Week 12: Cheese - Fresh Ricotta

I am a little late in posting this, since this was last week's post, but I was deathly ill last night and the mear thought of food sent me to the bathroom. Not from making cheese. No, I made this on Monday night. Yes. I made fresh cheese on a weeknight. You can too.

This is the second time I have made this recipe that I picked up from food52. It is pretty simple. The hardest thing about it is finding the cheese cloth at your megamart.

Don't need any fancy cheese-making magic, just buttermilk.

DO NOT WALK AWAY AT THIS STAGE. Unless you like burned milk and big messes.

When they say curds start to develop, here they are.

As suggested, I scooped out the curds instead of just pouring through the cheese cloth.

Just wrap it up and let it drain and there you have it.

Broke the grill out and grilled some sausages up with our springtime "pasta."

When I make this, I like to let it drain for at least half an hour. This does leave a much drier cheese that crumbles, but it can also be spread on toast the next morning.

I made this springtime pasta using our fresh ricotta, with a few minor changes. As you can see, I switched out the fettucine for a whole spaghetti squash that I halved, seasoned, and microwaved for ten minutes (in a bowl covered with plastic wrap). It was all very delicious.

Week 11: Breakfast - Corned Beef Hash

Last night's dinner

The combination of St. Patrick's Day and corned beef has always existed in my house. I did some reading to see just how Irish it really is and found that, while corned beef production was dominated by Ireland in the 19th century, it was rarely consumed by the Irish because they couldn't afford it. It was all consumed by the colonial English, especially the Royal Navy. The connection between the dish and St. Patrick's is purely an American invention. Still, I will always make corned beef on March 17th, if for no other reason than having corned beef hash for breakfast the next day.

This recipe from Alton Brown has been a standby in my house since the first St. Patrick's Day my wife and I lived together. We have substituted various meats in it as well: leftover turkey, pork shoulder carnitas, beef brisket. It is really easy to adapt it to whatever is in your fridge.

We didn't have bell peppers, but did have some sweet peppers. Like I said, adaptable.

If you don't have a cast iron skillet, get one. If you don't have friends that bring you Amish butter, get some of them too!

Brown up the peppers.

Chop everything else up and throw it in. Mix it up.

In fact, if you don't have two cast iron skillets, get two. Lined with parchment paper and used the second skillet to weigh down the hash. This is how Alton did it on Good Eats, but the recipe doesn't tell you that.

This is Kilgore. He is obviously very interested in how to cook, because he always right by me when I am cooking.

Fry up an egg and throw it on top. Hot sauce optional. Don't worry about a little char; it makes it better.

Recipe, as always, is available from the source.

Week 10/; Movie Inspired - Hot Brown (Elizabethtown)

I admit that I have not been "in the game" these last couple of weeks, but i haven't found the challenges very exciting. This week is movie/book-inspired. I am currently reading Tinker Tailor Solider Spy which is not exactly a tale rich in food. In fact it is written in a weird conversational voice, but that is beside the point. I tried reading a bit of Alice in Wonderland and found nothing specific other than currants to spell out "Eat Me." I didn't want to do something from the Game of Thrones series, because I spent so much damn time last year reading them. I came about the recipe that I selected by browsing my movie case. I like the movie Elizabethtown for many reasons, but we will say that it is Kristen Dunst's fault. So here I present to you, Hot Browns, inspired by the famous dish created by the chefs of the Brown Hotel in Louisville, KY, the hotel which the characters in the movie stayed.

My wife lived in Louisvile  for a year while we were dating, and I would drive two hours every weekend to see her (or her me). She likes to "spread out the awesome", as she says, so she never took me to the Brown for a Hot Brown, and I will always hold that against her. She does this in Cincinnati, where we now live as well. I think it is just her excuse for being lazy for not showing me the cool stuff.

Last night I made us a mid-year Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, stuffing, and brussel sprouts. It was awesome and necessary, since we needed some leftover turkey.

First, some bacon.

You must have a good base.

Slice last night's turkey

We start with the Mother sauce (Bechamel) with a roux.

Add some cream and whisk ( I cheated with skim milk).

To the mother, we add some cheese.

These sandwiches are really quite easy, layer the turkey and bacon on a good slice of bread. Put on the Mornay sauce and broil.

Broil until it is brown and delicious.

Oh mu Gawd! Yum.

