Cubano

Cuban Meat Stuffing

Sometimes I just hanker for Cuban food!, so this week I am revisiting what my mother called “Cuban meat stuffing”, which is actually a dish called Picadillo. It originated in Spain but as immigrants of that country brought this dish to the America’s… the main land and each of the Carribean island’s put its own spin on this recipe. This  is typical of the Puerto Rican and Cuban culture. My mother taught me to make this when I was a kid but the first time I made for her she told me I made it better than her!!! Continue reading →

Blackbird Black Olive Bread

I was making black olive bread, and the song Blackbird by the BEATLES kept playing in my head. I mixed a couple of different black olives.

Mediterranean Black Olive Bread Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 teaspoon Active dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

3 cups bread flour

1 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the yeast and warm water. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let proof for at least 5 minutes.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine salt and the bread flour. Mix on low, with the paddle attachment, just to combine.

Add the yeast water mixture and mix on low until a shaggy dough forms.

cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a warm place for 10 t0 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Place 4 qt dutch oven in preheated oven, without lid, for 30 minutes.

Turn dough onto floured surface and roughly press dough into a flat rectangle. Sprinkle 1/3 of the chopped olives. Sprinkle 1/3 of the chopped olives on top and fold once, hiding the olives and pressing down again to form another flat shape. repeat 2 more times until you have used up all the olives. Then form a ball with floured hands. Let rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours until doubled in size.

Once the dutch oven has preheated, transfer the dough ball into the heated Dutch oven. Cover with the lid and bake uncovered, for 15 more minutes until golden brown.Remove from oven place bread on a wire rack and cool for at last 15 minutes before slicingFabulous!!!Blackbirds are singing !!!

Andrew and I had dinner at Mario Batali’s new restaurant in the world trade center a couple of weeks ago .Osteria della Pacia It was inside of Eataly

Lovely