Locally grown organic tomatoes Locally grown organic purple basil Fresh mozzarella Drizzle of balsamic vinegar and unfiltered olive oil Dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper

Savor each bite as summer fades

Please send help. The Swiss chard has established a stronghold in our garden and won’t surrender. It’s been going strong since springtime and shows no sign of slowing down. It may have wilted during the hottest, driest days but has never failed to rejuvenate itself overnight. I wish I could say the same [...]]]>

Please send help. The Swiss chard has established a stronghold in our garden and won’t surrender. It’s been going strong since springtime and shows no sign of slowing down. It may have wilted during the hottest, driest days but has never failed to rejuvenate itself overnight. I wish I could say the same for the tomatoes, radishes, and carrots that we planted. Swiss chard has definitely been the superhero of our garden this year and at this rate, these same plants may just be the superhero of next year’s garden too.

One of the best ways to eat chard (or anything, really) is with cheese. But encase the chard and cheese in a sourdough herb crust and then you’ve got something really special on your hands. A chard, tomato, and ricotta calzone, to be precise.

Before I give you the details about these tasty little pockets, I’m going to give you some more details about myself. Cristina from TeenieCakes tagged me to answer a few questions and I’m happy to play along.

1. What are five things that are absolutely a staple in your pantry/refrigerator?

-Fresh, local apple cider
-Three types of flour: organic whole wheat, organic all-purpose, and unbleached bread flour
-Local Gouda cheese
-Organic, free range eggs straight from the farm
-Compost bucket, usually full of scraps because I’m too lazy to empty it every day

2. What are some of your favorite food scenes in movies?

I always have a difficult time answering movie trivia questions. I’m not much of a movie buff, but the first two that come to mind are:
-The tour of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory (from the original movie, I haven’t see the newer version)
-The lobster scene in Annie Hall

3. What would you consider are three of your cooking and/or baking specialties?

-Sourdough bread
-Pizza with sourdough crust and seasonal veggies
-Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are my current seasonal baking obsession

4. Name a couple of your personal cringe-inducing ingredients or dishes?

-I can’t stand any type of melon. Not even watermelon on a hot summer day. Hard to believe, I know.
-Caraway seeds. I’m always wary of ordering “everything” bagels at an unfamiliar bakery, lest they hide caraway seeds among the sesame and poppy seeds.

5. Favorite movie (doesn’t have to be about food)?

Food, Inc. If everybody watched this movie and took just one small step toward a more sustainable diet, we would be on the right track.

6. With the holidays around the corner, what dish/dessert are you sure to contribute?

Bread, of course!

7. Share a kitchen disaster or funny moment when your cooking or baking just didn’t measure up.

I attempted to make sourdough bread for over a year before I finally got a presentable loaf. I had all kinds of disasters, from dough that didn’t rise to bread that was as hard as a brick. I thought I would never get it right! But persistence paid off and now I enjoy beautiful sourdough loaves every week. With only the occasional disaster, of course.

8. How did you come up with the name of your blog?

I am somewhat of a math geek, and wanted to incorporate it into my blog. Simple Math Bakery just came to me while I was brainstorming. Math and baking certainly go hand in hand so I felt that it was a natural fit. The math skills needed for baking are mostly just fractions and basic multiplication or division, so it made sense to call it simple math.

Swiss Chard, Tomato, and Ricotta Calzones with Sourdough Herb Crust
Created by Simple Math Bakery
Yield: 4 large calzones

For the crust:
1 batch of sourdough pizza crust
Dried herbs to taste (I used oregano, basil, and thyme)

Prepare the pizza dough as directed through the first rise, adding the dried herbs during kneading. Toward the end of the rise, preheat the oven to 450° and prepare the calzone filling. If you have a baking stone, place it in the oven while the oven preheats.

For the filling:
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 Cipollini onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 leaves Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated Gouda cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tomatoes, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the chopped chard leaves and continue to cook until the leaves have wilted and the stems are tender, stirring frequently to prevent the leaves from burning. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.

Turn out the pizza dough onto a well floured surface. Divide the dough into four equal portions. Coat your hands with flour and gently pat each portion of dough into a 6″-8″ circle.

