Calzones

This is a very popular dish from Cuisine Magazine. When making for guests, we make the dough ahead of time, and let everyone form and build their own calzone. Below are the fillings we used this Sunday. Be creative and post your own filling ideas in the comment section below.

The recipe calls for a starter dough. Don't skip this step. It only takes 5 minutes to makes, and the flavor and texture of the dough will suffer if you don't use it.

Calzone Dough

for the Starter:
1/3 cup + 1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
3 Tbs cold water

for the Dough:
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs warm water (85 - 95 F)
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 Tbs olive oil
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt

Egg Wash:
1 egg
2 Tbs milk

Filling Options:

Chicken, Roasted Red Peppers, & Artichoke Hearts Calzone:
1 lb chicken tenderloins, cooked
1 jar cooked artichoke hearts, drained
1 jar, roasted red peppers, drained, and chopped
mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese

Pizza Filling Calzones
8 oz, Pepperoni, sliced thin
1/4 lb frozen meatballs, thawed
1 medium onion, sliced thin and sauteed
1 medium green pepper, sliced thin and sauteed (with onions)
mozzarella cheese
ricotta cheese



Starter:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Pour liquid over flour and stir with a fork.
2. Stir until all flour is incorporated. Mixture will be a stiff, heavy blob. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature.
3. After fermenting for 15-24 hours, the starter has grown and is ready for the final dough. It's bubbly and smells yeasty.

Dough:

1. Whisk the yeast in warm water (85 - 95F). After foam appears (about 5 minutes), whisk in the oil. In separate bowl, combine flour and salt.
2. To loosen the sponge, pour the liquid yeast mixture around the edge. Stir it lightly. The sponge will begin to pull away from the bowl.
3. Add dry ingredients to the sponge mixture and stir until allt he flour is moistened. The dough will be sticky and full of lumps.
   
4. It's time to knead. Turn dough out onto floured work surface. Lift and fold half of dough towards you. Flour hands and surface as needed.
5. Press down and away from you with heel of hand. Keep hands floured. Give dough quarter-turns; repeat steps 4 & 5. Kead 8-10 minutes.
6. Form 1 large ball. Dust with flour. Cover with plastic. Let rest 20 minutes. Cut into quarters. Tuck into 4 balls. Cover and let rise 2 hours.
7. After dough has rishe 2 hours, flour surface. Flip 1 ball over (keep others covered). Press dough with fingertips to form circle.
8. With both hands at top of dough, grasp the edge and rotate. This stretches the dough. Enlarges to a circle 7-8" in diameter.
9. Lay down the dough circle and check for any uneven spots. With your fingers, gently lift and stretch out any thick spots.
10. Put dough on parchment-lined baking sheet. Place fillings on half of circle leaving 3/4" clean border at edge of dough.
11. Lift edge of unfilled side and pull slightly towards you. This streches dough so you can cover filling to meet edge on other side.
12. Press edges to creat seal. Crimping ensures a tight bond between the two edges. Press each indentation twice to really seal it.
13. Calzones look better with an egg wash. Lightly brush each one with egg mixture.
14. Bake 10-12 minutes in 500 F oven until calzones are golden. Seve with warm marinara sauce
    

Breeders Cup Betting Summary

Saturday was the Breeder's Cup World Championship of Thoroughbred Racing. It's a nice day to hang out, drink, and gamble. This year I did no handicapping. I decided to test a betting theory of mine -- Bet every horse ridden by Garrett Gomez. Here is a summary on how I did.






Race ...................Bet............................................. Result....Balance
BC Turf Sprint.....$4 Win #11 Idiot Proof............... :( ........ -$4
BC Dirt Mile.........$4 Win #7 Albertus Maximus.... :) ........+$25.20
BC Mile................No Bet (Website Problems)........ :| ........+$25.20
BC Juvenile..........$4 Win .#11 Midshipman.......... :) ........+$43.60
BC Juvenile Turf...$4 Win #8 Paddy The Pro........... :(........+$39.60
BC Sprint..............$4 Win #4 Midnight Lute........... :) .......+$54.40
BC Turf.................$4 Win #10 Out of Control.......... :( .......+$50.40
BC Classic..............$4 Win #1 Go Between................ :(.......+$46.40

Peekay Watkinsville Herding Practice Report

Tuesday night Peekay, Lauda and I were back in Watkinsville for herding practice. Fall was in the air, and all of the dogs were loving the cool air.

