Pork cacciatora

We are getting into the school year with soccer practice, band rehearsals, running kids to school events and of course, work.  I picked up the cookbook "The French Slow Cooker" with the idea that we can shorten our dinner prep and steer clear of fast food.  For us, so far, making the dinner the day before has been best.  I have to be at work for the next couple of months at 5:30 in the morning.  I can barely get my coffee and myself dressed that early, so needless to say, I am not getting up to saute some meat and veggies to go in the crockpot.  Instead I do it when I get home at 2.  It is then finished about the time Sanford gets home from work, so he can do the finishing touches.  Any way that you do it, I am happy to bring the crockpot back out.

We changed up this recipes a little, using what we had on hand.  We got home last night at 8:45, everyone was starving, so no time was taken to get a picture.  This was really tasty.  The recipe calls for country pork ribs, but we had thawed some pork shoulder so that's what we used.  It would also be good with chicken thighs.

Dry 3# pork shoulder.  Cut into slices about 1 inch thick, 1 inch wide and 4-5 inches long.  Brown in 2 tbsp olive oil.  Put in slow cooker.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour off all but 2 tbsp fat (I didn't have more than that) and brown 2 onions, thinly sliced.  Cook 10 minutes.  Stir in 1 cup tomato puree, 3 minced garlic cloves, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1/2 tsp herbes de Provence and a pinch of ground allspice.  Bring to a simmer, stir.  Pour over meat.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  Add 8 oz sliced baby bella mushrooms in the last 30 minutes.  Discard any bones, skim any fat and serve hot, sprinkled with parsley.  Serve over polenta.

Overnight pizza dough.

Here's another pizza dough which I am in love.  This one requires a little more preplanning since it is made overnight.  But, the recipe is so large that it makes 6-7 12 inch dough balls, so I have some in the freezer.  This crust was different than the last one I blogged.  It's hard to tell all the difference, because one was cooked on the grill and this was in the oven.  I still think the other pizza dough is great if you want pizza in a couple of hours, but if you have the time and are looking for a thin cracker like crust with a little chew, then this is the one.

This recipe comes from the book Rustic Italian Food.  I used King Arthur all purpose flour.  I think this flour has improved all of my breads/pizzas.  It is recommended.  If you don't have that available the book says to choose a high protein flour.  Also, I know that salt kills yeast, but I never applied that fact when baking.  I have always added the salt shortly after adding the yeast.  That is a no no.  One last thing, I measured my ingredients by weight instead of using measuring cups.  I think this is better too and thanks to my scale from inlaws, I can do it much more accurately now.

Romano Pizza Dough

Mix 750grams flour, 25 grams sugar, 3.5 grams instant yeast, 355 grams cold water, and 60 grams extra virgin olive oil in the bowl of your kitchenaid.  (you can mix and knead this by hand).  Using dough hook mix on low about 4 minutes.  Increase to med and mix another 4 minutes.  Add 15 grams of salt and mix another 3 minutes.  Dough should be very soft and stretchy.  

Cut into 6 or 7 pieces.  Put on a floured board, cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

At this point, I wrapped some in plastic wrap and they are stored in the fridge.  Let pizza that you are using sit at room temperature for an hour.  Roll out pizza to 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick.  Top and bake as you like. 

I baked the pizza at 500 degrees (preheated for 30 minutes with stone in oven) for 7 minutes.  Probably could have upped it to 9-10 minutes.

Pizza crust

My father-in-law made this pizza crust when he last visited us.  It was truly some of the best pizza crust I have ever had.  Last night we decided to try it again, but this time on the grill.  I loved it.  Here's his recipe

Put 2 1/2 cups bread flour, 1 tsp yeast and 2 tsp salt in the food processor and pulse a few times.  With the motor running, add 1 cup warm water and 2 tbsp olive oil.  Let blend 30 seconds.  Knead on a lightly floured surface for about a minutes.  Let rise 2 hours.  We divided it into 6 dough balls.  Let rest about 5 minutes.  Roll out the pizzas.  Brush with olive oil.  Place olive oil side down on hot grill.  Let cook a couple of minutes.  Flip, brush with olive oil and add toppings.  Grill a couple of minutes with the lid down.

Quick scones

The boys had a sleepover so I wanted to make a quick easy breakfast without going to the store.  These scones were not pretty, but surprisingly easy.  (The pretty ones were eaten before I got the chance).

Preheat oven to 425

Mix 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt.

Mix in 4 tablespoons very soft butter.  Mix with your fingers until crumbly.

Add 1/3 rounded cup sugar and stir.  

Add 1/4 cup butter milk and form into a ball.  Press out until about 3/4 inch thick.  Cut into circles with a glass.

Put on a oiled and floured pan.  

Brush the top with heavy cream and sprinkle with a little sugar.

Bake 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned.

Quick and easy ciabatta

This recipe came from the website www.peasepudding.com  This turned out a beautiful crusty ciabatta with very little effort.  It was so easy I am making it again tonight.

Ciabatta

In a bowl mix 500g of flour, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 1/2 tsp yeast.  Mix.  Add 450ml warm water.  Mix with dough hook for about 5 minutes.  (I added this step so that the yeast can get incorporated into the dough, so that the salt won't kill it)        Add 1 1/2 tsps salt.  Stir with dough hook for 5-10 minutes.  It's pretty soupy at this point.  Then pull on the dough and slap it back down.  Continue to do this for a couple of minutes, to create air pockets. (If you wet your hands first, instead of flouring them, the dough sticks a little less)   Pour about a tbsp olive oil over the top and allow it pour down the sides of the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise one hour or until doubled in size.  Fold into a ciabatta loaf, gently, and place on floured parchment paper.  Let rise another hour, covered with a towel.

Preheat oven to 395 degrees for 30 minutes.  Bake 30-40 minutes.