Homemade Ricotta Cheese

This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated magazine, the Sep/Oct 2013 edition. It was really easy to make and I will definitely be doing it again. Especially now that the CSA is kicking out all the summer veggie share! So, first the pictures (such as they are), then the recipe.

A full gallon of milk needs a big pot

All you need to curdle it - lemon juice and vinegar

Curds forming, whey separating. Nearly done.

After draining - curds dry at edges, wet in center

Ricotta (makes about 2 pounds)

1 gallon pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized or UHT) whole milk
2 teaspoons table salt
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 cup white vinegar (may need more so keep it out)

1. Line a colander with a triple layer of cheesecloth. Set it in the sink (or over a massive bowl if you want to save the whey for some reason).
2. Combine lemon juice and vinegar; set aside.
3. Heat milk and salt in dutch oven (I used my 7 1/4 quart and it was just big enough) over M-H heat, stirring frequently (but gently) with rubber spatula to prevent scorching, until temp is 185. (I used a candy thermometer to track the heat rise and then my instant-read thermometer to get the final temp)
4. Remove pot from heat and slowly stir in lemon juice mixture until fully incorporated and mixture curdles (about 15 seconds - yes, seconds. This happens quickly). Let sit undisturbed until mixture fully separates into solid curds and translucent whey, 5 to 10 minutes. If curds do not fully separate and there is still milky whey in the pot, stir in extra vinegar, 1 Tablespoon at a time, and let sit 2 to 3 minutes, until curds separate. (It took about 8 minutes for mine to separate. The liquid looked a bit yellow from the lemon juice, but not milky, so I didn't add any extra vinegar).
5. Gently pour the mixture into the prepared colander. Let sit, undisturbed, until whey has drained from edges of cheese but center is still very moist, about 8 minutes. Working quickly, gently transfer cheese to large bowl, keeping as much whey in center of cheese as possible (ha! whey streamed out like mad when I lifted the cheesecloth- be quick and have that bowl right next to the colander!). Stir well to break up large curds and incorporate whey. Refrigerate ricotta until cold, about 2 hours. Stir before using. May be stored in fridge up to 5 days.

I used regular grocery store whole milk. The end result was a creamy ricotta with none of the graininess that you typically get from store-bought. And since I sometime find recipes that call for ricotta impastata (the "Cadillac" of ricottas - ultra smooth, creamy texture with low moisture), I think this will be a good approximation. I can always drain it a bit more to get the moisture lower if needed.

Chris's latest adventure - ARC from Bermuda to Portsmouth VA

Chris joined the ARC rally for a week-long trip from Bermuda to Portsmouth VA. This is the second time he's done a last-minute sailing trip and it proves to be quite an adventure. Basically, he finds a captain that needs crew, figures out where to meet them, and gets there. After that, it's all up to fate.

Sunny Bermuda

Some ARC boats

Wandering the town

Always in trouble

Fortunately not as much trouble as this guy...

Heading out

The boat

Gorgeous start to the trip

Wow

More wow

Uh, oh...

This isn't good. At all.

A pleasant start to the voyage turned into a bit of a hair-raiser. Two big storms. A broken engine. A generator that wouldn't start. A wind-meter that went kablooie. 

Ominous horizon

A break between storms

A chance to catch their breath 

Next storm moving in

This is what a Coast Guard boat looks like in the dark on heavy seas. It's a cool effect, but it's from wave activity making the lights trail in the moment it takes to snap a photo. In other words, everything is moving out there.

Light show 

What you look like after 6 days with little sleep

Keeping humor during the storm

Snatching a moment of unconsciousness

This is one of those trips that makes you realize that there is a reason they call it an "adventure". But he's home safe and sound now. And will likely find another captain in need of crew.

Oops - missed one. This week's recipe: Fudge Ecstasy Cookies

I crammed this one in before doing the ricotta recipes - forgot all about it!

This is Fudge Ecstasy Cookie from the BHG Biggest Book of Cookies (p 53). Super rich. It amazed me that they got this much chocolate flavor from just two types of chocolate - semi sweet chips and unsweetened baking chocolate. Chris devoured these.  Don't omit the pecans - it need something to offset the chocolate.

Hard to take a good cookie photo...

3 weeks worth of recipes - the ricotta saga

Chris took off on another sailing adventure so I postponed my New Year's Resolution until he returned. It's no fun trying new recipes for just one after all.

Catching up on three weeks meant I got to do something I've been wanting to try - to make my own Ricotta Cheese! And then I picked two recipes that used that cheese. See, perfect timing.

Okay, the ricotta cheese recipe was from Cook's Illustrated magazine Sep/Oct 2013. It used simple household ingredients (no rennet needed) and took very little time to prepare. Texture was fantastic, taste was a bit bland, but that's what ricotta should be, so perfect. It made just over 2 pounds.

I then used 1 1/2 pounds of the ricotta in Pasta Shells with Ricotta Filling from Essential Pepin (page 96). Great recipe that will become the backbone of many future variations. Again, simple to prepare (though a bit time consuming to fill 36 shells) and it made LOTS of food (36 shells!).

