Mariooch's Kitchen

As with any homemade bread recipe, it takes time and patience. You need time to let the dough rise in a warm place. I have very fond memories of cooking with my grandmother in her kitchen. She would make the dough and cover it tightly and then let it rise. I remember in those days, my grandma and aunt would send the dough out to the local bakery or pizza place, because the dough was so big because it had too feed many children and extended family members. This is a nice twist on Italian bread. It’s made with white flour and whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour provides a rich foundation for the olives, so it’s just as beautiful as it is delicious.

Combine the white and whole wheat flour in bowl. Add the salt and mix well. Then in a measuring cup add 1 cup of warm (must be warm) water and mix in the active dry yeast. Once it is thoroughly blended, create a well and add it to the middle of the flour. At this time I will add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and about another 1/2 cup of warm water, maybe more, until the dough starts to form together. On a clean, floured ( use white flour, it’s very silky to work with) surface, maybe a pastry board, knead the dough with your hands for about 10 minutes. Transfer your dough to a large (the dough will triple in size) bowl with a little olive oil in the bottom. Tightly cover the bowl with clear wrap and then put a large towel over the bowl. Find a warm place, may by a sunny window and let the dough rise for about 1 hour.

After 1 hour, transfer the dough to a floured surface again, and punch out the dough (that’s a term for getting out the air). After about 5 minutes, you can add the finely diced kalmata olives and then fold them in. Avoid the liquid, it will make the dough soggy and you’ll have to add more flour. This has happened to me. Fold in all the olives really well, and let it rest. Shape into an oval onto a greased cookie sheet. Make about five or six deep slits into the dough and slightly soften each with your hand. Then, cover with clear wrap (slightly greased) and then a towel and let it rise again for 35 minutes.

At this point, you can heat your oven to 400 degrees. Remove the towel and clear wrap. Add some olive oil to the top of the bread using your hands to evenly distribute it. Add a sprinkle of sea salt, and put in the oven for 35-40 minutes. To test if it’s done, flip it over and knock on the bottom, if it sounds hollow it’s done (a dear friend of mine told me this trick) or if the bottom is really brown. Sometimes, I cut through the bread in the middle, just to be 100%, but it’s not necessary. Set it onto a cooling rack. It’s ready to eat! It makes a nice gift for someone you love, you can call it the OLIVE You bread. Whole Wheat Olive Bread

I am a volunteer chef at a local preschool where many of the children live in homeless shelters. I made this Sweet Meatball & Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes for lunch one day. This is probably one of the most important meals I make every few months with my friend. The warm lunch is so nourishing and we try to offer as many “whole” fresh foods as possible to encourage them to try new things and of course eat their veggies. The school also grows and tends to their own garden during warmer weather, also some volunteers pitch in to help. The entire experience is memorable, very meaningful and we all get to laugh a lot! On this one particularly cold day in January, we made yummy sweet meatballs and cauliflower mashed potatoes.

Here’s the recipes. Sweet Meatball Recipe

Sweet meatballs & dipping sauce

Prep time: 20 minutes                  level: moderate

Cook time: 25 minutes                 yields: 50 small meatballs

Ingredients:

85% – 90% lean ground beef – 3-4 lbs
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons of light brown sugar
3 tablespoons of ketchup
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons of Italian Herbs
½ cup Corn Flakes breadcrumbs (not the cereal)
½ cup Progresso or Panko Italian bread crumbs
Three eggs

Sweet meatball dipping sauce (warmed)

Ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons of light brown sugar
And a few squeezes of honey

Directions:
Start by adding the meat to a big bowl, you need lots of room to mix up everything. Then, start mashing the meat with a fork. Next, add your ingredients: salt, brown sugar, ketchup, and honey, and herbs and mix well. Then, beat your eggs in a separate bowl, just in case you get a bad one, then mix in the eggs and add the breadcrumbs. I sometimes add a few more shakes of the cornflake breadcrumbs to play up the sweetness factor. Mix really well with a fork and then mix with your hands. Make golf ball size meatballs. Be sure you roll them in the balm of your hand and make them compact, so they do not break apart. Put them on a cookie sheet with tin foil that has been greased with olive oil. Heat in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Check one or two to be sure they are evenly cooked and brown all the way through. The bottoms may get a little browned but I like them a bit crispy. You can adjust your cook time.

Then mix together the ketchup, honey and brown sugar and warm in microwave for 20 seconds. Then serve the warmed meatballs with the dipping sauce on the side. These are great to serve at a party as an appetizer. If you make them the day before, which is what I did, you can get the chill out of them by heating them briefly in the microwave and then steaming a little bit of water in a pot and put the meatballs in the pot to steam and stay warm. They also get very moist. Reheating in the oven, may dry them out. This is a crowd pleaser and a kid pleaser! (You can do the same ingredients and make a meatloaf.)

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Prep time: 30 minutes              level: easy

Cook time: 20-30 minutes             yields: 12- 15 servings

Ingredients:
1 5lb. bag Russets
1 cauliflower, cored
1 cup or more sharp white cheddar cheese

1 stick butter

Directions:
Wash the cauliflower. Core out the center and put it in a large pot with a little bit of water. You will basically be steaming it until it falls apart, so no need to cut it up. Once the water comes to a boil let it cook about 10-15 minutes. Then, let it sit in the pot for up to one hour, the lid must be on the whole time. It will fall apart.

Wash and scrub the potatoes. Then dry them. Peel all the skin and dice them up into chunky pieces. Boil the potatoes and poke them with a fork to be sure they are all cooked through and very soft. Then drain the potatoes. Use a large masher to mash all the potatoes. Then drain the cauliflower, you could set aside a bit of the water if you need it. Mash the cauliflower as well. Then, mix the potatoes and the cauliflower together and mash until all the lumps are gone. Add the butter, you will likely need a whole stick but you can add less. Add one cup of shredded sharp white cheddar cheese. Salt it to taste. At this point, taste it to see if it needs more salt. Mix well. Use the leftover water, if they seem a bit dry.

If you wish to make creamy mashed cauliflower and potatoes, pulsate this in batches in a high speed processor  or use a hand mixer. In this case, add some warmed milk about 1/2 cup until you have reached the desired consistency.

The kids won’t even know the cauliflower is in with the potatoes!