How to Make a Real Pizzeria Style Calzone.

What is a Calzone?

The Calzone originated in Naples, Italy; an oven-baked filled pizza, folded over itself. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in an oven after being stuffed with salami or ham, mozzarella, ricotta, Parmesan and/or Pecorino-Romano cheese, as well as an egg. In the United States, the calzone is baked using pizza dough; often vegetables are found included in the filling.

Cheddar Cheese does NOT belong in Italian recipes; reserve that for grilled cheese sandwiches please!!!

Now when the definition says "stuffed", it means stuffed!  NOT hollow with a slice of cheese and meat; that's called a "rip-off".  It's NOT a turnover; that is a pastry using some type of sweet, pastry dough with sweet fillings.  Coming from old school, not yuppie-ville, Brooklyn, New York, we connaisseurs of pizzeria, and Italian, dishes are highly insulted when novice "pizza shop" owners try to fool their patrons. 

First off, you need to have the basics down on pizza dough and sauce making.   While pizza dough needs to be made from scratch, homemade sauce does not; in fact, most places use canned goods which is fine so long as it's done correctly!  Now I have written about all this on separate blog posts, but now I'll be consolidating.

Step #1 - Dough

Pizza Dough:
http://www.comfortcookadventures.com/2011/01/i-admit-to-itim-pizza-snob.html

Basic Dough

Ingredients:

1 cup of warm water
3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of sugar (to feed the yeast)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of yeast

Preparation:

Put warm water (80 to 110°F) into a bowl. Add salt and sugar and mix with a spoon. Add
yeast, mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  If the water is too warm, it will
kill the yeast; too cold, and it will not awaken.

Start mixing, with a fork, by gradually adding flour and olive oil.  Once it is too
thick to mix by fork, remove to a floured, wooden board; start kneading by hand. 
Knead the dough until you have a smooth ball. If the dough cracks it is too dry. Add
water bit by bit until if forms a smooth ball. If your dough feels more like batter,
it is too wet and you need to add flour bit by bit. If you need to add water or flour,
do it by small amounts; it is easier to fix too little than too much.

Coat the dough with olive oil, place it in a large bowl and cover it with a clean,
cotton towel. Let the dough rise for about an hour at room temperature, then punch it
down, so it deflates. Let it sit for about another hour. If you want to use it the
next day, put it in a refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface; a pizza peel (wooden board with a handle)
is easier for transferring the pizza from surface to surface. Put a bit of flour on
your hands; using the balls of your finger tips and hands, make it into the shape of a
circle by stretching it out from the center outwards. If you’re having a problem
stretching the dough by hand, se a rolling pin until the dough is about 1/4" thick.

The average size of the pizza will be about 16” which can be transferred to a pizza
pan or stone. You get better results when you use a pizza baking stone. The pizza
stone should be preheated to 450F for an hour prior to baking, and should be placed in
the middle of the oven.

Spread out evenly about 1-1 ½ cups sauce; then add favorite toppings such as cheeses,
meats and/or cut up vegetables.

The oven should be preheated to 450F.  Bake for 20-25 minutes; the crust should be
browned, but not dark.  Remove from oven, use a pizza cutter for easy slicing up and
serve.  Makes 8-10 slices, depending on how its cut up.

Step #2 - Sauce

Homemade Sauce Using Canned Tomatoes:
http://www.comfortcookadventures.com/2011/01/influencing-your-cooking-style.html

Homemade Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

1 large onion, diced
3 Tbsp. garlic
3-28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1-12oz. can tomato paste
2 Tbsp. dried basil, crushed
1 Tbsp. each dried oregano, thyme and marjoram, crushed
1 tsp. ground black pepper
4 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Add all listed ingredients into a 6-qt crock pot (previously sprayed with non-stick
spray); mix thoroughly.   Set on low heat; let the sauce cook for 8 hours.

Yields about 14 cups.

Notes:
This recipe can be made on the stovetop, but should be stirred every 1-2 hours to keep
sauce from sticking and burning on bottom of pot. 

