Showing posts with label Spelt Right pizza dough. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spelt Right pizza dough. Show all posts

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One-Hundred Sixty-Seven (Sweet Trio-Spelt Right Dough, Figs, Walnuts)

Daily I am reminded of the gift in friendship.   This past month has been a testament to the value of friendship, both new and old.  Just before leaving for a 5 day journey to visit my dear friend Veronica of 32 years who lives in Mexico, I had dinner in NY with two friends of 3.2 months.   May, I just say that both encounters were precious.

Jess, Ruthie, and I had an evening of shared recipes, shared clothing, kvetching and kvelling.  Our newly formed sweet trio shared traditions from our respective cultures.  Thank you Ruthie for the Yiddish, and I shared some Lebanese cooking traditions.  For dinner, we collaborated to make my favorite recipe flayir bil-flayfli, walnut pepper pies.   We topped off the night with a sweet dessert for this sweet trio.

Here is the sweet trio recipe for you to share with your friends, old and new.


Spelt Right dough, fig paste, and walnuts.  Perhaps, we should name it, TRIBESSIE (for Beth, Jess, and Ruthie).

Preheat oven to 450F.  Thaw and rise Spelt Right dough in package.   Cut in 10-12 small pieces.  Flatten the pieces in rounds.  Set on well oiled baking pan.  Blend 1/4 fig paste, 1/2 cup walnuts together.  Place a dollop of the mix in the center of the dough.  Make into triangles.  Bake at 450 for  15-20 minutes.

Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy.


Friday, May 18, 2012

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One Hundred Sixty (Popeye Knew Best - Spinach As the Cure All)


Headache cure? Mom’s home cookin’!
Poor little Olivia never experienced anything like this in her 10 years.  A searing headache.  “It hurts so bad! I am going to get sick to my stomach!” 
Dad and mom inquired, “Olivia, what did you eat today?  Did you have any water?” 
These Spelt Right Doughs are READY to use
Breakfast=last night’s left over Mexican from local dive.
Lunch=mystery food from PS 123.
Snack from Aftercare = Candy?!?
Wednesday = CRAPPY FOOD DAY. 
CRAPPY FOOD DAY= Severe Headache. 
Mom needs to get back involved. 

Fast forward.  Mom made a bunch of Spelt Right Pizza dough today, brought some home and pondered an easy solution.  Spinach, onion and goat cheese fitayers! 

Ingredients:
Would Some PLEASE Send Me Some Decent Pans??
2 Spelt Right Pizza Doughs, fully thawed and risen
2 bunches of fresh spinach, rinsed with water (and vinegar for cleanliness), and spun
1 large onion
2 fresh lemons
1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
4 ounce log of chèvre (goat cheese)

Directions:
Chop onions into fours, place in food processor and chop.  Place chopped onions in medium sized bowl.
Shaping the Dough Into Triangles
Make sure the spinach is destemmed, rinsed, and dried well.  Chop as much as you can in food processor until all is chopped.  Place in bowl with onions.
Squeeze lemons (remove seeds). Add to bowl.  Add in EVOO, salt and pepper.  Toss altogether.

Cut each dough ball into 8-10 even size pieces, shape into rounds about 1/8 inch thick.  Place rounds on well oiled stainless steel baking sheet, preferably with edges.  Spread about two teaspoons of chevre on each round.  Squeeze a small handful of spinach mixture in hand (about 2 TBLS) (this is to squeeze out some of the liquid - do this over the bowl), and place in center of dough ball.  Make triangle with dough ball.   Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes or until brown on the bottom.

THE CURE ALL
As a side, I put the remaining spinach “juice”, strained and rinsed chick peas, and about 3 cups of left over rice in pan on the stovetop, and tossed together until warm.

End Result?  An Un-Whining of a Whiney Kid.  Good-bye to a headache that we hope will be a thing of the past – as long as mom continues to cook and wards off the outside assault of bad food.


We should have listened to POPEYE. all along.  This spinach pie definitely served as a our cure all.


"He's Popeye the Sailor Man. He's Popeye the Sailor Man. He's strong to the finich cause he eats his spinach, he's Popeye the sailor man."  


Can you imagine what Popeye would have thought of these spinach pies?