The entire time Peekay was on the property, she was lit. She never is the the best dog waiting her turn, but tonight she was extra impatient. I typically tie her to the fence while I walk Lauda. I could here her mild protests the entire time I was walking the big guy.

Whatever I commanded Peekay to perform she typically did it faster than usual. Outruns where she typically trots, tonight she was running. Flanks where she would run, tonight she would do it at a sprinter speed. I had to work very hard to slow her down.

For the majority of our practice time, we continued our work on the cross drive. Peekay wasn't having too much trouble shooting the gap between the fence and the sheep. The new problem was once she shot the gap, she wouldn't stop. She was running so fast, she would shoot the gap and her momentum would carry her around the sheep. After 3 attempts with the same outcome, I had her take the sheep to the center of the field where we practiced flanking the sheep in both the "come by" and "away to me" directions. After each flank I would stop her at the 6 and 12 0'clock positions.

At the beginning of both practice runs , we did a simulated outrun. Both times they were flawless. Each time we drove them down the center of the field, made the turn at the #1 cone and drove the flock through both the Y and Z chutes. My only criticism was that she was very pushy, moving quicker than she needed. Peekay has a lot of natural "power". When she's jacked up, the sheep get jumpy and are more likely to try a jail break down the field.

I did leave practice feeling good. Training for sheep herding takes patience. Last night we made some small progress. Last week she wouldn't flank along the fence. We seemed to have corrected that problem. Next Tuesday we'll be back on the field, working on the cross drive.

Until then, Speed is good! stopping on a flank along the fence is better!

Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup

Here's another recipe from Giada's new cookbook. I made this on Sunday instead of salad. Publix was out of cannellini beans, so I substitued Great Northern Beans with no ill effect. I also substitued 1/4 tsp. of dried, ground sage for the sage leaves.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs olive oil
2 shallots, chopped
2 sage leaves, stems removed
2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1. Place a medium, heavy soup pot over medium heat. Add the butter, olive oil, and shallots. Cook, stirring occasionally until the shallots are softened, about 3 minutes
2. Add the sage leaves, cannellini beans, and garlic and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth to the pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook gently until the garlic is soft, about 15 minutes.
3. Pour half of the soup into a large bowl. Carefully ladle a third to half of the soup from the bowl into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Pour the blended soup back into the pot and repeat with the remaining soup from the bowl.
   
4. Once all of the soup is returned to the soup pot, stir in the cream, salt, and pepper. Cover and keep warm over very low heat.
   

Eggplant Timbale

Here's a recipe I made for dinner on Saturday. It's from Giada De Laurentis' new cookbook. Any women who make this must do so in a low cut top! Seriously, this was a fun recipe. Can't say I made anything quite like it. I liked using the springform baking pan. For added flavor, use smoked mozzarella cheese in place of the regular. I think it would pair nicely with the grilled smokey taste of the eggplant.


Ingredients
3 medium eggplants, sliced lengthwise, 1/4" thick
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs. olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 lb penne pasta
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/2 lb Italian Pork sausage
1/4 cup Marsala wine
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)
2 cups marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1. Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the eggplant slices with 1/3 cup of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill the eggplant on both sides until tender and colored with grill marks, about 4 minutes per side. Set aside.
2. While the eggplant cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta.
3. Meanwhile, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute' until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and sausage to the pan and brown the meat, breaking it into bite-size pieces with a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Pour off an excess fat.
4. Add the Marsala and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat. Add the peas and marinara sauce and stir to combine. Add the mozzarella 3/4 cup of the Romano cheese, the basil, and the cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with the grilled eggplant, making sure that the slices overlap and hang over the edge of the pan; reserve a few slices. Fill the pan with the pasta mixture, pressing down to make sure the filling is evenly distributed. Fold the eggplant slices up over the top of the pasta and top with the reserved slices to enclose the timbale completely. Bake the timbale until the filling is warmed through and the cheese has melted, about 30 minutes. Let the timbale cool for 10 minutes.
7. Invert the timbale onto a onto a serving plate and remove the pan. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup of grated Romano cheese, slice, and serve.
   

