Caprese Salad Recipe

So simple and elegant the Insalata Caprese is, no? I simply love diving into this classic salad straight from the Campania region of Italy, and this year's crop of Virginia's own Hanover tomatoes has elevated the easy insalata to new heights. Maybe it's the beauty of a good summer drought that made our 2011 tomatoes so strikingly sweet and acidic, but whatever the mystery conditions are, I'll say this, they're equally tasty sandwiched between two slices of white bread spread with a couple of tablespoons of Duke's mayo as they are beautifully layered between fresh basil and mozzarella.

So, take your pick on how to maximize the last of this year's bounty, but if you decide to tackle the Caprese, here are a few basics to make this already simple salad even better (as if that's possible).
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2011 Hanover County Firefighters Crab Feast

What do you get when you bring together all-you-can-drink Bud Light, classic rock cover bands and more steamed blue crabs than you can count? A full blown party, that's what.

I happened to win tickets to this crabby party from Sports Radio 910 (and I never win anything) so we simply had to go. Plus, I love picking whole blue crabs more than I can express in words, but the short of it is, the mere act of prying out tiny morsels of sweet crab meat literally involves hours of eating and drinking, and I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday.

On advice from others, we got there just after the gates opened, so it was quiet, but the deal is this. Gates open at 1:30 for hot dogs and beer, and the crabs don't start arriving en masse until 2pm where you can eat yourself silly until 6pm sharp. For $30 per person it's a bargain all-you-can-eat affair with diners scoring table spots (or reserving tents) early. There are no tickets sold at the gate in order to make sure there's enough vittles for everyone, which was a great way to ensure everyone got their fare share of crabs. Since we got there right when this shindig opened, we figured we'd grab a beer, take a seat and then patiently wait, mallets in hand, for piles of steamy crabs to land in our laps.

WRONG.

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Authentic West Virginia Pepperoni Roll Recipe

Pepperoni rolls must have a generous grease stain.

My great-grandfather was a foreman in the West Virginia mines near Welch, and he was responsible for a large group of men, many of whom who had immigrated to West Virginia in the early 1900's in order to find steady work with then booming King Coal. It’s estimated that during this time over 27 different nationalities were represented throughout West Virginia with nearly half of this population originating from southern Italy. By 1910, there were more than 17,000 Italian immigrants throughout the state. In fact, there were so many Italians living and working in the West Virginia mines, that for a time, the Italian government maintained a consular office in the northern part of state to oversee their interests.

From a culinary standpoint, many West Virginians were, in turn, introduced to traditional Italian cooking for the first time in their lives, including my family, who hail from Bluefield, Princeton and Fairmont. Homemade meatballs, peppers slow cooked in tomato sauce, cream cakes, and slow-cooked tomato “gravies” laden with beef, sausages and pork served atop steamy spaghetti were commonplace at our dinner table and still are today. Yet, there’s one particular delicacy that defines the Italian melting pot that is West Virginia—the pepperoni roll.

The story goes like this. Italian miners, like all miners back then, needed something non-perishable and easily portable to pack into their lunch pails (or pants pockets) as they often worked very long hours deep inside the mines. For many Italians, lunch frequently consisted of a piece of bread stuffed with couple of pieces of cured meat. It wasn’t long before an entrepreneurial miner in Fairmont, W.V., Frank Agiro, decided to experiment with baking a couple of bits of salumi inside of a yeast roll and thus, the pepperoni roll was born. Not soon after, Agiro put down his pickax and opened the now famous Country Club Bakery, which is still in operation today.

Pepperoni rolls stuffed with Oliverio Peppers are indeed "almost heaven".

Consisting of a couple of strips of spicy pepperoni enrobed in a slightly sweet dough, this convenient treat has a dizzying array of variations. My grandmother in Fairmont insists on chopping her pepperoni into small pieces before mixing the bits into her dough while my mother is a proponent of hand-slicing thick chunks of pepperoni and then wrapping the sticks of meat with a dense potato yeast roll dough. Other variations include stuffing the rolls with mozzarella cheese, onions, marinara and/or sweet peppers cooked in tomato sauce.

However you choose to slice or dice your pepperoni roll, a few fundamentals remain. One, a yeast-risen bread dough is essential to doing it the West Virginia way (not pizza dough since that's a stromboli). Two, you must be generous with the pepperoni. No chintzing. Finally, and most importantly, somewhere in each of your rolls there must be a decent ‘roni grease stain, although often this takes care of itself (see number two and note the photo at the top of this page).

Here is the recipe for pepperoni rolls that we've been making in our family for years. The dough is a little bit of work but well worth the effort.

Authentic West Virginia Pepperoni Roll Recipe
Makes about 20 rolls

Ingredients

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
½ cup of warm water
½ cup plus ½ teaspoon sugar
1-2 white potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
½ cup of shortening
1 teaspoon of salt
1 egg
7 to 8 cups of A.P. flour
1 ½ sticks of pepperoni, cut into matchsticks (about 1 pound total)

For the glaze:
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg

Instructions

Mix yeast, warm water and the ½ teaspoon sugar in a bowl and let stand at room temperature for 45 minutes. It will get foamy. Cook potatoes until tender in about three cups of water (enough to make approximately 2 ½ cups leftover potato water). Mix your cooked potatoes and 2 ½ cups potato water in a blender. Add the ½ cup sugar, shortening and salt, and blend well. Add your egg and blend 5 seconds more.

