Eating our Curds and Whey

One way to slow things down, if that is what you're trying to do, is to make your own cheese. I got this kit from Kev for Christmas, and couldn't wait to try it, so on Friday, I went to the health food store and got some organic pasteurized (but not ULTRA-pasteurized) milk, and on Saturday, we made homemade ricotta.

The process was simple.  You just add a little water and citric acid to the milk, add some cheese salt (note to self - find out how (if) cheese salt is different than regular salt), and heat up the milk slowly until the curds separate from the whey. (There are tons of recipes on line if you don't have a kit).

Curds and Whey

Then, you pour it in a cheese cloth to drain out the whey, and you are left with a beautiful, delicious ball of ricotta cheese.

Which can then be made into a beautiful and delicious lasagna:

Heck yeah.

We had the lasagna last night for Sunday Dinner.  One of the few "jobs" that Daphne doesn't complain about is setting the table.  She really loves doing it.  So, last night, I asked her if she could get the table ready by passing out napkins and forks (she was extra happy to do this because she got me some pretty napkin rings for Christmas).  Kev had to go in to work for a little while yesterday, and had just gotten home and gone upstairs to shower while we got dinner on the table.  Suddenly,  Daphne dashed into the kitchen and asked if she could be the waitress.  "Um...OK,"  I said.  She switched into high gear.

"Mom!  Can you make me a menu?!  Mom!  Do we have any vases?!"

She put on an apron and got down to business.  I helped her make a menu (Daphne won't eat cheese, so I made her a separate little dish without it):

I helped her make a fancy centerpiece.  She remembered that she had a small jar of roses from a recent birthday tea party she attended, and we put to use my crafty bottle candle holders.  She put the seashell on because she said, "It will make me feel calm if I get nervous."

When Kevin came downstairs, to his surprise she welcomed him to the "restaurant," and led him to the table to look over the menu.  I sat down, and she asked us if we'd like to start with something to drink.  She was so professional!

Then she took our orders.  Kev was "Coustamar 1."  She even used short-hand...see the little arrows?  That was to show that we were splitting the Side of Grapes.  It was so dang cute and funny.  She would hurry into the kitchen, bring our food and drinks, then go back to the kitchen, take off the apron, and re-appear as Daphne.  When we needed the waitress, she would excuse herself to go to the restroom, go back into the kitchen, and put on the apron again.  It was like eating dinner with Clark Kent.  At the end of the meal, she disappeared into the kitchen again.  We heard scribbling, and she returned with the check (25 $)!  Kev handed over his credit card and gave her a $1.00 tip.  Best meal we've had in a LONG time.

The cheese we made was honestly really really delicious.  So fresh.  We had some on a cracker with a little bit of raspberry jam just to try it out and MAN it was good.  We have quite a bit left, so tonight for dinner we're having lemon ricotta pancakes. I'll let you know how they turn out.  Tomorrow, we're going back to that restaurant for some left-over lasagna.  Can't wait for that. 

One of my Favorites

On Tuesday, I spent the afternoon volunteering at Daphne's school and knew I wouldn't have a lot of time to cook, so I decided to make one of my favorite easy meals, Pappardelle with Pork Ragu.  I found this recipe last year on one of my favorite food blogs, Dinner A Love Story (link on sidebar).  I usually make this in the oven, but this time I tried doing it in the slow cooker.  It was still good, but not quite as good as if it had been braised in the oven.  This recipe makes a LOT of food, so it's great for guests, or for weeks when you need leftovers.  The only things I change are swapping the tomatoes for tomato sauce, and adding some garlic.  It's better with garlic. I served it with this salad made with lettuce from our garden!  Yay! 

Here is the original recipe...all credit goes to DALS.  Check out their blog...really good stuff.  And a cookbook from them is coming soon!