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty-Five (Pemberton's Pomodoro Basilico, Trader Giotto's Marinated Mozzarella, Spelt Right Pizza Dough)

If you have read any of my earlier posts, you will know that I am a bit obsessed with Trader Joe's.  I have a love hate relationship with the place.  I love foraging through the store for new finds, but often get a little carried away.   I try to pretend that I am not that anxious for Trader Joe's to open in Portland, Maine, but it's a bit like a crush....I don't want to let them know, but the look is on my face.  The three ingredients I used today have one thing in common - extra virgin olive oil, aka EVOO.  Again, another obsession of mine. 

Recipe:  Spelt Right Pizza Dough topped with Pemberton's Pomodoro Basilico Pasta Sauce or Pemberton's Spicey Arrabbiata Pasta Sauce, and Trader Giotto's Marinated Mozzarella or regular mozzarella.   Directions:  Fully thaw and rise a Spelt Right Pizza dough.  Divide into 8 even balls, make small pizzettas on floured or corn mealed pizza peel.  Place pizzettas on lightly oiled baking sheet, top with sauce and cheese.    Bake at 400-450 for about 10 minutes.   Let cool a bit.  Put in aluminum foil, pack, head to beach with pizzettas, sliced peaches, bottled water, and your kids.  Relax, eat, and enjoy.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty-Four (The Metamorphosis of Spelt Right Pizza Dough)

Today was my birthday (well, now it was yesterday) so I DID NOT cook or bake or clean, but I have this great picture that I felt I must share with you.   This is the metamorphosis of a Spelt Right Pizza Dough, cool, but not life moving or anything.   But, if you, like I, happen to be obsessed with baking with Spelt Right dough, you might want to know its various stages.  Pizza No. 1 - embryonic stage, simply not ready to venture into the world on its own.   Pizza No. 2, early man, perhaps Neanderthal, advanced, but probably couldn't drive a car.  Pizza No. 3, definitely close to ready, can be used for a respectable pizza, but perhaps has not reached drinking age yet.  Pizza No. 4, AGE 47, just like me, perfect, ready to roll out and bake.  Though, this 47 year old rolled out pizza dough is feeling a little fried after midnight and a full day's work, so no recipes tonight, just rants.  Recipes on future blogs! Peace!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty-Two (Bread and Chocolate: Impress your Friends, Bribe your Kids!)

Oooooooh, finally, I got to try something I have been dreaming about:  Spelt Right Pizza Dough stuffed with the famous Death by Chocolate Sauce by Pemberton's Gourmet Foods in Grey, Maine.  It met all my expectations!
  Not long ago, I met Jim Robbins, the new owner of Pemberton's doing a local night at the Portland, Maine Whole Foods.  It felt a little strange being a consumer rather than a vendor that night, but it gave me a chance to explore.  And, explore I did.   First, meeting with Jim, and then becoming obsessed with the idea of a Spelt Right bread and Pemberton chocolate combination.   Jim is a neat guy; I immediately felt comfortable with him.  We both recently ventured into the specialty food world after leaving other professions (banking for him and law for me) following a passion to offer good food to good folks.   So, over the past few weeks I started pestering Jim.   "Hey, Jim, might I stop by for some chocolate to try with the Spelt Right Pizza Dough?"   Well, I reached him today, and he said a common phrase I often  hear regarding my many encounters. "My, you are persistent."   Well, persistence is a good thing in this business, and even better when you are in pursuit of some of the best chocolate in Maine.  "So, Jim, any chance you are going to be around today and you've got some chocolate hanging around?"   Hurray!  Scored!  Today I made my trek to Pemberton's and am so glad I did. 

Pemberton's offers an array of specialty sauces: some savory, some sweet, all delicious. You can buy them at Whole Foods, Hannafords, Micuccis, Rosemont and many other spots.   I was fortunate to try many of them on top of the Spelt Right Pizza Dough that I so handily brought with me.   The Death by Chocolate (I think of it more as Heavenly Chocolate) and Spelt Right Pizza Dough combo is a match made in Heaven.   Having it just once today wasn't enough, so I brought some home and made a few for the family to try.   TWO CHOCOLATE COVERED THUMBS UP!!!   At one point, Spencer was saying "MAAAUUUMMM" while he was sitting in the dining room as I was cleaning up drips of chocolate here and there.  "What?" I retorted, sensing that he was about to tattle on his sister again. "Ummmm" he said in this 13 year old dialect, "Ummmm, this is the best dessert I have ever had.  It reminds me of those things stuffed with chocolate made of wheat that I can't eat any more.  This is sooooooooo good.  Is there anymore?"  Enough said, these things are a hit, make them for your friends, they will be impressed.   Make them for your kids, they could be used as a bribe!