Finally, I used the last 1/2 pound of ricotta to make Ricotta Dumplings with Red Pepper Sauce, again from Essential Pepin (page 102). I wish I could claim another winner, but this one had some issues. The red pepper sauce was thin although the flavor was quite good. Still, it wouldn't stick to the dumplings and it left us feeling dissatisfied (Chris ended up eating peanut butter and crackers *sigh*). I think it would have made a better appetizer rather than a main course. The dumplings themselves were super easy to make in the food processor and had nice texture and a mild flavor (from some fresh garden chives - hello summer!). I'll likely make them again but use them in a nice thick beef or chicken stew. I think they'd really shine there.

So, that's three weeks in one week. I'll definitely be making my own ricotta from now on - that was completely worth the effort.

The Local in Saratoga Springs

The Local describes itself as an Irish Pub & Tea House - fitting for an establishment in the Dublin section of Saratoga Springs (Beekman Street is part of this area).

We ate lunch there and it was fantastic. Don't know if we just got lucky since it was a Tuesday, but it wasn't crowded and we got a great seat on their very small patio. A stop at the bar to see what was on tap resulted in us sampling the Tropical Coconut Stout. I'm a huge Stout fan, but I had serious doubts that this would be any good - hence us asking for a taste first. Score! Weird, but really darn good.

So, two pints and a nice perusal of the menu. Pub fare with a twist is a good description. Bangers and Mash, Dublin Chicken, Fish & Chips, typical stuff. But! The Chicken Pesto Flatbread sandwich and a Tea Sandwich Platter caught our eye and we decided to share. Typical pricing - $10 to $13 for a large portion.

The chicken sandwich was great. I mean, it doesn't seem like it should be all that worthy of comment, but this was next level. Excellent flatbread, perfectly cooked chicken breast, garlicky pesto, and goat cheese to smooth it all out. Great fries too.

The Tea Sandwich Platter consisted of:  piles of smoked salmon, capers, red onion, roasted red peppers, spring greens with drizzled balsamic, and a container of goat cheese. Crustless wheat bread triangles were included for the sandwich portion. Basically build your own. And again, much more than the sum of it's parts. Oh - and they had chicken salad on there too. That was a bit odd but still delicious.

Overall, great service, fantastic food, and wonderfully weird beer. A winner.

Just stuff

Got some more done on the chicken coop this week. Paint, window hardware, caulking, hardware cloth, systems for keeping the windows open (ropes, wood constructs, whatever worked). Still need to lay down the laminate floor and do the decorating, but it'll be ready for chickens soon. Woot!

Chris has been working on his bass case in between doing landscaping stuff. We're leveling the future garden site by removing earth berms and moving the dirt to low areas around the yard. We've also got piled up soil down by the road that we're relocating. The fun part is finding bottles, broken pottery, and metal tools in the dirt. Most of the stuff is broken but occasionally we find whole pieces - bottles marked as tuberculosis cures, liniments, and mineral oils are the most common. Great shapes and interesting colors (mainly clear but some blues and browns). Not sure what I'll do with all of them yet, but I'm thinking a display on the porch would be fun.

Temperatures have been cooler than typical and we've been so dry that the soil was just powder. Not now! A week of rain has everything looking green and fresh. The trees have popped and my perennial plants are starting to poke out of the ground.

I've been really working on kitchen design ideas. Chris will be tackling the cabinetry soon and I wanted to have firm answers when he asked me what I wanted. It'll be mainly drawers with just a few cupboard sections. Can't wait to unpack all my boxes!

This week's recipe: Spinach and Egg-Drop Pasta Soup

This week's recipe came out of the Food & Wine annual cookbook 2008. I have so many recipes bookmarked in this book! A great compilation of gorgeous food from many excellent cooks. In fact my all time favorite breadstick recipe is from this book. They're crunchy, not soft, and taste great. And the best thing about them? No yeast means no waiting for a rise which means no need to plan ahead. I've tweaked it a bit from the original so here's mine:

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds
3 Tbl cold butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbl ice water

Preheat oven to 375*.
In food processor, pulse flour with baking powder, salt, garlic powder, and poppy seeds. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles small peas. Leave machine on and pour in the water - process until just forms a dough.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface and gently combine. Pat into a rectangle and then roll to a thin 1/4". Cut into strips a generous 1/4" wide and about 4 inches or so long.
Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper. Place strips on prepared pans, brush them with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for about 25 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until golden. Let cool before serving.

Anyway, breadsticks are not what I made this week. I made soup. That recipe (page 12) was good. Not great, but solidly good. Basically it's chicken broth, garlic, pasta, spinach, and egg. No intense flavors but enjoyable. The only thing that threw us was the texture - it was mildly weird to have pasta in egg-drop soup. I think it would actually help to make it a bit more Italian - maybe add some fresh basil next time? And stronger greens might help too - arugula maybe.