Saturday, October 29, 2011

Proscuiotto and Bleu Cheese Focaccia and Snow

I walked into Costco today with my Dad and it was a cold October morning. A Nor'easter was predicted for later today. We were in the store for about an hour,  maybe longer and when we walked out it was blizzard like conditions.
Here's the deal. When it snows I need to bake bread. Not sure why but it just happens. I had started the No Knead Bread this morning but that would not be baked until tomorrow. I had seen a recipe in the Bon Appetit for Bacon and Bleu Cheese Focaccia. And I thought I had all the ingredients in the house. I put the yeast and honey in the water and let that sit for 10 minutes. I mixed the 4 1/2 cups of flour with the salt and pepper. I checked the recipe again and realized I did not have mashed potatoes. I do not even have boxed mashed potatoes! Great. After some thought, and rearranging the pantry, I decided to add polenta. Yes that's right I made polenta. It was about the same consistency of mashed potatoes so I figured it might work. The texture of the dough was very nice to work will. I let the dough rise and moved on to the next step in the recipe. Cook the bacon. I look in the fridge. I look in the freezer. I look in the freezer downstairs. No Bacon! Oh heck I have Prosciutto. So I proceed with the recipe and the result was very good. The dough was crisp and the prosciutto, well of course it was good.
 
For dinner, well lets just say it was like beat the clock. Before I started dinner the lights were flickering. Chris and I looked at each other and had visions of Hurricane Irene. I made the fastest dinner ever. Chicken Piccata, sauteed carrots and zucchini and mashed, yes mashed sweet potatoes. A nice bottle of Chianti and dinner was perfect. And the lights stayed on!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Again great choice with yummy recipes.Love foccacia;)

Mr. Bill said...

Great looking choices for supper...and be safe with that snow.