Adapted from The Everything Pizza Cookbook by Belinda Hulin
(Makes 2 twelve inch calzones)
½ cup warm water
½ teaspoon yeast
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups bread flour
1½ teaspoons olive oil
½ cup jellied cranberry sauce
1 cup prepared stuffing
8 ounces shredded cooked turkey
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley
4 ounces shredded colby-jack cheese
½ cup water
½ teaspoon corn starch
Combine ½ cup of warm water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl and set aside for at least five minutes. Combine the salt and bread flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Stir on low to combine. Add the yeast mixture and the olive oil and continue mixing until dough clings to the dough hook. Continue mixing until dough becomes smooth and elastic. Put dough ball in a small bowl covered with a damp towel or loosely with piece of plastic wrap and put in a warm, dry place for at least an hour.
Preheat the oven to 375º F with pizza stone inside, if using. Divide dough into to equal pieces. On a cornmeal or flour dusted pizza peel or board, roll or stretch each dough ball into a twelve inch circle. Place ¼ cup of cranberry sauce on each circle and spread evenly over the dough, leaving the edges bare. Spread ½ cup of stuffing over one half of each circle, again, keeping the edges clear. Top the stuffing on each circle with four ounces of shredded turkey. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of fresh Italian parsley over the turkey on each of the dough circles. Distribute 2 ounces of cheese over the turkey on each of the dough circles. Fold the untopped half of the dough circle over the filled side and pinch the edges together to seal, brushing the edges with a little water, if necessary to get the dough to stick together. Combine ½ cup of water and ½ teaspoon of corn starch in a small bowl. Microwave on high for 30 seconds or until mixture appears glossy. Brush enough over the tops of each of the calzones to cover completely. Discard any remainder or save in the refrigerator for another use (should keep up to two weeks in the refrigerator). Cut three slits in the tops of each of the calzones for ventilation. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops of the calzone are golden. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.
When I got home from work on Thursday, I dug right in. I rolled out the dough balls. I spread the stuffing over half of each. I topped it with turkey and parsley. I was about to add the cheeese, when it struck me that I didn't recall reading anything about what to do with the cranberry sauce. Oops! I apparently had skipped one of the first instructions that said I should first spread the cranberry sauce over the entire circle.
I weighed my options at this point. I could scrape everything off of the dough, put it in a bowl, spread the cranberry sauce over the circle, and pour everything back on. I could just put cranberry sauce on the one uncovered side of the circle. Then, a lightbulb went on over my head. I could spread the cranberry sauce over the uncovered side, fold it over the filled side without sealing it, flip it over, open it back up with the filling on the cranberry side, and spread the remaining cranberry sauce over the recently filled side.
It actually worked with minimal mess and minimal reordering of the filling. Mission accomplished, and I was ready for the cheese again.
I sealed both calzones up, trying to remember how Gracie did it a couple of weeks ago. I even tried to get the pretty edge that she did. It looked okay, but not nearly as pretty as hers.
The recipe from the book had no wash for the calzones. It didn't have you put anything over the tops of the crust to make it brown or glossy. This is a problem for me, and I am still trying to work out a solution. For the last calzones I made, I used a method my sisters and I had learned about in a bread-baking class - mixing corn starch and water, heating it up in the microwave, and brushing that on the crust. I hadn't been entirely pleased with the result, but it was better than a naked crust. I wasn't feeling adventurous or ambitious enough to try to come up with an egg and water or oil or butter or something else mixture, so I went with the mediocre solution.
After brushing this mixture over the calzones and making slashes in the top crust, these were ready for the oven, and I was ready for a drink.
2 measures light rum
3/4 measure marschino liqueur
1-1/2 measures hazelnut liqueur (such as Frangelico)
1/2 measure freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cherry
Add all ingredients, except the cherry to an ice filled shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain into a well-chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
I think I may say this about every martini-style drink that has fresh lime in it, but I loved it! It was very citrusy, with a hint of cherry, and an underlying nuttiness from the Frangelico. It was slightly sweet, but still refreshing.
Again, the results of the corn starch wash was less than spectalar, but it did help with the browining. It did nothing to promote glossiness. The baked calzones did look pretty nice, just not irresistably appealing.
Once we cut them open and looked inside, they did become irresistably appealing. We couldn't wait to dig into them. My entire kitchen had that warm, sagey smell that can only come from turkey and stuffing. It was like the day after thanksgiving. These were delicious. Warm, and savory with a tang of cranberry underneath. Just that little bit of sauce really made the whole calzone. The turkey was still moist (I had used all dark meat with the icky bits removed), and the stuffing was rich and toasty, and with the end of the mouthful, we got that ooey gooey cheesy sensation. We had no leftovers - which is how a dish made from leftovers should be, right?
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