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When I saw the photo for this on the May 2008 Gourmet magazine, I knew I had to make it. How can I resist cheese? I’ve also been meaning to get into bread-making. I thought this would be a good start. Yes, I’ve made cinnamon rolls so many times, but it’s time to move on and progress towards my goals of baking a good French bread and soft pretzels.

This recipe was not one to disappoint as you can see. It smelled and tasted so good, and it has that rustic look and texture, it made us feel like we’re in the country as we drooled over it:

The dough was a bit of challenge to work with, I should warn you (or it could just be me, really). For my first time, I think I did good. I ‘cheated’ and used a rolling pin to flatten it out, instead of using just my hands. Having refrigerated the dough overnight, I was faced with a really tough dough.

You might be wondering how the cheese got ingrained in there. The two kinds of coarsely grated cheeses (I used havarti and fresh mozzarella chopped in the food processor) are lumped into one big ball — and you might cry when you realize the amount of cheese in there as you hold it, but carry on because this really is one mightily awesome food to reach your mouth — but as I was saying, so the ball is placed in the middle of the slightly flattened dough, then it’s wrapped and ‘tied’ at the top, then pushed back down to spread into an 11-inch disk. Makes sense? That was the most challenging part for me.

It’s baked for 10 minutes, then sprayed with olive oil and baked for another 3 minutes to brown. And then you’ll be rewarded with this:

I’m killing you now, aren’t I? Please, dig in!

You know what else you can use this dough for?

Pizza! Yup, I made this with parmesan, mozza, and turkey bacon. Great for snacks. The dough is comparable to the frozen pizza doughs you can buy, and reminiscent of Pizza Hut’s P-zone’s dough. Not too shabby since this doesn’t take a lot of effort as the other pizza dough recipes I’ve seen (and have been scared with).

Alright, after taunting you, here’s the the recipe:  [And Happy Friday!]

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** May 14, ERRATUM [Or where I say -- I'm so sorry!]: There was an error with the recipe I posted yesterday. The sugar and the water were lumped together under the list of ingredients. It’s supposed to be 1 cup sugar, then 5/8 cup water I’ve updated the PDF recipe as well.

In other parts of North America, it’s starting to warm up. Here in Arizona, the summer weather has already crashed the spring party with a blazing 100ºF (or 37ºC). I grew up in a tropical country (Philippines) but even this temperature is taking its toll on this South Eastern gal — super dry skin, lovely migraines, and it makes me feel super lazy (less movement = less heat). Ack. To combat this overall feeling of ick, I whipped out the ice cream maker and got this going last night:

Churning inside is a mixture of Greek yoghurt, a teensy bit of real milk (I always tease Dan about him buying skim milk, which I don’t fancy at all), pureed fresh strawberries, simple syrup, a touch of lemon and vanilla.

We don’t usually make yoghurt ice cream. However, I was inspired by Veg SF’s recipe based on David Lebovitz’s and her better-than-Pinkberry results with Greek yoghurt. I’ve never tasted Pinkberry, but with the news out there that this too-good-to-be-true source of the West Coast’s oooh’s and ahhhh’s is actually not that natural, I’d rather make my own and know everything that goes in it.

When we started making ice cream last year, we followed the instructions on the Cuisinart booklet — down to the high fructose corn syrup. If you’ve read Michael Pollan’s “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto”, you cringe as much as I do hearing/reading those four words. I stayed away from that and opted to make a thick simple syrup instead. Everything (except for the sugar) in this smooth frozen goodness is both natural and organic:

For those non-plussed about yoghurt, let me just say that Dan (the resident yoghurt-eww-er in the household) loved it. So did I.

I guess that’s what’s good about living with someone picky about food. It challenges me to stretch boundaries and look for alternatives which end up being better than if I just followed the straight and oft-taken path. Instead of just using yoghurt and sugar, I added milk and made simple syrup to add creaminess, smoothness and an even sweet taste.

You can also drizzle it with melted chocolate to satisfy the chocoholic in you:

And now for the recipe:

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To our mothers who continue to brighten our days

Even if it meant putting up with our ways

To the ones who look after us lovingly and thoughtfully

Even if we sometimes take their words and actions begrudgingly

Today’s a special day and we are honored to be yours

Through ups and downs you’ve helped us stay the course

You’ve been with us through everything

There is nothing to compare to your wholehearted giving

We could not thank you enough for — oh, where do we even begin?

To count the good things we’ve heard and learned from you and seen

All we can say is Thank You and Have a Great Mother’s Day

We hope that you know we love you today and every day.

- Dan & Joy

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I’m doing some “spring cleaning” around here and deleting doubled drafts and whatnot. I found this which I made last February. Heavens, it’s May already. Time flies and next thing I’m 30. The end. It all goes down to that. Eek.

As anyone who eats with me on a regular basis can tell you — I am not a big fan of sandwiches. I don’t crave for it, I don’t fantasize about making them, and I just don’t care for them much unless I make them at home with only a few ingredients that I really like. I could not stand piling up all sorts of stuff in the sandwich — I want to taste the cheese, the meat, the bread, and the leaves. I liken it to eating everything in the fridge in one bite. It’s not palatable at all. I know I have weird tastes sometimes.

This is my kind of sandwich, which I assume would be considered boring and conservative in a sandwich lover’s world:

A slice of muenster cheese slightly melted over freshly toasted whole wheat bread.

Topped with fresh spinach leaves.

Then a slice of folded roast beef with some freshly crushed pepper.

It’s perfect for me.

How do you make your sandwiches?

