Featured: Daily Buzz Moms: Pizza Rustica and Easter Egg Bread Baskets

Thank you, Daily Buzz Moms for featuring both of my Easter recipes today!I am honored to be included with such a great bunch of sites:  Design*Sponge, Mr. Food Blog, The Wicked Noodle, Alida's Kitchen, Go Graham Go!, Red Tricycle, Hungry Happenings.

Click here to see all the wonderful Easter and Passover recipes.

Pizza Rustica recipe can be found here.

Easter Egg Bread Basket recipe can be found here.

Huzzah, and happy Wednesday!

Easter Egg Bread Baskets

Today, Gran Fran called and suggested I try my hand at another of her wonderful Easter baked specialities.  Seems that she was so impressed with my version of her Pizza Rustica, that I was deemed worthy of her Easter egg bread basket recipe. As I've mentioned, I'm not much of a baker, so the prospect of taking on another baking project so soon was daunting.

And, I wanted to make these for Isabella. She is thirteen, which means that I don't have to get the Easter bunny over here, but there is still time for her to enjoy some of the fun. What was going through my mind, was how Gran Fran, no matter what, would send me off to preschool (then known as Nursery school) with fresh-baked treats for whatever holiday was being celebrated. I attended a Jewish Nursery school (long story, short, even though our family wasn’t Jewish, the private Nursery school was willing to take me a year earlier than the public school) and so Gran Fran made many challahs, and even hamantaschen cookies for Purim. She sent me the bread recipe today, which, as it turns out, is her trusty challah recipe from days of yore.

Gran Fran is always on my shoulder saying “What? So, you spend a little extra time after work making a nice treat for her? What’s it going to cost you … a little sleep?” This, from a woman who seems to need no more than 5 hours of sleep a night. Who knows if that is a product of raising five kids, what with all the worry and all, or if she was always that way.

Mine look just like her bread baskets, and I'm hoping that they are as lovely as the ones she sends over every year. No doubt, Isabella will give me very frank feedback on who's is better and what she likes about each. Either way, I'm just happy to be in possession of the recipe and to be able to make these baskets myself.

Easter Bread

Source: Fleischmann's Yeast, a division of Burns Philp Food, Inc.

Yield: 6 egg basket loaves

Ingredients

• 1 cup warm water (100 to 110 F)
• 2 packages (1/2 ounce or 4 1/2 tsp) Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 1/4 to 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon water
• colorful sprinkles, optional
• 8 hard boiled, dyed eggs

Method:

• Place 1/2 cup warm water in large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast; stir until dissolved. Add remaining water, sugar, margarine, salt, and 1 1/2 cups flour; blend well.
• Stir in 3 eggs, 1 egg white (reserve 1 yolk), and enough remaining flour to make soft dough.
• Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.
• Punch dough down. Remove dough to lightly floured surface; divide in half.
• Set aside 1 half. Divide remaining half into 2 pieces, one about 2/3 of the dough and the other about 1/3 of the dough.
• Divide larger piece into 3 equal pieces; roll to 12-inch ropes. Place ropes on greased baking sheet; braid. Pinch ends to seal.
• Divide remaining piece into 3 equal pieces. Roll to 10-inch ropes; braid. Place small braid on large braid. Pinch ends firmly to seal and secure to large braid.
• Place a dyed egg into the braid and push down. As the dough rises, it will envelope the egg slightly.
• Repeat with remaining dough to make second loaf. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.
• Beat reserved egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water; brush over loaves.
• Sprinkle with colorful sprinkles, if desired.
• Bake at 400 F for 20 to 25 minutes or until done, switching positions of sheets in oven halfway through baking time. Remove from sheets; let cool on wire racks.

How to Boil the Perfect Egg

It's past Easter, so I now, like many people, fancy myself somewhat of an egg boiling master. After boiling 3 and 1/2 dozen eggs, I found boiled egg nirvana.

