Happy Blogiversary - and a Giveaway!

Can you believe it's been one year of Artistic Eatables? I've been chopping, kneading, frying, baking, simmering, and photographing my food for you since October 27, 2009. 

To celebrate, I am offering a giveaway - my first ever.   

I will be awarding one lucky reader a jar of my homemade blackberry jam. (Ingredients: freshly picked blackberries, sugar, liquid pectin)

photo from breadexperience.com

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment with your name, a way to contact you, and tell me your favorite homemade item (canned, baked, whatever!).

Sorry international readers, this prize can only be delivered to US residents.

The comments will be open until Saturday October 30, 5pm. Cheers!

Greek Calzones

I love anything relating to bread, carbohydrates, or flour. Yum.  When my friend Lindsay sent me a link to this new twist on calzones (which are traditionally made with ricotta, mozzarella, and your choice of meat), I couldn't resist.

To "Greek" it up, they've replaced the mozz with feta cheese, which is quite a bit saltier, but don't fear if you're not into what some would consider weird cheeses. The feta is just to give a little saltiness to the otherwise creamy filling of ricotta and spinach. If you don't like feta, consider some of the alternatives I've listed below in my Comments section. 

I love the inclusion of spinach to this recipe, which is surprisingly nutritious but also adds a nice chewy texture that the cheese just can't cover on its own.

Recipe altered slightly from the version on Delish.com

Ingredients

• olive oil for baking sheet
• 1 batch pizza dough
• 10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed, drained, and patted dry
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese
• 3-6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• pinch of dried dillweed
  

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine spinach, ricotta, dill, and as much feta as desired.
3. Split pizza dough into four even pieces. Flatten out into large circles.
4. Spoon equal amounts of cheese mixture onto one half of each circle. Fold dough over and press to close. 
5. Place each calzone on a raised-edge cookie sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until crust is golden.
6. Let cool at least 5 minutes before eating. Serve with desired sides.

Comments

Even with patting the spinach dry, the filling was still quite wet, presumably from the ricotta. You may choose to cut a slit in the top of the calzone so the moisture can escape there; otherwise it might try to leak out the sides.

We ate our calzones plain but I think I would have enjoyed them more with a side of marinara sauce, even though it wouldn't fit with the Greek theme.

Next time I'd also like to try these with some different additions in the filling: perhaps chunks of artichoke hearts, chopped kalamata olives, or even diced sundried tomatoes. If you choose to add something salty, just reduce the feta a little bit to balance out the flavors.

AE Update 10/15/10

As I get over a sinus infection and do a little traveling this weekend, I'll be away from my kitchen more than usual. Please excuse the blogging hiatus! I hope to come back with some delicious treats for you soon.

Fresh Tomato and Roasted Garlic Salsa

Ingredients

• 5-6 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• 2 small ripe tomatoes
• 1 green tomato
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut tips off the top of each garlic clove. Place in small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 450 degrees until garlic is roasted completely, about 20 minutes.
3. While garlic is roasting, finely chop tomatoes and jalapeno pepper. Mix together in medium bowl.
4. Squeeze each garlic out of its paper and onto a cutting board, mince and add to bowl.
5. Add lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Creamy Potato Soup

This soup is SO. EASY. Thanks to a basket of vegetables from my friend Gretchen, I was blessed with gorgeous homegrown potatoes and onions. They've been staring me down the entire week, basically begging to be simmered and pureed. Now, I know that root vegetables talking to me makes me weird, but at least the weirdness comes with clear cut inspiration.

The beauty of this soup, like my Creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup, is that the creaminess comes from pureeing some of the starchy vegetables, so if you're not into dairy you can omit it completely. I did add a splash of heavy cream at the end, but it was a smooth soup without it. As a small bowl, this would be a great appetizer course, or could also be served as a great vegetarian / vegan main course with a hunk of warm bread.

If you have less time available to cook this, just be sure to cut your potatoes into smaller pieces; the increased surface area will help them cook more quickly.

Ingredients (serves 3-4 main dish or 5-6 appetizer)

for a vegan or dairy-free meal, replace butter with olive oil and omit heavy cream

for gluten-free meal, be sure to use gluten-free vegetable stock

• 1-2 Tbsp butter
  
• 1 small onion, chopped into small pieces
• 4 small-medium starchy potatoes, such as Russets, washed and chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
• water
• 3 Tbsp or 3 cubes vegetable bouillon
• splash of heavy cream, garnish (could also use a sprig of parsley or oregano in its place)

Directions

1. Heat a stockpot over medium heat. Melt butter.
2. Add onions and cook 5 minutes or so, until they become translucent.
3. Add potatoes and thyme. 
4. Pour in enough water to cover the potatoes. Stir in vegetable bouillon. 
5. Turn heat to medium-high. Cook until liquid boils well, then turn heat down to medium-low and cook until potatoes are very soft. 
6. Remove from heat. Puree using an immersion blender to your desired consistency, or transfer and puree in blender in small batches. Mine still had some small chunks of potato in it.)
7. Dish into bowls. Garnish with a splash or swirl of heavy cream, or a sprig of fresh parsley or oregano if desired.