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Jerry keeps a supply of applewood for me in a makeshift shed tucked away in a stand of tall cottonwoods that’s barely a hundred feet from the Yakima River. To get to it, I negotiate my car around stacks of orchard boxes punctuated by assorted vehicles: an old city bus, a fire truck, two jeeps, some golf carts and a rusty farm tractor spilling engine parts. There’s stuff piled everywhere, the kind of stuff that might come in handy sometime.
 Fresh Yakima asparagus: there's nothing finer! Behind a garage made from cast off building materials, Jerry pulls aside a flimsy piece of sheet metal and guides me into a narrow gap in the chest-high weeds. The wood’s all there, cozy and dry, stacked ceiling high and cascading to the dirt floor from two huge piles. A rough framework holding up the corrugated roof threatens to collapse, but in his can-do way Jerry just props it up with another handy piece of wood. Jerry doesn’t talk a lot, so it took coming here for nigh on six years for me to learn he’s got a son who lives nearby. In all those years, I’ve never met his wife, though I know she’s over there sewing in the big metal-clad house.
As sure as a farmer, Jerry tends his five acres. His leathery hands are constantly on the move, shifting bits and pieces with deliberate movements. Every time I show up to load my trusty Subaru, the yard is different. It’s like watching a slow-moving glacier. Jerry looks up from whatever project he’s busy with and comes to greet me the same way every time. “You’ve got bread for me?” I think for him that’s as important as the modest amount of cash that changes hands.
A horse tethered under the trees watches as we load the car. Jerry works like a machine, sending wood into the hatch at a steady rate until my sweat mixes with the cottonwood fluff that rises in the Yakima heat. I cry uncle and wipe my brow. Jerry’s face creases almost to a smile and looks at me as if I’m some city born specimen.
Later, I catch my breath in the parking lot of the big fruit stand just off of I-90, gloating over my haul. I check the springs on the Subaru to make sure I haven’t overloaded it, and then duck in for my second payload: Yakima Asparagus. Big spears, roughly cut. Fresh and full of flavor, they’re absolutely the best. I go back over the mountains to Seattle humming a happy tune.
Yakima Asparagus Quiche
Makes one 9” quiche, enough for 6 servings
1 cup of all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon of salt
3 Tablespoons each of butter and shortening (I use Spectrum Organic)
3 Tablespoons of ice-cold water
1 pound of fresh Yakima asparagus, untrimmed
½ cup of sliced mushrooms
½ cup of chopped onion
2 teaspoons of olive oil or butter
4 whole eggs + 2 egg whites
1 cup of 2% milk (I use Lactaid)
6 ounces of grated Jarlsberg (best) or Swiss cheese
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Make the pie shell: Preheat oven to 350°. Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Using a pastry cutter or 2 table knives, cut the butter and shortening into the flour until the bits are the size of small peas. Quickly squeeze the bits with your fingers so that the fat is incorporated with the flour and then add enough cold water to make a stiff dough.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured counter to make a 12” round. Fold the pastry into quarters and unfold it into a 9” pie plate. Crimp the edges to form an even crust. Prick the pie shell all over with a fork and prebake it for 12-15 minutes in the oven until lightly brown.
Prepare the veggies: Wash the asparagus to remove grit. Trim the top 6” from the stalks (discard the hard bottom pieces) and steam them for 5 minutes until barely wilted. Chop the asparagus into ½” pieces, reserving some of the spear tips to decorate the top of the quiche. Sauté the onion and mushrooms in oil or butter over medium heat for 5 minutes until the mushrooms are lightly browned and the onion is translucent. Let cool slightly.
Assemble and bake the quiche: Break the whole eggs into a bowl and add the egg whites. Whisk until whites and yolks are thoroughly combined. Gradually whisk in the milk, a little at a time. Add a pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.
Put all of the veggies except the reserved spear tips into the pie shell. Add the grated cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the top and – very gently – stir the veggies and cheese to suspend them in the egg. Push the reserved spear tips into the surface.
Bake the quiche for 35-40 minutes at 350° until crust is browned and the egg at the center is barely set. Let quiche cool for 20 minutes before serving.
Copyright ©2012 by Don Hogeland
 My kids helping to unload apple wood for the oven, circa 2005
“Sinpannay; conpannay.” A man holding a white pad stood by our weatherbeaten outdoor table, gesturing from me to the Salad Queen. His face was turning red. We were so frazzed by our drive that we just didn’t get it. “Sinpannay. Conpannay.” He gestured back and forth, threw up his arms and stalked off. His thin cry of exasperation drifted out from the kitchen.
Our children, who were very young at the time, raced around in the green grass nearby. The mist from the mountains lent a cool counterpoint to the sun that had been frying us in the lowlands all morning. We were all relieved to be out of the car and here in the lush hills above Lucca, no doubt at exactly the time this wayside restaurant was about to close for the afternoon.
