[1] Warm, fragrant and ready to eat in less than 30 minutes, This recipe is from Girl Versus Dough. [2] Here’s the recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. [3] Turn your Greek salad into a sandwich (photo courtesy Girl Versus Dough).

Long before there were ovens, bread—the first was flatbread—was baked on flat stones in a fire. When the skillet finally evolved, in ancient Mesopotamia and Greece, people still cooked everything over a fire (here’s the history of the frying pan).

Flatbreads are the simplest breads, requiring no leavening—although in modern times, some are leavened to produce a lighter, airier, more easily chewed bread.

Flatbread can be extremely thin, like a tortilla, one millimeter or so in thickness, to a few centimeters thick, like focaccia.

Each region of the world developed a flatbread; for example:

 
Some other breads called flatbreads are not completely flat, but use yeast and are partially risen, such as Italy’s focaccia.
 
Here’s the history of bread and the different types of bread.
 
 
MAKE YOUR OWN FLATBREAD

Using five pantry staples, you can have fresh, hot bread on the table in less than 30 minutes with no need to turn on the oven. Instead, use a skillet or stove-top griddle.

The dough comes together very quickly, and you’ll have something special for breakfast, brunch or dinner.

RECIPE: SKILLET FLATBREAD

Consider this recipe from King Arthur Flour as your first foray into homemade flatbread. Here’s a step-by-step in photos.

Ingredients For 10 to 12 Flatbreads

 
Preparation

1. PLACE the flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl; stir to combine. Add the oil and ice water and mix to make a soft, cohesive dough. Adjust with more flour or water as needed. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.

2. PREHEAT a heavy-bottomed skillet on the stove top. Add 1 tablespoon oil and heat until the oil starts to shimmer in the pan.

3. DIVIDE the dough into 10 to 12 equal pieces. Each piece should weigh about 1- 1/2 to 2 ounces, about the size of a large egg. Dredge each piece in flour, and roll to a rough circle or oval about 1/4″ thick. If you prefer, hand shape the pieces by flattening between your palms.

4. FRY the flatbreads in the hot oil in batches. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Flip and fry on the second side for another 2 minutes. Add more oil as needed for frying successive batches.

5. TRANSFER from the pan to a rack to cool slightly before serving.
 
  

What do you do to make a bottle of an already-popular Pinot Grigio leap on the shelf (figuratively speaking)?

You hire a top fashion designer to create an alluring, limited-edition bottle design.

One of our favorite designers, Christian Siriano, has created Ecco Domani’s third annual designer label for summer, inspired by the glamour of 1960s Palm Springs.

Covered in fanciful palm leaves in chartreuse and fuchsia, it’s a summer celebration in a bottle.

The Christian Siriano Ecco Domani bottle is now available nationwide, with a suggested retail price of $10.99.

When we went to the debut of the bottle design, we were treated to a wine cocktail—a winetail—so delicious that we had two!

We already had the cocktail ingredients at home; but don’t hesitate to buy the Cappelletti and orange bitters to make it.

We almost guarantee that you’ll race through the ingredients in short order. It’s our signature summer cocktail for sure—even though the signature is Ecco Domani.
 
 
RECIPE: ECCO DOMANI’S PALM SPRINGS SPRITZ

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE both wines and the bitters in a standard red wine glass; stir to combine.

2. TOP off with sparkling water. Garnish as desired and serve.

[2] Cappelletti Aperitivo, a noteworthy aperitif wine. Here’s the cocktail recipe for the Ginger Specialino from Nugget Markets.

It’s the name of a shape of pasta that resembles little sailor hats; but it’s also the name of an apéritif wine: Cappelletti Aperitivo Americano Rosso.

Produced in the Alto-Adige region of Italy by the fourth generation of the Cappelletti family, Aperitivo Cappelletti is a deep red apéritif wine.

It can be sipped on its own over ice, mixed with club soda for a spritzer, or mixed into cocktails. Use it for a less-sweet Negroni.

Made from mostly trebbiano grapes, the nose is round and very full, captivating with just a hint of bitterness and herbs. The texture on the palate is generous, providing a slight bitterness from notes of citrus peel.

It has a hint of bitterness (from citrus peel), gentle herbality and a slight sweetness—which is why we like it more than the better-known, sweeter Campari.

Unlike Campari, Cappelletti is a wine-based apéritif, instead of grain-based (distilled alcohol). This gives makes it more complex, with a richer, fuller flavor profile.

 
WHAT’S AN APÉRITIF WINE?

An apéritif is an alcoholic drink taken before a meal.

Long before the cocktail was invented (in the mid-19th century), people of means enjoyed an apéritif before dinner.

Spirits were not desired, because high alcohol dulls our taste buds. An apéritif wine, on the other hand, was designed to stimulate the appetite in anticipation of dinner.

An aperitif should be very dry (low in sugar), since sugar also dulls the appetite for the dinner to come.

Apéritif (French) or aperitivo (Italian) derives from the medieval Latin aperitivus, from the Latin verb aperire to open.
  

[1] Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies (photo © Bake Or Break via Go Bold With Butter).

[2] Brownies just might be our favorite finger food (photo by Katharine Pollack | © THE NIBBLE).

Sweet and salty treats and desserts have been a hot combination for a decade or so, beginning with salted chocolate and salted caramel. There’s science behind it:

Each taste bud contains 50 to 100 taste cells, which respond to a particular flavor: sweet, salty, sour, bitter or umami. The cells have a component called the SGLT1 receptor, which transports sugars into the cells when sodium is present.

This is proffered as an explanation to why sweetness is accentuated by salt: The receptors are activated when salt accompanies sugar.

While the receptor is a new finding, the result has been known for centuries. That’s why there’s a dash of salt (or more) in recipes for cakes, cookies, and pies.

The brownie recipe below was developed by Jennifer of Bake Or Break for Go Bold With Butter. It combines bittersweet chocolate and smooth peanut butter with salty, crunchy pretzels pretzels.

Not a peanut butter fan? Check out these Salted Caramel Pretzel Brownies.

> National Brownie Day is December 8th.

> National Peanut Butter Day is January 24th.

> The history of brownies.

The history of peanut butter.
 
 
 
RECIPE: PEANUT BUTTER PRETZEL BROWNIES

Ingredients For 16 2-Inch Brownies

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment paper (or foil), leaving a couple of inches of overhang on two sides to lift out the brownies. Grease the parchment.

2. PLACE the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power in 30-second intervals until the butter is melted and the chocolate melts into it when stirred. Combine thoroughly and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. WHISK together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.

4. ADD the sugar to the butter/chocolate mixture and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

5. PLACE the peanut butter in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 20-30 seconds, or until it can be easily stirred. Add to the chocolate mixture, and mix until combined. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in about 3/4 cup of pretzels, adding any “crumbs” that splintered off during chopping.

6. TRANSFER the batter to the pan and spread evenly. Place the remaining pretzels over the top of the batter, and press them down gently into the batter.

7. BAKE for 40-45 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

8. LIFT the brownies from the pan onto a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut them into bars.
 

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