Rosemary Focaccia

A day at home with no plans is blissful for me.

Now I can get up and go with the best of them, but seriously you can put me on house arrest for a good two weeks and I will be just fine. As long as I can cook, bake, read, play the piano, organize some things and watch trashy TV it's all good in the hood for the Jersey Girl.

Our culture of never-ending plans, appointments, commitments and outings kills my spirit.

So I have encountered great insane joy when I have had the time to delve into this awesome book that has found its way into my collection: "Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts)." There are so many interesting recipes, and as soon as my glistening eyes caught sight of this focaccia recipe I read it from top to bottom and then once more. I declared this focaccia must be mine.

Isn't it totally gorgeous? I've made the focaccia twice. It's a very easy bread to conquer. It just takes time to rest and get its groove on. My son  - who is obsessed with rosemary (yay) - likes to assist with putting the dimples in the dough and placing the rosemary leaves and sprinkling with a little sea salt. 

I love making this with him! The bread lasts for several days if stored in an airtight container. It's so good with pasta e fagioli and also with chicken cacciatore. 

The next time you have some spare time on your hands and you want to get into in your kitchen, I hope you give this amazing recipe a try!

Focaccia
From "Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts)"
By Russell Norman

For one loaf:
25 g fresh yeast (or 2 x 7g fast-action yeast)
650 ml warm water
1 kg strong white bread flour (4 cups)
25 g fine salt (5 tsp.)
Extra virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt
1 good handful of small rosemary sprigs

In a large bowl, mix the fresh or dried yeast into the water and whisk until the yeast is dissolved. Add half of the strong white bread flour and use a hand whisk to beat till smooth. At this stage, your mixture will still be very wet, like a pancake batter. Leave, covered with clingfilm, until it has risen but keep a close eye on the 'tide line.' When the mixture starts to fall again (about 1 hour in a warm kitchen, longer in a cooler one), knead in the other 500 g of strong white bread flour and the fine salt. Work everything together until there are no lumps.

Transfer the dough to a warm, oiled, clean bowl and leave it to rise for at least another hour. Your dough will be getting full of itself by now so you need to knock it back and teach it some discipline. Repeat this step (rising and knocking back) twice more only if using fresh yeast. Now your dough is ready to use or it can be covered and refrigerated overnight.

Oil your hands and a greaseproof-paper-lined baking tray. Take the dough and manipulate into a large dome. Place on the tray, smear a generous amount of olive oil over the top, cover in clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place.

Preheat an oven to 200 degrees Celsius/Gas 6 (or 400 degrees Fahrenheit). When the dough has increased in size by one third, remove the clingfilm, oil your hands and lightly press your fingers into the dough so that you leave dimples in the surface. Scatter with sea salt and rosemary, pushing the sprigs into the dough.

Bake the dough in the preheated oven until golden brown (about 1 hour but you should check at 45 minutes). To test the bread's 'doneness', tap it on the bottom - it should sound hollow.

The Seven Emotions of Wasting Food

Throwing out uneaten food prompts waves of emotions for The Jersey Girl.

Guilt: Well, with the Italian-Catholic thing I have going on, that's a given. Let's be real, I feel guilty about everything, including that package of mushrooms dying in my refrigerator. But I'm not feeling too bad about my next glass of wine.

Denial: These four quarts of decaying strawberries, 3 gallons of expired milk and disgusting package of Perdue chicken nuggets that I would only feed my kid if hell froze over are not really here. 

Stress: The starving kids in the world, the waste of money. God, how did I let this happen?!?

Buyer's Remorse: I am never ever ever getting suckered into buying this much shredded cheese on sale ever again. Ever. Ever.

Anger: I cooked this slop, and no one ate it. Damn you, people. I'm so moving to Paris and NEVER coming back. See who feeds you ungrateful fools then.

Relief: I mean, honestly. I've been looking at this Tupperware container of uneaten soup for a week now. Good riddance.

Joy: Yay! My refrigerator is all clean and there's open space for my culinary delights.

The End.

Until it happens again next week.

A drama queen I am not, but am I the only gal out there who vows each week to stop wasting food? Between feeding a bottomless pit of a toddler and a very hungry husband, let's just say the Jersey Girl can be a bit overzealous when food shopping. But sometimes all the planning in the world just leads to more food getting ditched. Especially when your kid ate a banana every day last week, but is now currently practicing a banana hunger strike.

That's why a recipe like Greek Panzanella is SUCH a keeper. For one thing it's a Barefoot Contessa number, so you know it's good. And it lets me use up the stale bread cluttering up my cupboard, which is pretty much a given in mia cucina. The veggies are staples in my produce bin: Cucumbers, bell peppers, grape tomatoes. The rest of the ingredients are always on hand except olives because The Husband does not dig olives. Eyeroll.

But the moral of the story is: It's a grand plan to have some recipes that use up the goods you got when you got em so that you're not chucking decaying matter from your refrigerator or pantry while going through the wasting-food-spiral-of-emotions. It's a preventative measure if you will.

