Football is here! We all eagerly awaited to see our draft skills shine in week 1.
All of the ladies and mitches had a blast at the drafts. Here are some recipe highlights:
You’ll have to wait for the pictures. My hard drive crashed with all of my data on it (pictures, music, movies, etc.) and is currently being recovered at Melrose Mac. I’ll add them once they’ve worked their heroic magic.
End calZones
for the NY draft:
Ingredients
Dough:
1 pkg yeast
¾ c warm water
½ t sugar
½ t salt
2 ½ – 3 c flour
¼ c olive oil
1 egg (for egg wash)
Filling:
3 eggplants
1 jar marinara sauce (I use Rao’s)
4 c spinach
3 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ c olive oil
1 c ricotta cheese
½ c fontina cheese
½ c parmesan
½ c parsley
1 c basil
2 eggs
1 ball fresh salted mozzarella, sliced
Procedure:
Dough:
Combine the yeast, warm water, and sugar in a cup. Mix well to dissolved and let sit covered for 5 min. (until foamy). Pour mixture into a bowl and slowly add the flour combining with a wooden spoon. Add more flour, little by little, until a dough is formed. Pour olive oil over the ball of dough and turn it so it’s fully coated. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let sit for at least an hour.
Filling:
Preheat oven to 450. Slice the eggplants lengthwise and brush flesh side with olive oil (SWOOPS). Roast eggplants in oven until cooked through (about 45 min.) Remove from oven, let cool, and scoop out the meat of the eggplants. Place them in a strainer and let the juices drain.
Over med high, heat 2 T olive oil and saute the spinach. Once the leaves are starting to wilt, add 2 T chopped garlic and stir in. Cook for 2 more min and add spinach to eggplant in strainer to drain. When the excess liquid has been removed, transfer the eggplant/spinach to a bowl and mix in the marinara sauce. Set aside for assembly.
In another bowl combine the ricotta, fontina, parmesan, remaining garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Assembly:
Preheat oven to 375.
Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Punch it down and knead it. Divide it into smaller sections (the number of calzones you want to make). On a floured surface roll each piece of dough into a circle. Scoop a little of the cheese mixture onto one side of the dough. Add some of the spinach/eggplant/tomato on top of that. Then add a layer of the sliced mozzarella. Brush the outer edges with egg wash. Fold the dough over to cover the filling. Press down on outer edges and fold dough around so it seals the filling in. Bake in the oven for an hour. Remove and let cool.
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For the LA draft we had Fourth and Incheladas! (See how I went Italian for NY and Mexican for LA…)
Two kinds: Spinach Goat Cheese in a red sauce (inspired from Bobby Flay’s recipe) and a Green Chile Shrimp and Scallop (inspired by my friend Crystal Gould’s recipe)
Spinach Goat Cheese Fourth and Incheladas
Ingredients:
Red Sauce:
3 ancho chiles
4 T olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T cumin
1 T chili powder
1 c dry white wine
2 large tomatoes, diced
2 cans plum tomatoes, pureed
2 c vegetable stock
Procedure:
Bring 2 c of stock to a boil in a small saucepan. Emerse the dried chilies, remove from heat and let sit for 30-45 min. Once the chilies are softened, remove stems and seeds. Put the chilies in food processor with ½ c of the soaking liquid and blend.
Heat some oil in saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion and cook 3 min. Add garlic and cook for 1 min. Add spices and blended ancho and cook for another min or two. Add wine, tomatoes, and the rest of the soaking stock and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Filling:
Ingredients:
1 lb. soft goat cheese
2 T garlic, minced
1 pkg queso fresco
4 T Mexican crema
1 lime, juice
4 c spinach
1 T garlic, chopped
1 T olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Procedure:
Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. (You can adjust the amount of crema needed to get the blender going.)
Heat olive oil in pan on med high and saute spinach. Add garlic, salt and pepper when spinach is starting to wilt. Stir and cook another 2- min. Set aside.
Assembly:
extra ingredients:
white corn tortillas
Parmesan cheese
Jack cheese
Preheat oven to 350
In a greased casserole dish, spoon in a layer of the red chili sauce. Take a white corn tortilla, spoon in some cheese filling and some spinach to the middle and roll the outer ends of the tortilla in to form a log. Place the roll seam side down in the dish. Repeat until the dish is filled. Pour the rest of the red sauce on top. Sprinkle the top with the cheeses and bake in the oven for 30 min.*
*For the lactards in my leagues, I used the shrimp/scallop mixture from the next recipe instead of the goat cheese and put those on one end that did not get topped with cheese.
Green Chile Fourth and Incheladas
Ingredients:
6 Poblano peppers
6 Anaheim peppers
2 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T flour
2 c chicken stock
1 c dry white wine
2 t cumin
2 t chili powder
1 t cayenne
1 lb shrimp, peeled and cleaned, chopped
1 lb scallops, chopped
6 tomatillos, halved
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 c Mexican cheese blend, shredded
2 pkg green chile tortillas
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 450. SWOOPS all of the peppers and place in a foil lined tray. Roast them until the skins are charring (turn when necessary). Remove from oven and place in brown paper bag to cool. Under cold running water, remove the skins, stems, and seeds. Chop the remaining pepper flesh and set aside.
In a med-large sauce pan on med-high heat, saute the chopped onion in the olive oil. Once starting to brown add garlic and cook another 2 min. Then stir in the flour and cook another min. Then add the stock and stir. Add roasted peppers, wine and spices and stir. Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hrs until sauce thickens.
In a pan over med-high, heat the olive oil. Add the shrimp, scallops, tomatillos, garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper and cook until the seafood is just cooked through, about 8 min.
Preheat oven to 350.
In a baking casserole dish, layer the enchiladas as follows:
Layer of green chile sauce
Layer of tortillas
Layer of shrimp/scallops
Layer of shredded cheese
Repeat all four layers
Then:
Layer of green chile sauce
Layer of tortillas
Layer of cheese
Pour any excess chile sauce on top
Bake in the oven for 30 min (until bubbly)