“Sinpannay; conpannay,” the man said under his breath some minutes later as he plonked two steaming bowls onto our table. He gave us a last look and backed quickly away as if whatever we had was catching. Both bowls gushed with vegetables – cabbage, chard, onion and zucchini – all swimming in a luscious broth. We dug in hungrily before we understood: we’d ordered exactly the same soup, one without and one with bread in the bottom of the bowl. ‘Sin pane’ and ‘con pane.’ We looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Here’s the Chez Bullhog version of the same.
Woodfired Minestrone Soup
Takes 6-8 hours
1 pound (2 1/8 cups) mixed beans or 16-bean soup packet
6 cups cold water
½ of a large onion split into 2 pieces
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 heaping teaspoon of dried oregano
4 Tablespoons of olive oil
½ of a large onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 handful of Italian parsley, chopped
10 sprigs of fresh thyme, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 large tomato, chopped
6 ounces of tomato sauce, preferably homemade
2 medium-sized zucchini, chopped
2 cups of cabbage, shredded
1 bunch of swiss chard, stripped from the stems and chopped
2 teaspoons of salt or to taste
Woodfired Oven note: This soup is slow-cooked in the falling heat of an oven that has already been hot. At Chez Bullhog we make it the day after baking bread or pizza. Restart your oven with a few small (1½” inch) sticks of hardwood and put the bean pot, Dutch oven or casserole off to one side of the fire. A small fire every hour or so is all it takes to keep the soup happy. See Moderating Fire in a Woodfired Oven for more on this.
 Minestrone mixed beans and veggies Cook the beans: Put 1 pound of mixed beans (or the beans from a 16-bean soup packet) into an Italian bean pot, Dutch oven or large fireproof casserole with a tight-fitting lid. Add 6 cups of cold water, half of a large onion split into two pieces, 4 cloves of crushed and chopped garlic and a heaping teaspoon of dried oregano.
Build a fire to one side of your oven with a handful of kindling, 3 skinny sticks and 3 hardwood sticks that are 1½” thick. Put the covered bean pot on the other side. Let the fire burn for an hour or more until the fire is down to active coals. Make a second fire on top of the first and turn the bean pot around.
After 1 hour, the bean pot should be warm to the touch, after 2 hours it should be too hot to touch and after 3 hours the beans should be steaming. If after three hours the pot is not steaming, make a slightly larger fire and put in a medium-sized log. Otherwise, continue making small fires.
Add the seasonings: Heat 4 Tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add half of a large onion coarsely chopped, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 coarsely chopped carrots, 3 sprigs of finely chopped Rosemary, a handful of chopped Italian parsley and a small handful of chopped fresh thyme. Sauté 10 minutes until onion and carrots are wilted but not browned. Now stir in a bay leaf, a large chopped tomato, and 6 ounces of tomato sauce. Turn the heat down when the sauce is bubbly and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add this sauce to the beans. Make a medium-sized fire and continue cooking until the beans are tender – one to two more hours, depending on the level of heat and the age of the beans.
Add the vegetables: Finally add 2 chopped zucchini, 2 cups of shredded cabbage, and 2 cups of swiss chard, stripped from the stems and chopped. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and 2 cups of hot water, or enough to not quite cover the vegetables.
Simmer the soup for a further 30 minutes until the veggies are cooked through.
Serve the soup with a bit of parmesan cheese sprinkled over it, if desired. Or – if you really want to, you can put some bread in the bottom of the bowl and pour the soup over it. Here at Chez Bullhog, however, we prefer to serve a big crusty loaf on the side!
Copyright ©2012 by Don Hogeland
 Woodfired Minestrone Soup in the fire
Before grunge or Starbucks ever took hold in Seattle, the Salad Queen cooked me an Indian curry. Back then there were no Indian restaurants to speak of, so during dinner she regaled me with stories of fabulous feasts she’d had as a girl growing up in England. Quite frankly, I didn’t understand a tenth of what she was describing.
Later at a restaurant in Victoria, BC, I got the full treatment. Dark, soft-spoken men in Sarwal Kameez hovered by our table. Massive fern fronds dipped in the autumn breeze; sitar music wafted in the fragrant air. My eyes got wide when our waiter put before us an assortment of goodies: samosas, pakoras, and sauces for dipping. I don’t remember the main course, but I do remember it came on a plate that had spaces around the rim for all kinds of nibbles – peanuts and savory herbs and dabs of mango chutney and mint; yogurt with cucumber and dried currants and the first tamarind I ever tasted. My senses, which until then had been slumbering in a sort of suburban purgatory, came alive that day.
I’ve had many decent Indian meals since, in London, Manchester, Vancouver and even here in Seattle, where the Indian scene is (finally!) alive and kicking. While most restaurants are not so formal or exotic as that one in Victoria, they all have in common dishes made with freshly ground spices with flavors to wake up even the sleepiest of palates. And we always order vegetable samosas – pastries filled with potato, carrot, peas and spices – to begin the meal. It wouldn’t be a real Indian feast otherwise!
Here’s my take on them.