Let me explain.

Ms. Iz. (aged 11, very discerning eye) and I tried to do our egg decorating late one Tuesday evening. It was a lackluster event, bordering on disaster. The dye I had chosen had no vibrancy, lacking in color as well. The crayons weren't doing their part. And, the stickers that came with the kit were not interesting enought to ofer any kind of joy. This accounts for the first dozenand a half eggs.

Three days later, we tried again. With more white wine vinegar, and better dye, we had a much higher success rate. The eggs were vibrant. The crayons were used to make very cute faces. The stickers still weren't very interesting. This accounts for the final two dozen eggs.

I now have a fridge full of beautifully colored hard boiled eggs. And a very good grasp on proper egg coloring techniques.

Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs (from Julia Child, of course)

Ingredients:

• 1 dozen eggs 3 and 1/2 quarts of water

• 1 Large Stockpot

Method:

• Lay the eggs in the pan and dd the cold water.

• Set over high heat and bring just to a boil.

• Remove from heat, cover pan, and let sit exactly 17 minutes.

• After the 17 minutes, transfer the eggs to a bowl of ice cubes and water.

• Chill for 2 minutes.

• (This next step, I do not do, but Julia does, so I am including it here: Transfer the eggs to the boiling water again and let boil for 10 minutes. Return the eggs to the ice water, craking the shells in several places.)

• Chill the eggs in the fridge.

Enjoy!

get yer pies here!

I'm at my desk, working. A package arrives. It's from N.Y.C. I don't even need to look at the address, due to the way it's packed, I know it's from Gran Fran.Her typical packing-box style requires a recycled box from Amazon, or some other online retailer, and a piece of 81/2 x 11 printer paper with my name and address written on it in large black Sharpie. The final touch, which is the real reason I know it's a Gran-Fran delivery, is the copious amounts of packing tape she uses. I think she believes someone will tamper with her precious cargo, whether it's books, food or toys. The tape is layered on so thick and tight you can't get into the box without a very heavy duty box cutter. No scissors can make a dent in her packaging.

What is in the box this time is well worth protecting, with as much packing tape as one has available. Gran-Fran has sendt her yearly Easter package complete with bread baskets with Easter eggs nestled inside, chocolates for Iz and little trinkets. Oh, but the best food in the package are the Italian pies.

Gran-Fran's Pizza Rustica and Pizza Grana are like nothing I've ever tasted. And, I can re-create them (see the recipes below), but it is oh-so-special to receive these in the mail every year. It's like a little gift just for me, since Iz does not like either of the pies.

The Pizza Rustica is a savory pie, which most will refer to as a heart-attack-on-a-plate when they hear what's in it, but well worth throwing caution to the wind to experience the salty goodness. It involves not one, not two, but FOUR kinds of meat, three kinds of cheese, ricotta and six eggs. Not good for those of us with high cholesterol (me) or high blood pressure (salt-tastic), but again it only happens once a year, so I make sure to eat light when I know the box is on its way.

The Pizza Grana is a sweeter pie, but not cloyingly sweet. It uses orange flower water, ricotta and barley in a lovely crust. This pie has a much lighter taste than it's cousin, the Pizza Rustica, but it is oh so satisfying.

Okay, back to the present day. Once the package arrives, and I spend hours removing the packing tape, I reach in and smell the goodness. Each pie is wrapped in its own wrapper. Again, in true Gran-Fran fashion, the pies are placed in waxed paper (2 layers, thank you very much) then wrapped in aluminum foil, then snuggled into plastic bags. She then scotch-tapes them closed with a small scrap of white paper identifying which pie is which. Again, the unwrapping begins, and once I have made it to the actual pie, I am in heaven.

To be clear, Gran-Fran is the reigning queen of freezing fresh goods and sending them across country. She once made several hundred cupcakes for a party here in SF, froze them, wrapped them in the above fashion and shipped them out. They got lost in the mail, arrived about a week later, and were still frozen. So, there is no need to fear the freshness factor of her shipped pies, since they are likely to still be slightly frozen, if not very cold, upon arrival.