The long cooking time allows for the sauce to become richer and thicker.  If a thinner
sauce is desired, cut the tomato paste by half, leave out the diced tomatoes, and cut
cooking time in half.

Besides serving as a pasta sauce, this can be used as a dipping sauce for fried foods,
or as a pizza sauce.

If making a meat sauce, brown 2 lbs of lean ground beef mixed with 2 Tbsp garlic
powder.  Only use 2-28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes, instead of 3.  Only cook the sauce
for 6 hours, instead of 8.

One ingredients that is popular in calzones is meatballs; here is my basic meatball recipe, but if using them for a calzone, make them about 1 to 1 and 1/2 inch in diameter.  Or just make the large size and cut them into halves or quartered.

Meatballs:
http://www.comfortcookadventures.com/2011/03/full-moons-and-meatballs.html

Meatballs

Lean ground beef (90% or more) is best for meatballs, since they are finished off
cooking in sauce.  Actually, meatloaf mix which is a mixture of beef, pork and veal is the absolute best for making meatballs, but is often difficult to find at the supermarket.  If a lesser lean meat is used, the fat would seep into the sauce, making it oily and unappetizing.  The meatballs are first baked in an oven to remove any excess grease.  These meatballs are the typical New York Italian style, about the size of a tennis ball, and while great with a pasta dish, they can also be used for
meatball sandwiches (subs, heroes, grinders, or whatever they are called in an area).

Ingredients:

4 lbs. lean ground beef (90% or more)
2 lbs. ground pork
1 ½ cups Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/8 cup Italian seasoning mix
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 cup diced onion
¾ cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray jelly roll pans with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together thoroughly; making sure all dry
ingredients are mixed well with wet ingredients.  Form the meat mixture into balls,
about 2 ¾” (size of a tennis ball); place on jelly roll pans.










Bake meatballs for 20 minutes; dab on paper towels to remove any grease and immerse
into sauce.  Allow meatballs to cook in sauce until sauce is ready; 4-6 hours
depending on cooking technique being used.  Serve with pasta, or use meatballs for a
sandwich.

Makes about 20 meatballs.











Now to the calzone making part; preheat oven to 450F and place the pizza pan (nonstick is best) inside; the dough has been worked out to a 16 inch diameter.  Along one half, layer thin slices of mozzarella and provolone leaving 2 inches of dough untouched from the edge.  I use the Sargento brand as they melt slowly and evenly; creating a seal against the dough to keep juices from making the baking crust not brown, or get soggy.  Next top the thin slices with thicker slices of fresh mozzarella; spread 2 cups of ricotta cheese over the mozzarella.  Evenly spread out 1 and 1/2 cups of sauce and add 5-6 small meatballs.

Dab the dough edge all around with water, carefully fold the other half of the dough over the fillings, bring the edges to touch and roll them together to form a seal.  Brush the top with a little olive oil, with the tip of a knife, poke 4-5 air holes in the thickest part of the calzone.  This will allow steam to release during the baking process; otherwise it would build up inside the dough and cause it to fully crack open.

Carefully remove the preheated pan from the oven and place the calzone in the center; return to the oven and bake until crust is browned (about 25-30 minutes).  Again, carefully remove the calzone to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes.  Cut in half and enjoy!

So there you have it, a New York style calzone stuffed, and I mean stuffed, with cheeses, sauce and meatballs.  If you begin seeing this little baby at your local pizza shop, I bet they're copying my recipes; and they better name that calzone after me!!!

Mary Cokenour

21, Cottonwood Steakhouse is a Winner.

Cottonwood Steakhouse

409 West Main Street (Route 191)
Bluff, Utah, 84512

Phone: (435) 672-2281

Hours of Operation: Monday thru Sunday, 5:30pm to 9:30pm

Website: http://www.cottonwoodsteakhouse.com/

Rick Reeb

April Fools – Not!  Cottonwood Steakhouse reopened its doors on April 1, 2016 and began their 21^st season in Bluff, Utah.  Owners, Rick Reeb and Diana Davidson, along with their amazing staff, had a rush filled week to make sure all was perfect for opening night.  Let me tell you that when you dine at the Steakhouse, you are welcomed in as if it’s family dinner night.  Everyone is all smiles, friendly, talkative and very attentive; the owners want you to come back again and again.