Ingredients: Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen), Pemberton's Death by Chocolate (we used both original and raspberry).   Preheat oven to 375.  Divide dough into 8 even balls.  Make small pizzettes, place about 1 TBL of the DBC in center.  Fold to make a triangle.  Leave a slight gap in the center or you will have a chocolate explosion.  Place on oiled baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly brown on the top.  ENJOY!

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty-One (The 10 Mile Trio)

I am on a Maine kick these days.   I am truly loving this state.   Perhaps it is a bit of infatuation with the streak of warm weather or the fact that a traffic jam lasts about 3 minutes.   Or maybe, it is something a little deeper.  There is a community culture here, a sense of openness and access that is hard to match.  A culture of neighbor helping neighbor, business entrepreneur helping business entrepreneur. A culture of mutual cooperation. 
And, so is the story of the 10 Mile Trio - a pizza made with ingredients sourced in Maine all businesses within a 10 mile radius of one another.  This 10 mile trio includes ingredients from Spelt Right Baking in Yarmouth, Maine, Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine, and Olivia's Garden in New Gloucester, Maine.  If you have not visited Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, you should put it on your agenda.  It is a MUST stop on your visit to Maine.

  Ingredients:  Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen), Pineland Farms Tomato Basil Harvest Pasta Sauce (made with Olivia's Garden tomatoes), Pine Land Farms Fresh Cheese Curd, corn meal for the pizza peel.   Preheat oven to 450F.  If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven on the upper shelf.  Divide Spelt Right Pizza Dough into two even balls.   Stretch or roll out.  I placed these on a pizza peel generously sprinkled with corn meal, but you can put this on a lightly oiled stainless steel baking pan.  Top with Pineland Sauce, and Pineland Farms Cheese Curd.   If using a peel, tip the peel toward the pizza stone, and gently persuade the pizza with a spatula onto the pizza stone.   If using a pan, place in the oven on upper shelf.   Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until done.   The consensus from those with refined palates (Tim, Emma, Spencer, and mom) is that this is a richly excellent combination.   The comment from the peanut gallery, eight year old Olivia was that it was not plain enough.   Verdict? Two thumbs up.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Eighty (Maine: The Way Life Should Be)

I should NEVER EVER complain about living in Maine, and, if I ever do during one of those long winters, remind me that I should NEVER EVER complain about this state.   It is simply beautiful!  We have incredible beaches just a stone's throw (If you have a great throwing arm) from where we live.  And, vibrant Portland with its cobble stone streets, world class restaurants, and bustling waterfront is just a 15 minute drive.  The Spelt Right bake house is in a historic mill enveloped by the Royal River which powers it.  And, if I were a skier and a hiker, I might mention the hills and the mountains, but I'm not so I guess I won't mention them....
AND, the LOBSTERS....I truly want to be vegetarian, but there are a few things that keep me from making the commitment.  Did I mention the LOBSTERS at $3.99 -$5.00 per pound, please.....AND, how about the fresh Haddock purchased at the Portland waterfront caught that morning?

Dinner on this beautiful Maine night.   Lobsters, Spelt Right Bread Sticks, Shipyard Beer (for papa).  The kids and mom were satisfied with filtered Maine tap water from Sebago Lake. 