Pappardelle with Pork Ragu

2 to 2 1/2-pound boneless pork shoulder roast
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small pat butter
1 large can whole tomatoes, with juice
1 cup red wine
5 sprigs fresh thyme
5 sprigs fresh oregano
Small handful of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon hot sauce, for smokiness (I used Trader Joe’s Hot Chili Sauce)
Pappardelle
Freshly grated Parmesean

Preheat oven to 325°F. Liberally salt and pepper the pork roast. Add olive oil and butter to large Dutch oven and heat over medium-high until butter melts, but does not burn. Add pork roast to pan and brown on all sides, about 8-10 minutes in all. Add tomatoes, wine, thyme, oregano, and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Cover, and put in oven. Braise for 3-4 hours, turning every hour or so. Add more liquid (water, wine, or tomato sauce) if needed. (The liquid should come to about 1/3 of the way up the pork.) Meat is done when it’s practically falling apart. Put on a cutting board and pull it apart with two forks, then add back to pot and stir. Cook 1 to 2 pounds pasta according to package directions. When it’s is ready, put into individual bowls and top with ragu and lots of Parm.

Cooking Light

Well, Spring is here.  And, for me, this presents some mealtime challenges.  Because as you can probably tell from the contents of this blog so far, I like cooking big pots of warm comforting wintery things.   I am a fan of soups and stews and heavy pasta dishes.  I am not crazy about cold meals and salads and crisp raw vegetables.  But, I am determined this year to find some new lighter easy meals for warmer weather.  And I am going to try to take advantage of things we have in the garden or can buy in season at the farmer's market. 

We started yesterday by making a nice light springtime pasta:  Linguini with a mushroom lemon basil sauce.  It was really easy, and it turned out great.  But when I decided to make it, I had a feeling Daphne would refuse to try it, because she has turned against mushrooms, which she used to love.  I had to be strategic. So I went into the playroom looking exasperated, and asked her if she knew anything about zesting lemons, and telling her I needed help inventing dinner.  Inventing was the magic word - Daphne loves inventing -so we got right to work.

Before we started cooking, I let Daphne play around with the ingredients a little.  I sent her out to get some basil leaves, and had her invent a "Daphne Sample."  (Daphne Samples are little one-bite things she likes to put together with various ingredients we happen to have at mealtime.  She wants to sell them someday at something like a lemonade stand as her "business.")  She jumped at the chance.  First, she just put some salt on some raw mushroom slices and ate those.  She liked them!  Then, she decided to get fancy, and rolled up a mushroom slice and grape tomato in a basil leaf with a little salt.  She was about to eat it, but Kev came home so she gave it to him.  But that's OK...by then, she was TOTALLY into cooking this meal.

Here she is, finishing the sauce with a little fresh basil.  That's my girl!

We had to serve this meal three ways.  Kev's dish had the works.  Mine had no tomatoes but lots of parmesan, and Daphne's had no tomatoes or cheese.  But it worked out nicely, everyone liked it, and we'll definitely make it again.  And it was VERY springy!

Linguini with Mushroom Lemon Basil Sauce
 Ingredients:
Linguini noodles (I used Wegman's fresh pasta)
1 stick of butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10-12 large button mushrooms, sliced
salt
1/2 cup white wine
3-4 Tbsp lemon juice
fresh basil
lemon zest
parmesan cheese
grape or cherry tomatoes

For the sauce:
Melt the butter is a large saute pan.  Add the garlic and mushrooms (and salt) and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.  Add the white wine and gently simmer the sauce to reduce.  Meanwhile, boil some water for the linguini, add salt, and cook the pasta.  When the pasta is almost done, reduce the heat on the saute pan and add the lemon juice to the sauce, tasting as you go to make sure it isn't TOO lemony.   Reserve some pasta water, drain the pasta, and toss it into the sauce.  Add a little pasta water to bring it all together (maybe 1/3 cup).  Add a little bit of lemon zest and fresh basil (we just tore it into small pieces and dropped it in), and toss.  Serve with parmesan cheese and tomatoes if you like.  Yum!


As Kev said, this would be good with shrimp.  Maybe next time!
  

Dear Ricotta Cheese,

I am so sorry that I misjudged you all these years.  You see, I never liked the cheap lumpy substitutes I was exposed to in the past.  But YOU, smooth and delicious Bel Gioioso Ricotta con Latte from Wegman's, YOU are delicious.  Thank you for allowing me to make this giant dish of lasagna to share with my family (at least the ones who will eat things with melty cheese).  I promise to continue to make you part of my meal plan, and to extol your greatness to anyone who will listen.  And if I ever make it back to the Dream Cafe, I most definitely WILL order the Cloud Cakes.  You are nothing like Cottage Cheese.

