Fig Jam, Asparagus & Prosciutto Pizza

Headed to wine country this weekend and I am pumped!  I love visiting small wineries, meeting the families who live and work on the vineyard and exchanging travel stories with people from all over the world.  This week's recipe pairs well with an Italian red wine such as Brunello or Barbera.
I experimented at a dinner party with the recipe swapping the tried and true tomato sauce base with fig jam.  You hit all the flavors with this pizza.  The fig is lip smacking sweet and takes the bite out of earthy asparagus.  And you can never go wrong with Parmesan and prosciutto, they love eachother.  Mangiamo amici!

Fig Jam, Asparagus & Prosciutto Pizza

Ingredients
Store bought pizza dough - whole wheat or white flour

fig jam
1 bunch asparagus
1 package prosciutto (optional for my vegetarians)
good quality Parmesan
salt
pepper
good balsamic vinegar (optional)

- Roll out the pizza dough to a rectangle or circle.
- Spread fig jam evenly across dough.
- Layer Parmesan, asparagus, and prosciutto.
- Bake at 350* for 10-15 minutes or until cheese starts to golden.
- LIGHTLY drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
- Sprinkle salt.
- Cool, cut and serve.

Lemon Thyme Whole Wheat Scones

I love scones, well all pastries for that matter.  My sister and I devoured the whole grain, buttery and flaky scones in Ireland daily last year.  But scones in the U.S. are typically super sweet and made with white bleached flour.  That is not the best way to start off a work day.
So, to satisfy my Irish pastry desires I set out to make a healthy scone.  I knew the base was going to be whole wheat pastry flour.  Do you use it yet?  It's amazing and can be used in breads, pizza dough, cookies, etc.  Go splurge on some right now or order my favorite online.
Now, what to put in the scone?
- I added toasted walnuts and almonds for a little crunch and texture. (I like textures, in my food, on my clothes, on art, anything really unless it's chocolate mousse.  Dark chocolate mousse should be smooth as silk!)
- TDH loves lemon, I mean, really loves lemon.  I experimented with the juice of two lemons and it gave the scones a bit of a kick at the end.
- Last but not least I added my favorite ingredient of Spring, fresh thyme.  My little thyme plant I bought at Sprouts was well worth the $2.50 investment, plus it looks pretty on the porch.

Alright, here's the recipe friends.  Feel free to swap out the nuts for a dried fruit or flax seeds or use a mix of flours.

Lemon Thyme Whole Wheat Scones

Ingredients
1/4 c agave
7 tablespoons milk or cream

2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c toasted, chopped nuts
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
8 sprigs fresh thyme
2 lemons, juiced

1 egg, whisked

- Preheat the oven to 400F degrees, rack in the top 1/3.
- Toast nuts in a oven or toaster oven (another kitchen essential you should invest in) for 5-8 minutes until fragrant.  Cool and chop.
- Mix agave and cream together in a small bowl.
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt, thyme and nuts together in a bowl.  Using a pastry blender, fork or your hands cut the cold butter into the flour mixture.  Mix together until the butter is the size of peas.
- Add the milk/cream mixture and lemon juice.  Mix with a wooden spatula until the dough just comes together - don't over mix.
- Flour your cutting board or countertop and kneed the dough once or twice.  Shape into a rectangle or square if you prefer square scones or into a circle and cut pieces into mini pie slices.  Cut the pieces on the smaller side.
- Line two pans with parchment paper.  Place scones on pans with 1/4-inch distance between each of them.
- Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl.  Brush each scone generously with the egg wash.  (You can skip this step if you are pressed for time but it does give the scones a shiny top.) 
- Bake for 16-20 minutes, or until golden along the bottom and tops.

Makes 20 scones.

Crushed Red Pepper & Herb Focaccia Bread

I have a confession to make.  My parents didn't cook much growing up.  We grew up on take out.  I used to be AWFUL in the kitchen.  One time I baked cookies for a boyfriend in high school and he unfortunately shared them with his entire math class.  The teacher was horrified while everyone else had to spit them out.  The boyfriend told me later that day we would hire a professional chef if we ever got married.  (In case you are wondering, we didn't get married and TDH and I do not have a personal chef.)

I'm telling you this because I don't want you to be afraid of baking your own bread.  I had no idea what I was doing the first few times.  I tend to stick to focaccia bread because you don't need to knead it or use a special machine.  The trickiest part is getting the dough consistency right.  It should be slightly sticky and damp but not so sticky it clings to your hands.  In order to help you master fresh bread I will answer your dough questions via twitter.  Send pictures, questions or new ideas to @marissaborelli. 

Now, for the recipe.  My aunt's father-in-law passed down this recipe to her and I've tweaked it over the years.  Here's the latest version, incorporating super protein quinoa, brimming with fresh herbs from the backyard and flaked with crushed red pepper.  I didn't mince the herbs much this time around.  We've been watching Jamie Oliver's cooking show lately and in honor of one of his favorite sayings, "not mucking about" I threw whole thyme sprigs in the dough.    

