"The Christmas Blues" - Scott Alan Gross

I went to high school with Scott! Since it was a Catholic School, poor Scott had to listen to all our present talk and excitement at Christmas time, while his family, being Jewish, did not celebrate. I love his song about the Christmas Blues.

Good Job Scott!

Camper's Focaccia Bread from Mother Earth News.


Had to share this, I will most definitely be trying this in the near future. And yes, I will use the RockCrok Dutch Oven to fix this. I love the RockCrok because it is so versatile and can be used on the grill even. And it heats so evenly this bread will cook like a dream in it.

Dutch Oven and Cast Iron Cooking by Peg Couch (Fox Chapel Publishing, 2013) offers complete instructions for using the classic Dutch oven to bake, simmer or roast your way to delicious food. This delightful book provides 50 recipes for breakfast, breads, main dishes, side dishes and desserts. This excerpt showcases the Camper's Focaccia Bread Recipe from the book.

You can purchase this book from the MOTHER EARTH NEWS store: Dutch Oven and Cast Iron Cooking.

Ingredients:

Camper's Focaccia Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 tsp. yeast
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3 to 4 tsp dried herbs (such as basil, rosemary, thyme, dill or desired combination), divided
• 1/4 cups olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt, or to taste, divided
• 1/3 cups grated Asiago, Parmesan or Romano cheese

Instructions:

Preparation

In a medium bowl, mix flour, yeast and sugar. Add 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons very warm water and stir until dough forms. Cover bowl and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

To dough in bowl, add 2 teaspoons herbs, 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and Asiago cheese. Use hands to work ingredients into dough until well incorporated (dough will seem oily). Knead dough for 10 minutes until smooth. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

In the Oven

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Pat dough evenly over bottom of skillet. With fingers, press 1/2 inch-deep indentations evenly spaced over top of dough. Brush dough with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with remaining 1 to 2 teaspoons herbs and 1 teaspoon salt.

Place skillet on center rack in oven and bake uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or to desired crustiness. Cool slightly before cutting into wedges.

Over the Fire (About 28 hot coals)

Grease bottom of Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray. Put dough evenly over bottom of pot. With fingers, press 1/2 inch-deep indentations evenly spaced over top of dough. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with remaining 1 to 2 teaspoons herb and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover pot with lid.

Arrange about 1/3 hot coals in cooking ring underneath Dutch oven. Place remaining hot coals on lid. Bake for 10 to 20 minutes or to desired crustiness. Rotate pot and lid twice during cooking. Adjust the number of hot coals on top and bottom as needed for even cooking. Cool slightly before cutting into wedges.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/campers-focaccia-recipe-zerz1411zfea.aspx#ixzz3JOVY7FEA

Beef and Potato Cheese Soup

It has been forever since I posted. I have to admit, with not having a home and staying with a friend for a few months I hadn't been cooking much. I am now settling into the Duplex I am renting. My new kitchen is small, so I haven't done a ton of cooking. But with cold weather here, I really felt like making myself a nice soup. I had gone to the store for other supplies, and right up front was a display for Campbell's Soup. The new Steak and Baked Potato Cheese Soup sat there evilly tempting me. Of course I can't eat it, with all the cow's milk in it. So I headed on to get the cleaning supplies when it hit me, I have a good supply of cheeses right now, why not make my own.

So I bought a nice package of lean stew beef. I got some Idaho Potatoes and then thought, I would like to make this healthier, some other veggies would really round this out nicely. So I got Parsnips and Carrots to put in the soup.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb Lean Stew Meat
2 Large Idaho Potatoes (partially peeled and diced into 1/2 pieces)
2 large Parsnips (Also peeled and diced)
10 baby carrots cut into 1 inch chunks (makes about 30 pieces of carrot)
2 cloves of Garlic (riced)
1/2 cup of brown rice flour
Season to taste: (I used Hawaiian Sea Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Cumin, Red Curry Powder)
Wine or Wine Vinegar
Water