Your friend and fan,
Tara

PS.  And like almost everything else, you taste better when eaten on the front porch. Recipe below.

Lasagna on the Porch with Kev

Aaaaah, yeah.

Mommy Loves LASAGNA!

Layer the following ingredients in a baking dish, cover with foil, and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour.  Then remove foil and continue to cook until the cheese on top is all bubbly.  You can use the broiler for this if the lasagna is heated through. Yep.

1. Kev's Sauce  (follow this link to the recipe)
2.  Cooked lasagna noodles (I used fresh Wegman's noodles)
3.  More sauce
4.  Cooked ground Italian turkey sausage
5.  Bel Gioioso Ricotta con Latte
6.  Shredded mozzarella cheese
7.  Grated parmesan cheese
Repeat from number 2 in as many layers as you want.  Leave out the ricotta on the top layer, but use lots of mozzarella and parmesan, and sprinkle on a little dried oregano if you want.  Bake according to directions above.  Let it sit for several minutes before cutting.  It's even better left over.  Next time I will make two and freeze one for later.

Valentine Ravioli!

Happy Valentine's Day.  As I type this, I have Butter Chicken in my slow cooker and Nutella Brownies in the oven.  There is a lot of love going on in my kitchen right now.  I'm looking forward to dinner.  But we also had a nice pre-Valentine's Day family dinner on Sunday.  Everyone pitched in, and we made mushroom ravioli.

Kev and I went out to dinner at Palio a couple of weeks ago, and I got some really good mushroom raviolis.  I've been wanting to make pasta lately, so I looked around on the internet and found a couple of mushroom filling recipes which I used as guides.  One thing I really wanted to do was copy how the restaurant sprinkled crumbled up amaretti cookies on top of the pasta.  It was a really nice touch.  It added a little texture and a little sweetness.  So, I went to Wegman's, where I have purchased amaretti cookies before, and - no cookies.  I looked all over town - Super Target, Giant, Safeway - no cookies.  So, I gave up on that idea, but that's OK.  The ravioli must go on.

So, Sunday morning, I made the filling.  Then, I made some pasta sheets while Kev and Daphne filled them.  I can't say enough good things about the KitchenAid pasta attachment and the Norpro ravioli maker.  Both are so easy and fun to use.  Daphne can almost do the ravioli maker by herself:

Aaah...the army of ravioli is complete:

Later that afternoon, when I ran out to Safeway on my final quest for cookies, THIS happened:

I came home from the store, and when Daphne heard me, she came running downstairs all dressed up, ready for a fancy dinner.  This was all her idea.  She got herself dressed and put clips in her own hair.  I love that kid.

Eventually, dinner was served.  Since there were no cookies, I toasted some pecans to sprinkle on top.  I also made a sage butter cream sauce that I am proud to say I made up all by myself without a recipe.  The Force was with me.

The pasta, filling, and sauce all got rave reviews from Kev, who said it was better than the restaurant.  I liked it too and was sad when I took my last bite (22 raviolis are in the freezer for another day, though...woohoo!).  Daphne really wanted to like it, but didn't.  The filling was mushy and there was cheese.  Not really her thing.  I didn't expect her to like it, but I am so proud of her for trying it without any battling or complaining whatsoever.  In fact, for tasting the ravioli, she got her 20th Star Wars point, and finally earned the privilege of watching Star Wars.  Next Saturday, we're having Family Star Wars day, which will include Star Wars themed foods, so stay tuned for that.

Below are recipes for the mushroom filling and sauce.  Follow the KitchenAid directions or your preferred method for making the fresh pasta, or use wanton wrappers and seal them with water (you can google how to do that if you haven't done it before).  Top with lots of freshly grated parmesan, toasted pecans (or amaretti cookie crumbs), and serve with a nice salad.  Yum.

Mushroom Ravioli Filling

Ingredients:

Mushrooms (I used one pint-sized container each of button, cremini, and shitake mushooms) thickly sliced or quartered
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp beef broth 
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese (freshly grated if possible)


Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat and add olive oil.
Add mushrooms and saute, stirring occasionally, until they release their juices and the pan is no longer sort of all watery.  This takes several minutes.  Be patient.
Season with salt, pepper,  onion powder and garlic powder.
Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.
Add beef broth and let it reduce.
Set mushrooms aside to cool.
Add ricotta, parmesan, and cooled mushrooms to food processor and blend until smooth. (Or if you like the filling to have a little texture, don't blend as long).
Taste and season as needed.
Use mixture to fill pasta according to your preferred method ( I used my Norpro press).
Let pasta dry for about an hour before cooking, or freeze in a single layer.
This made 44 raviolis.


