Bread

The Hirshon Spicy, Cheesy and Meaty Italian-American Calzone

February 17, 2019 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

Calzone Image Used Under Creative Commons License From pinterest.com

Citizens, few cuisines evoke such strong nostalgia for the unmatched Suzerain who ALONE is TFD as Italian-American! Growing up in Brooklyn in NYC, this food was the backbone of my childhood, and few things were as delicious as the mighty Calzone!

A calzone (“stocking” or “trouser” in Italian) is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza that originated in Naples in the 18th century.

A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in an oven and is stuffed with salami, ham or vegetables, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmesan or pecorino cheese, as well as an egg. Different regional variations on a calzone can often include other ingredients that are normally associated with pizza toppings.

Traditional calzone dough, consisting of flour, yeast, olive oil, water and salt, is kneaded and rolled into medium-sized disks. Each is then filled with cheeses such as ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, provolone, and other traditional vegetables or meats.

The dough is then folded in half over the filling and sealed with an egg mixture in a half-moon shape, or is sometimes shaped into a ball by pinching and sealing all the edges at the top. It is then either baked or fried.

In some areas, just before serving, they are topped with marinara or other traditional sauce, or with a mixture of garlic, olive oil and parsley. Similar dishes are scacciata and stromboli.

Sandwich-sized calzones are often sold at Italian lunch counters or by street vendors, because they are easy to eat while standing up or walking. Fried versions of the calzone are typically filled with tomato and mozzarella: these are made in Apulia and are called panzerotti.

The Sicilian cuddiruni or cudduruni pizza is distantly related to the calzone. This is a dish stuffed with onions (or sometimes other vegetables, such as potatoes or broccoli), anchovies, olives, cheese and mortadella; the rolled pizza dough is folded in two over the stuffing and the edges are sealed before the dish is fried.

In the United States, calzones are typically made from pizza dough and stuffed with meats, cheeses and vegetables.

In Italy, as of the 1960s, calzones were popularly believed to be the most efficient type of pizza for home delivery.

This popular credence had some scientific ground as the folded nature of the calzone results in a lower surface-to-volume ratio than a traditional pizza resulting in better heat retention during the journey from the pizzeria to the buyer’s home. This results in a calzone being delivered warmer than pizza, all other things being equal.

Nowadays pizza delivery motorbikes have electrically heated bags to keep pizzas warm during the journey.

For my ultimate calzone recipe, one must start with the ULTIMATE pizza crust – and that is without question the dough created by supreme pizza maven Peter Reinhart. This versatile dough can be used to make pizza, calzones, or stromboli. It gets its great depth of flavor from a long, slow fermentation, preferably overnight in the refrigerator and for up to 3 days.

Next, I love powerful flavors and few things are as potent as my homemade puttanesca sauce made with garlic, hot pepper, anchovy, capers and olives! Mix that with several meats and cheeses plus fresh basil and you have the SUPREME calzone indeed!

Dip that heavenly calzone into marinara sauce and a garlicky herb-laden olive oil and you truly have palatal perfection!

Battle on – the Generalissimo

The Hirshon Spicy, Cheesy and Meaty Italian-American Calzone

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Ingredients

For the crust:
1 lb. (3-½ cups) unbleached bread flour; more as needed
2 tsp. granulated sugar or honey
1-½ tsp. table salt (or 2-½ tsp. kosher salt)
1-¼ tsp. instant yeast
1-½ Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil; more as needed
Semolina flour (optional)
***
For puttanesca sauce:
6 large firm, ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
4 T. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 flat anchovy fillets, minced, ideally from a glass jar (JH note – the best anchovies – by far – are the Ortiz brand, sold at Whole Foods)
1 t. hot pepper flakes
1 t. Tabasco sauce, or to taste
4 T. tomato paste
½ cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons red wine (optional)
2 T. capers, brine-packed, drained
8-10 Greek olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh oregano, fresh parsley and fresh basil, to taste
***
For the filling:
9 Peppadew peppers, chopped
½ cup or more Puttanesca sauce, plus additional for serving
2 cups buffalo (preferred) or cow mozzarella cheese, shredded
¼ cup freshly-grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
½ cup diced pepperoni
½ cup Italian sausage, cooked and crumbled
½ cup diced Virginia ham
Several leaves of fresh basil
***
Dipping sauces of tomato sauce and another made from olive oil, crushed garlic, minced parsley and minced fresh oregano

