remember that a little seasoning goes a long way.

Crackers pre-cut on the baking sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top.

When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool on the pan for about 10 minutes. If you have not pre-cut the crackers, you can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Finished Lavash Crackers

*The Stress Test

The stress test is performed by cutting off a small piece of dough from the larger batch and gently stretching and turning it to see if it will hold a paper-thin, see-through membrane. If the dough falls apart before it makes this window pane, continue kneading it for another minute or two and test again.

 

 

Natale con i Tuoi

Christine Hickman lives half of the year in Santa Fe and half in Perugia, Italy.( I won't mention how envious I am of such a life.) When she is here in New mexico she teaches cooking classes at Las Cosas Cooking School. This is the fourth class I have taken from her and every one has been a treasure of information, techniques and just plain fun. 

This class--an Italian Christmas menu-offered some great recipes which would be good any time.

YOU MUST NEVER

NEVER

NEVER PUT OIL IN THE WATER YOU USE TO COOK PASTA!

"FRIED" BLACK OLIVES

(serves 4)

This dish makes a fabulous appetizer, either by itself or paired with the Torta al Testo.

• 1/2 pound ripe pear tomatoes
  
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
  
• 2 cups Kalamata olives, pitted
  
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
  
• 2 fresh hot red chilies, finely chopped
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  
• 10 ounces mozzarella de buffalo (optional)
  

Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for a minute or two, just enough to loosen the skin. Remove with a slotted spoon to a bowl of cold water. Drain and peel off the skin, which come away with a sharp knife. Remove core and seeds and roughly chop the flesh.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and saute the garlic for one minute, then add the olives and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, rosemary and chilies season with salt and black pepper. Allow to simmer a few minutes more just until the tomatoes have broken down.

Serve hot with torta al testo and a few thick slice of mozzarella on the side, if desired.

"FRIED" BLACK OLIVES WITH MOZZARELLA

TORTA AL TESTA COOKING ON THE GRIDDLE

TORTA AL TESTO

(six to eight servings)

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or semi-aged Pecorino
  
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  
• 1 3/4 cups warm water
  

Dissolve yeast in warm water and let sit until creamy and bubbly--about 10 minutes.

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture and olive oil to the dry ingredients and stir until a soft dough is formed. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and satiny, and not stick to the work surface.

Alternately, you can put the dry ingredients into the bowl of a standing mixer, add the yeast and olive oil, and stir well. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic, and pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning to coat all surfaces. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 45 minutes to 1 hour, or refrigerate overnight. Allow it to come to room temperature before before shaping and grilling.

Heat a large (15-inch) griddle over medium heat until a drop of water jumps and sizzles. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and divide dough in half. Keep remaining dough covered with plastic wrap. Roll into a large circle, about 1/4-1/3" thick and 14 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough round on the hot griddle and poke it all over with a fork. IMMEDIATELY turn the heat to low and check after a minute or tow to make sure it is just beginning to brown. After about 5 to 10 minutes, when the bottom is lightly browned, carefully turn it over and continue to cook until done, about 10-15 minutes more. Check every 5 minutes by lifting an edge, to make sure it is not browning too quickly. It should be lightly browned and crusty with a soft center, when it is done.

Remove from the heat and cool on a rack.

Punch down the remaining dough, shaping and cooking the torta as before.

Cut into six-eight wedges. Split and fill with desired ingredients and eat slightly warm, or at room temperature.

Cooled torta al testo can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to a month. Reheat, wrapped in foil, in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.

If a 15-inch griddle is unavailable, divide the dough into thirds and use an 8-to 10-inch griddle.

Christine is an excellent teacher and a delightful person. Someday, I hope to travel to Italy to take classes with her there. In the meantime, being able to work with her in Santa Fe ain't half bad.

Check out her website at www.sonomarcella.com.

Flatbread

Beautiful red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers are piled high in the stalls of the Farmers' Markets at this time of year. Their intense colors and smell, which remind me of the heat of summer, are bewitching to me. Not to mention their tastes. Since we try to eat locally and seasonally most of the time, I roast these beauties and freeze them for use in the winter. One of the tastiest ways we enjoy roasted peppers is on flatbread. This makes a first-rate supper served with a nice Spanish Rioja.

FLATBREAD WITH TOMATOES, ROASTED CHICKEN, EGGPLANT,PEPPERS AND OLIVES

For the topping

• 1 red bell pepper
  
• 1 green bell pepper
  
• 1 eggplant
  
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
  
• 12 black olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
  
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  
• 2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into think slices
  
• 4 TBS. olive oil
  

For the dough

•  1 2/3 cups ll-purpose flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 tsp. baking powder
  
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 egg yolk
  
• 3/4 cup water
  

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Place the bell peppers and eggplant on a baking sheet and roast, turning several times to cook evenly, until the peppers are blistered and blackened all over and the skin of the eggplant is wrinkled and shriveled, about 45 minutes. Transfer the peppers and eggplant to a paper bag. Close the bag and set aside until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. 

Peel the charred skins off the roasted vegetables. Slice each bell pepper in half lengthwise and discard the seeds, ribs and stems. Cut the peppers and eggplant into thin strips.

Meanwhile, make the dough; In a bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Make a well in the flour and add the olive oil and egg yolk. Gradually add the water, mixing the wet ingredients into the flour little by little with a wooden spoon. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until soft, smooth and elastic, about 1  minute. Form the dough into a ball and place in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place until the dough puffs slightly, about 30 minutes.

In another bowl, combine the eggplant and bell pepper strips with the garlic and lives and season generously with salt and peppers.

Lightly oil a 12-by 9-inch rimmed baking sheet. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle to fit the pan. Press into the prepared pan and trim away any excess dough.

Cover the dough base with the tomato slices. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over the tomato slices. Arrange the eggplant mixture evenly over the tomatoes and drizzle withe remaining oil.

Bake until the edges are beginning to brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Cut into squares and serve warm. Serves 4 hungry adults.

(adapted from Williams-Sonoma Foods of the World Series, Barcelona by Paul Richardson)

The great thing about this recipe is that you can use whatever you have. I sometimes make this to use up leftover roast chicken. The dough makes a beautifully thin, crispy crust which can be used as the base for a traditional pizza.