Vegetable Samosas
Makes 10-12 large filled pastries
For the crust:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3 ounces of plain Greek-style yogurt
3 Tablespoons of butter
¾ teaspoon of salt
6-8 Tablespoons of cold water
For the filling:
1 pound of red potatoes, boiled in their skins
2 Tablespoons of coriander seed
8 ounces of carrot, diced
½ of a medium-sized yellow onion (4 ounces), finely chopped
3 Tablespoons of butter
½ teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon of curry powder (Madras or similar)
¾ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of frozen peas
1 teaspoon each yellow mustard seed, whole coriander seed, and butter
Make the pastry dough: In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of flour and ¾ teaspoon of salt. Using 2 knives or a pastry cutter, cut in 3 Tablespoons of butter until the pieces are smaller than a pea. Add 3 heaping Tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt and lightly mix to incorporate. Now add enough cold water to make a stiff dough. Depending on the consistency of the yogurt, this amount will be between 6 and 8 Tablespoons.
 Pinching the dough. Click to enlarge Knead the dough in the bowl until it is soft and smooth; cover with plastic wrap and let rest while you make the filling. Wrapped tightly, the dough will keep up to 24 hours in the fridge.
Make the filling: Meanwhile, boil 4 or 5 medium-sized red potatoes until their skins crack, about 22 minutes. Slip them out of their skins as best you can and cut the potatoes into ½” dice. Peel and finely chop half of a medium-sized onion. Top and tail 8 ounces of carrot and chop into ½” dice. Have 1 cup of frozen peas available.
Grind 2 Tablespoons of coriander seed with a mortar and pestle or in a small grinder.
Heat 3 Tablespoons of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until melted. Add the ground coriander seeds and brown for 30 seconds until they sizzle. Add the onion and carrot and sauté them, stirring and flipping every so often, for 4 or 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the turmeric, curry powder and salt and cook for another minute. Add the potato and cook the whole mixture for a few minutes more to incorporate the spices. Add 1 cup of frozen peas right at the end; stir them in and remove the pan from the heat.
Heat a small frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add 1 teaspoon of butter and, as it begins to sizzle, add a teaspoon each of whole coriander seed and yellow mustard seed. Fry for 20 seconds or so until the seeds begin to pop. Do not overcook or the seeds will take on a burnt flavor. Immediately stir these crispy seeds into the potato mixture.
 Making the seal. Click to enlarge Assemble the samosas: On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until the dough is 1/8” thick. Using those ubiquitous plastic lids from cheese, yogurt or deli tubs, stamp out 4½” rounds of pastry. Re-roll and re-stamp any scraps until you have at least 10 rounds of pastry.
Put 2 or 3 heaping spoons of the filling onto the middle of each round. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little water or milk to strengthen the seal.
On each samosa, bring the sides of the pastry up and over the filling to meet at the top. Gently squeeze the pastry to stick the edges together at the crest and then squeeze your way down each side. Now turn the samosa on its side and, using a fork, seal the edge. Turn the samosa over and do the other side, just to be sure.
Bake the samosas: Preheat your oven to 375°. Put the samosas edge up on a lightly grease cookie sheet and bake for 25 minute until lightly browned. Let cool on a rack for 20 minutes and enjoy!
Note: These savory snacks also freeze well. To reheat, bake frozen samosas at 350° for 20 minutes. Lay a small piece of foil loosely over each samosa to keep from overbrowning, if desired.
Copyright © 2012 by Don Hogeland
 Samosas being assembled on the counter as the Salad Queen looks on.
I would love to fire up the woodfired oven every day. But somehow – whether it’s a house project that requires my attention, Dad doing taxi duty, or a sudden downpour that puts me off – the rest of life has an uncanny habit of getting in the way. So more often than I care to admit, here at Chez Bullhog we turn to the indoor oven to produce our daily bread.
With a modicum of planning, this bread does an excellent job of meeting our (somewhat discerning) needs. It has a well- developed crust, a crumb that’s stretchy and nicely hydrated and a flavor that is at once bright and mildly yeasty. The only complaint I ever get from my kids is that sometimes the holes under the crust get too big. I can live with that.
Besides the fact that every loaf turns out big and puffy and perfect, the coolest thing from a baker’s perspective is that it’s a great proving ground for the variety of flours available on your grocer’s shelf. I’ve done this recipe with all kinds of white flours, from our local Shepherd’s Grain augmented with Hi Gluten flour to a mix of Gold Medal and Italian Caputo. Last night’s loaves, made with Bob’s Red Mill Organic White Flour, had my family swooning!