Cool mixture to lukewarm. Then pour the mixture into a big bowl and add the yeast mixture. Slowly add 4 cups of flour and beat until smooth. Add 3 to 4 more cups of flour and knead until the dough is fairly stiff but still a little sticky. Place dough in a large greased bowl and cover it with plastic. Then cover your bowl with a wet kitchen towel and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. (Note: the dough will keep in the fridge for 5 to 6 days. Be sure to push down the dough at least once per day.) You can also rise you dough for 2-3 hours in a very warm room or an oven proofer.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Turn dough onto a floured board and cut into quarters. Continue to cut into roughly 20 pieces (you can make 40 smaller rolls for appetizers if you like). Take a piece of the dough and push it flat. Then place a couple of pieces of pepperoni in the middle (overlapping and not stacking) and roll it up. Pinch the ends of the dough to hold the pepperoni inside. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat until you’ve used up all of your dough and pepperoni.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and sugar. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Add your egg and mix well. Brush rolls with this mixture and then bake them until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.

For a much quicker version of this recipe, use hot dog buns or hoagie rolls (or use frozen dough to make the pepperoni rolls). With purchased buns, simply fill them with strips of sliced pepperoni, sliced peppers in tomato sauce and mozzarella, and bake as above.




All photos and text ©2014 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission Pin It Now!

Hanover Tomato Porn

While some people prefer regular people porn, I much prefer tomato porn, Hanover tomato porn to be exact, and I like mine drizzled in olive oil, splashed in cider vinegar and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. Oh, and the cucumbers put on quite a show as well, so pull up a chair and enjoy this little summer peep show.

 

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission Pin It Now!

Hawaiian Tuna Poke-- Real Onolicious Grinz

Tuna poke w/Hawaiian kettle chips for crunch

The first time I ever tried Hawaiian poke (pronounced pokē) was in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. We were there because my husband, Tim, had qualified for the Ford Ironman World Championships which, as you can imagine, is a story in and of itself. Much of our first week was spent resting and relaxing before the race since, as some of you may or may not know, Ironman Hawaii is a grueling 2.4 mile ocean swim, followed by a 112-mile bike and finally, a full 26.2 mile marathon. It's an all-day intensely grueling race in unbearable heat and is not for the faint of heart, so anyone who dares to compete in it (a la my hubby) must monitor their diet and rest accordingly (which meant for us, no raw fish goodies).

Tim starting 26.2 miles after 112 mile bike. He so crazy.

After the race was another story. In addition to consuming plenty of Kona Longboards, Tim was free to indulge in plenty of local cuisine (a.k.a local kine), and in addition to gobs of sushi, bulgogi, adobo, Kalua pork, Spam musubi, lau lau, pancit noodles, even the infamous loco moco, a heart-attack inducing combination of two fried eggs, two fried meat patties, resting atop rice and mayonnaisy mac salad that's then smothered in gravy, we ate loads of tuna poke.

Poke is a Hawaiian pupu (or appetizer) consisting of diced raw tuna, shoyu, fresh grated ginger, onions (Maui onions and green onions) and sesame oil. There are numerous variations to this basic theme including the addition of ogo (seaweed), furikake (a seaweed and dried fish combo), kukui nuts, wasabi, masago, mayo...the list goes on and on. Even better, poke can be found anywhere and everywhere, from grocery stores to gas stations, and this ain't half-ass road stop food. The poke we sampled as we drove all over the island was delightfully fresh with a creamy texture that only raw tuna can provide. It was positively addicting, especially when eaten with a bag of salty potato or taro chips.

Naturally, really fresh sushi-grade tuna (preferably yellowfin) is essential since this dish is 100 percent raw, so opt for the best you can find. As far as other ingredients go, you can use your imagination or reference legendary Hawaiian Chef Sam Choy's book simply titled Poke which is chock full of poke recipes, and not just tuna. Chef Choy includes an array of versions, from lobster poke to steak poke.

To really enjoy this Hawaiian delicacy, have yourself a poke party and throw in a couple of tuna maki, spicy tuna and avocado rolls for good measure. It's a light, fun-to-make, summery meal that gets everyone involved. Scroll down for a basic poke recipe and feel free to make it your own with the addition of nuts, seaweed, red chiles, avocado, even chopped Hanover tomato. It's totally up to you.

 Classic Hawaiian Poke

(Serves 2)

1/2 pound sushi-grade tuna, cubed

2 tablespoons soy sauce or shoyu

2 tablespoons green onion, minced

2 tablespoons sweet onion, diced

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Dash of garlic chile sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame

                                                      Hawaiian red sea salt*, to taste

Mix all ingredients except sea salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cover and refrigerate for two hours. Spoon poke into martini glasses with a sprinkle with sea salt. Garnish with Hawaiian kettle chips or taro chips.

*If you can get your hands on real Hawaiian sea salt, do so. If not, any coarse sea salt will do.

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission Pin It Now!