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I didn’t know about this, I just found it on Serious Eats . Here is Michael Pollan, author of “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” and “Omnivore’s Dilemma” being interviewed:

Here’s part of  the interview:

Nightline correspondent, John Donovan: “You think the average person can afford to eat well, eat food, as opposed to…”

Michael Pollan: “You know, it’s a problem. Real food cost more than edible food like substances by and large. You can do it but it will either — if you don’t have the money you’re gonna have to put more time. I think we need to begin to spend more on food in terms of money and time. I know that’s not a popular message. People like their convenience food, but this experiment about outsourcing our food preparation to the corporations has failed us. It’s left us really unhealthy, really unsatisfied, and I think it’s undermining family life and community.”

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I love Chicken Piccata — so much that get it each time when we’re at the Cheesecake Factory. Or Maggiano’s. As much as I like it, I’ve never made it before this. Yup, first time. It’s bound to happen somehow, eh? And I had my Duh Joy! moment when I realized how easy it was to make. My ’sign’ was in the free, promotional issue of Cuisine at Home, right there on page 8. Did you get this magazine in the mail, too? All I know is that these marketers sure know who to lure. We are practically magazine haven and I shouldn’t admit that because I’m trying to be more environment-friendly, remember? Having a collective of magazines to rival a salon’s is shameful. But I digress. Here’s the short of this long story:

It was delish but it could’ve been better if the reducing wine didn’t burn. I was struggling to open the chicken broth can when it was a minute before I needed to pour it in, and it wouldn’t budge. Oops. That’ll teach me to get that out of the way before cooking.

On the subject of Lemons, there was a feature on the news the other night about the lemons you get from restaurants. They tested them and one sample had salmonella! Others had fecal bacteria. Atrocious! Watch out for those lemons when you eat out!

Of course, after grossing you out I’m giving you the recipe to the Chicken Piccata. Classy me. Enjoy the dish!

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I’m back in the desert and to be honest, I haven’t cooked since I flew in. It’s been so hot I do not even want to move. But anyway, at least I had the weekend to unpack (one of my least favorite activities), watch Dan perform at an improv show (give it up for my man!), attend a Cinco de Mayo party where our friends served a fantabulous Italian feast fit for a hundred guests and we were serenaded by Mexican music (his dad is a Mariachi!), enjoy dinner cooked by Dan, and watch Iron Man (very good movie).

Now that things are beginning to go back to ‘normal’, I’ll refer back to my promise to talk more about Michael Pollan’s book, “In Defense of Food“, which have me going organic and local. I couldn’t recommend it enough to everyone who eats. Yes, that’s you…and you. It re-focused my eating to what is important: Real Food. By ‘real food’, I mean…food that actually looks like the sources of the food. Unrefined. Unprocessed. Doesn’t have incomprehensible ingredients. Y’know — like food our great grandparents recognized as food. We’ve been so focused on counting calories, carbs, fats, getting into diets, swaying along with the latest scientific studies about different nutrients, that all these have been taken out of the context of food, diet, and culture and that’s how our health troubles started to get out of hand. In fact, Pollan highly criticized the Western Diet and blamed it for all sorts of problems we have now — from obesity to heart attack. So what do we do? The author gives these three basic rules: ” Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Sounds simple, eh?

Michael Pollan provides ‘practical ways to separate, and defend, real food from the cascade of foodlike products, that now surround and confound us, especially on the supermarket’:

1) Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognized as food.

It sounds like a really conservative way to eat, as if being told to wear leggings under your skirt, but if you think about it it makes a lot of sense. Considering that my great grandparents died of old age and not from any diseases, at more than 80 years old (or almost 90 — help, mom!), and they ate food from their own garden and farm, I think this is something I want to follow.

2) Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting.

Twinkies anyone?

3) Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, c) more than five in number, or that include d) high fructose corn syrup.

Although they’re not necessarily bad for us, they are reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed to the point that they may not be what they say they are. They’ve crossed the line between food and food products.

4) Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. [Go click on the link for a 'supermarket map']

Go to the farmer’s market or subscribe to community-supported agriculture (CSA). Better yet, grown your own garden.

6) You are what you eat eats too.

This is why we should all be concerned about where our food comes from. I mean, this is basic and pretty much common sense, but we don’t usually think of it. The diet of the animals we eat affects the quality of the food we eat. Grass diets mean much healthier fats in the meat, milk, and eggs, and higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants.

7) Eat like an omnivore.

Diversify your diet. Discover new vegetables. Carrots and potatoes aren’t the only vegetables. According to people who have subscribed to a local community-supported agriculture (CSA), they’ve discovered food they would never buy on their own. I love that!

8) Eat well-grown food from healthy soils.

9) Eat wild foods when you can. [except endangered ones]

10) Be the kind of person who takes supplements.

Y’know, the kind who are more health-conscious and better educated. LEARN about your food. Don’t just mindlessly stuff yourself with it. It’s your body, so take care of it!

11) Have a glass of wine with dinner.

And you know this is my favorite. Haha. According to the book, most experts recommend no more than two drinks a day for men, and one for women. And a little every day is better than drinking a lot on the weekends. Moral of the story: have a happy hour every day. Do as I do. Oh, and drinking with food is always better than drinking without it.

12) Pay more, eat less.

Pay for better-quality food. One of the ’side effects’ is that you’ll eat less, too. Eat until you’re 80% full. Avoid seconds.

13) Eat meals.

Eat at the table. Don’t get your fuel form the same place your car does. Try not to eat alone. Eat slowly. Cook your food.

I implore you to read the book and make good decisions about your food and eating. If you already have, let me know what you think of the book!

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