Tomato Feta Sandwiches ala Angela

Today is Angela Beckham's birthday (God rest her soul). She and I came up with the recipe for this sandwich about 8 years ago and I eat it at least a couple times a year, but always on her birthday! I've had more requests for this recipe than any other!

1 fat loaf of Italian bread, sliced open hoagie style
2 fat, juicy tomatoes (good luck in February!)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup extra heavy mayonaise
1/4 cup minced or chopped dried onion (fresh works, too, but I actually prefer the dried in this recipe)
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Mix the mayo with the onion and spices. Slather it all over the cut sides of the bread and broil cut sides up on HI until golden and bubbly--it only takes a minute or two so watch it. Angela and I burned two loaves of bread one afternoon before we finally got the third one right (we still ate the other two anyway!)

When the bread is toasted pile thick slices of tomato and chunks of cool feta cheese on top. Fold over, slice and devour!

This may be the most delicious sandwich you'll ever eat!

May the Divine Assistance remain always with us and may Angela's soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Buon Apetito!

Miracle Dough

...to play with, not to eat!

This is the recipe for a WONDERFUL salt dough that is so lovely to work with and much more affordable than the store bought sculpt and bake products. Justin is totally loving it! I prefer to weigh the flour and salt so I've included the weights in ounces.

5 cups or 21.25 oz. cake flour (I used Softasilk.)
3 cups or 12.75 oz. all purpose flour
3 cups or 31.5 oz. fine salt (I ran table salt through the food processor to powder it.)
3 cups warm water 2 tablespoons cooking oil (Next time I'd like to try adding a drop or two of lavender oil--to reduce the likelihood of a clay fight in the kitchen!)

Mix the flours and salt together in the Kitchenaid, then mix in the water and oil together. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and pliable. Roll out a log of dough and hold it over the counter between your two fingers. If it stretches, it's too soft and you should add another tablespoon or two of all purpose flour. It if keeps its shape it's just right!

Be sure to use two grades of flour so you get a dough that's dense enough to keep its shape, but not so heavy that it's hard to work with and likely to crack when you bake it. Also, don't skip the oil! Let the dough rest for 1-2 hours before working with it. Put it in sealable plastic bags in a cool place (the fridge is TOO cold). Keep the portion you're not modeling with wrapped so it doesn't dry out.

Large figures should be baked for 3-4 hours at 300*F and small figures for about 2 hours at 225*F.

(Pictures to come!)

Happy Modeling!