I am back at my desk, with the box open, the pies unwrapped and a napkin on my lap. Even though they taste better heated up, I don't bother. I just eat them out of the box, Homer Simpson-style right there and then. So good! And, no sharing, either. I can make these pies last for two to three weeks, even though it's usually just a quarter of each pie.

So, a big thank you to Gran Fran for fulfilling my Easter wish of meat, eggs, cheese and deliciousness.

Buona Pasqua!!

PIZZA RUSTICA (also known as Pizza Chiena) Crust: Preheat oven to 375 degrees

* 4 1/2 cups unbleached flour * 3/4 teaspoon salt * 3 sticks ice-cold unsalted butter, diced * 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water

1. Combine flour and salt. Use a pastry blender or an electric mixer at low speed to work butter into flour mixture, and form coarse crumbs. 2. Gradually add enough water to form a dough that just sticks together. Wrap dough in waxed paper and refrigerate while preparing filling.

PIZZA RUSTICA FILLING

(All meats and cheeses should be thickly sliced and diced into 1/2 inch cubes.)

* 1/4 pound prosciutto * 1/4 pound Genoa salami * 1/2 pound soppresatta salami * 1/4 pound Sicilian salami * 1/2 pound conventional mozzarella, or scamorza * 1/4 pound fontina cheese * 1/4 pound asiago cheese * 2 cups whole-milk ricotta, drained well * 6 eggs * Freshly ground pepper to taste

For Glaze

* 1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tablespoon milk

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, combine all meats and hard cheeses; set aside. In another bowl, beat together ricotta, eggs, and black pepper; set aside. 2. Divide dough in two, with one piece slightly larger than the other. On a lightly floured board, roll out larger piece of dough, and gently fit it into a 9 x 12 (approximately) nonreactive casserole dish; leave an overhang of an inch or two of dough. Roll out second piece of dough to fit over top; set aside. 3. Pour combined meats and cheeses into pastry-lined dish; pour ricotta-egg mixture over the filling. 4. Moisten the edge of the bottom crust with water. Add top crust. Roll edges of top and bottom crust together; flute edges. 5. Brush top crust with egg/milk glaze. Cut a circle in top crust to allow steam to escape. 6. Place casserole on baking sheet. Bake for 75 minutes or until the tip of a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. 7. Place on cooling rack; allow to come to room temperature before slicing. Serve at room temperature or cold. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Pizza Grana Crust 1 1/2 cups flour (Heckers or other all purpose, unbleached) 1 stick ice-old unsalted butter Pinch of salt Ice water 4 tablespoons or as much as you need

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

1. Mix salt and flour. Cut butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Add enough water to make a rollable dough. Wrap in waxed paper; refrigerate 20 minutes or so.

Filling 1/3 cup pearl barley Pinch of salt Cook barley, according to package directions, until tender. Drain barley well if any liquid remains. Return barley to pan Add: 1/3 cup warm milk ¼ cup sugar Rind of a whole navel orange 2. Simmer mixture over medium heat until milk is absorbed. Allow mixture to cool.

To cooled mixture: Add 1/2 cup sugar 3 cups whole milk ricotta 2 tablespoons orange flower water 1 teaspoon vanilla Grated rind of 1 lemon Pinch of salt 2 eggs Stir mixture together. Assembly: 3. Line a 9 or 10 inch Pyrex or ceramic pie plate with dough. Save 1/4 of dough to cut into strips. Pour filling into pie pan. 4. Cut strips and lay in a lattice pattern over the filling. 5. Place filled pie pan on a rimmed cookie sheet. 6. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 375. Cook 30 to 40 minutes or until filling is puffed and golden brown. Cool pie on rack. Refrigerate for storage when cool or serve as soon as cooled.