The flavors of this dish are a great reminder that spring and summer are just around the corner.

Yay!

Greek Panzanella
From "Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?"
By Ina Garten
Serves 6

3/4 cup good olive oil, divided
6 cups (1-inch) diced rustic bread
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 red bell pepper, seeded and large-diced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and large-diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
2 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 pound good feta cheese, 3/4-inch-diced
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large (12-inch) saute pan until hot. Add the bread and sprinkle with salt and pepper; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Set aside.

Place the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl and toss together.

For the vinaigrette, place the vinegar, garlic, oregano, mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl and whisk together. Whisking constantly, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil to make an emulsion.

Add the feta, olives, and bread to the vegetables in the bowl, add the vinaigrette and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes for the flavors to develop. Season to taste and serve at room temperature.

Please note: The Jersey Girl used red pepper only and she omitted the olives.

That Girl

You know those annoying posters on food Web sites who say they made the recipe BUT they changed this, this and that? God, those people are the WORST.

Yeah. I'm THAT girl today.

So the recipe I'm rockin' out to y'all involves grilled bread, but The Jersey Girl lives in a grill-less house. Say what?!?

I know.

It's a long, boring story that I've probably mentioned previously on my dusty blog. In a nutshell, The Jersey Girl's humble abode stands atop Jersey land that is surrounded by blueberry fields (natch) and when the wind howls across our terrain, it's pretty fierce and strong and insanely loud and it decided to take down The Husband's shiny meat-cooker one too many times. Therefore, my better half's cooking pride and joy swims with the fishes in a Jersey landfill somewhere over the rainbow. Of course a grill will be in the mix, when Deck Project Jersey Girl Style 2013 comes to fruition. (See, Husband. I'm writing about the fantasy deck to make it seem.... real.)

So I made my Grilled Bread with Prosciutto by using the oven's broiler. It's totally fab as are all the Barefoot Contessa recipes that I try. Totally recommend with a glass of wine. Really, what doesn't go with some vino, that is the question. Serve at your next cocktail party, mmmmkay?! Cause you know, parents of toddlers are ALWAYS throwing cocktail parties. (With themselves and Elmo.)

I am including some pics of the yumminess as well as my almost-2-year-old yumminess, Evan. He's been loving the whole Halloween scene. He rocked his pirate costume three times. (Totally worth the dollas. Thanks, Party City!) And we took him on a hayride extravaganza in Egg Harbor City on the Saturday before Hurricane Sandy. The romp in the hay - awesome; the storm - not so much.

In case you were wondering, all The Jersey Girl familia is safe and sound.

Grilled Bread with Prosciutto
(Makes 6 slices)
From "Barefoot Contessa How Easy is That?"
By Ina Garten

6 slices good Tuscan round bread, sliced 3/4 inch thick
1 large garlic clove, cut in half
Good olive oil
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, torn in pieces
2 ounces smoked mozzarella, grated
3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

Prepare a charcoal grill with medium-hot coals or turn gas grill to medium-high heat.

Grill the bread for 2 minutes until golden on one side. Place the bread grilled side up on a platter and immediately rub the cut side of the garlic clove over the surface of the bread. For really garlicky fettunta, rub hard. Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over each slice of bread.

Place the torn prosciutto over the grilled side of the bread and top with the grated mozzarella. Return the bread to the hot grill, cover the grill, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes - just long enough to melt the cheese and rewarm the toast. (Be sure the vent is open so the fire doesn't go out!) Drizzle with a little more olive oil, sprinkle with parsley, salt and pepper and serve hot.

Please note: The Jersey Girl made her toasts using her oven's broiler.

Crouton 101

Homemade Croutons are served.

Stale bread is often destined for the trashcan.


The reality is fresh bread is a star – for a day. After 24 hours, it has often lost its luster.

But you can alter the course for your day-old loaf with a few basic tools and ingredients. With a knife, a pan, salt and pepper, and a bit of olive oil, you can transform that boring bread into a masterpiece: Homemade Croutons.

Your family and friends will thank you.

So will your soup and/or salad.

Any type of bread will do, although those with a crusty crust work best, IMHO.

Cutting up your bread is the first step to making delish Homemade Croutons.

Sometimes, I throw in a crushed clove of garlic for a kick.

So, here’s the formula for Homemade Croutons. You can store them up to five days in a Ziploc bag.

Homemade Croutons
(Makes four to six servings)

2 cups stale bread, cubed into ½-inch to ¾ inch pieces
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 clove crushed garlic (optional)

Over medium high heat, preheat a large, wide pan.

Add olive oil.

Add bread. Season with salt and pepper. Add garlic, if using.

The bread cubes do their thang in the pan. Have patience!

After a few minutes, gently toss the croutons with a spoon or tongs. Repeat a few times until croutons are toasty, golden brown and fragrant.

Serve with your favorite soup or salad.