Ingredients

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 package yeast

pinch of sugar

3/4 c quinoa flour

2 ¼ c whole wheat pastry flour

3 c unbleached white flour

2-3 tsp salt

4 sprigs rosemary

small handful of fresh thyme

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 ¼ c water (add a little more if using whole wheat flour)

first cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil (the good stuff)

Maldon salt

1.  Whisk together yeast, water and sugar. Let yeast expand for 10 minutes.

2.  Mix flours, herbs and spices.  Add water slowly and combine with a mixer, spatula or your hands.  Dough should be slightly sticky.  If it sticks to your hands too much add more flour, if it is cracking add more water. 

3.  Drizzle extra virgin olive oil in a bowl three times the size of your dough ball.  Place dough in bowl and cover with a damp washcloth, secure with a rubberband.  

4.  Let rise until double - 1-6 hours (the bakers in Italy let it rise all morning or overnight but one hour is sufficient in a pinch).

5.  Preheat oven to 425* F

5.  Prepare a large cookie sheet or two 9x13 pans with good olive oil and sea salt on bottom and sides to prevent sticking.

6.  Stretch dough out on prepared pan or cookie sheet.  Punch holes with thumbs in dough, drizzle with olive oil and dust with Maldon salt.

7.  Bake 12-15 minutes.  

Strawberry Yogurt Pancakes

option 1

option 2

TDH loves, loves, loves pancakes, well any breakfast food for that matter.  For me, breakfast is my least favorite meal of the day.  Opposite foodies can get along in a marriage right?  :)

I’m usually rushing off to a work meeting at a Pilates, Crossfit or Yoga class in the morning.  Bars and oatmeal are quick but get old SUPER fast.  These pancakes are perfect for a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Accompaniments by region

Los Angeles ~ mimosa with a sprig of fresh mint

NYC ~ hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps

Las Vegas ~ bloody mary

St Bart’s ~ champagne

British Virgin Islands – dark 'n' stormy 

Ingredients

1 c whole-wheat pastry flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 c soy, almond, rice or dairy milk

½ c plain yogurt plus 1 cup

1 c sliced strawberries

Maple syrup

cinnamon

Steps

-       mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder. 

-       in a different bowl, combine milk, egg, and yogurt with a whisk.

-       pour liquid into flour mixture and stir together.

-       fold in strawberries.

-       heat a greased pan on medium, fry, turning once.

-       while cakes are cooking, mix 1 cup yogurt with 1 teaspoon maple syrup and smidge of cinnamon.

-       as an alternative to a normal stack of pancakes, layer a spoonful of the yogurt/syrup/cinnamon mixture between 2 pancakes.

     Serves 2-3

     They store in the fridge well, just fry em’ up briefly before eating Monday or Tuesday.  These kept me full for hours!  

toast!

view from our deck, LA can be pretty!

Rosemary Cornbread

   
          TDH was VERY skeptical of this meal.  He helped prepare it while watching sports.  (Do men do anything else with their spare time?)  Then he snacked on tortilla chips while hovering over me wondering what “else” we were having.  But halfway through eating dinner (in front of the tv, again, I can’t win!) he said “If I would have ordered this at a healthy restaurant I would have very low expectations.  But this is amazing!”  AND he’s eating seconds at this moment!  So, if you live, date or are married to someone scared of “healthy” food this is a good meal for them!   (In case you missed the salad post click here)

Rosemary Cornbread
Ingredients

¾ c whole-wheat pastry flour


   1 c fine-grain cornmeal, instant cornmeal (or instant polenta)


1/4 c natural sugar


1 tablespoon baking powder


1 1/2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt


1 c buttermilk
 or 1 c milk w/ half a lemon squeezed (I was out of buttermilk and the substitution worked just fine)

1 large egg



2 tablespoons of chopped rosemary (finely chopped if your husband complains about herbs getting stuck in his teeth, love you Jesse-bear :)

Butter for drizzling (optional)

-    Preheat oven to 350*

-       In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, rosemary and salt.

-       In a separate bowl whisk together the buttermilk and egg.

-       Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir until just combined.  Don't over-stir, it should be lumpy.

-       Bake for 25 - 35 minutes or until the edges are golden and the center is cooked through  (Test with a knife or toothpick)

-       Let cool for a few minutes if you can stand it, cut and top with a pat of butter (optional).

What to do with leftover cornbread?
1.  Cut into small chunks, toss in olive oil and bake 3-5 minutes at 350* in your toaster oven.  Homemade croutons!
2.  Crumble into a salad to add texture.  (I do this one a lot, lettuce, tomato, bell pepper and carrots is SO BORING!)
3.   Use as a crust for fish.  Top fish before baking with a handful of crumbles and Asiago cheese.