Kevin - The Chef

Reed Sampson - Waiter Extraordinaire

There will be a couple of changes, menu wise, this year.  New specials like Bison Meatloaf, and side dishes of mashed sweet potatoes or a new take on the already scrumptious grill roasted potatoes.  Barbequed Ribs, Steaks, Grilled Chicken and Seafood will still be offered; why change greatness!?!  Manning the grill station is the ever happy Kevin; ninja master of grilling utensils.  The special offered currently is “The Duke”, 16 ounce Bone-In Ribeye Steak, cooked as you wish, served with Bread, Salad or Coleslaw, Ranch Beans, Western Potatoes and Glazed Carrots.  Smaller appetite?  Try “The Marshall”, 8 or 10 ounce New York Strip Steak; again, served with all the fixings and grilled to perfection.

The Duke - 16 ounce Bone-In Ribeye Steak

The Marshall - 10 ounce NY Strip Steak

For the buck, you get a big bang of a meal, but how is the food, is what you might be wondering?  The steaks are specially ordered from Colorado; grass fed beef, nicely marbled.  Whether a dinner or menu salad, the vegetables are fresh and crisp; dressings and soups house made and bowl licking good.  Beans are slow cooked in a Dutch oven with just a hint of spicy heat; the potatoes parboiled before roasting on the grill and lightly seasoned.  One of the items visitors want, when visiting the Southwest, is a cowboy meal, and Cottonwood Steakhouse serves up the finest in San Juan County.  The red bandana that serves as napkin is even given to all diners to take as a souvenir.  Oh, how could I forget, the desserts!  House made pies, brownies and bread pudding so delicious, the transcendence into five extra pounds becomes meaningless.

Homemade Bread, Fresh Salad

Brownie Sundae

Key Lime Pie

Raspberry Cheesecake

Now don’t just take my word that Cottonwood Steakhouse is worth the visit; OnlyInYourState.com (http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/utah/steakhouses-in-ut/) voted it #5 on their 2015 listing of best steakhouses in Utah.  Couples, families, locals, visitors passing through, and for special occasions, the folks at Cottonwood Steakhouse will welcome you all.

Mary Cokenour

Menu

Page 1

Page 2

Story of Bluff, Utah.

Grains of Our Lives.

The visual piles of dried corn, pinon nuts and beans flowing through outstretched fingers lead my mind to these words, “Like sands through the hourglass, so are the Days of Our Lives.”  While this long running soap opera, aka daytime drama, has not much to do with life in our Southwest; grains have always been a relied on staple.  Corn (maize) was introduced to the Native cultures of the Southwest approximately 2100 BC from Mesoamerica.  “Isn’t that Mexico?” you might be asking, that is only partially correct.  Mesoamerica extended from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica.  Corn cobs found at ruin sites and inside caves were much smaller than what we know of today; similar to baby ornamentals seen around fall holidays.  Great care was taken in cultivating stronger varieties that would survive higher altitudes, and weather systems that alternated between drought and flooding.

In the 1520s, explorers from Spain introduced wheat to Mexico; as with corn, it made its way up to the Southwest and into Native fields.  Evidence of trade, between San Juan County Native cultures and Mexico, was proven with the finding a macaw feather shawl, in Canyonlands National Park, by explorer, Kent Frost; housed and exhibited at Edge of the Cedar State Park and Museum.  Traces of cacao were found in pottery at Alkali Ridge National Monument; an exhibit was displayed at the Natural History Museum in Salt Lake City in 2014.

