This week was all about ricotta. First we made ricotta, then we split into ricotta teams.
Team one: Ricotta, bacon, chicken sliders.
Team two: Ricotta, fresh corn quesadillas
Team three: Arugula salad, with ricotta, apricots and caramelized walnuts.
Then there were the side dishes.
Raw kale salad with mushrooms,
Green beans with baby potatoes,
Raw zucchini salad.
Winning team, got to make dessert.
2 quarts of milk, not ultra pasteurized. Most organic milk is ultra pasteurized and are not suitable for cheese making
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons acidic agent, such as white distilled vinegar or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt.
Combine milk and cream in a large pot. Slowly bring to a low boil, this will take about 10 min. Stir frequently. Do not let the milk, burn or boil over. I find using a thermometer the fastest way to burn my milk, as I then rely on it, rather than paying proper attention to what I am doing. Once the milk is at a very low boil, add the vinegar (or lemon juice) stir gently for a few seconds, add salt and stir again. If the milk does not curdle, return to the heat for a few minutes, until proper curds begin to form. Remove from heat and cover with a clean kitchen towel. Let sit for a few hours. Drain. Ready to serve.
Baked ricotta
Freshly made ricotta can be eaten straight in its super yummy freshly made form, or it can also be placed in a small ramekin and baked and served bubbling hot from the oven.
Place two cups of ricotta in a small baking dish, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and herbs to taste. Bake in 400 degree oven until browned on top and bubbling. About 10 minutes. Serve with crusty whole wheat bread.
Baked ricotta, with crispy prosciutto
2 slices prosciutto
2 tablespoons olive oil
Slice prosciutto into thin lardons, fry until crispy in a small skillet in the oil. About 2 minutes. Drain on towel. After removing basic baked ricotta from oven, scatter crispy prosciutto on top….then don’t bother me. I’m eating.
Baked ricotta pesto
Swirl in 2 tablespoons pesto, bake as above.
Baked ricotta, sweet
Place two cups of ricotta in a small baking dish, sprinkle with olive oil, agave or maple syrup, sliced almonds (or other nut) and dried cranberries. Bake in 400 degree oven until browned and bubbling. About 10 minutes. Serve with Arugula salad, or bread.
Ricotta, apricot, caramelized walnut salad
2 cups washed arugula
2 cup sliced fruit, such as apricots, figs, persimmon (yeah), apples, pears
3/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup caramelized walnuts (recipe below)
1/2 cup sweet balsamic dressing (recipe below)
Place arugula on a servings platter. Scatter fruit, cheese, and walnuts over the greens. Pour dressing on top.
Caramelized walnuts
1 cup walnuts, whole or bits and pieces
In a small sauce pan, cover walnuts with water and boil for a few minutes to soften. Drain, and let dry on kitchen towel. Place vegetable oil in small skillet, and heat on high. Once the nuts are dry, toss to coat with powdered sugar. Fry in batches in the hot oil, until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon and place on heat proof plate or platter. Season lightly with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Walnuts will store for 7 days in an air tight container.
Whisk together all ingredients. Ready to use. Dressing can be made in advance and kept in fridge for about 7 days.
Ricotta and fresh corn quesadillas
8 Whole wheat tortillas
3 cups shredded mexican cheese blend
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup fresh corn
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
In each tortilla, add cheese, ricotta and fresh corn. Fold over to close.
Heat a large skillet, add 1/2 table spoon butter and olive oil, and saute the tortillas, two at a time on each side until golden brown and crispy. Place on towels to drain of oil. Carry on with additional butter, oil and quesadillas. Alternatively quesadillas can be first placed in the oven to melt the cheese, and then thrown on the grill, for cool grill marks and a crispy exterior. I like to melt the cheese in the oven first, as this prevents half the cheese from spilling into the bbq and making a giant mess. Quesadillas can be filled and kept in the freezer anytime, un expectant guest, kids especially show up.
Yeah, yeah, you can chop your salsa ingredients. If you have time and are so inclined. Here on the farm, there are goats to herd, chickens to save from coyotes, and masses of work in the garden, there is no salsa chopping. Into the blender it all goes, swirl, swirl, done. 1 minute, one batch of ready to dip salsa.
I tomato, ripe, chopped into 4 large chunks
jalapeno chili to taste (1/4) OR
for smoky flavor, 1 teaspoon or to taste of adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers
Into the blender. Turn on. Ready to serve. If too spicy add more cilantro.
Ricotta, bacon, chicken burgers
4 boneless skinless chicken breast, washed, chopped
4 slices good bacon, Julienne
3/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese
juice and zest from one Meyer lemon
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Salt and pepper
Buns
Aioli, recipe below
Burger garnish, sliced tomatoes, arugula, sliced red onion
Add all burger ingredients to food processor. Pulse until chicken is chopped and all ingredients properly blended. Form into 4 large, or 8 slider size burgers. Saute or grill 4 minutes on each side or until, browned and cooked through. To assemble burgers. Toast buns, spread 1/2 tablespoon of aioli on the bun, top with arugula, then with the burger. Place another 1/2 tablespoon aioli directly on the burger, then top with tomatoes and sliced red onion. Sprouts would also work well.
