A Very Delicious Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday with
their friends and family, I know I did. I went home to Massachusetts for a little over a week and got to spend some quality time with the fam and caught up with some dear old friends. And, of course, I ate copious amounts of food (and desperately need to get my butt to the gym). But before I start eating lettuce and yogurt and running 5 miles a day, let's recount the delicious morsels I consumed over the past week. I am
sad to say, I did not photograph a lot of it, but the ones I did take were some of my favs so I hope you all enjoy!


Christmas Eve began with a lovely trip into the Boston Opera House to see The Nutcracker with my parents, Gram, Jules, Lance, Abby & Noah. The Opera House is SO beautiful, the architecture and decor are definitely something to rave about. The Nutcracker was a great show as well. Anywho, after the show we all headed down to my sisters for dinner. It began with some appetizers, including bacon wrapped scallops. I am not a huge seafood fan (I know, doesn't make much sense being from New England), but I will eat a bacon wrapped scallop. You could wrap anything in bacon and it would be good, lets be serious. Next came the main course which included a homemade chicken alfredo, which my sister let us all know was HERS! It was very good, a nice thick creamy cheesy coating for the noodles and chicken. Lance also made a crock pot beef stew, which had been cooking all day so the meat just fell apart and the flavors were very well melded together from hanging out in the pot all day. It was yummy.










Christmas day we were at my uncles and had a traditional Turkey dinner, which I did not manage to get any pics of since I was busy stuffing my face. But, it was good, my mom made some delicious sweet potatoes. Later that night we headed up to Maine to my brother's house. We cooked up a bunch of Italian food for the weekend,

since the Pats were playing Sunday and Jules/Lance & the kids were coming up as well. I was in charge of calzone, Tommy & Erika made the sauce/meatballs and my Dad & Tommy did the Lasagna. Everything was molto bene! I made 4 calzones, all with wheat dough. 3 were the regular Italian filling with provolone, pepperoni, salami, prosciutto, capicola, ham, and mozzarella. Then topped with a mixture of sweet and hot peppers. (The same calzone recipe from the previous post). The last one was a turkey meatball and cheese with some homemade sauce. They were all delicious! I wish I had taken more pictures of all the food, but Holidays are about family and that's what I was busy with. Best wishes to you and yours :)

Papa DuP's Calzone!

Anyone that knows my father knows that he loves food. Which, really, should come as no surprise, he the epitome of a jolly Italian man. His family is everything and from the second you walk in the door till the second you leave home, he is trying to shove food in your face. God bless him. One of my favorite Papa DuP recipes is his calzone. They were usually a Holiday special, only making appearances at the DuPont Christmas party. I always loved helping my Dad make them and carefully observed his every move, from rolling out the dough to glazing the finished product with some egg wash. So I have been making them for several years now for my friends and various holiday parties I have been to and they are always a huge huge hit. A few Sundays ago I made a few calzones to take to Trav's so we could munch on them while we watched football (the Eagles to my disliking, but if the Patriots aren't an option, I'll settle for the Eagles).

Ingredients:

Dough:
*Follow recipe from previous post, minus the brown sugar. It is enough to make 2 calzones.

Filling:
1/2 lb sandwich sliced pepperoni
1/2 lb sandwich sliced genoa salami
1/2 lb hot capicola
1/2 lb provolone
1/4 lb thinly sliced prosciutto (imported is best, it's pricey, but makes a difference)
1 can Pepper salad (sweet or hot or both)



Once the dough is rolled out into two oval shapes, begin to layer the meat and cheese. I like this order: pepperoni, salami, capicola, prosciutto, provolone. Then repeat again beginning with the pepperoni on top of the provolone. You should have enough for 2 layers of each meat in each calzone. Then top the last layer of provolone with the pepper salad or whatever peppers you have chosen. The peppers are really what makes the calzone. They provide a nice acidic crunch inside the dense meaty filling. Once the calzone is filled, fold the dough over the filling and knot it in the middle. Brush with a bit of egg wash for a nice glossy finish and pop in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. You must let them cool a little bit before cutting them, otherwise it will be very messy. I think the best part is that the bottom layer of dough gets very crusty and greasy from the meat ( I know, not healthy, but so good). Also, if you can snag an end piece, I highly recommend it.




I have done other fillings for the calzones as well. I did a buffalo chicken as well as as spicy sausage with mushroom and cheese filling. Both were good, but the classic italian meat is the big winner. It just can't be beat, all thanks to my Dad!