How did corn and wheat become the flour to make breads?  The Puebloan people used stone tools; a “mano”, a smooth hand-held stone was used against a “metate”, a large stone with a depression. The movement of the hand stone against the depressed stone consisted of a circular, rocking or chopping motion, using one or both hands, to grind.  Work rooms, called “mealing” rooms, were established with sets of manos and metates for mass grinding efforts; basically gossip central for the women.  Baking nowadays is much easier with gas or electric powered ovens; the Puebloans used a mud adobe-built outdoor oven.  The oven was beehive shaped, using wood as the heat source to build a fire inside.  When the proper amount of time had passed, embers and ashes were removed, or moved about the oven; bread was then inserted for baking.  This oven was also used for roasting corn and cooking meats.   Now aren’t you happy that all you have to do is head on down to the local supermarket to buy pre-ground flours and fully baked bread goods?

Using a recipe from the “Pueblo Indian Cookbook” by Phyllis Hughes, I ventured into making Pueblo Oven Bread.  As a first timer, my bread was not the prettiest, but it tasted pretty darned good, especially with butter, honey, combo of both; oh, and bacon.  Bacon makes almost everything better….not desserts though, no not desserts.  This first time I also used basic all-purpose white flour, but I’m going to be playing with other types of flours, like wheat, blue corn and corn.  It will be interesting to see if baking times vary with the flours, and especially the tastes.  Let me tell you that as a side for a freshly cooked batch of Anasazi beans with onions and bacon, the bread is so satisfying.  Ah, but that’s another story to tell…

 

 

Pueblo Bread

(Pueblo Indian Cookbook – page 10)

 Ingredients:

9 cups flour

2 packages dry yeast
½ cup warm water (110-120 degrees)
2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. melted lard or cooking oil
2 cups water

Preparation:

Soften yeast in warm water.  Mix melted lard or oil, salt and yeast in large bowl.  Alternately add flour and water, a little at a time.  (I did 2 cups flour, ½ cup water), beating thoroughly after each addition, kneading in last of flour until dough is very smooth.  Shape in ball and let rise, covered with damp cloth in large greased bowl until doubled in size.

Activate Yeast

 

Alternate Addition of Flour and Water.

 
 
 

Need in Last Cup of Flour.

 

Dough in Bowl for First Rising.

 

Dough Doubles in Size.

Punch down, and knead on floured board for at least five minutes.  Shape into four balls, put in greased baking pans (I used 4-8 inch nonstick cake pans), cover with cloth and let rise for 20-30 minutes in warm place.

Second Kneading (1)

Second Kneading (2)

Four Equal Portions

Dough Balls in Greased Pans.

After Second Rising, Ready to Bake.

Bake in 400F oven for 50 minutes (my gas oven did require the 50 minutes) or until tops are browned and loaves sound hollow when tapped.

Mary Cokenour

Welcoming Spring with Bright Sweetness.

Ode to a Jellybean

Ovoid of bright, shiny color.

Taste buds salivating for more.
Rolling round in the mouth.
Swallow, there it goes, down south.

Fruity flavors, some not so.

Try the red one, give it a go.
Fan the tongue, boy that's hot.
Spit, hit the trash can, what a shot.

Buy a bagful, perhaps a pound.
Chew a handful, hear the lip smacking sound.
Grab a tissue, looking like a fool.
Wipe up that multi colored drool.

Who needs drugs with this candy treat.

Smiling as you slip out of your seat.
Oh the pleasure you think with a blissful sigh.
Oh the pleasure of a sugar high.

~Mary Cokenour – 2005~

 

Now what does the jellybean have to do with spring exactly?  Not much, except for the ovoid shape that closely resembles the egg.  Hmm, better give some history about eggs and spring before getting to the jellybean.  Ostara (also spelled Eostre) is a Germanic deity; a fertility Goddess whose festival centers on the Spring Equinox; her symbols are the egg and the rabbit. When Christianity began to make the rounds in Europe, there was no better way to have non-believers embrace it than to incorporate some of their beliefs; an assimilation. March 20^th is the Spring Equinox; the Christian Easter falls in springtime; children are given multi-colored eggs and chocolate rabbits; even the name Easter closely resembles the name of the Goddess, Eostre.  This concludes our history lesson for today; now back to the jellybean.

