Panzerotti…it’s another Thunder Bay thing…

 

Panzerotti is something impossible to buy here, but easy enough to make at home…..so when we have a batch of oil around for deep frying, this is always on the to do list.  They are like a pizza pocket with toppings inside, deep fried, and sauce to cover the outside…..With the turkey shortage this year…who knows it might a good day for Panzerotti  If you like Bannock….this could be life changing for you…

Pizza Dough

1 1/3 cup warm water

1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

3 1/2 cups flour (435g)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

Add yeast to warm water with a pinch of sugar, and let sit in a warm place for 10 minutes to ensure the yeast is active.  Add all remaining ingredients and mix and knead either by hand or in a stand mixer with dough hook until smooth.  About 5 minutes in a stand mixer.  Let sit aside covered to rise in a warm place.

Filling Ingredients 

Mushrooms, sliced

Green peppers, sliced

Onion, sliced

Ham, sandwich sliced

Mozzarella cheese, grated

These are the typical fillings although you may add or leave out what you like.  A single Panzerotti will hold about 4 mushroom slices, 1/2 slice of ham, 2 rings of onion, 1 ring of green pepper and 1/4 cup of cheese.

When the dough is ready, divide into 6 portions. Roll out one portion to a 6 inch circle and place toppings on one side.  Fold the uncovered dough over and pinch edges well to seal into a half moon shape.  Deep fry about 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and remove to paper towels to drain any excess oil.  Serve with your favourite marinara sauce warmed, over the top.

We just use a tin of tomato sauce, a splash of lemon juice, enough sugar to diminish the acidity, a pinch of parsley, basil and oregano and heat briefly until it has thickened slightly.

 

 

 

King Arthur Sourdough ..No Knead for Patrick

 Pandemic bread was a thing these last few years.  It has the benefit of tasting pretty good and also of being pretty foolproof.  My biggest issue was keeping the starter alive since I don’t bake frequently enough to keep the starter alive without wasting a lot in discard.  I found a cheater recipe for the starter that has worked well for me.  I can get a starter going and ready to use in only two days.  Once I have a starter going, I usually keep it going for a few months….but eventually I forget it, or go on a trip …..and I’ve left it too long…..so I just start over. I use this quick starter from over here at Cappersfarmer.com.  Once you have an active sourdough starter…..I really liked the instructions and recipes from King Arthur Flour right here.  The basic recipe makes a nice traditional sourdough.  If I want to make a little more of a European Rye…..I alter their basic recipe as below….

Light Caraway Rye

1 cup (227g) fed and active starter

1 3/4 cup (397g) water Luke warm

4 cups (480g) unbleached flour

1cup (120g) dark rye flour

1 Tbsp (18g) salt

2 tsp molasses 

1 Tbsp caraway seeds

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and follow directions for stretch and fold as per King Arthur site.  This amounts to…pulling all the ingredients together into a shaggy ball using a dough whisk or wooden spoon.  Leave to sit covered to rest and allow the gluten to develop for 1 hour, then give the dough 4 stretch and folds before covering and repeating 3 more times.  Then cover and let rest in a cool place for 8-24 hours.  The longer you let it rest, the more pronounced the sourdough flavour becomes. I usually begin making bread after supper, so the long rest occurs over night.  In the morning I get up and set the bowl at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaping.  I then put the shaped loaf upside down in a covered floured banneton for an hour.  Heat your oven to 500F.  Once it has heated, turn your loaf right side up onto a piece of parchment, slash the top and place it with the parchment into a cast iron casserole with lid and put in the oven.  Immediately turn oven down to 450F and set timer for 40 minutes.  At 40 minutes remove the lid and continue baking until the loaf reads 205-210F.  Remove from oven and pull out loaf using the parchment and set on a wire rack to cool.  Cool loaf before cutting.

Hoito Pancakes

 

Not living in Thunder Bay means missing out on some really good local food.  Along with missing Coney Dogs, and Panzerotti we also miss Finnish Pancakes.  We have eaten many at the Hoito and at Kansas Sauna over the years and they continue to be fairly common for a weekend breakfast here at home….so far from Thunder Bay…. Be warned, to get them nice and brown…you need a generous amount of butter and a nice hot pan.  I have made them on an electric fry griddle but have over the years changed to using a nonstick pan on the stove.  What ever you use, the pan needs to hot enough to brown the butter before you add the batter.

Finnish Pancakes ( recipe makes two  large pancakes enough for 1 adult…scale up the recipe to make more)

1 large egg beaten

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup milk (whole or 2% work fine)

1/2 tsp sugar

Pinch of salt

Butter for frying (not margarine)

Add half of the milk, all of the flour and salt and sugar and whisk smooth.  If you don’t get every little lump out it’s no big deal.  Add remaining milk and mix it in.

Heat your pan with a good  teaspoon or more of butter and let the butter melt, bubble, and brown.  Once the butter is browned…pour in half of your batter (it will be quite thin) into the centre of the pan.  You may need to add less if your pan is small.  Only add enough batter so that it does not start pooling thicker. So only enough batter that it reaches the outside edge of the pan and no more. Once the bottom is browned (you can check under an edge to have a peak) the top should no longer have flowing batter, it should be firmed up….then you can flip your pancake and it should finish cooking in about 30 seconds.  Remove to a plate and add more butter to cook the next pancake as you did the first.  You may need to adjust the temperature down slightly after the first pancake especially if you are using cast iron a it holds the heat very well.  Serve with maple syrup, or table syrup, or strawberry sauce with whipped cream, or with apple stroop. 

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

 Peanut butter sheet cake seemed to be very similar to a chocolate sheet cake recipe that I really liked.  I ended up making half of the recipe below and it perfectly fit my 1/4 sheet pan.  It is very peanut buttery and goes well with a glass of cold milk.

Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

Cake

2cups flour

2 cups sugar

1tsp. Salt

1 tsp baking soda

1cup peanut butter 

1 cup butter 

1cup water

1/2 cup buttermilk 

2 eggs 

Frosting

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

6 Tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a half sheet pan, 13”x18”. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside. In a 2 quart sauce pan on medium heat, bring peanut butter, butter and water to a boil and set aside off of the heat.  Add buttermilk and beaten eggs to the peanut butter mixture and stir in.  Add in dry ingredients and mix to a smooth batter.  Pour into prepared pan and level off the batter.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (If you make a half recipe check cake at 15 minutes)

When cake is removed from oven immediately make the frosting. Heat the peanut butter and butter in a saucepan to melt.  Add milk and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and icing sugar beating until smooth.  Pour the frosting onto the still warm cake and quickly spread frosting before it begins to set up.