Ingredients: Maine lobsters, Spelt Right Pizza Dough, powdered garlic (we love Frontier), extra virgin olive oil, grated Parmesan cheese, Shipyard beer

Directions:
Lobsters: We get the lobsters pre-cooked so will leave the directions for someone more experienced.  Spelt Right bread sticks: One Spelt Right Pizza Dough, fully thawed and risen, extra virgin olive oil, garlic powder, pre-grated Parmesan cheese.  Pre-heat oven to 450.   Roll out 10-20 dough sticks, roll dough in EVOO, then sprinkle with garlic powder, then roll in Parmesan cheese.  Bake until brown on bottom.  Turn over and continue to bake until lightly brown.
Beer: pop off cap

PS:  I might complain just a little bit about the mosquitoes, but then again, I can be thankful for the simple curing powers of Witch Hazel....ohhh, my kids just love that name.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Seventy-Eight (Beach Fare)

Well, I finally did it.  I took off a day and went to the beach and it was DIVINE.  Ferry Beach is Scarborough, Maine is such a magical place with its shallow pools and creepy crawly aquatic life.  And,  it is especially cool when the tides are high enough to jump off the sand banks into deep water.   Spencer and I had a blast jumping and diving off while letting the currents carry us.   It brought me back to childhood, though the water somersaults made me much dizzier than when I was a kid.   With the beach, comes summer fare, packed in a cooler ....In Scarborough, we call it Scarborough Fare (without the parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme)....I guess you need to know Simon and Garfunkel to appreciate that one.

We made some quick pizza triangles (fitayers) with Spelt Right dough, but also made some nice sweets with my favorite RASPBERRY CHAMPAGNE fruit spread from Fieldstone Farms.

Ingredients:  One Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen), Fieldstone's Raspberry and Champagne Fruit Spread.

Instructions: Cut dough into 4 equal balls.   On pizza peel, sprinkle finely ground corn meal generously (I like to use a an organic non GMO corn meal).  Roll doughto less than 1/4 inch thick on pizza peel.  Spread on fruit spread.   Roll and place on pan in 350 degree oven until brown on top.   Bring to beach!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Seventy-One (Grilled Dough with garlic and olive oil)

It has been blazin' hot in Maine and the thought of turning on an oven is just too much.  We really appreciate our grills at times like these. 
Perfect night for grilled veggies and grilled dough, and grilled veggies on dough.

Spelt Right Pizza Dough is so awesome.  This stuff needs to be in more places.  Hey, NYC!!!  We are ready for you!   Please start ordering, you will be so happy you did. (PS - Check out this plug we received from Toni on NY http://www.tonionny.com/spelt-pizza-horray

Menu:
Ratatouie - thank you Tim for making this.  It was wonderful, but the recipe is too complicated for tonight.
Grilled zucchini stuffed with chevre, finely minced mint, pepper, and minced garlic (thank you Olivia for picking the mint and to Spencer for preparing the Zucchini)
Grilled zucchini with olive oil and garlic
Spelt Right flat breads - grilled

Instructions for the flatbreads:  One Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen).  Divide into 6-8 balls, shape rounds (not too thin) on cornmeal dusted pizza board.  Brush with EVOO and mashed garlic with salt (we do this with a mortar and pestle).  Also, can use other toppings.  Place on Hot Grill.  Check in about 3 minutes.  You will know when they are done.  Enjoy!


Sunday, June 6, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-Three (Simple Pleasures)

OK, it has been much too busy this week, even for me.  Tho' I should not complain when orders are on the rise.  Just have to figure out how to balance it all.  20 some-thousand bagel order.  All day demo at Hannaford Kennebunk Saturday.  A gazillion guests coming for Emma's graduation/birthday party Sunday.  Figuring out a business model that works.  Feeding the little kids dinner, and worrying about big kids out on prom night.  Reading the little one a bedtime story.  And, then there is the logistical stuff (like how do I figure out to how to log on as a vendor for a major grocery chain).  But before I do that, I might need some serious anti-inflammatory meds for my very stiff neck.  "Beth, why is your neck stiff?"  "Gee, I can't imagine, what could IT be?"

In any event, my quick solution for relieving some stress.   Break out the Spelt Right Pizza Dough, and look in the fridge and pantry for ideas.  (I am getting a little loopy here - probably a glass of pinot gris would work better).

The result?  Some quick dessert mini fitayers.

Three varieties:  Trader Joe's Applesauce, Teddie Natural Peanut Butter and Natural Tiny Trapeze Marshmello Creme, and Croft's Four Fruit Spread


Ingredients and Directions:  One Spelt Right Pizza Dough fully thawed and risen.  The ingredients listed above.  This can make at least 10.  Preheat oven to 400-450.  Shape dough in 10 small rounds.   Place what ever ingredients you think might be tasty inside and make a triangle.  BE SURE TO SEAL ALL GAPS or the ingredients will come oozing out during the bake.