Sage Butter Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup AP flour
dried sage
salt
pepper
about 1 1/2 cups chicken stock 
heavy cream
nutmeg

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat.
Add flour and stir constantly, once combined, cook for a minute or two
Add chicken stock,  stirring constantly until combined and there are no lumps of flour, bring to a simmer to thicken
Season with sage, salt, and pepper to taste
Add 1/4 or 1/2 cup heavy cream (whatever you like). 
Taste and re-season as needed.  Warm through, but don't let it boil.
Grate some nutmeg - just a little - into the sauce and stir to combine.

Add to ravioli, top with toasted pecans (or crumbled amaretti cookies if you can find them) and freshly grated parmesan cheese,  and enjoy!
 

Time to Make Sauce

This weekend, I decided it was time to start teaching Daphne how to make her favorite thing:  Spaghetti and Meatballs. I already had some meatballs in the freezer from last time we had it, so we started with learning the sauce.  She was already in a groove from her cooking class at Wegman's earlier that day, and she had the perfect hat!  So, things went pretty smoothly.

We are a two-sauce family.  My mom's meat sauce is awesome for plain pasta and I'm hoping she will teach it to Daphne. But for meatballs, we make a smooth tomato sauce with mushrooms.  Kev taught me this one, so if you're reading this, you are being let in on one of his Top Secret Kev Recipes.  So, don't tell anybody.  Actually , it's not so much a recipe as it is a guide.  When he first showed me how to make it, I was not very fond of cooking and I was definitely not confident in the kitchen.  I wanted to know the EXACT amounts of things and the EXACT steps.  If you have a recipe, then you can blame the recipe if the food turns out crappy.  But if you're winging it and it's bad, it's all on you. WAY too much pressure.

I am happy to report that 10 years ( and hours and hours of Food Network shows) later, I am not quite as inflexible as I was then, and I am definitely more confident when I cook.  While Daphne and I were making the sauce, I was telling her that you have to season it, and taste it, and see what it needs, and season it again.  Kev had a good laugh when he heard that, remembering all the kitchen panic of days gone by- "But it doesn't say how MUCH oregano!"

Above, we were having a little lesson about salt.  I was telling Daphne not to go too crazy (she loves grinding the salt) because you can always add more, but you can't take it out once it's in there.  Last night, I was watching "Worst Cooks in America," and this poor guy poured a whole bottle of soy sauce into a stir fry he was making for Crazy Ann Burrell.  Good grief.  She refused to even taste it.  I like that show.  Compared to the people on there, I think I'm in pretty good shape in the kitchen.

Our sauce turned out good and Daphne was pretty proud of it.  And we have a LOT left, so we're making baked ziti tonight.  I love left-overs.

Below, is the basic idea for making the sauce.  Serve with your favorite meatballs, some pasta, lots of freshly grated parmesan, and a nice salad.  And make sure you have plenty of napkins handy.

Kev's Sauce

Ingredients:

Olive Oil
Mushrooms, sliced
Garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Basil
Bay leaf
2 large cans of tomato puree
tomato paste
red wine
sugar

Directions:

Heat a couple tablespoons, maybe a little more than that, of olive oil in a dutch oven.  Add the mushrooms and cook until slightly softened.  Season with salt, basil, and oregano, add as much or as little garlic as you like (I like a lot) and continue to cook for about 30 seconds.  Add the tomato puree and about 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste.  Add some sugar to cut the acidity of the tomato (maybe not quite a quarter of a cup), and about a cup of good red wine.  Stir it all together, throw in a bay leaf, cover and simmer for a nice long time, maybe two hours or so.  Check the seasoning now and then.  Add salt if it's too sweet, add sugar if it's too acidic, add herbs if it's too bland, add wine if it's too thick.  You can add black pepper too, if you want.  Use the Force.  You can do it.  Trust me.  If I can do it, you can do it.