Spread 1/4 cup of the ricotta over the bottom half of each dough circle, stopping 1/2″ from the edges. Sprinkle with Parmesan and Gouda. Top the cheese with tomato slices. Spoon 1/4 of the chard filling over the tomatoes. Using your finger, moisten the edge of the dough circle with water. Fold the top half of the dough over the fillings and match the edges up, pressing to seal. Gently slice 2 or 3 vent holes through the top of the dough.

Using a well-floured peel, slide the calzones into the oven, directly onto the baking stone. Alternatively, you may bake them on a baking sheet. Depending on the size of your baking stone, it may be best to bake just 2 calzones per batch. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Look for these calzones on YeastSpotting, a weekly showcase of yeasted baked goods!

I’ve only had polenta once before, when my boyfriend cooked it for me. He loves a good cooking experiment just as much as I do. We had been intrigued by it in the store, not quite knowing what to make of the large yellow tube that appeared ready to burst at any moment. [...]]]>

I’ve only had polenta once before, when my boyfriend cooked it for me. He loves a good cooking experiment just as much as I do. We had been intrigued by it in the store, not quite knowing what to make of the large yellow tube that appeared ready to burst at any moment. We decided that it was pretty tasty, and I vowed to use it again.

When I came across a recipe for polenta made from scratch, I knew I had to try it. Plus, the addition of mushrooms in this recipe forced me to push my comfort zone. I don’t like mushrooms very much. It’s definitely a texture thing, so I figured that if I chopped them finely enough (and tried not to think about it) I could enjoy this dish.

Polenta is basically boiled cornmeal. It’s a simple base that is infinitely adaptable. Polenta is used in a wide variety of dishes from all over the world, and is prepared according to many different methods. Here, I created basic polenta by whisking cornmeal into boiling water.

Then, I dipped the polenta in a mixture of breadcrumbs, Parmesan, cilantro, and garlic. And baked it to perfection!

I chose to top it with a tomato wine sauce, which also makes an excellent pizza or pasta sauce. The whole meal took me a good half day to put together, but the time spent was well worth it.

Sun-Dried Tomato Polenta Cutlets
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
Yield: 12 cutlets

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil
1 cup red wine
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion
6 garlic cloves, pressed or minced, divided
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 cup chopped mushrooms
3 cups water
1 1/4 cups cornmeal
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
3 egg whites

Heat the red wine just until it boils. Place the sun-dried tomatoes in a non-reactive heatproof bowl and pour the wine over the tomatoes. Set aside to soak.

Heat the olive oil in a small pan. Add the minced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Saute until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of the basil. Cover the pot and cook on low, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms release their juices, about 10 minutes. Drain the sun-dried tomatoes, saving the wine for the sauce, if desired. Add the tomatoes to the mushroom mixture and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine 3 cups water, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 2 minced garlic cloves. Bring to a boil, then add the cornmeal in a slow stream, whisking rapidly to prevent lumps. Reduce the heat to low, and cook uncovered, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, or until the polenta is very thick. Stir in the mushroom mixture.

Grease an 8 by 12-inch glass or stoneware baking dish. Spread the polenta evenly in the bottom of the dish. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, cilantro, and 2 cloves of minced garlic in a shallow bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.

Preheat the oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

Cut the polenta into 12 triangles. Here’s how: cut the polenta in half lengthwise. Then cut in thirds crosswise to create 6 rectangles. Then cut each rectangle in half diagonally. You should have 12 triangular cutlets.

Use a spatula to remove each cutlet, dip it into the egg white, and then coat both sides with the bread crumb mixture. Place the cutlets onto the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, flip them over, then bake for 10 more minutes, or until golden brown.

Tomato Wine Sauce
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
Yield: about 3 1/2 cups

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Herbs de Provence
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/3 cup red wine
3 cups undrained chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onions, garlic, and salt. Cover and cook on low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the onions have begun to soften. Add the Herbs de Provence and oregano, and cook for another minute. Add the wine, bring the sauce to a boil, then add the tomatoes. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.