Homebaked Artisanal White Bread 
Makes 2 loaves, 25 ounces each
For the sponge:
1 cup (5 ounces) of all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon of dry yeast
¼ teaspoon of salt
¾ cups of cold water
For the dough:
4¼ cups (20 ounces) of all-purpose or bread flour
½ teaspoon of dry yeast
1½ teaspoons of salt
2 cups (17 ounces by weight) of water at 100°
All of the mature sponge mixture
You will also need:
¾ cup of flour for bench work
2 – 9” round baskets fitted with flour-coated cloth napkins
¼ teaspoon of Kosher salt or similar
A pizza stone or 6 quarry tiles
2 Tablespoons of cornmeal
Make the sponge: A day before you will be baking the loaves whisk together 1 cup (5 ounces) of all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon of dry yeast and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a quart-sized bowl. With the handle of a wooden spoon, stir in ¾ cups of cold water until smooth (about 100 strokes). Cover lightly with plastic and let stand in a cool place for 16 to 24 hours.
 Mature sponge after 24 hours Make the dough: Next morning, in a large bread bowl combine 4¼ cups (20 ounces) of all-purpose or bread flour, ½ teaspoon of dry yeast, 1½ teaspoons of salt, and 2 cups (17 ounces by weight) of water at 100°. Add all of the mature sponge mixture. Mix well with the handle of a wooden spoon, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Sprinkle a work surface liberally with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Invert the bowl on top of the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, knead vigorously for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
First rise: Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with plastic or a damp cloth and let rise at room temperature for 3 hours, until doubled in size.
Second rise: Punch down the dough; knead lightly on a floured surface and tuck to reform the ball. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover and let rise a further 2½ hours at room temperature.
Shape the loves: Rub some flour into the center of 2 cloth napkins and line 9-inch round baskets with them. Sprinkle a teaspoon of fine cornmeal onto each floured cloth.
Turn the dough out onto your floured counter and divide into two equal pieces. Push most of the air out of each piece of dough; fold edges into the center to create a ball. Put the balls fold-side down into the floured baskets.
Let rise 1 hour at room temperature.
Bake the loaves: Place a pizza stone or 6 quarry tiles onto an oven rack and set the rack 1 notch below the halfway point in your oven. Preheat the oven to 450° for a minimum of 25 minutes.
Sprinkle more flour and cornmeal onto a wooden peel or the back of a cookie sheet. Turn each risen loaf of dough onto your hand and then plop it fold-side down onto the cornmeal. Tuck the sides under to elongate the loaves, but don’t push out any air. Pat or brush loaves 3 times with a small amount of water and sprinkle them with salt. Slip the loaves into the oven directly onto the preheated quarry tiles.
Bake for 15 minutes at 450°. Lower the temperature to 350° and bake for a further 45 minutes until loaves are puffy and brown.
Let cool for 30 minutes before digging in!
I raced the mower around our new asparagus bed, eyeing it carefully. Lacy fern tops spread out above the trenches in the soil that my dad had so carefully dug. I stopped out of sight behind the garage, turned off the engine, and sat watching a dragonfly playing among the feathery branches that dipped and shivered in the Pennsylvania sunshine. It was a perfect moment.
The next spring we got exactly six spears from our asparagus bed. We kids had a little procession as my father carried them up onto the back porch and handed the asparagus lovingly to my mother, who steamed it for dinner. Buttered, my single spear tasted of sweet spring grass tinged with hints of morning dew. And that delicate crunch! I tell you I was hooked right then and there.
Nowadays we Bullhogs can’t get enough; in fact, asparagus is our favorite veggie in the springtime, and the perfect accompaniment to salmon. And while asparagus from California is in the stores already, in a few weeks the first local Yakima asparagus will start appearing, and then the real feeding frenzy begins. As to cooking? I still love those tender stems steamed lightly and dabbed with butter, because it takes me right back to my childhood. But our method of choice these days - especially when the sun shines - is on the grill.
Here’s what to do.
Great Grilled Asparagus 
1 pound of fresh asparagus (see note below)
2 teaspoons of olive oil
A pinch of salt
Black pepper, if desired
A note on choosing asparagus: The best asparagus has shiny flesh and a tight bud at the head of each spear. The base should be clean and white where it’s cut. Avoid asparagus spears whose bases are dark, dried out or cracked. For grilling, we find it best to use spears that are as thick as your fingers.
Prepare the grill: Light 25 charcoal briquettes in a small grill (I use a Smoky Joe by Weber) and let them burn for 15 or 20 minutes until most of the black has gone. Spread out the red coals, add about 10 more fresh briquettes and leave the vents open. Clean the grill surface and put it in place.
Prepare the asparagus: Rinse the spears and shake off the excess water. Holding a spear with two hands, find the place about 2 inches from the bottom where the woody base ends and the tender spear begins. Using a small amount of force, bend the spear at this point and the base will snap off. Snap off all the bases, leaving spears that are 6 or 7 inches long.
Drizzle olive oil over the spears and lightly salt them.
Grill the asparagus: Spread the spears crosswise on the grill, with the bases toward the center and the buds out to the edge. Let cook for a minute or two and then turn all of the asparagus over with tongs. (Avoid putting the lid in place unless you like your asparagus limp.) As the asparagus cooks, send the less-cooked spears to the middle of the grill and the more-cooked spears to the edges. Depending on the thickness of your spears, the asparagus will be grilled in 5 to 7 minutes.