Olivia loved all of these, but I definitely overbaked the one with Mello Creme - it nearly exploded.  Check out the pictures.  They are more helpful than my description.   Next time, I am going to try the Mello Creme with chocolate....a variation on a s'more.   Next post - healthier - I promise.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-One (Sloppy Joe's Take Two, Salad with homemade balsamic dressing)

Garlic is an obsession in this house.   It is really a miracle food, http://www.desigram.com/Health/Ingredients/Garlic.html, and much like spelt, is one of the oldest cultivated foods.  We know from bakery experience that garlic is an antibacterial.  Have you ever noticed that garlic is never mixed right in with bread, but instead is drizzled in through a slice or sprinkled on top?  The reason is that garlic's antibacterial properties will kill the yeast or sour dough.  We once had to throw away an entire batch of bagels after trying to mix the garlic in the dough.  Never did that again.

We have been very busy in the bakery for the past week and it will last for a few more weeks (hopefully forever).  In the meantime, I had to resort to some easy home recipes.  Good thing Whole Foods is just 20 minutes away.


Tonight's dinner:  Sloppy Joe's laced with garlic made with Grass Fed Beef from Cold Spring Ranch Farm in New Portland, Maine.   Greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers with very garlicy homemade balsamic dressing.  The Grass Fed Beef from Cold Spring Ranch http://www.coldspringranch.com/grass_fed_info.htmis really the best and when I can get it, the only beef I will serve my kids.  It is run by Gabe Clark, a fellow Bates College alum (tho' many years younger than I).  

Ingredients - Sloppy Joe - Take Two: 
One Spelt Right Pizza Dough, fully thawed and risen. 
One Pound Grass Fed Ground Beef from Cold Spring Ranch Farm
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion
2-3 TBL Extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
pasta or pizza sauce (homemade or jarred)
grated pizza cheese (we used a mozzarella provolone mix)

Directions:  Pre-heat oven to 450 F.  In a large skillet, saute chopped onions and chopped garlic in EVOO.  After onions brown slightly, add beef cook until brown.   Add tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.  Divide dough into 8-10 even dough balls, stretch or roll out until thin, but not transparent.  Cover the dough with the grated cheese, then add meat mixture.  Make triangles as shown in the photos.   We did this on a pizza peel covered with corn meal, and put it directly on the hot pizza stone, but you can do this directly on a lightly oil baking pan.

Ingredients and Directions - Salad with garlicy balsamic vinegar.   Make a salad of your choice, we used organic green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, topped with chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, and chevre.   For the dressing,  I put 3 large garlic cubes in blender, then added balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, dried basil and dill, all to taste (sorry I did absolutely no measuring with this one).  I then blended dressing ingredients together until frothy.  It was amazing, but you have to do this to taste.



Tim and the kids loved the Sloppy Joe's (I don't eat red meat so I didn't have one).  We all devoured the salad.  Nothing was left for the lunch boxes tomorrow.  TWO THUMBS UP.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Forty-Nine (Shrimp wrapped in Spelt Dough)


This is not one of my favorite recipes, but I think there is hope and will try it again with fresher shrimp.  We sauteed some frozen Maine shrimp with garlic, EVOO, white wine, salt and pepper.   Something about the shrimp simply wasn't flavorful.  Perhaps, the shrimp had been thawed and refrozen one too many times.   We added cranberries and a little bit of tomato sauce to try to sweeten it up.   We then wrapped the shrimp, cranberry mixture with Spelt Right dough.  I'm not going to give all of the instructions because there are much better recipes in this blog than this one.  Result: Thumbs down from Beth, but the comments from the Peanut Gallery (Tim that is) are that "I thought it was pretty good.  It aged well.  I ate one when I got home and it was good!"  I looked at him and said "You must have been pretty hungry when you got home."  His response, "I was."  I love Tim for always being the optimist.  My recommendation simply is don't try this one at home.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Forty-Three (Rosario's Pesto and Spelt Right Pizza Dough)



I was foraging in Whole Foods - Portland, MAINE trying to drum up some ideas for the Lunch Box Chronicles. Lucky for me, I ran into Rosario (I have no idea his last name) who who was sampling his wheat pizza dough and pesto sauce that he sells at Whole Foods and stores from Damariscotta, Maine to Portland, Maine. I asked Rosario if it was alright if I tested some of his pesto on Spelt Right dough and he was willing. I purchased some pesto along with some other ingredients to test on other recipes (Fig Paste (see Day Forty-Two Post) and Whole Foods In-House Made Mediterranean Salsa (will be posted tomorrow).