Instructions

For the crust:
Combine the flour, sugar or honey, salt, yeast, and olive oil in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add 11 fl. oz. (1-¼ cups plus 2 Tbs.) cool (60º to 65ºF) water.
With a large spoon or the paddle attachment of the electric mixer on low speed, mix until the dough comes together in a coarse ball, 2 to 3 minutes by hand or 1 to 2 minutes in the mixer. Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
Knead the dough: If using an electric mixer, switch to the dough hook. Knead the dough for 2 to 3 minutes, either by hand on a lightly floured work surface or with the mixer’s dough hook on medium-low speed. As you knead, add more flour or water as needed to produce a ball of dough that is smooth, supple, and fairly tacky but not sticky.
When poked with a clean finger, the dough should peel off like a Post-it note, leaving only a slight residue. It may stick slightly to the bottom of the mixing bowl but not to the sides.
Chill the dough: Lightly oil a bowl that’s twice the size of the dough. Roll the dough in the bowl to coat it with the oil, cover the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days (TFD note - the longer the better!).
It will rise slowly in the refrigerator but will stop growing once completely chilled. If the plastic bulges, release the carbon dioxide buildup by lifting one edge of the plastic wrap (like burping it) and then reseal. Use the dough for pizzas, calzones, or stromboli as directed in the recipes.
For the puttanesca sauce:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Toss the tomatoes and 1 clove of the garlic in 2 T. of the olive oil in a large baking dish. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly charred. Remove and place tomatoes and garlic through a food mill into a small-sized bowl. Set aside.
Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 t. salt and let it boil until ready to add the pasta.
In a large sauté pan add remaining olive oil and heat until warm. Add the last two cloves of garlic and gently cook until soft. Add anchovies and mash with the back of a wooden spoon. Add hot pepper flakes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, optional red wine, capers, tabasco and olives and cook very slowly on medium heat, stirring continuously, for about 5 minutes.
Add the roasted tomato sauce to the mixture and stir to combine, set to lowest heat. Lightly season with salt and pepper to taste.
To make the calzones:
Preheat oven to 375°. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; punch down to remove air bubbles. Divide dough into 4 pieces. Shape to balls. Let dough relax 10 minutes. On floured surface, roll each piece into an 8-inch circle.
Place basil leaves on each piece of dough, then spoon pizza sauce, cheese and toppings on top (it should only go on to half of each circle). Moisten edge of dough with mixture of 1 egg and 1 teaspoon water. Fold in half; seal edge by pressing with fork. Prick each top; brush with remaining egg mixture.
Bake on greased cookie sheets for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately with dipping sauces.

https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-spicy-cheesy-and-meaty-italian-american-calzone/

The Hirshon English Ploughman’s Lunch

January 27, 2019 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

Ploughman’s Lunch Image Used Under Creative Commons License From pinterest.com

My Citizens, it is an open secret that supreme majesty incarnate – the mighty TFD Himself! – loves complex recipes and flavors that are resonant with interwoven and harmonious blends in a true gustatory symphony! However, I also enjoy simple recipes and clean, sharp flavors as well – as best exemplified by this classic recipe of England for one of my favorite lunches!

A ploughman’s lunch (often abbreviated to just ploughman’s) is an English cold meal which is based on bread, cheese, and onions and usually accompanied by butter and some form of pickle. Additional items such as ham, hard boiled eggs and apple can also be added. As its name suggests, a ploughman’s lunch is most commonly eaten at lunchtime. The meal is particularly associated with public houses and is often accompanied with beer.

Beer, bread, and cheese have been combined in the English diet since antiquity, and have been served together in inns for centuries. However, the specific term “ploughman’s lunch” is believed to date no further back than the 1950s, when the Cheese Bureau (a marketing body affiliated with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency) began promoting the ploughman’s lunch in pubs as a way to increase the sales of cheese, which had recently ceased to be rationed. Its popularity increased as the Milk Marketing Board promoted the meal nationally throughout the 1960s.

Pierce the Ploughman’s Crede (c.1394) mentions the traditional ploughman’s meal of bread, cheese and beer. Bread and cheese formed the basis of the diet of English rural laborers for centuries, with skimmed-milk cheese, supplemented with a little lard and butter, forming the main source of fats and protein; onions and leeks, in the absence of expensive seasoning, were the “favored condiment”. The reliance on cheese rather than meat protein was especially strong in the south of the country.

As late as the 1870s, farmworkers in Devon were said to eat “bread and hard cheese at 2d. a pound, with cider very washy and sour” for their midday meal. While this diet was associated with rural poverty, it also gained associations with more idealized images of rural life. Anthony Trollope in The Duke’s Children has a character comment that “A rural labourer who sits on the ditch-side with his bread and cheese and an onion has more enjoyment out of it than any Lucullus”.