Even though Turkish Delight (a jelly candy coated in powdered sugar) was around for centuries; it was not easily shipped and melted quickly.  In 1861, a Boston confectioner, William Schrafft, invented a jelly candy with a firm outer shell.  His biggest selling point?  Ship these candies to the boys and men fighting in the Civil War; give them a little sweet pleasure to get their minds off the horrors of war.   By the 1930s, the egg shaped candies were becoming incorporated into Easter celebrations with simple fruit flavors.  Not only were children fascinated by these confections, but parents loved that they were compact and didn’t melt too quickly in tiny hands.

The jellybean is now one of the most popular candies sold throughout the world; spiced, sours, Harry Potter influenced flavors of dirt, vomit and earwax (who did the taste testing for these!??!); Jelly Belly has 50 flavors, more than Baskin-Robbins has in ice cream.   Jellybeans are available all year long, in various sizes, even sugar free; they give a boost of energy; the bright colors and flavors even boost the mood.  Having a bad day and angry, why fight?  Let those little candies sweeten your mood, then you can look at things from a brighter perspective. 

Personally, there is a small bag of jellybeans in each of our vehicles.  Stuck in traffic, some idiot just cut us off, or the smallest thing just set one of us off; the bag of beans comes out and the world doesn’t seem so bad suddenly.  Does a simple candy snack really solve problems?  Of course not; just maybe though, it gives the mind a simple way out.   A momentary spurt of realization that what feels so terrible isn’t that bad at all.

Joyous Spring!!!

Mary Cokenour

Three Ingredients, Twenty Minutes, Dinner Done.

I am not immune to "I don't want to cook" moods; perhaps it was a lousy, and too long of a, day at work.  It could have been one of adventuring all day with my adorable husband, and food is the last thing on my mind; sleep sounds a lot better.  More than likely though, I'm just feeling lazy.  The convenience of packaged, canned, or premade meals is hard to resist at these times; it's the chemical additives that make me hesitate in purchasing them.  Then again, I do not resist buying those packages of rice and noodle side dishes; that convenience I'm not willing to give up.

It came to be, one evening, that I was staring into the freezer; spying a bag of frozen shrimp and a package of sugar snap peas, a stir fry seemed the answer for dinner.  *sigh*  I just didn't want to get out the Asian ingredients, and I know my hubby always wanted fried rice when we did Asian.  No, this wouldn't do; maybe I had some Knorr Rice Sides with an Asian flare; nope, I had already used the last package up.  Wait though, two packages of herb and butter sat behind the ones of Spanish rice. 

I used the microwave to carefully defrost the shrimp and snap peas; I didn't want them to cook before their time.  Getting out the five quart cooking pot, I began the rice according to package directions.  After it began boiling, I turned down the heat, added the shrimp and snap peas, covered the pot and waited the required seven minutes.  Testing the rice, it was still too firm, so covered the pot for two more minutes; turned off the heat, uncovered and within two more minutes, the entire dish was ready for eating.

The shrimp was pink and had a lovely scrunch to it; the sugar snap peas popped in the mouth; the herb and butter rice was perfect in texture, the herbs and butter adding flavor to the shrimp and snap peas.  The naysayers who only make everything from scratch, and it better all be organic, will probably be saying how gross my meal was.  Guess what?  It was delicious!

 

Shrimp, Sugar Snap Peas and Rice

 

 

Ingredients:

 

2 (5.4 oz.) packages Knorr Rice Sides, herb and butter flavor

1 lb. jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 (10 oz.) package frozen sugar snap peas, defrosted

 

Preparation:

 

Using a 5-quart cooking pot, prepare rice according to package directions; at stage where the pot is covered and heat turned down, add the shrimp and snap peas.  Check rice for doneness after 7 minutes; cook 2 minutes more if necessary.

 

Remove from heat, uncover and let rest for 2 minutes before serving.

 

Makes 6 servings.

 

Mary Cokenour