Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Fish breath

The cooler weather brought with it a desire for home-cooked food. It's been a few years since I've made a particular childhood favorite - Anchovy Bread.

Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like: a flat round loaf of bread, cut crosswise and filled with pieces of anchovy fillets and Parmesan cheese. What can I say - my sister and I were introduced to the wonders of anchovies before we were old enough to say "yuck - furry, salty fish!". In fact, we used to beg to eat them straight from the can.

The last few years, however, it's been more difficult to get the supplies. Hot roll mix (boxed, not frozen dough) is almost impossible to find. Pillsbury does make one - it can be used for pizza crust, rolls and cinnamon buns. It is (relatively) less work than making the bread from scratch, as you don't need to measure out any dry ingredients. You still need to control the temperature of the water, knead for a bit, let it rest and give it a half hour to rise after you form the loaves.

Maybe it is easier to make it from scratch.

The official recipe from my grandmother's hand-typed recipe book:



I use much less oil and more cheese. There is a variation on this - if you are into artery-hardening. You follow the basic dough recipe, but when the loaves are done, you coat the cut surfaces with 1/2 cup of melted butter, and spread with 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese.

One more hot-roll-dough recipe is in the book - this for fried dough. Prepare the dough as explained above, but after punching it down, pinch off small pieces and fry in hot oil. Roll in sugar when cooked.

Personally, only the anchovy bread variation has survived my taste changes into adulthood. I took a quick peek at my bread, which doesn't seem to be rising very well.

I may end up making the bread from scratch, after all.

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