The result with Rosario's Pesto? Delicious! It made the crust crispy and flavorful.

Ingredients: One Spelt Right Pizza Dough (thawed and fully risen), Rosario's Pesto Sauce.

Preheat oven to 400-450. I used a pizza stone, but you can use a baking pan. Stretch or roll out pizza dough, spread Rosario's Pesto Sauce. Bake until done. Yum!! Two thumbs up!!

As a variation, I also added goat cheese, sliced grape tomatoes, and caramelized onions to one of the pies.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Forty-Two (Bananas and Pizza Dough??)





Thanks to Olivia, we have a very unique Lunch Box Chronicle for Day Forty-Two (though posted a day late). Olivia was on the computer and we were trying to persuade her to get off, which usually results in some sort of fit or another. Her response to divert our attention from her computer pursuits? "Just use a banana." "A banana?" I said, "Let me think, we need something else too, maybe date paste." Well the date paste was some sort of strange trigger. We convinced her to get off the computer, but she started hurling epithets at dates. "I hate date paste. It's the worse. It's like onions, in everything!! Everything always has dates in it! I hate dates! This isn't fair!!" "Really???" So not to be bullied by an 8 year old, I sent her outside so I could make the banana date dough wrap, only to later learn that it was really FIG PASTE, not date paste that I used. She calmed down, but a frightening scene followed. Olivia somehow convinced 84.5 year old grandma to get in her red wagon so she could pull her around and down a slight incline. All is well that ends well. We have spared you the photos.

RECIPE: Baked bananas with fig paste (not to be confused with date paste) (wrapped in Spelt Right Pizza Dough).

INGREDIENTS: Spelt Right Pizza Dough, fully thawed and risen. (We used only a few pieces for this experimental recipe and the rest for pizzas). One not too ripe banana. Fig paste (you can get it from Whole Foods or international food stores).

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 400 F. Cut a small piece of dough, roll out until very thin, spread fig paste on dough, place a half a banana on the dough, roll, bake either on pan or on pizza stone at 400F for about 10 minutes.

RESPONSE: Olivia wouldn't try the one with figs (because she thought it had dates), but she did try the one sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. Yes, I capitulated a bit by making one of the recipes with cinnamon and sugar rather than fig (date) paste. Spencer inhaled one that was so hot that he could barely taste it, but definitely gave it a thumbs up. Emma thought it was pretty good. Grandma, up from her wagon journey, thought the wrapped baked bananas were quite good. Grandma's quote, "I never would have thought of it, but it's not bad."

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Forty (Double crust stuffed pizza)

This chronicle is by Tim, as Beth and Emma were in Connecticut all weekend doing 'training' demos so Emma can prepare for her summer job.

"Piano recitals today. The kids did a great job. We thought about going out to eat afterward to celebrate, but we had this dough exploding in the refrigerator. So we came home and put together a simple stuffed-crust pizza "pie" with two crusts.

We rolled out 1/2 the dough and put a ring of mozzarella cheese around the edge. Folded the dough over to cover the ring of cheese, creating a "stuffed crust" with a good high ridge. Spread a light coating of sauce on the bottom of the pizza, added chunks of mozzarella (could use shredded) and went with what we had around the kitchen: broccoli (lightly sauteed in olive oil and garlic), raw mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese. Could've added much more if we had planned ahead! We added a few dollops of sauce for good measure and put the pizza aside.


Then we rolled out the other 1/2 of the dough really thin and placed it over the top of the pizza, creating a pie. Just like an apple pie, we cut some slits in the top.