First thing I used my RockCrok Dutch Oven to heat 2 tablespoons of Coconut Oil and added 2 cloves of Garlic that I Riced with the Garlic Press and then started adding the beef which I had lightly coated with brown rice flour seasoned with Sea Salt, Ground Black Pepper, Cumin, Red Curry Powder. I turned the meat frequently until lightly browned all over and the oil had been absorbed by the flour. I then added a 1/3 cup of White Wine Vinegar. (I don't drink, so did not have wine on hand.) I added carrots, and diced parsnip and 2 Idaho Potatoes that I had partially peeled and diced up to 1/2 inch chunks. I added a cup of water and set to low heat to simmer for 45 minutes. Then I added 1/3 cup of Chevre, 1 cup of goat Yogurt and 2 cups of shredded Manchego Cheese and 1/3 cup of Pecorino Romano. I crumbled in a small amount of Sheep's milk Ricotta Ensalada which doesn't melt, but gives these lovely little slightly salty cheesy morsels while eating the soup.

I allowed this to cook at low for another 20 minutes until all the vegetables were tender.

This made a nice, stick to the bones kind of cold weather soup. The flavor is rich with a bit of sourness, sort of like a Stroganoff. And there is no cow's milk, no soy and no gluten in this homemade recipe. Win-win,

Spinach, Artichoke Pies (My version of Spanikopita)

This Easter my brother said to bring something other than Deviled Eggs, since they had someone else bringing eggs. So I started thinking about what to bring. Over the years I have brought Mexican Dip, German Potato Salad and even dips. I make a Cheesy Shrimp dip that is very good. But I wanted to be a bit more unique this time. I thought about Spinach, Artichoke Dip, but it's so filling and messy. Then I thought, make it a stuffing for Filo Dough. So I bought a bag of fresh spinach, 2 small jars of Marinated Artichoke Hearts, a 2 lb section of Manchego Cheese, Pecorino Romano Cheese Frozen Filo Dough and Pesto from Alessi's.

Here is the recipe:

Rose's Spinach & Artichoke Pies

1 1/2 Cups Grated Manchego Cheese
1 Cup Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
2 cups of Spinach Chopped
2 jars of Marinated Artichoke Hearts (Drained and chopped up)
1 heaping Tablespoon of Alessi's Basil Pesto

Frozen Filo Dough

I chopped the Spinach and the Artichoke Hearts with the Pampered Chef Salad Chopper.

I did this in batches to ensure it was all chopped evenly. I then put it all in the Classic Batter Bowl to mix together with the Basil Pesto. (I always use Alessi's, but if not available to you, use your favorite.)

 I chose this bowl because it has the lid and I was taking the mix up to Jim and Alyson's to put stuff the filo dough up there.

I then used my Food Holder with Coarse Grater Set  to grate the 2 cheeses that I then mixed into the spinach artichoke mixture. 

 I mixed it all with the Mix 'N Scraper®   which I also took with me to scoop the portions of the filling into the filo dough.

I took the filo dough and mix to my brothers and fixed the final pies there. I let the Filo thaw out and then rolled out one roll of dough. It's very, very thin sheets that you have to carefully peal apart. When fully thawed they peal easiest. You lay out a single sheet, spray or baste with cooking oil and then cover with another sheet of dough. Repeat 3 times. Slice the dough lengthwise in half. I used the All-Purpose Spreader to cut it. The serrated edge cut perfectly.

 Put a portion of the mixture on the dough about 1/2 an inch from the top and start to roll by bringing one corner down at an angle creating a triangle and then continue to roll corner to corner creating a triangle shaped pie when done. Baste/spray with a touch more oil on top and put on cookie sheet or Bar Pan. (I used the Stoneware Bar Pan from Pampered Chef.)  

Once I had the pan full of triangles I baked in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes then turned over and baked an additional 5 minutes. 

These came out so good that I was really pleased. Alyson kept praising my gourmet skills to everyone. I got lots of compliments. I plan to make these again and I will post pictures of the actual process of building them.

I hope you all enjoy!