Calzone for Two

Once again, we start with the boule...

I had just an apple sized amount left in the refrigerator so I decided to try a calzone recipe from my artisan bread book. 

The quandary was the lack of ricotta in my kitchen. I thought for a moment and decided upon my tweak for the day... Silken tofu! So, here is what I came up with:

• 1/2 c. silken tofu
• generous tbsp of plain yogurt
• a palm full of grated fresh mozzarella
• salt & pepper to taste

Mix this up (roughly, no need to overdo it or it may get soupy). Heat the oven to 425º with the pizza stone and an empty boiler tray on the rack below it (like when you bake an artisan loaf). Roll out your dough on a lightly floured surface until it is nice and thin. Let it rest for a bit while you finish up the filling.

Sauté some fresh spinach in olive oil and garlic (I used the garlic infused oil I mentioned here) until the spinach is wilted. Dispose of any liquid that you may get in this process then fold the spinach into the tofu. Go back to the dough and roll it out some more if you need to. Place the dough on a well floured pizza peel (or use fine cornmeal if you like).

Layer some salami (or whatever you like in yours) on half of the dough, leaving 1/2-1" border. Spoon the filling on top of the meat. Using a brush or your fingers, wet the border then fold the empty half of the dough over. Press the edges together firmly then make a few slits in the dough with a serrated knife.

Slide the calzone onto the hot pizza stone and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden. Slice it up and ENJOY! Be careful though, the filling is HOT.

Music From a Tree

Thanks for sharing this one, Jay. You should just be called the Inspiration Station.



For those that love rhythm, strings, recording, or musical creativity – check out Diego Stocco's Experibass!

Taters & Plums

We have potatoes! My husband was "cleaning up" the compost pile last week and pulled out a volunteer potato plant. He wasn't sure what he would find since he had transplanted the potato from a different place (we made room for other things but the potato decided to grow anyway). We have more potatoes coming, but they are in pots on the patio.

These beautiful red potatoes disappeared that very night after we roasted them.

volunteer red potatoes

PGE 2011 has been pretty fun. Those peas are still growing tall -- not producing much right now, but still growing and there are still flowers so I'm assuming we'll get a few more peas out of them. We have volunteer tomatoes, squash (or cucumber, not sure which), onions and shallots sharing the pea pots, so as soon as the peas are done there will be something to take over the soil.

What am I most excited about? Something that is NOT on the patio. These babies right here! They're green right now, but before we know it we'll be knee deep in sweet-tart red plums (and elbow deep in our sorely missed plum preserves).

red plums (not quite red yet)

Ooh, bonus cicada for you on the right. This could be the one I almost sat on today in the car. Or, the one that flew into my windshield as I pulled in the driveway. Or, the one that decided it wanted to be in my face and my hair while loading my kids in the car. Or, the dead one that was on the play set today...

This little guy thinks he should eat everything round he finds on the ground.

Afternoon Snack Attack: Truffles and Muffins

Yes, that's right. I said, truffles and muffins. Since I've been so excited about the little things lately I'm going to start sharing my favorite afternoon snacks with you (well, technically the cookie post was the first).

My buddy ol' pal, girlfriend for life, BFF, la la la la la (she's a bombtastic friend) gave me a parting gift when I left California. To put it plainly, she sacrificed an extra jar of heaven. She has been totally in love with all things truffle and thankfully, she has shared this passion with me.

After melting a tablespoon of butter in a pan, I added garlic and salt. I took some leftover whole wheat spaghetti and tossed it in the butter, then took what looked like a smidge (maybe 1/2 teaspoon) of this Le Trifole and tossed it with the pasta in my plowl (that's what we call the hybrid plate-bowls in our house).

JUMP UP & DOWN HAPPY – that is what I called that dish. I immediately sent my friend a text message to thank her once again for that delicious jar of wonder. Oh, we've used it on plenty of things since I've been home... This is just one of those things that blissfully highlighted the flavor.

No, I wasn't satisfied with a bowl of pasta for my afternoon snack. My daughter and I baked an adaptation of Bananaberry Muffins from Raising Homemakers. We took their recipe and replaced one of the bananas with 1/2 cup plain yogurt.

To use my husband's reaction, they were "Deee-LIGHT-ful!" This is a very moist muffin that did not disappoint. Mind you, I've been trying to bake a good blueberry muffin for a few years now. I've tried different recipes from reliable sources but this one seemed to be the crowd pleaser. I guess experimentation with substitutions pays off!

Enjoy your afternoon snack!