Serve this lovely grilled asparagus hot or cold.
Your Jetta or Beetle might have come from beautiful Puebla, set high on Mexico’s central plain, but we know the city best for its incredible food. Think cemitas, the ultimate street food, or the fabulous Chiles en Nougada if you’re ever there at the right season. With every good restaurant in town competing for the best rendition of Molé Poblano di Sacristia, the place transcends delicious to become a food-lover’s paradise.
 Fabulous street food in Puebla, Mexico The Poblano chile, Puebla’s namesake, is at the heart of this bonanza; fresh, roasted, dried or fried, it is Mexico’s favorite go-to chile. In its most famous dried form – the Ancho – it’s sweet and fruity with mild heat and a rich and pungently fresh flavor. The cool thing is, because Anchos are available everywhere you can enjoy them any time you’re in the mood for a bit of that Mexican zing.
Look for clean, shiny Anchos dried flat to show off their wide heart shape. While the best ones are leathery in texture, they’re not easy to come by. But as an added bonus, Anchos are mild enough to de-stem and seed without putting on gloves. Even so, do be sure to wash your hands well after handling since every once in a while you’ll come across a hot one!
If you’re looking for a real treat, do what we did: take a cooking course at Mesones Sacristia with Chef Juan Hernandez. It’s a great way to see the city through a chef’s eyes and to get your feet wet in this culinary tradition. Meanwhile, here’s a simple and delicious way to taste the flavors of that lovely town.
Ancho Chile Stew
1 cup of dry pinto beans
2 cups cold water
6 Ancho Chiles
3½ cups boiling water, divided
3 pounds of pork chops or shoulder steaks
4 Tablespoons of canola oil
¼ cup of flour
Salt and pepper
1 pound (about 7) tomatillos, quartered
1 large white onion, in 8 pieces
3 large carrots, roughly cut
1½ cups of meat stock
2 teaspoons of dried oregano, preferably Mexican
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
Soak the pinto beans: Put 1 cup of dried pinto beans into a 2 quart saucepan, add 2 cups of cold water and slowly bring the beans to a boil over medium heat. Once the water boils, cover the pan tightly and turn off the burner. Let the beans sit for 20 minutes. Before adding bones, heat the beans to a simmer.
 Ingredients for Ancho Chile Stew Prepare the Anchos: Use sharp kitchen scissors to cut along one edge of each chile. Pull the flesh away from the knobby stem and open the chile like a book. Discard the stem, its seedy attachment and as many seeds clinging to its inside wall as you can. Tear the cleaned Anchos into strips about 1” wide and 2” long, put them into a soup bowl and pour on 1½ cups of boiling water. Let the Ancho bits sit for 15 minutes to partially rehydrate them.
Brown the meat: Cut the bones out of the pork. Cut pork meat into pieces about 1” x 2”. Slake the pieces with ¼ cup of flour and generous amount of salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, fry the bones in 2 Tablespoons of canola oil until well browned. Add them to the pinto beans and continue the beans at a simmer. Simmer until the rest of the ingredients are ready – at which time, remove the bones from the beans and broth.
Now brown the pork pieces, about 10 at a time, in the hot skillet, adding a little oil as necessary. Turn meat until medium-brown on at least two sides. Remove cooked pieces to a plate until all meat is browned.
Prepare the veggies: Take the papery skins from the tomatillos. Wash the tomatillos and then cut them in quarters. Peel the white onion, top and tail it, and cut it into 8 pieces. Top and tail the carrots and slice them at an angle into 1” chunks.
Assemble the stew: Put the boneless beans and broth into a 5-quart French oven or heavy casserole. Spread half the meat over the beans, then add half the prepared veggies and half the Ancho strips. Sprinkle with half the oregano and half the cinnamon. Grind on pepper as desired. Now layer on the other meat, veggies, Ancho strips and spices.
Add the juice from the Anchos, the meat stock and up to two cups of boiling water, until the level of the liquid is about 1” below the highest veggies. Cover the casserole and put it into a 350° oven for 1 hour.
Reduce the oven heat to 250° and continue to bake the casserole for 2½ to 3 hours until the meat is tender and the tomatillos have become part of the gravy.
Serve with big hunks of fresh crusty bread for a fabulous treat!
Copyright ©2012 by Don Hogeland
 Some of the many beautiful churches in Puebla, Mexico
I’ve long resisted putting chicken on a pizza. To my taste and sensibilities, chicken doesn’t work well with red sauce; turning to barbecue sauce just muddies the mix. So when I hit on using spinach as a base for this pizza, I realized I was onto a good thing.
This pizza rocks. Ham gives the spinach a zing that balances the chicken’s tender flavor without overwhelming it. The mix of Swiss cheese against the crust and aged mozzarella lightly baked on the surface strikes just the right note. And by making use of a double bake – once to set the crust and heat the spinach base, the other to reheat the precooked chicken – the whole thing comes together perfectly.