Mix together all ingredients. Aioli will last several days in the fridge.
adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers
Stir chili paste into mayonnaise. Spicy. Yeah!
Alright, got burgers need crunchy pickles.
2 cups water
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1/6 cup kosher salt
1/8 cup sugar
cucumbers, 4 persian or 1 hot house
herbs and seasonings: dill, cilantro or parsley, garlic, mustard seeds, dried chilis, fresh chilis, no chilis, nasturtium flowers, lemon peel, whatever you got, whatever you like
Slice cucumbers and herbs, seasonings to taste, place in a glass container with lid.
Heat water, and vinegar with the sugar and salt to dissolve. Pour over cucumbers. Chill. Serve. Enjoy.
Pizza dough
2 tablespoons pesto
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup ricotta
1 cup shredded cheese blend
5 thick spears asparagus
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
Pre heat oven to 500 degrees. Roll the pizza dough out as thin as you can. Spread olive oil and pesto over crust. Scatter cheese blend and ricotta cheese over the crust. Thinly slice asparagus spears, and place over the cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Bake until crust is browned and cooked through.
Ricotta stuffed zucchini flowers
8 zucchini flowers, pick the day of cooking. Those babies wilt. Fast.
Gently open the super fragile blossoms. Remove the stamen, which is the stick thing…in the center…which tastes unpleasant….In a small bowl mix together ricotta, parmesan and pesto if using. Place a small amount into each blossom.
Heat the oil. Whisk together flour with enough soda water to make a thin batter. Ideally you want the thinnest batter that will stay on the blossom. Make sure your blossom is dry before attempting to dip into the batter. Dip each blossom into the batter and fry a few at a time, in the hot oil, until batter is brown and crispy. continue until all blossoms have been fried. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve at once.
Team netti, won and got to work on desserts.
1/2 cup mascarpone or cream cheese
zest and juice from one Meyer lemon
Blend all ingredients together. Taste for seasoning. Chill and serve with berries or chocolate.
stir in one egg, and use as Blini filling. To make a blini, please refer to the Swedish pancake recipe in The Swedish Table. Place one crepe (or in this case Swedish pancake which is basically a crepe, but let’s have that conversation another day) upside down (cause the top side is always better looking). Place 1/4 cup filling and fold over the side, to enclose the filling. Place in a baking dish, with seam side down, and pretty pancake side facing up. Continue with additional crepes (ok, swedish pancakes!) and filling. Bake in 375 degree oven, for 30 minutes. Serve with macerated berries or cooked berry sauce. I for one, prefer my berries raw, just marinated in a little sugar and lemon juice, but traditionally blinis are served with a cooked berry, such as blueberry sauce.
Alright no time to make crepes?! Bag the crepes, use the ricotta filling (above) with the added egg, stir in enough flour to make a dough like consistency. Add 1/4 cup. Less is better. Now you can either saute these into tiny little pancakes, in some butter, until browned, flip do the other side. Then serve with whipped cream, berries and dusted with powdered sugar.
If frying, crispy, sweet ricotta cheese is more your thing, then drop those babies, 1 tablespoon at a time, into hot vegetable oil, and fry them like fritters until golden brown. Drain on towels and dust with powdered sugar like a beignet.
After making all our ricotta based dishes there was not enough ricotta to make the above desserts,….instead we made a fruit meringue. Although my chickens are lazy egg layers, there’s usually at least 3 eggs to be found. Enough for a basic meringue.
2 cups whipped cream, very lightly seasoned. The meringue is sweet, no reason to get carried away with too much sugar in the cream.
seasonal fruit, love pomegranate seeds, but any berry or sliced fruit will do
Whip the eggs until stiff. Add sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Spread on a greased silpat liner or parchment paper. Scatter almonds on top. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until the meringue is just done. While the meringue is baking, whip the cream and prep the berries.
Flip the meringue upside down on to a sheet of parchment paper, remove silpat liner (or parchment paper), spread whipped cream in a medium layer cover 3/4 of the meringue. Find the happy medium. Wait to long and your meringue will be too stiff to roll. Move to fast and your cream will melt. Scatter masses of fresh fruit. Roll up jelly roll style. Chill until ready to serve.
3 Cups raw kale, washed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
splash of lime juice
salt, pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh herbs, such as chives, or parsley
1 cup cooked baby mushrooms, seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice
Sprinkle salt and olive oil over kale. Massage leaves until glossy and takes on a cooked appearance. Toss with vinegar and lime juice. Taste for additional salt and pepper. Add mushrooms and chopped herbs.
Baby potatoes with green beans
Baby potato and green bean salad is available on page 25 in The Swedish Table.
2 large or 5 small very fresh zucchini
vinaigrette
Juice from one lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons water
1 small clove garlic grated
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of fresh herbs, such as dill, parsley or chives
Slice zucchini as thin as you can either with a mandoline, or with a circular slicer. In a blender, combine all dressing ingredients, and blend until combined. Toss with cut zucchini, season with salt and pepper.