A good friend was having a big number birthday party. His wife asked everyone to bring an appetizer to go along with the main entrée and sides they prepared. That day I had set aside time to be creative and come up with something fun and tasty. Unfortunately, the time had flown by and been consumed by other work. Not wanting to show up empty-handed, I needed a quick solution.

In the past several weeks, I have been playing around with making sourdough bread. Making the sour starter and feeding it every day is fun, almost like taking care of a puppy! What I like about the process of using a starter is the natural yeast. It is also easier on your digestive system. Plus, there is nothing like freshly baked bread. I decided to use some of my starter to help make a dough for stuffed breads with several fillings. I went to the refrigerator to see what was available to use. We had made carnitas that I pulled into thin strands filling and blended with cheeses and cilantro and topped with pickled red onion. I am a big fan of dried cured meats so I mixed a selection with assorted cheeses, topped with Italian giardiniera for my second offering. My third and final filling was roasted garlic chicken and veggies tossed in harissa and some smoky farm cheese.

The great thing about rolled bread is you can use almost anything to fill them and they are quick and easy to make. If you do not want to make your own dough, grocery stores offer several different pre-made raw doughs that can work well. There are a number of pre-made manufactured products in the market today that I could substitute in a pinch, but it’s so easy to make these that I would have felt guilty.

Let your creativity flow on these; you honestly can use most anything you have available in the refrigerator. I rolled out three large rectangles of dough, layered the cheese, meats and veggies, then rolled them up and sealed the dough with a small amount of egg wash as glue to help keep everything inside the dough. I placed them on a sheet tray with parchment, ready to go. I have found that a ratio of 2/1 dough to filling works well as a general rule. It is a good enough amount without creating too much steam from the ingredients' natural moisture to explode your bread. The great thing is it bakes in very little time — preheated oven to 425°F for about 20 minutes and then it was off to the celebration.

My query this week: What filling would you use? I'm always looking for new ideas.

Live well…enjoy

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