Peekay Watkinsville Herding Practice Report

Thursday night, Peekay was back under the lights on her home field in Watkinsville, GA for sheep herding practice. It was a cool and breezy night. Rain was forecast for later that evening. The unsettled atmospheric conditions had the livestock and dogs amped up.

Metro-Atlanta commuters were on the road in full force Thursday night. Congestion at the bridge crossing the Chattahoochee river and at all the traffic lights in Lawrenceville slowed us down. We did not arrive until just after 8 PM. The sun had completely set, and the arena lights were on.

This practice session we concentrated on the section of the American Kennel Club A-course known as "the cross drive". The AKC herding rule book defines the cross drive as "Turn toward the near side at marker #4 and the stock moves straight across the arena through center panels to marker #5". Translation : Move the stock along the fence until you reach the sign that says "4". At that point peel the livestock off the fence and make a 90 degree turn. Drive the stock straight across the arena through a pair of gates that are free standing in the center of the arena. Once through the gates, continue straight to you reach the "5" sign mounted on the fence on the opposite side of the arena. How hard could it be ?

The cross drive is arguably the most difficult part of the course. Your dog must move the stock along the fence in a controlled manner. The dog does this by trailing the sheep at the "7 o'clock position. At some point before the "4" sign, the dog must circle behind the sheep to the 5 o'clock position, shoot the gap between the stock and the fence, quickly reach the 1 o'clock position and stop. If your dog shoots the gap and over flanks, the sheep make a 180 degree turn and move back from where they came. Fail to shoot the gap, and your dog is at the dreaded 6 0'clock position running down the course, pushing the sheep into the fence at the end of the arena.

In our two qualify herding intermediate runs, we lost most of our points on the cross drive. Both time I played it conservatively and just took the deduction and let Peekay push them across the arena offline. Tonight in practice we continued to diagnose the problems, and began to work on solutions.

Peekay is very good at driving sheep along the fence. When she reads the stock trying to run away from her, she'll fade out more, trapping them along the fence. Where she has problems is moving from the 7 to the 5 o'clock position. When I give her the "away" command, she hesitates and continues to drive the sheep along the fence.

We took a step back and worked with Peekay on shooting the gap between the flock and the fence. Once she understood what I wanted, she seemed to get the hang of it, and was having fun doing it. We'll work on it again this Tuesday.

Until then, Speed is good, driving and fetching are better.

The 3 Gap 50 - Wolf Pen Gap

Below is the video of our descent of Wolf Pen Gap from the 3 Gap 50. If you are reading this from your email application,most likely there is no embedded video viewer. Click here to view.

The descent was fast and twisty. I followed Jim's lead on this descent and used the entire lane. There were a couple fast left/right switchbacks, and decreasing radius turns. Leaving an extra margin for error was well advised. For most of the descent we were both traveling at speeds at or above the posted speed limit.

The Climb up Wolf Pen Gap was steep and slow. It took us 32 minutes to cover the 2.8 miles to the summit. Jethro Bodine from "The Beverley Hillbillies" would take his 3rd grade education and cypher this information to compute a mere 5.25 mph average. Over this distance we climbed 1050 feet for an average elevation grade of a staggering 7.1%.

For the segment of the descent covered in this video, we road 2.2 miles in only 6 minutes (22 mph avg). The descent was 590 feet, which computes to an average descent grade of 5.1%.

Before clicking the video, don't forget safety first. Strap on your helmet and enjoy the ride! Speed is good!