Cooking with F1: Lamb and Okra Stew with Stuffed Grape Leaves
Hello, and welcome to the inaugural run of Cooking with Formula One on The Spice is Right. What is Cooking with Formula One? It’s exactly what it sounds like. Every race is held in a different country (or a different region of countries that appear twice in a single season). Add chef + F1 fan and the math is obvious, I think. The world is delicious. While you probably don’t need me to tell you that, it’s nice to be shown, isn’t it?
Note: the stuffed grape leaves, as I made them, are suitable for vegan/vegetarian enjoyment.
More after the jump.
Unbearably cheesy.
I’ve shown you my pizza before, I’m pretty sure. It’s something that my friends know me for, something I’ve made for many years. And I think I’ve also mentioned how I have a tendency to go off in about fifty directions trying new things, but Joe often comes up with good ideas on how to refine my ideas and make them better. It works out well, usually. 
This was no exception. When I first made my ricotta and parmesan bread, Joe had the brilliant idea to use that recipe as a pizza dough for one of my stuffed pizzas. Earlier this week, I decided to try my hand at making my own ricotta; I’m always on the lookout for ways to make what I do better in any way possible, and this seemed to be a natural progression. 1
Of course, that meant I had a bunch of fresh ricotta around—which meant I needed to find something to do with it.
Enter the spinach, tomato, and fresh homemade ricotta stuffed pizza made on a ricotta parmesan crust.
I don’t need to tell you how much win this pizza was made of, do I? 
There was extra dough, too, so we got a cute little boule out of it as well. 
- Yes, I’ll post the recipe later. [↩]
Day Sixty-Seven: Pan de Yema Oaxaqueño
If you’re ever wondering what to do with an excess of leftover egg yolks, particularly if you’ve recently made a meringue or an angel food cake, this is the bread recipe for you.
Literally meaning “Oaxacan Yolk Bread,” pan de yema Oaxaqueño is kind of like the love child of challah and brioche. It’s full of eggs and butter and as such, is probably not the best idea to stuff yourself with for those of you watching your cholesterol.
But the taste! Oh, the taste is glorious. The anise seeds push this over the top and into the realm of glory, truly.
Now, traditionally, this would be made in a loaf form. And slashed in the top to let steam out, as so many breads are. Maybe it was my joy at making bread again, or maybe it was the fact that it seems spring is finally in the air here in Chicago, or maybe it was this recent post of Beijing Fi’s that did it. Who knows? In any case, I believe I’ve made it clear how I feel about playing with my food before, right? So, I made a happy octopus out of it. As you do.
As usual, I halved the recipe. I also used bread flour instead of all-purpose. This dough is rather sticky, and I’ve been reading Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Bread Bible
I didn’t use the sesame seeds (hey, the recipe said they were optional! ), but as you can see from the photos, I did use the egg wash. I should also have done something to restrict the interior of the smile so that it would have been a little less messy, but I still like his gap-toothed grin. 2
At last, an octopus even a vegetarian can love eating. As of this writing, he’s only got the foreshortened tentacles left. Still smiling, though…quite happily. And quite deliciously.
- More on this later; I’m actually adoring this book right now but am not quite done with it, so expect a full review in a few days. [↩]
- Joe suggested I should put this bread on a dowel and walk around at Mitsuwa using it as a mask. [↩]
Janaki
