Swedish Bread

    Swedish bread, for me, is as essential to the holidays as is cookies.  More so.

    Ever since I can remember, my mother made this bread in December.  She gave it as gifts to neighbors, teachers and friends.  It would be wrapped in aluminum foil and donned with a pretty bow.  A tag would say:  Swedish bread- Warm in oven or toast slices.  Butter slices and enjoy.
    At home, we would eat buttered slices for snacks and breakfast.  Slightly sweet, with cardamom and almond gracing the delicately light yeast bread texture, it was everyone's favorite.
     It even won contests. One summer, my mother made a batch to enter in the County Fair bread competition.  She came home with a blue ribbon.
 

Quite honestly, I thought I put this recipe on this blog already.  I make it every year and assumed the most essential Christmas Swedish bread recipe I won would be on here already.  Well, I was wrong...

Swedish Bread

1 envelope yeast 

2 1/2 c. lukewarm water

1/2 c oil
1 c sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract

1 package dry evaporated milk

2 tsp. ground cardamom

7 c. flour (to start)

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 c. water.  Add rest of water. Add oil, sugar, eggs, salt and almond.  Sift milk, cardamom and flour together.  Add flour mixture to egg mixture one cup at a time.  Add more flour until the dough is no longer sticky.  Knead until smooth.  Let rise until doubled.  Punch down and knead again.  Cut, shape into braids.  I usually get four to five loaves out of this recipe.   Brush with melted butter and cover to allow the loaves to rise again.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or colored sugar.  My favorite is raw cane sugar mixed with cinnamon.

375 degrees - 30 minutes

Some photos of the process:

I use a kitchen aid to knead, but feel free to knead the bread the traditional way.

 Here my dough is still too sticky... have to add more flour.  The recipe says 7 cups flour but I probably add 10 (that is a guess) I just add a little at a time until it looks smooth and not sticky.  Its important not to add too much, that would ruin the bread.  When the bread feels "kneadable" to the touch its enough.

 Cardamom is the secret ingredient.  I like King Arthur flour the best.  Good ingredients make a difference.

 Dividing the bread into loaves,

Each loaf section gets divided into three.  You make a rope out of each and you braid them together.

A braid...pinch the ends to seal the loaf.

 My batch made four loaves.  They are ready to rise again.

My bread rising under my King Arthur towel.  (A gift from my mother, I intend to frame it, but its nice to cook with pretty things too.  I actually have two other dish towels from the set framed and hanging in my breakfast nook).

And hot out of the oven.  Makes the house smell wonderful!

Italian Meatballs and Sauce

So, here it is.  THE pasta sauce and meatballs my mother made every week while I was growing up.  I almost wrote marinara, but my pasta sauce is not a true marinara, because it is flavored from the meat I cook it with.

The Sauce

Sautee in pot:
One half onion diced
garlic clove diced
Olive oil (extra virgin)

Note:  My mother always added a half of a green pepper diced also.  I have experimented with fresh mushrooms too.  Not everyone loves mushrooms though.

Add:
4 large cans of crushed tomatoes
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon each of parsley, (more if fresh) basil, oregano
salt to taste

Add meatballs or other meat at this point.  One crucial ingredient, whether or not you actually eat sausage is to add hot italian sausage.  It flavors the sauce incredibly.  I add a whole package, but you can get away with only using a couple of links. You can use the all natural chicken sausages which are healthy, if you want.  Just as long as the flavor is hot italian.  I used a new gluten-free variety and they worked great.

Cook over low heat for several hours.

The Meatballs

One pound of ground beef
One egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley or 1 tablespoon dried parsley
one garlic clove minced (or a sprinkle of garlic salt)

Mix together and form into balls.  Bake in oven for 20 minutes until cooked through.  I cook the sausage at same time.  Transfer to pot of sauce.  Cook over low heat for several hours (last step of the sauce recipe above).


Note:  My grandmother Rose would throw any meat into the sauce.  Sometimes she had sauce with porkchops or chicken.  My favorite was a sauce with stuffed calamari  (no meatballs, just calamari).  It was incredible. I plan to make a batch and post the recipe if I can find a place to buy fresh whole calamari around these parts.

Jalapeno Dip

Recipe:  Jalapeno Popper Dip

6-8 slices of bacon, diced and cooked crispy

2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, soft

1 cup of mayonnaise

4-6 jalapeno's, chopped and deseeded.  The seeds will make it fiery hot.

1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup diced green onion

Topping:

1 cup of crushed crackers ( I used Ritz)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 stick of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all of the ingredients into a medium bowl.  Stir well.

Transfer to an oven proof dish. The size of the dish depends on how thick the dip is.  The thicker the dip the longer it may need to warm up.  I used this stoneware dish that is round and measures 12 inches across.  My dip is usually about an inch thick.

Stromboli

In our house, I usually make some variety of stromboli every week.

Stromboli is traditionally meat, cheese and pizza dough. 
Until recently, I made my own dough.
Pizza Dough - dissolve 1 packet yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and add 1 tsp sugar and a sprinkle of salt.   Add 1 3/4 cup warm water, 2 cups flour and 3 Tbs. olive oil.  You can add basil, pepper or whatever spices you want to the dough.  Knead (I just use my dough kneader mixer attachment on my beloved Kitchen Aid mixer.  Flatten dough into a long rectangle shape. 

That is until I started shopping at Trader Joes.  For around $1, I can buy a ball of pizza dough.  It makes it quick and easy and if I don't plan ahead, we can still eat stromboli.  Or a calzone.  Or pizza.