Ploughmen, like other farm laborers, generally ate their midday or afternoon meal in the fields.

The Oxford English Dictionary notes the first recorded use of the phrase “ploughman’s lunch” as 1837, from the book Memoirs of the life of Sir Walter Scott by John G. Lockhart, but this stray early use may have meant merely the sum of its parts, “a lunch for a ploughman”.

While farm laborers usually carried their food with them to eat in the fields, similar food was for a long time served in public houses as a simple, cheap meal. In 1815 William Cobbett recalled how farmers going to market in Farnham, forty years earlier, would often add “2d. worth of bread and cheese” to the pint of beer they drank at the inn stabling their horses.

The OED’s next reference is from the July 1956 Monthly Bulletin of the Brewers’ Society, which describes activities of the Cheese Bureau. It describes how the Bureau exists for the admirable purpose of popularizing cheese and, as a corollary, the public house lunch of bread, beer, cheese and pickle. This traditional combination was broken by rationing; the Cheese Bureau hopes, by demonstrating the natural affinity of the two parties, to effect a remarriage.

This implies that a “traditional combination” of bread, beer, cheese, and pickle was popular before rationing in the United Kingdom (during and after World War II). Indeed, many pubs served little else: in 1932 Martin Armstrong described stopping at village inns for a lunch of bread, cheese and beer, noting that “On these occasions in country inns when bread, cheese and beer seem so extraordinarily good, the alternative is generally nothing; and compared with nothing bread, cheese, and beer are beyond compare”.

By the 1950s the meal was certainly being referred to by forms of the name later used to promote it. In 1956, author Adrian Bell reported: “There’s a pub quite close to where I live where … all you need say is, ‘Ploughboy’s Lunch, Harry, please’. And in a matter of minutes a tray is handed across the counter to you on which is a good square hunk of bread, a lump of butter and a wedge of cheese, and pickled onions, along with your pint of beer”.

Only one year later, in June 1957, another edition of the Monthly Bulletin of the Brewers’ Society, referred to a ploughman’s lunch using exactly that name, and said that it consisted of “cottage bread, cheese, lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, cold sausages and, of course, beer”. The Glasgow newspaper The Bulletin from 15 April 1958 and The Times from 29 April 1958 refer to a ploughman’s lunch consisting of bread, cheese and pickle.

The meal’s rise in popularity during the 1970s has been argued to be at least partially based on a British cultural “revulsion from technology and modernity and a renewed love-affair with an idealized national past”. The meal was, however, primarily favored by caterers because it was simple to prepare, required no cooking, was not labour-intensive and involved no meat, meaning there was the potential of high profit margins.

The 1983 film The Ploughman’s Lunch, from a screenplay by Ian McEwan, has a subtext that is “the way countries and people re-write their own history to suit the needs of the present”. The title is a reference to the way the supposed traditional meal was apparently used as a way to get people to eat meals in pubs.

As noted on thespruceeats.com:

Although the items can vary, the contents of a ploughman’s lunch are always cold, and generally include crusty bread and cheese, plus pickled onions and chutney. The lunch may also contain a selection of cold meats, ham, maybe a slice of pate and a slice of pork pie, and sometimes slices of apple or other seasonal fruit. And since it is eaten at a pub, beer is the natural accompanying beverage.

Traditionally the cheese, bread, and pickles would be homemade by the ploughman’s wife, making it a cheap and substantial lunch. Today, a good ploughman’s lunch will be cheeses of the region and at the very least British—the same goes for the meats and other accompaniments. The bread must be a thick wedge of crusty bread or a baguette—anything less will not hold up when piled high with cheese, chutney, and pickles.

A good farmhouse cheddar (such as Pyengana, Maffra, Isle of Mull) is the heart and soul of a ploughman’s.

My Citizens, I am pleased to share my version of the classic with you – it hews closely to tradition, though I have updated it with a few ingredients that I feel are quite complimentary. Branston Pickle is a 100% necessity for this recipe, IMHO – you can buy it here. Maldon sea salt flakes are also an important element for texture and flavor – get it here. The pickled onions I most prefer for this recipe may be purchased here.

The cheese is a most critical element here – TFD prefers Neil’s Yard brand, which is typically available in the Whole Foods cheese section. Dimock Dairy White Aged Sharp Cheddar from South Dakota is a superb substitute.More about Dimock Dairy here. The butter is also important and Kerry Irish Butter makes some of the best I’ve had that is easily obtainable. The classic recipe calls for hard-boiled eggs, but I prefer deviled eggs – specifically, my recipe for them! Use either, as you see fit.

