Buona Beef, one of the chains in Chicago that features Italian Beef, has come out with a meatless version of it, using seitan, a wheat-gluten product.
It got a reasonable review from the Trib, they said it was better than several of the bland Italian Beef places they've visited. A little too salty and with too much oregano, but those aren't serious flaws.
Don't know if this link will work, and I'm dropping my Trib subscription at the end of the month because the price is tripling, but here goes:
Meatless Italian Beef
There's a place in downtown Lincoln that is doing Italian Beef now, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. (I so seldom get to downtown anymore, especially since the Lied Center theatre productions got cancelled due to COVID-19.)
We got a big bag of spinach at the farmer's market on Sunday that we need to use up, we're thinking about blending some into some pizza sauce. (I often blend spinach and ricotta for lasagna or a stuffed pizza, I don't know if that would work in pizza sauce, but I think I'll try it on Friday, which is often Pizza Night here.)
Will made pizzas tonight. His dough was really slack - he may have mis-measured. So he made thin crusts, parbaked them a little and then added the toppings. It worked well- everything was delicious. He made his own cheese blend of smoked Gouda, fresh mozzarella, cheddar and Colby jack. He made one cheese, one with sautéed vegetables, a spinach and artichoke and one with fresh tomatoes and bacon - anew favorite. They all had a little pizza sauce (homemade of course)
I don't refrigerate pan grease, either, but I have had it go moldy once. I usually have to stir it down because it has separated a little in between uses. (I don't use it a lot.)
I'm making semolina bread again today. We've reached the time of year when bread goes moldy a lot faster, and we've been eating a lot of breads other than the semolina bread lately (challah, pumpernickel, Boston Brown bread, etc.) so I'm probably going to cut these loaves into 3 parts rather than 2 for freezing.
Italian Cook--I use the Grease--and bless S. Wirth, who first posted the recipe, and Miss Cindy, who drew attention to it by writing effusively about it after I joined the Baking Circle.
The recipe is on this site, but let me quickly repeat it: combine equal volumes of flour, oil (I use canola), and Crisco. (Note: do not use weight.) I use my hand mixer and mix it well. I usually use 1/4 cup of each and store the leftover in a plastic take-out container that I reserve for that purpose. I use a fork to mix it up well each time before I use it. I have a silicone brush that works well for coating the wells of the pans. I also use the Grease when I make layers for cake.
I find that it helps not to let the cakes cool too long in these pans. A couple of minutes, and I invert them onto a rack. Rap the pan down, on the rack for any that initially seem to hold back.
Cleaning: First of all, do not soak the pan. It comes with a warning that prolonged soaking can damage the finish. I have soft sponge that I use to clean the pan. If there are spots that are hard to get to, I do use that tool--pointed end and the brush--to dislodge it. You can also use the tool before you get the pan wet to wash it.
I probably have far too many specialized Bundt pans, due to good sales at T.J. Maxx and Tuesday Morning over the years. I have a similar pan to this one that is ducklings. I have the seasonal Bundt pans in plastic tubs--two of Christmas, one for Thanksgiving and Halloween, and one for Valentine's and Easter. That does not even count the others, some of which I inherited from my Mom, who didn't use them but could not pass up a good deal and the idea that she COULD use them if she wished.
As my dessert options have shrunk since I eliminated almost all butter from my diet, it makes me feel good to be able to bake an oil cake in a fancy pan.
I suspect that the Bunny pan will continue to be available, but getting it on sale when you can is a good idea. I've noted that prices tend to increase from year to year. My Bunny Pan was $19,99 at T. J. Maxx after Easter. Williams Sonoma also often has good after holiday sale prices.
I just got my first Covid shot ( Pfizer ). A mass vaccination center opened up in the empty store at a nearby mall. I was able to sign up online and go in that same day. I was afraid that I would be searching for an opening for weeks. I had a sore arm that afternoon but the pain was mild and I didn't feel the need for pain killers.
Even here the weather has been off and on. Last week Will was getting discouraged because some issues were cropping up (hah) such as spots on the chard - he pulled those out, but he's been using neem oil, hydrogen peroxide and copper regularly to help prevent various diseases. I've tried to buy disease resisistan seeds then possible.
