blog — molly yeh

holiday

prosciutto + grape pizza

in

every surface of my kitchen is covered with gingerbread house walls and yesterday i listened to sufjan christmas. the holiday season is upon us!! i am so excited. 

 i know i know, it's not thanksgiving *yet* so technically it's not the holidays *yet* and eggboy won't let us put up our chrismukkah bush forest *yet*, but still. i've already moved onto christmas and hanukkah food, which works out perfectly because last week when the united states of thanksgiving came out, eggboy decided that he'd be planning our thanksgiving menu (!!!). i'm relieved and excited but mostly scared because today i watched him peel an onion and i'm surprised that all of his fingers are still intact. 

obviously there will be grape salad. and a turkey and eggmama's corn casserole. other than that i'm going to be blissfully unaware of what's happening in the oven as i build my gingerbread farm and watch the parade and hope that the eggs don't have any traditions that will require me to say what i'm thankful for out loud in front of people. 

not that i don't like making lists of things i'm thankful for. 

i just get sooooo scared that people are going to get too mushy and start crying at the dinner table. all i want is to be on my way to the holiday season with a pitstop for corn casserole and peanut butter pie. i might even save room for pizza and conquer the usual dilemma on the day after thanksgiving that is, "do you have pizza since it's a friday? or do you eat a salad since you just had thanksgiving?" meh! 

this recipe is just slightly adapted from my friends kim and phil's new book, food truck road trip. it originally comes from the urban oven in los angeles. the sweet grapes, salty prosciutto, fontina and rosemary work so well together, and the crust gives me hope that one day i will no longer have to miss kesté as much as i do. kim and phil are the sweetest and the recipes in their book, which come from food trucks across the country, are pretty much all the definition of perfect drunk food. there's a bacon-wrapped hot dog with pineapple and wasabi mayo, a pad thai taco, and an unreal looking mazemen. one day when i'm old and married and not having to fit into a wedding dress (i.e. 4 1/2 weeks away, but who's counting), i'm gonna cook my way through this sucker. spam musubi and all.

prosciutto + grape pizza

makes 2 14-inch pizzas

ingredients

2 tsp (6g) yeast

1 c (236 ml) warm water

2 tsp (10g) kosher salt

1 3/4 c (174g) flour

1 c (130 g) fontina cheese

12 red california grapes, halved

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 tb (30 ml) olive oil

8 slices prosciutto

clues

in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the yeast and water and let it sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. in a separate bowl, combine the salt and flour. gradually add the flour and salt mixture to the yeast mixture and mix on medium until combined. add just enough flour as needed to bring the mixture from a batter consistency to a dough consistency. it should be sticky, but not lumpy. transfer the dough to a large greased, airtight container and let it rise for 24 hours.

transfer to a lightly floured surface, divide the dough in half, roll each half into a ball, cover and let rise for another 2 hours.

preheat a pizza stone, or two if you have them, for 1 hour in the oven at the highest temperature you're comfortable with. (i heat mine to 500... one day i'll have the nerve to use my broiler, like the original recipe in the book says.) flatten each ball of dough out into a 14-inch circle. top with fontina, grapes, rosemary, and olive oil. slide onto your baking stone and bake; begin checking for doneness at 5-6 minutes, and take it out when the cheese is melted and the crust has reached the desired browning.

top with prosciutto, slice, and enjoy!

-yeh

this post is sponsored by grapes from california. all opinions are my own! 

marzipan challah

in , ,

things i've been enjoying lately

offering everyone who comes over a buttercup squash from our garden

using the eggdad's typewriter to make cute little food labels, greeting cards, business cards, secret notes...

the fact that the sun has finally been going down before our (almost) nightly 10pm veep date

picking chamomile flowers from our garden (does anyone have any tips on a) getting the itsy bitsy bugs off of them so i can b) dry them and make tea?)

my tuesday night pottery class! i made a plate yesterday.

dark chocolate and sea salt kind bars

picking the caramel off of the caramel apples that have been sitting on my counter since saturday

making an extra over-the-top eye roll whenever someone tries to correct my pronunciation of "caramel"

getting excited for rosh hashanah!!!! 

...you know, i don't even remember what i did for rosh hashanah last year. i feel like i might have been salty about the fact that eggboy would have had to have been on a tractor during one of my favorite holidays. but this year i'm embracing it and planning to pack up a badass brisket picnic (complete with pomegranate brisket tacos) to bring out to the tractor. i've already told him to make sure that he's driving a tractor with a buddy seat so that i don't have to perch on his armrest and get my bum all sore. i'll also be packing up: apples from our apple trees, honey from eggsister's man's bees, and challah, obviously challah. even gluten-free eggboy will eat challah.

about this challah: the combination was bound to happen sometime, judging from my love of all things marzipan and all things challah. breads bakery, in new york, makes a marzipan challah, and i went on a wild goose chase trying to figure out how they do it. pictures of it kept popping up on my instagram and i kept wishing i could go-go-gadget x-ray vision it, but finally i just went for it and made a marzipan frosting to swirl about. the results were sweet and moist* and almondy and doughy and delicious. perfect for the new year.

(shortly thereafter, marian came to the rescue (again) with the intel that breads makes theirs by simply wrapping dough around almond paste and then braiding it. so i tried that and it was also delicious.)

*what is a synonym for moist? i hate subjecting you guys to that word. 

marzipan challah

makes two loaves (easily half-able if you just want one)

ingredients

bread

1 1/2 c warm water

2 tb dry yeast

1/2 c + 1 tb sugar

6 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (you might need way more, so i like to have 1-2 more cups on hand)

2 tsp kosher salt

a pinch of cardamom

5 large eggs

2/3 c oil

1 tsp almond extract

filling**

14 oz marzipan, grated or finely chopped

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

topping (optional)

slivered almonds

pearl sugar

**for a non-dairy or easier option, you can simply omit the butter and sprinkle the marzipan and sugar onto your dough when shaping. it will still be super delish.    

 

 

 

 

clues

In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine the water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Let sit for a few minutes until it gets foamy on top.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, flour, salt, and cardamom. In a separate bowl, whisk together 4 of the eggs, the oil, and the almond extract.

When the yeast has proofed, add it to the dry ingredients, immediately followed by the egg mixture. Mix to combine and knead, either on a floured surface, or with the dough hook for 7-10 minutes, adding more flour as needed, until smooth.

Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

to make the filling, beat together all ingredients. the marzipan will stay a little chunky.

on a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into two equal parts. working with one part at a time (keep the other part covered by the damp towel), roll the dough out into a large rectangle, approximately 10 inches by 14 inches. spread half of the filling evenly onto the dough, leaving a 1-inch perimeter, and then roll it up like a jelly roll (the long way). pinch the edges to seal it shut, and then coil into a spiral shape with the seam facing down. place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with the other half of the dough. let the loaves rise for 30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 375.

whip up the remaining egg with a splash of water and brush it onto the loaves after they've risen. sprinkle with slivered almonds and pearl sugar, if using. bake the loaves for 20 minutes, rotate them and tent them with foil, and then bake for another 20 minutes.

let cool briefly and enjoy!

-yeh!

p.s. it's come to my attention that some of you are having trouble commenting. oyoyoy! i'm working on having this fixed right now. feel free to bop over to my Facebook page to comment in the meantime!