Enjoy the simplicity and savor of this classic recipe with a tall glass of beer!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

The Hirshon English Ploughman’s Lunch

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Ingredients

300g / ¾ pound wedge cloth-bound cheddar
Several tbsp top-quality unsalted butter
A small pile of Maldon sea salt flakes
A small pile of freshly-cracked black pepper
6 thick slices gammon (mild leg ham) (Virginia ham is a good substitute)
3 pink radishes, with leaves
3 pickled cocktail onions
3 cornichon pickles
2 deviled eggs (TFD change, but my preference) or 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
Top ⅓ of a leafy celery stalk
2 scallions, washed
Thick slices of a crusty artisanal bread
A goodly spoonful or 3 of Branston Pickle
1 small tart green apple such as a Granny Smith, cored and cut into slices (optional but TFD likes it)

Instructions

My preferred way to eat this is to very thickly butter a slice of bread, sprinkle on some salt flakes and pepper, then slice up the radishes and add them to the bread. Add some ham and cheese slices, spread some branston pickle on top. Close it up with another thickly-buttered bread slice, eat and enjoy with the remaining items and garnishes enjoyed separately.

https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-english-ploughmans-lunch/

The Hirshon New Zealand Meat Pie

January 19, 2019 by The Generalissimo Leave a Comment

New Zealand Meat Pie Image Used Under Creative Commons License From stuff.co.nz

My Citizens, your urbane and worldly Leader – the well-traveled and frequently airborne TFD! – is very excited to learn that He may be visiting one of the few places in the world to escape his mighty presence: the far shores of New Zealand! While (hopefully) there in May, He will be sampling many Kiwi delicacies, not the least of which are the legendary meat pies of the island nation!

A New Zealand meat pie is a hand-sized meat pie containing diced or minced meat and gravy, sometimes with onion, mushrooms, or cheese and often consumed as a takeaway food snack.

The meat pie is considered iconic in Australia and New Zealand. It was described by former New South Wales Premier Bob Carr in 2003 as Australia’s “national dish”. New Zealanders regard the meat pie as a part of New Zealand cuisine, and it forms part of the New Zealand national identity.

The Victorian pie brand Four’n Twenty produces 50,000 pies per hour and Australians consume an average of 12 meat pies per year. The average consumption of meat pies in New Zealand is 15 per person per year. The meat pie is heavily associated with Australian rules football and Rugby league as one of the most popular consumed food items while watching a game.

As noted on the culturetrip.com:

All pies, from the sweet American variety to the New Zealand and Australian savouries, can be traced back to Greece. Historians the world over believe the early pastry shells, made by combining flour and water, had Greek origins, and were then embraced by the Romans. Wealthy Romans would add many types of meats (and sometimes seafood) to their pies, which would often feature alongside the dessert course.

Eventually, the British adopted their own version of the dish: theirs was filled with different types of meat — including beef, lamb, wild duck, and magpie pigeon — and flavoured with pepper, currants and dates.

European settlement in the early 19th century brought a radical change to New Zealand’s food culture. Traditional Maori foods were not favoured by the colonialists, who preferred to maintain their customary practices in their new homeland. As such, the British ‘meat and three vegetables’ notion carved its place within the local diet – so much so, that New Zealand cuisine did not stray from Anglocentric conventions until the 1960s.

Food historian Andre Tabar, who has written a book about the New Zealand pie’s history, was able to trace the dish as far as early European settlement: a newspaper advertisement from 1863 being the earliest mention he discovered.

It is also believed the mutton pie — a speciality in Dunedin, as well as in the wider Otago and Southland regions — has existed since colonial times. In the 1970s, meat pies with melted cheese gained traction. From then onward, the Kiwi favourite continued to evolve – nowadays you can find an array of different flavours and varieties (from vegetarian options to butter chicken) in the pie warmers.

The evolution of chain restaurants and bakeries helped the meat pie thrive. In 1977, local grocery company Progressive Enterprises created the fast food restaurant Georgie Pie, aiming to add a Kiwi flair to the era’s Americanized fast food boom. The chain, whose menu consisted entirely of mass produced pies, closed down in the 1990s due to financial difficulties. McDonald’s (who acquired the Georgie Pie brand before its closure) introduced Georgie Pies to its New Zealand menu in 2013.