We slid the creation into a hot 390 degree oven onto a pizza stone and baked for about 25 minutes. We probably didn't wait long enough for it to cool, so it oozed a bit when cut. Maybe a little more cheese and less sauce would have been good. Didn't bother the kids - they gobbled the whole thing in minutes.
Yum."

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Thirty-Four (OMG! THE PERFECT PITA ON THE GRILL) (Vegetarian Day 7)



Today we accomplished our goal of 7 vegan/vegetarian recipes, though we will be posting many more. For future posts, we will note on the title if the recipe is vegan or vegetarian.

Today Emma and her friend, Adam, were inspired by the Lunch Box Chronicles and decided to make some great dishes. It is very cool to watch two high school seniors getting culinar-ily (word?) inspired. I have to wait for the ingredient lists and directions of two of the recipes (strawberry/blueberry tarts and onion/pepper/garlic/special sauce pies) before I post them. But, you can look forward to some great recipes over the next week. In the meantime, I will provide you a new way to make a pita bread. We've made it in the oven before, but this is even better.

Pita Bread on the Grill!!

Ingredients: One or two Spelt Right Dough balls, fully thawed and doubled in size. Cut each dough ball into 8 equal size balls. Lightly dust a peel with corn meal. Roll out the dough into very thin rounds, as thin as you can go without making the dough transparent. (Having thin, evenly rolled out dough is important to make this recipe work)

Pre-heat grill to 400F. Place rolled dough on grill for 1-3 minutes (should start to rise), then flip to other side. Wait one or two minutes and then check open the grill cover. Dough will PUFF. Just BEAUTIFUL....After they're done, you can cut them in half and then stuff them with just about any culinary option. We'll give you some ideas in future posts. Here are the pictures.

SPELT RIGHT dough is the best!! Ask Hannaford to carry it! (We thank the many Whole Foods in Maine, Mass, CT, and RI that are already carrying it, along with Lois' Natural, Royal River Natural Foods, and Bow Street Market in Maine.)

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Thirty-Two (Cinnamon rolls) Vegetarian Day 5

Thank you Emma and Nate for being the thumb models!

Here's is an easy recipe sure to please those with a sweet tooth. Do I hear Olivia?

Ingredients: One Spelt Right Pizza Dough (fully thawed and risen in bag), organic cane sugar, organic Ceylon cinnamon (amazing type of cinnamon, but you can use any type), butter or natural vegetable oil.

Cut dough into 6 even balls. Roll each ball really really thin on corn meal or floured board. Lightly spread with melted butter or vegetable oil (if you want to go vegan), sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mix. Roll tightly. Place on baking pan with edges (butter or oil will drip).

Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until looks ready. Let cool slightly. Cut into pieces. I tried to get a picture of these, but the kids ate them too quickly. Here's a photo of the empty plate!

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/10-health-benefits-of-cinnamon.html

BTW, cinnamon is an amazing food. Eat as much as you can! TIDBIT FOR TODAY: Cinnamon has many health benefits. One quality is as an anti-bacterial...that's why cinnamon is swirled in bread and bagels and not mixed in. It will counter-act the yeast!

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Thirty-One (Lentils Again) Vegetarian Day 4


Today, I am just rehashing an old family recipe because I am much too tired to be creative.
It's called moujadarah - lentils and rice (PS The beautiful dish (ignore the wooden spoon) is a wedding gift from my cousin Denise - 23 years ago!)

Moujadarah (Lentils and Rice)

1 ½ cups dry lentils (washed and drained)

8 cups filtered water

1 ½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

½ organic white or brown rice (washed and drained)

2 TBL extra virgin olive oil, plus 2 TBL butter

1 medium onion (chopped finely)

2 medium carrots – shredded

Rinse lentils, drain, place in large sauce pan. Add water. Cover and cook on medium to low for about 1 hour or until lentils are tender, not mushy. Add salt, pepper, and rice to lentils. Cook on low heat for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on the lentils so they do not burn. Add shredded carrots to lentils. Saute onions in oil and butter until limp. Add to lentils. Stir and remove from heat. Serve with plain yogurt (Middle Eastern or Greek variety) and tabouli (we will soon post a recipe).

