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A Comforting “Warrior Loaf” Recipe Created to Combat the Post-Election Blues
When life gave her Trump as POTUS-elect, My Lavender Blues blogger and ’grammer Julia Calleo countered with her Warrior Loaf. This sausage-, leek-, and chestnut-stuffed bread is a culinary invention that came about quite by accident when Calleo, in a total post-election funk, went to get her small son a glass of milk and spied some puff pastry dough—her “obsession”—in the refrigerator. “I decided if I couldn’t do anything to ‘make America great,’ the very least I could do was was ‘bake it great,’” Calleo says, explaining that her next move was to grab her favorite comfort foods from the fridge—“meat, cheese, bread. I mean, what else does one need?”—and get cooking.
Born in New Jersey, Calleo is now based in St. Louis. Newly divorced and unable to find work when she moved West, this “single mom of the sweetest little tot,” was stressed out and in need, she says of “a creative outlet that was affordable and could be justified. “So,” she explains, “I began cooking and baking up a storm with my son by my side.” It wasn’t long before Calleo decided to share her recipes and what she calls her “attempts at humor” online, (her blog’s tagline is “just trying to keep a pulse”).
This entrepenurial mom traces her love of food to her childhood, and her Italian roots, “My father is an incredibly talented cook, and so was his father. Sunday suppers started at 11:00 a.m. in the kitchen. I loved [seeing how] just one dish could make an entire Italian family go silent—which is basically unheard of!” When asked if motherhood has changed her approach to cooking, Calleo’s response is “Yes and no,” explaining that she wants her son to associate happy memories with food, as she has done from childhood, while conceding that she definitely bakes more than she used to. “I mean, cookies are the best tool [to solve] toddler arguments . . . amiright?!”
The Warrior Loaf: Sausage-, Leek-, and Chestnut-Stuffed Bread
Ingredients:
2 9×13-inch puff pastry sheets, rolled out and thawed
1 lb. country sausage
1 leek, cut in half, then sliced into rings (darker green stems removed)
¼ cup finely chopped roasted chestnuts
4 slices provolone cheese, divided into three parts per slice (or about 1 cup shredded)
4 fresh sage leaves, torn
Egg wash
Sea salt
Coarse ground pepper
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400°F and set rack in middle position.
2. Divide thawed puff pastry sheets into four equal parts, lengthwise, and set aside in fridge until ready to use.
3. In a medium skillet, over medium-high heat, add country sausage and cook until browned, breaking meat apart into smaller pieces. Remove; drain fat, leaving a little in the pan. Set meat aside.
4. Add leeks to same pan (with fat) and sauté for 3–4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
6. Very carefully, starting from one long edge, tightly roll each sheet into a long strand. Secure and pinch ends and edges so that nothing falls apart when baking.
7. Before you start to braid the dough, secure all strands together at the top by pinching dough. Begin to braid, overlapping strands first left to right, then right to left. Secure opposite end when finished.
8. Brush egg wash on top of loaf.
9. Sprinkle with sea salt and coarsely ground pepper.
10. Bake for about 38–40 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through for even browning. Remove when the loaf is a deep golden brown (but not burned).
11. Serve warm. (Consider serving with dipping sauces like Greek yogurt, sour cream, mustard, etc.)
Follow Julia Calleo at mylavenderblues.com and @mylavenderblues.