So here you go, a fresh take on flavor for a fabulous Spring!
Lean Green Florentine Pizza 
Makes one 12” pizza
1 pound of fresh spinach, washed and drained
2 ounces of ham
2 Tablespoons of olive oil, divided
12 ounces of pizza dough (use your own or click HERE for our favorite)
2 ounces of Swiss cheese, sliced thinly
4 or 5 ounces of cooked chicken breast
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces of shredded mozzarella
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
Wilt the spinach: Wash and drain the spinach. Chop the ham into ¼” dice. Set a 12” non-stick frying pan over medium heat and add 1Tablespoon of olive oil. Sauté the ham for 3 minutes and then add the spinach (in 2 lots, if necessary). After a minute, turn the spinach over all the way and sauté the other side for a minute or two. The spinach should be mostly wilted but still bright green. Remove to a bowl. Once cooled somewhat, squeeze the spinach leaves by handfuls to remove most of the liquid. Discard the liquid and separate the leaves.
Prepare the chicken: You can use roasted chicken breast, prepared strips such as those available at Trader Joe’s, or you can fry a boneless breast. If you cook chicken specifically for this pizza, undercook it slightly for best results. Slice the chicken into strips ¼” thick, toss with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Make the pizza: Spread dough out on a floured counter to make a 12” round. Move to a wooden peel that has cornmeal on it and make sure the pizza blank ‘slips’. Put slices of Swiss cheese on the dough and sprinkle the spinach/ham mixture all over the pizza, leaving a margin at the edge.
1st Bake: Set a pizza stone on the center rack of a conventional oven and preheat it to 475°. If you have a woodfired oven, burn a fire for 2 hours until the ash turns white on the sides of the oven; move the fire to the back and sweep the floor clean. Slip the pizza directly onto the pizza stone or the floor of the WFO and bake it for 3 or 4 minutes until the crust becomes puffy and the spinach is steaming.
2nd Bake: Pull the pizza back out of the oven and quickly top with chicken strips and mozzarella. Sprinkle with oregano and send the pizza back into the oven. Bake for 3 or 4 more minutes until the mozzarella is just beginning to brown. Remove, let cool for a few minutes, and dig in.
Springtime? Bring it on!
Copyright ©2012 by Don Hogeland
 Springtime on a pizza. Spinach and ham mix ready to get to work.
It’s the middle of March, but at our little cabin a mile and a half east of Stevens Pass in the Cascades snow is still falling. When I got here the other day, the trees held a slim margin of snow on their boughs. Overnight their branches became heavy with vast epaulettes of snow. It’s awesome to see and – as the day brightens and the snow continues to fall – it’s even more spectacular to behold.
 Our cabin nestled in 12 feet of snow. (Click to enlarge) We’re enduring what the weather people call a La Niña year. In Seattle that means extra rain. Up here, at the high reaches of the local mountain passes, this means extra snow: some 460 inches to date. All that snow doesn’t just pile up on the ground; it morphs, compacts and compresses, but it certainly has its impact. We’re at 12 feet and counting.
After a short ski in along the unplowed road, I’m suddenly where I love to be. The cabin beckons like a boat in the woods: sturdy, remote and inviting. I hit the power, turn on the water, light a fire and settle in. Outside a winter storm is gathering steam, but inside is the perfect antidote. I am totally happy.
This time, I’ve brought up pork chops, broccoli, beans. I set the little barbecue on the snow and get it hot. I marinate the chops and put them aside. Everything is poised for a feast, a feast with the backdrop of snow and snowy weather. As the white flakes dance down to join the massive mound of snow that’s accumulated shoulder-high in just the past two weeks on our deck, I sit by the fire, warm and safe in my cozy setting. There’s shoveling to be done, but that will just have to wait. What’s most important is on the grill: Pork Chops, anyone?
Pork Chops in the Snow
2 ounces (57 grams) of brown sugar
¾ teaspoon of salt
1 heaped teaspoon of mild paprika
½ teaspoon (25 grinds) of freshly ground black pepper
¾ teaspoon of oregano
1 teaspoon of either Ancho or American Chili powder
3 or 4 bone-in loin pork chops, about 1 1/3 pounds total
- Mix brown sugar, salt, paprika, black pepper, oregano and chili powder together in a small bowl.
- Pat dry pork chops and coat both sides with the brown sugar rub. Let sit, covered for 3 hours.
- Light 25 charcoal briquettes in a small barbecue for 20 minutes or so and heat until red hot. Add another 10 briquettes, put on the grill and let heat for 10 more minutes.
- Grill the pork chops quickly over high heat, turning every 2 minutes to prevent burning. Add the exuded liquid as you turn the chops.
- Chops will be ready in 6 to 8 minutes, depending on heat and the thickness of your chops.
Now put another log on the fire – a big one that will last for a time. Sit by the fire, drawing your plate and a good book into easy reach. And watch the snow falling outside, settling on the trees, the deck and the landscape. A glass of wine? Sounds good to me! Life is good here.