You can also serve with PITA bread. You can make this with Spelt Right Pizza Dough (For pita bread recipe, see Lunch Box Chronicles: Day 12)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles Day Thirty: Vegetarian Day 3:Lentils Lentils Lentils


I am obsessed with food, recipes to be exact. I used to drive around, thinking about national and world events, thinking perhaps who might be the next Supreme Court Justice (Kagan, who?). I even asserted my views to our lovely Senators. I might as well have been saying "waa, waaa, waaa, waa, waa." Then there was the law practice. On my way to court, I was formulating every constitutional argument I could muster. "Your honor, I respectfully submit that my client's 4th, 5th, and 14th Amendment Rights were violated." And, in fact, they had been. Ultimately, I might just say, "and in the interest of fairness and justice." "waa, waa, waaa, waa"

Now, instead of wrestling with constitutional arguments, I think about such things as "Oooh, I wonder how cooked lentils, walnuts, and onions would be blended together?" "MMM, that might be a good combination, but needs something more."

Where have I gone? I have gone home. I am in my comfort zone (except when I am negotiating with supermarket chains and large distributors for my budding business). I love feeding my kids and my husband, and feeding them well.

This is so tangible, so accessible, so real. Yes, I care about the Supreme Court nominees and some poor individual who has been unfairly treated, but the reality is that I have little control over those worlds.

So here I am controlling every slice, chop, mix, and blend. And in my control today, a recipe formulated on one of those car rides....quite inexact (I apologize) , but quite good.

Ingredients: One Spelt Right Pizza Dough fully thawed and risen. Lentils, walnuts, onions, spinach (I used frozen), one red pepper, 1 cup brown rice, fresh garlic, salt and pepper to taste. A smidge of EVOO just for browning the rice and the lentils:

Instructions: Prepare rice according to bag (I saute the rice first in a little EVOO with garlic and then add the water). Prepare lentils according to bag (you want these to be slightly firm, but fully cooked). Put 1/2 onion in food processor, add about 1 cup walnuts (inexact), add some rice (this is where the precision falls apart), add a cut up red pepper, add some brown rice, add in a few garlic gloves, the spinach (it should be damp), salt and pepper. Blend all together. YUMMM. This stuff is UGLY, but tastes so good.

We ate this two ways: One, we added a few bread crumbs made from Spelt Right bagels, and made paddies and cooked them up on the stove top with a little EVOO. The other is to take the mixture and make a fitaya. Bake at 400 until golden brown. (Check out the photos)

COMPLETELY VEGAN, fully satisfying. Better than last night's meal,

And, if I were the judge, I would say "Attorney George, you have made your case."
And my kids, they just say, "hey this isn't that bad."

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Lunch Box Chronicles:Day Twenty-Eight (Vegetarian Day 1 - Tabouli wrapped in flatbread)



Tabouli – Lebanese Salad - (Beth’s mother Helen’s recipe, modified to be wheat-free)

½ cup white quinoa (substitute for bulgar wheat). Follow directions of quinoa for cooking. Rinse and drain thoroughly.

2 large bunches of fresh parsley, cleaned, de-stemmed, chopped finely

1 cup fresh mint, cleaned, de-stemmed, chopped finely

1 bunch green onions, chopped finely

2 large tomatoes, chopped finely

1 cup frozen peas (optional)

1 tsp of salt (more or less to taste)

Pepper to taste

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil


SPELT RIGHT PIZZA DOUGH, doubled in size, cut in four even balls, stretched and rolled (gently) to its absolute thinnest so that you can see through the dough (see picture). This needs to be done on a peel or cutting board lightly dusted with fine corn meal or spelt flour.


Pre-heat oven to 450F with pizza dough in the oven. Place one very thin dough on pizza stone. Bake for only a few minutes and then flip. You need to watch these because you want them to be flexible not stiff. You can also do this on a lightly oiled hot griddle pan (I suggest cast iron)


The result will be a thin piece of delicious flexible flatbread that you can roll just about anything in.

Mix together cooked and cooled quinoa, parsley, mint, onions, tomatoes, peas in large bowl. In separate bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Toss dressing with vegetables.

Scoop tabouli salad on flatbread. Roll and cut to size you would like. Everybody absolutely loved these. Olivia's comment, "Amazing! Everybody wanted more, but mom didn't make enough bread."