So, my BFF made some burger calzones… I totally drooled as she talked about what she was going to make when she got home, and asked her more about them later. Well, she didn’t make them the same as flavors she’d mentioned but she walked me thru how to make them technique wise. Well as it turns out, humorously enough, as tempting as they’d sounded I didn’t make those flavors either (I contemplated making a “Black Jack Burger” type one since the Hubs gets likes to get those at Backyard, but had no pepperjack–so stay turned for that update as I might make them in a couple of weeks). Well a quick survey of what I had and I realized that I still needed to kill some mushrooms. So ‘coq au vin’ sprang to mind and as I looked through my red wines on the basement stairs I found a bottle I really wanted to drink… and thus dinner was born.
Coq au Vin-ish Calzones
3 oz diced bacon
1.5 c diced onion
1.5 c mushrooms
diced carrots & celery at your discretion (optional, I didn’t have any but I want to use them next time)
1 lb ground turkey
4 cloves garlic
2 T flour (1 T butter, if needed)
s/p, thyme and oregano to taste (generous)
2 bay leaves
a couple Tbsp tomato paste
2 c red wine (I used my fav S. African Cab)
1 c chicken broth
1 lb pizza dough
1.5 cups shredded gruyere cheese (or any mild swiss maybe with a bit of mozz, unless something sounds better to you)
Cook bacon and veg until bacon is crisp and veggies are soft. Add ground turkey and garlic and cook the meat thru. Stir in flour and cook a minute or so. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer until liquid is absorbed or essentially so (any remaining liquid should be thick and saucy not runny). Let mixture cool a bit while you roll out–or toss if you’re nifty like that–the dough. {YOU SHOULD KNOW, THIS WAS MORE MEAT FILLING THAN WE NEEDED…you just may want to know that before you try to cram half of it in each meat layer, I don’t mind having it leftover though} Then leaving and gap at the edge for sealing: layer 1/3 of the cheese, some of the meat mixture, another 1/3 of the cheese, some more meat mixture, and the rest of the cheese. Fold the empty half of dough over and seal, then crimp or pleat the edge. Spary with a bit of olive oil (She brushed hers with an egg wash and sprinkled with parm and pizza seasonings, but I had different flavors here plus didn’t want to get the spices back out but you could clearly do something on it if you were inclined) and bake at 475 for 10-15 min (or 500 on your preheated pizza stone if you are super-cool like her and have one).
Et Voila! Courtoisie d’Amber, j’ai fait mon premier calzone. Go me, go me!! Now maybe she’ll give me a snazzy hat and let me be in the cool girls club with her.
Eat Something 