Copyright © 2012 by Don Hogeland
You never forget your first sformato. We were in that little trattoria on the north shore of Green Lake, absorbed by an inner glow that transcended the gusts of rain throwing themselves against our window. Inside the restaurant with its fabulous smells, all was candlelit and cozy.
Our waiter’s humor and his rounded Balkan accent were totally infectious: extra garlic for the head cold, sir? I think we have a quantity of that somewhere. Behind a long low wall, a grizzled man moved about the kitchen with quiet authority. By the time our appetizer arrived, we were practically purring.
A sformato is a thing of beauty. Somewhere between soufflé and cake, it’s loaded with intense flavor. My go-to Italian cookbook, The Silver Spoon, lists numerous entries for vegetable infusions – carrot, zucchini, onion, spinach – as well as fishier options.
Back at our table the waiter hovered. Our first forkful was to die for. Light, assertive, delicious. Even the grizzled man looked up from his pots to smile. We raised our glasses and toasted what we both knew was around the corner: sun-drenched pizza parties, our antipasto platter graced with this new addition. We sat back satisfied. Bellissimo! It’s all good here.
Broccoli Sformato
Makes 4 small molds, properly called ‘Sformatini’
4 8-ounce ramekins or ceramic molds
2 teaspoons each butter and breadcrumbs
A rectangular casserole large enough to hold the ramekins
10 ounces of broccoli florets
½ cup of vegetable broth
2 ounces of finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons of olive oil
2 ounces of ricotta cheese
1½ Tablespoons of butter
2 Tablespoons of flour
¾ cup of 2% milk
2 eggs
2-3 cups of boiling water
Prepare molds for filling: Spread ½ teaspoon butter on sides and bottoms of 4 ramekins. Dust with seasoned breadcrumbs. Put ramekins into a rectangular casserole large enough to hold them in one layer and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°.
Pre-cook vegetables and purée: Put broccoli florets and ½ cup veggie broth over medium heat in a 2-quart saucepan. Turn once when boiling; cover and simmer for 4 minutes and then remove broccoli to a bowl to cool slightly. Meanwhile, sauté the onion in oil until it’s translucent; do not brown.
 Cooked Sformatini in their ramekins and water bath Shave ¼ cup of green broccoli buds from the florets and set aside for later. Put the rest of the broccoli, broth, onion and 2 ounces of ricotta cheese into a food processor and pulse for 10 seconds until chopped.
Make a thick béchamel sauce: Clean out the 2-quart saucepan and melt 1½ Tablespoons of butter in it over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons of flour and incorporate. Add the milk in 3 portions, mixing well and allowing to bubble before next addition.
Finish the filling: Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl. Add hot béchamel to the eggs in 3 portions, whisking quickly, until you have a smooth sauce. Add this to the food processor with the broccoli mixture. Pulse to blend, scraping the sides as necessary. Lastly, add the reserved broccoli buds. Mix them in but don’t purée: these will give a nice texture to your sformato.
Taste the filling and add salt and pepper if desired.
Fill and bake: Pour the broccoli sauce evenly into ramekins, to about ¾ full. Add boiling water to the casserole around the ramekins to bring water 1” up the sides. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes, until lightly browned and springy.
To serve: Let cool for 20 minutes, turn out and serve. Or, you can hold the sformatini in their ramekins for up to 3 days wrapped in plastic and refrigerated. To reheat, turn them out onto a cookie sheet, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake for 12 minutes at 350°.
 Green Lake, Seattle's favorite park. Trattoria Cioppino is a lovely half mile walk, left along the walking path and across the street.
For at least as long as the Salad Queen and I have been married, we’ve been working to create the perfect bread to grace our family table. Over the years, those loaves have morphed from long-fermented ones that always seem to flatten out on the bottom to high-rising smoky loaves from the woodfired oven that you want to grab to your nostrils and inhale deeply. Along the way, I’ve tried out different shapes, different ovens, different techniques and different ingredients. As with many things in life, it turns out that when it comes to good bread, simple is often the best.
What may surprise you (but won’t surprise a professional baker) is that the most important ingredient in making great bread is patience. After you’ve assemble the most honest of ingredients and kneaded adequately to bring them together, the best approach is to wait. The hydration process needs to happen; it can’t be rushed. And the yeast needs time to do its job.
So here’s the latest homespun bread we’re making at Chez Bullhog. The loaves aren’t always perfect, especially when dealing with a winter oven, but the flavor and the texture are wonderful. As my next door neighbor asked me the other day when I presented her a loaf, “Can it get any better?” She held the fresh bread to her nose and squeezed the crackling crust to release its heady aroma.
Just wait, I told her. I’ll come up with something.
