Ciao a tutti! Hello everyone!
Another week has gone by and what a week it was!
As I mentioned last week, we celebrated my youngest, Sabrina’s, birthday. It was very nice and she enjoyed being spoiled by her siblings and me.
But, the unexpected drama of the week was courtesy of my Persian cat, Ken.
Allow me to backtrack…
When Sabrina was 7, she asked for a cat. Dan and I were unsure about taking on a pet in addition to the many other responsibilities we had at that time. Sabrina was a good girl so we decided to get a Persian since they are a mellow and easy going breed.
We contacted an amazing local breeder and now a very dear friend, Alice, and ended up getting two gorgeous sibling kittens who stole our hearts, Ken and Barbie.
Barbie was the sweet, friendly one. Ken was more serious and did not like visitors.
Over the years, we had plenty of fun experiences and some not so fun ones with them.
Pets are family members and we spoiled our cats so much that Dan used to often say, “In my next life, I’d like to come back as one of our cats!” Lol
Barbie, unfortunately, passed away suddenly two weeks to the day before Dan.
We were all shocked and heartbroken with our sudden losses of Barbie and Dan so much so that Ken’s personality changed. He became more mellow and is now my best buddy. He sleeps next to me, he follows me around the house and even comes sit on my lap (he never, ever did that before).
But Ken has a naughty side, just like an unattended toddler, and gets into trouble quickly.
Ken loves to play with strings and ribbons but will start chewing on them and swallow them if he can.
One time, Dan had to pull a balloon string out of his mouth because he had swallowed it with the balloon still attached. He was running around the house with a balloon out of his mouth.
You can’t make this stuff up!
Well, last week, Ken decided to eat a cellophane ribbon.
One minute he was next to me while I was responding to emails, the next I see him chewing on something weird. By the time I looked closer and realized it was a ribbon, he had swallowed it.
I went into panic mode since Ken had an extremely delicate stomach and digestive system. Luckily I have an excellent emergency vet hospital nearby. I put Ken in his carrier and off we went.
The vet hospital was very busy that day. The wait was two to three hours but all other vet hospitals hours away had the same wait time. Concern grew in my mind as time went on that the ribbon would get tangled in his intestines. But, we had no choice and so we waited. Ken, despite being a nervous cat when in his carrier, just fell asleep.
Our turn came, and Ken was brought in the examination room. The veterinarian came out shortly after to tell me the plan of action. They were going to anesthetize Ken and try to remove the ribbon endoscopically after doing some basic tests to make sure he was ok for the procedure.
Two hours later, I came home with Ken and a $2,200 ribbon in a bag!
He was happy to be home and thankfully, had no post-procedure problems. All strings and ribbons are secured and out of Ken’s reach!
I leave you now, after all that drama, with a recipe dedicated to Ken. In fact, when I make this bread, he comes around begging for a piece of ham. Lol!
Please join me again next week for another story and a new recipe.
Until then, I wish you a great week and I’ll be waiting for you, as always, in my kitchen.
Bacioni (big kisses),
Nonna Antoinette
MY ITALIAN SAVORY BREAD
Ingredients:
For the dough:
(this makes 2 lbs of fresh dough)
5 cups of unbleached flour (add more if needed)
1 packet of dry yeast (2 teaspoons)
2 cups of warm water
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of salt
For the filling:
8 oz of your favorite ham, diced
8 oz bag of shredded Italian blend cheese
Fresh ground pepper
Garlic powder, optional
Directions:
Sprinkle yeast in one cup of warm water.
Add one teaspoon of sugar and stir.
Meanwhile, measure 1/2 of the flour and place in a large bowl. When the water/yeast mixture looks foamy on top, add it to flour.
Mix well with your hands or fork. Add the oil while continuing to mix.
Add rest of the flour, incorporating it little by little until it is fully absorbed.
Finally, add the salt.
Your dough should have an even consistency at this point.
Take it out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead by hand until you have a smooth dough (knead at least 15 minutes).
If your dough is too wet, add a little more flour. If it is too dry, add a bit more water.
All the steps above can be done in a stand mixer using a hook attachment.
Use low speed for initial mixing of ingredients and low-medium for kneading the dough.
Place your fresh dough into a larger bowl (lightly coated with oil).
Cover with plastic film first and a clean kitchen towel on top. Place in a warm and draft-free area to allow dough to rise.
It should double in size in about 2 hours.
When the dough is ready, take it out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface.
Stretch it out gently and evenly (as if you were making pizza) into a large rectangular shape (about 18 to 20" long by 12" wide).
Top dough evenly with diced ham first, cheese next, and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and garlic powder to taste.
Begin gently and evenly rolling dough and toppings onto itself, away from you until you form a long roll.
Gently twist the roll and, then, form it into a "turban".
Place it into a lightly greased 9" round pan.
Allow the bread to rise, covered, for about 30 minutes.
Bake into a preheated 375 degrees oven for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until golden brown.
Allow to cool before slicing or it will fall apart.
Tips:
You may substitute the homemade dough with store bought pizza dough. You will need 2 lbs.
You may substitute the ham with your favorite Italian deli meat (Salami, capicollo, prosciutto, soppressata, dry sausage, etc).
You any also substitute cheese with your favorite dry kind. Do not use fresh mozzarella or it will get soggy.
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