In 1997, a new milestone was reached. The Bakels New Zealand Pie Awards was established, and continues to run annually to this day. The accolade recognises the best pie bakers and manufacturers throughout the country, helping foster the local love affair for this well-established dish.

Awards are given for the best mince and gravy, chicken and vegetable, bacon and egg, gourmet meat, gourmet fruit, potato top, vegetarian, wholesale, café boutique, and supreme pie winner.

In present times, each part of the country has its own twist on the traditional pastry. Seafood pies can be commonly found in Auckland, Northland and Coromandel regions, while Nelson has a penchant for game-meat pies. Quality has also improved greatly. Cheap cuts of meat are no longer the norm for pie makers, who are now embracing lower-fat pastries, finer cooking methods and leaner meat cuts.

My version of this classic is based on a foundation recipe I found on gourmettraveller.co.au, although I have modified it quite a bit. One of the key changes is adding in a touch of native Maori in the otherwise firmly Anglo recipe – specifically, by adding in a hit of the incredibly peppery spice known as Horopito. You can learn about it here and buy some here.

This recipe will wow your tastebuds, Citizens – I urge you to go forth and try it as soon as possible!

Battle on – The Generalissimo

The Hirshon New Zealand Meat Pie

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Ingredients

¼ cup/60 ml vegetable oil
A bit more than 1 lb/500 gm minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped
2 large Portobello mushrooms, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and cubed
2 stalks celery, de-stringed and sliced
1 small handful parsley, finely chopped
1 small handful celery leaves, finely chopped - if unavailable, just use parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh soft thyme
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
½ tablespoon Hot English mustard (use this amount if using horopito leaves - if not, use 1 tablespoon mustard)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ tsp ground Horopito leaves or to taste (optional but strongly recommended)
1 ¼ teaspoons/7 gm Maldon sea salt flakes
3 ¾ teaspoons/20 gm cornstarch
2 ½ pounds/1.2 kg butter puff pastry
1 cup/120 gm coarsely grated cheddar
1 egg, lightly beaten
***
Rich beef stock:
1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
10 ½ ounces/300 gm beef scraps, cut into cubes
3 ½ ounces/100 gm piece of slab bacon, cut into 3cm cubes
1 onion, unpeeled, thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, unpeeled, halved
6 thyme sprigs
3 fresh bay leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
¼ cup/65 ml brandy
6 ½ cups/1 ½ liters best-quality chicken stock

Instructions

For rich beef stock, heat a stockpot over high heat, add oil (it should smoke slightly when added), then add beef and bacon, and brown well on all sides, scraping often to keep from catching on the bottom of the pan (8-10 minutes).
Add onion, garlic, vegetables, herbs and peppercorns and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender (6-8 minutes; reduce heat to medium if necessary so you don’t burn the bottom of the pan). Deglaze the pan with brandy, scraping the base of the pan, and reduce until liquid is almost evaporated (4-5 minutes).
Add 1 cup/250ml stock, reduce until evaporated (10-15 minutes), then add another 1 cup/250ml stock and repeat. Add remaining stock and simmer over low heat until well flavored (45-50 minutes). Strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan (discard solids) and simmer over medium heat until reduced to 1 ¼ cups/275ml (8-10 minutes). Set aside.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat, add minced beef and stir occasionally until cooked through (8-10 minutes), then drain in a sieve, reserving 1½ tbsp of fat. Return reserved fat to the pan, add onion, garlic, vegetables and herbs and sauté until tender (8-10 minutes), then add beef, rich beef stock and salt and bring to the boil.
Meanwhile, stir cornflour, tomato paste, Worcestershire, mustard, horopito and 1 ¾ tablespoons/25 ml cold water in a small bowl until smooth, add to beef mixture and stir continuously until sauce thickens (4-5 minutes), remove from heat and cool completely. Beef mixture can be made 1-2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to 4mm thick (if you’re using pre-rolled pastry, it will probably already be the correct thickness). Place on trays and refrigerate to rest (30 minutes).
Cut out twelve 3 ½”/8.5cm rounds (these will be the tops) and twelve 5”/13cm rounds from pastry (re-roll scraps and use for larger rounds if necessary). Line twelve ½ cup/125ml muffin tins with larger rounds and divide half the cheese among lined tins. Spoon in beef mixture (freeze any leftovers for future use) and top with remaining cheese.
Top with remaining pastry rounds, press edges together to seal and crimp with a fork. Brush with egg wash and bake until golden and puffed (25-30 minutes). Serve hot.

https://www.thefooddictator.com/the-hirshon-new-zealand-meat-pie/