Once the dough is flattened out into a rectangle, layer cheese and meats.  This is asiago and salami.  But you can use ham, turkey, pepperoni or any combination of meats and cheese you like.  I also make veggie combinations.  My favorite includes sauteed spinach, mushrooms and muenster.  But if I make a veggie variety, I always make a high-test meat one as well.   The oven should be around 350 degrees and cook around 30 minutes or until browned and cooked through.  Depending on how much meat you use, the time will vary.
You must have tomato sauce to dip the pieces in as well. 

 Layering the slices of meat and cheese.

 Rolling the dough.

 Pinch the seams and ends

 Browned edges after 25 - 30 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Sliced and ready to eat.  :)

Easter Ricotta Pies (Pizza Dolce - Sweet Italian Dessert Pie)

Easter dinner was never complete without my Great Grandma Lucy Giangola's Easter Ricotta Pies.
I have been having trouble finding one of the main ingredients - citrons- locally.  So, I tried to bake it with lemon zest and juice instead.  This recipe makes two pies, so in the case that the lack of citrons is beyond detrimental to the pie, I only baked one until I check out a couple more grocery stores before the weekend.

Lucy Giangola's Easter Ricotta Pie
(She doubled the recipe and made it for every family and neighbor she had.  Apparently she must have made over 30 of these pies every Easter holiday.)

FILLING
6 eggs
1 1/2 lbs ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 jar each of citron, lemon and orange rind
combine above ingredients and beat until smooth

CRUST (it is similiar to a shortbread cookie recipe)
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
drop of vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup crisco
1/8 c. cold water
4-5 tablespoons milk

Cut crisco into flour.  add sugar and baking powder. make a well in dough and add eggs, vanilla and water into well hole.  mis and roll into a ball.  refrigerate until ready to use.  Roll out like a pie dough.
This pie is large and requires a 10 inch pie plate atleast 2 inches high.  (I used a round cake pan)
Fill with ricotta and top with a woven crust.  300 degree oven for one and half hours.  Serve chilled.
The top crust is cut into strips and woven on top, securing ends. If you want a demonstration of woven crusts, comment, and I will make a youtube video...

Note:  I actually used a prepared pie crust in my sample.  This is not really as good, but not bad either.  The original crust is like a cookie and so delicious.

Looking online, I found that traditional recipes vary with ingredients added.  One I found added the zest of a lemon, like I did and no citrons.  Some add semisweet chocolate bits instead, and some add anise liquor.  I may try the chocolate, I think it would taste like a cannoli!   

Grandma Lucy's Pizza Gain (Pastiera/Meat Ricotta Pie)

When my mother married my father, she learned how to cook some Old World  recipes which had been brought over from Italy with my great grandmother Lucy.  Lucy was a young teenage girl when she came to Ellis Island after the turn of the century.  She married my great grandfather Giovanni (John) Giangola when she was 16 and he was 26.

Every Easter, this pie (along with a sweet ricotta pie) was cooked.  It would not be Easter without it.  My mother always made this, as well.  It was called Pizza Gain by Lucy, but it is also known as Pastiera, Pizza Piena (stuffed pie), pizzachino, or Pizza Rustico. It is heavy, rich, but high in protein. A thin slice could sustain you throughout the day (and a leftover slice for breakfast is delicious!)   After the Catholic Lent, this pie was an essential part of the celebration which incurred following the fasting.

As with most of the family recipes I inherited, the measurements are never recorded precisely.  It ends up being an intuitive thing. It is how these women cooked.  This style of cooking does not work well for most of today's cooks, so I will record the exact amount of everything I used.  Just know, if you are adventurous, the types or amounts of meats and cheeses can vary, but the crust should be followed accurately, as well as the amount of eggs and ricotta. 

Pizza Gain 

Crust (you can use prepared pie crust instead, but this is a little more rustic and the texture is different, it is not meant to look refined)

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (I omitted due to using salted butter)
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter

Mix crust ingredients and roll two crusts adding extra flour if it is sticky

Filling

1 1/2 lb ricotta
6 eggs
1/2 cup grated cheese
1/2 tsp. parsley
8 oz. grated mozzarella cheese

Mix these ingredients together.

8 oz. salami
8 oz. sopressatta
8 oz. pepperoni
8 oz. sliced mozzerella
8 oz. sliced provolone (I used asiago this time and no pepperoni)

Lay down one of the crusts in a large pie pan (I used a cake pan because it needs to be 2-3 inches high).  Layer the meat, some ricotta, then sliced cheese.  Repeat until you reach the top, (atleast a total of three layers)  then cover the top with a rolled out crust.  Oven 325 for 45 minutes to an hour.  Golden brown crust and a knife comes out clean.  You may have leftover meat, it is okay if you use a little less or more than above, or if you use other Italian meats or even ham.  This was served cold from the refrigerator.  After the first day, the flavors of the meats seep through the whole pie.  I am going to see how many days it lasts though.  Three kids, two of them teenage boys (well, one is 12) and a slice of this is a great snack for them anytime of day.  Super breakfast too.

My husband gave me the encouragement I needed to attempt this.   It was the first time I am trying this recipe.

Smells amazing....

(See original recipe below)

Enjoy!

I believe that food, recipes, and time spent around the table with a great meal bonds a family.  My hopes are to include family recipes, stories passed down about family memories, old photographs of family members, and anything else I have stored away or remember. In this way, I hope to have a place for family members, both close and distant to access family traditions, recipes, and photos.  And for anyone else who is interested in the mixture of cultures from a third generation immigrant family.