Last night his efforts were rewarded when he discovered the cherry and beefsteak tomatoes, the peppers and eggplants as well as the squash were fruiting!
We are starting the debate as to weather we want to continue with the community plot or just grow enough for us in planters at the house. There are so many variables including having all the owners of our plot working - each season, the work has seemed to fall on one of us and we love it, but . . . and then there's sometimes not enough harvest for everyone based on the amount of work.
I'm glad to hear that your tomatoes are perking up, Mike. My husband was surprised that the gardening stores did not have chelated iron, but I reminded him that these days, one never knows if stores will carry what we expect. (At least that is true of the grocery stores around here.)
Today, my husband started our tomato plants inside. We are having unseasonably warm weather today and probably tomorrow, but of course that could change quickly at this time of year, as it did last week when we had two nights of freezing temperatures.
On Monday, I made another batch of yogurt.
For dinner, we had Sloppy Josephines (ground turkey rather than ground beef) on the Wheat Oat Flax Buns I baked, with a mixed greens, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and green onion salad, and microwaved fresh broccoli.
I was able to get some chelated iron online (none of the local garden supply places stock it) and I added a small amount to the watering liquid on Friday. Most of the plants are looking better already, but I had cut back on the water in the tray early last week, so that may have been a major factor.
Six of them (including one that grew from a seed that didn't get into a pellet pot) had gotten large enough that they were crowding out the light from the littler ones, I've moved them to separate 3" peat pots under another grow light and that should give the smaller ones more space (and better light) to grow. I think I was able to save enough of the roots of the one that wasn't in a pellet pot for it to survive, and I think I know what variety it was, too.
I'll continue to move the bigger ones to their own pots over the next several days, I need to set up another rack up with some grow lights.
The main reason I switched to the Pullman pan was because I was concerned the batter would overflow my 8 inch bread pan, but at this point I like the size of the resulting bread and the next time I bake it I will use the Pullman pan.
I did put a pan of water on the rack below the Pullman pan, just to make sure the oven was fairly moist. Don't think it is necessary when using a Pullman pan with a lid that seals fairly well, but it certainly didn't hurt things.
On my list of things to try at some point is a rye recipe (not one in the Ginsberg book) that is supposed to be baked/steamed for many hours in a double-walled lidded pan with water in the outer layer. I can't find such a pan anywhere, but I think if I use my big Pullman pan and put it in my big roaster with water in the bottom and the lid on the roaster, that may be close enough.
Way back when B&M (which was the only brand of baked beans to buy) had a Boston Brown Bread in a can, we always had with our hot dogs and baked beans. Butter and/or cream cheese on it was also part of the ritual. We never found another brand that tasted as good.
Mike, I love your idea of using the pan de pie pan and I'll have to try it. I really didn't want to get into steaming it.
Baked beans and brown bread is a very old traditional New England meal. It was (and probably still is) the standard Saturday night supper for many. Twenty or thirty years ago, I baked it in empty coffee cans - til that became a no-no. Then we searched out stainless steel cans, for example, kitchen utensil holders. I still have some of those, but no longer make brown bread.
Report on Boston Brown Bread (Ginsberg pps 90-92):
This is a quick bread not a yeast bread, though it seems odd to describe anything that bakes for 3 hours as 'quick'.
The recipe said to bake it in an 8 inch bread pan, but the dry ingredients alone nearly filled up that pan, and I was concerned that after I added 2 cups of milk and 3/4 cup of molasses that it'd spill over the top, so I put it in my 4 x 4 x 13 Pullman pan. It has a lid so that simplified sealing it in the pan, too.
I forgot to weigh the finished bread.
I did put a pan of water below the bread just to make sure the air was a bit steamy.
I like the fact that the slices are 3 x 4, which is a good size for a slice. If I make it again (and that seems likely), I'll do it in the Pullman pan again.
Doing it in a sealed pan is a lot simpler than trying to find a way to steam it, and the taste is very good. We had it with Boston Baked Beans, and it was a great pairing. (That pairing, as I recall, gives you all 9 amino acids, which would make it a complete protein source.)
I tried a slice with some cream cheese, it totally changes the flavor profile of the bread. I liked it, my wife wasn't as fond of it that way. I don't know how well it would toast, it might fall apart in a regular vertical toaster.
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