Crusty Artisan Loaves from Chez Bullhog
Makes 3 loaves, about 25 ounces apiece
¾ cup (4 oz.) of rye flour
1¼ cups (6.5 oz.) of spelt flour
2 Tablespoons of flax seed meal
3 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of dry yeast
1 liter (4¼ cups) water at 100°
5 cups (26 oz.) of all-purpose flour (see note)
2 cups additional flour for bench work
Flour Note: For best results, use good all-purpose flour with 4 grams of protein per ¼ cup. Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur’s and Trader Joe’s flours all work well for this bread. Avoid higher-gluten flours; at 5 grams of protein per ¼ cup, they will create stiff bread with great structure but will also have a tendency to form a brittle crumb.
Make a soft dough: In a large bread bowl, mix together rye, spelt, flax seed salt and yeast with the handle of a wooden spoon. Add water and mix to make a smooth porridge. Add 5 cups of all-purpose flour to the bowl. Vigorously incorporate the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until you’ve created a smooth dough. Let the dough sit for 15 minutes in the bowl before proceeding.
 Using a dough scraper in the kneading process Knead the dough: Sprinkle 2 cups of flour onto a work surface. Scrape the dough from the bowl onto the middle of this and, using a dough scraper or plastic container lid cut in half, pull the edges of the dough up to fold into the center as you would an envelope. Knead lightly for 7 to10 minutes, using only as much additional flour as necessary to keep from bogging down your fingers. The goal here is a soft smooth dough with a springy texture.
First rise: Clean the bowl and put the dough back into it (no oil or butter needed). Cover lightly and let rise for 2 hours in a warm (75-80°) place.
Advanced option: In this first rise, you can improve the texture of your finished loaves by a) lowering the temperature to 60° or b) decreasing the yeast by half. The time taken for the dough to rise will be 4 or 5 hours in either case. For a true artisan technique, do both and then allow the bread to proof overnight. Punch down the dough and let it sit at 75-80° for an hour before continuing.
Second rise: Once the dough has become puffy and fills the bowl, use the dough scraper to bring the edges into the center to release the air, inverting the dough if possible. Cover and let rise another 1½ – 2 hours.
Form the loaves: Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Tuck the edges under lightly to make mounded balls, and place onto floured cloth napkins in bread baskets. Let rise 45 minutes to an hour.
Preheat the oven: Set quarry tiles or a pizza stone onto the middle rack of your indoor oven and preheat to 450°. Or – if you’re lucky enough to have a woodfired oven – get your outdoor oven moderately hot over a 2-hour period.;.
For baking in a conventional oven: Turn the risen loaves out of their baskets and onto floured peels. Slash or decorate your loaves if desired. Slip them directly onto the quarry tiles or pizza stone. Lower the heat to 425° and lower it again to 375° after the first 15 minutes to replicate the falling heat of a woodfired oven. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, until loaves are medium brown and crusty.
For baking in a woodfired oven: Your oven should be well heated but not scorching. (If the ash on the walls of your oven has turned white, it’s too hot; wait 30 minutes) Sweep the floor clean of ashes and push the coals to the back. Slip the loaves into the oven about 12” from the coals in a semi-circle. Turn the loaves around after 20 minutes; ¼ turn after another 20 minutes; and all the way around again after another 10 minutes. Loaves will be done after 1 hour altogether.
Cool the loaves on a rack for 30 minutes before digging in.
Now gather ‘round the table and enjoy the oohs and aahs as your friends and family remark on your ability to create a fantastic bread. But be forewarned: even basking in the glow of their kudos, you’ll be assessing your next creation. I know; I’ve been there for a long long time!
Copyright ©2012 by Don Hogeland
 Loaves proofing in the basket: upright or upside down, it works either way!
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Welcome Aboard At Woodfiredkitchen.com, Sortachef takes you on adventures in the kitchen and beyond, with tales to suit. Many of his offerings are woodfired - a flaming good recipe for pizza, bread, or something different. All recipes are original and tasty. Enjoy!
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Kudos “Do you know those days when it feels like a hot chocolate day? That’s what Don’s site makes me feel like.”
“Sortachef on Woodfiredkitchen.com includes an eclectic mix of travel, food memories and photographs to accompany his recipes. Since we believe food, wine and travel are the best geography lesson you can have to understand and appreciate various cultures, his style of sharing his message is what we enjoy.
"(Don) may not be a chef, but he is a great cook and a good writer which shines through on his blog.”
“You have two very special gifts, one your love of cooking and the other, one with words.”
"Sortachef's woodfired chicken is not just a recipe to try, but his writing is just as savory. Part travelogue and part rambling joke, you'll enjoy the introductory anecdote just as much as the cooking."
“Reading your post nearly brought me to happy tears remembering how (my mother) prepared this masterpiece with such loving care. I didn’t have a copy of her method so I think I will bridge the gap with yours.
Thank you so much for jogging a jovial food memory for me.”
“The bread is as beautiful as your writing.”
“One of my favorite things is when people blog for themselves and the people they connect with, not to make money or to get a book deal. That being said, I think Don should make money and get a book deal”
Contact Info You can contact Sortachef by leaving a comment or sending an email to Sortachef@gmail.com. Serious inquiries only, please.
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