I served this with some sauteed spinach and smashed celeriac and potatoes. (If you want the celeriac recipe, let me know. I would have to type it out from Jaime Oliver's cookbook.) This dinner was so damn good, that I am angry that my wife never took me to the Brown for one while she was living in Louisville.  The next time we are down there, we will have to forgo our bologna sandwiches at Cumberland Brew and stop at the Brown for lunch.

As always, the recipe is available from the source.

Week 9: Coffee - Molasses Coffee Marinated Pork Chops

This week's theme is coffee.

I'll be honest. I couldn't get excited about this one. I am not really a dessert person. We still have Christmas cookies sitting around. I wanted to do something savory. After searching and reading recipes all week long and not finding anything that floated my boat, I turned the task of picking what the hell I was going to cook to my wife. She picked this, molasses coffee marinated pork chops, from Alton Brown.

Always remember to read the directions days before you plan on cooking. Recipes that call for marinating over night can sneak up on you.

There have been better days of recent to break out the grill, but the cold outside didn't stop the heat. Now if only I could get out and golf!

My grandmother is from Mississippi, and even though I can not remember her ever making me grits and collard greens, I couldn't help but think that she would have enjoyed these side dished: sauteed collards and cheesy grits (again from Alton Brown).

Never having cooked collard greens, I wasn't sure what to do. All the recipes that I skimmed through called for long braising. I decided to go the way of the Brazilian couve and julienne the greens and saute them in bacon bits (and grease) and garlic.

My wife gets sous chef credit for her work on the grits. She kept a good eye on them and stirred them regularly while I was grilling the chops and doing up the greens.

Recipe is available from the source.

Week 8: Slow-Cooked - Red Wine Brisket with Apricot and Onions

mmmmmmmmm brisket.

Homer Simpson made start drooling when he thinks about donuts, but me, I drool thinking about brisket. When I saw that this week's theme was slow cooking, I didn't even consider any other possibilities. The recipe that I did is a rewrite I did a couple of years ago on Wolfgang Puck's Wone-Braised Brisket of Beef with Caramelized Pearl Onions and Dried Apricots (my recipe is below). I wanted to try to make the same thing in my slow cooker instead of having to pay attention to the thing all afternoon. That night I had my in-laws over to enjoy dinner with us. He enjoyed dinner so well that he went out and bought the same slow cooker!

Brown the meat before it goes in the slow-cooker

mise en plas

Throw it all together and walk away. Just walk away!

Resist the urge to lift the lid. After 8+ hours it turns out like this.

As the meat rests, saute up the onions and apricots that will accompany it. Also the red wine sauce.

 I served the brisket with a root vegetable mash (made with Yukon Gold potatoes, parsnip, and sweet potato), oven-roasted carrots (that turned out like carrot french fries), and sauteed leeks with peas (finished with butter and sherry). All our guests brought bourbon. My wife broke out the Girl Scout cookies afterwards. A very fulfilling President's Day dinner party.

Oh yeah. I forgot. I made this Monday and didn't post it until now. A bit of a procrastinator, aren't I?

el fin

Recipe:

5 pounds beef brisket

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 bottle red wine

all-purpose flour

2 plus 2plus 2 tablespoons vegatable oil

10 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

6 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 celery stalks, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 medium leek, white part only, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 cup of dried apricots

6 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley

2 sprigs fresh tyme

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 ¼ cup homemade beef stock or good quality canned beef broth

1 cup pearl onion

minced parsley for garnish

1. Season the brisket evenly on both sides with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the wine to a boil and continue boiling until it reduces to half its original volume, 15 to 20 minutes

2. Evenly sprinkle the brisket all over with flour, shaking off the excess. Heat a wide skillet or dutch oven (cast iron preferably) over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil. When it is almost smoking, turn the heat to medium high, carefully add the brisket, and sear until well browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the brisket to the slow-cooker.

3. Pour off the fat from the skillet and add another 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the garlic, shallots,carrots, celery and leek and saute until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add half the apricots and the parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and tomato paste and cook for 1 more minute. Add about ¼ cup of reduced wine if it is needed to deglaze the pan.

4. Add vegetable mixture to the slow cooker. Add the reduced wine. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours, or 5 to 6 hours on high.

5. Blanch and peel the onions, leaving them whole. (Bring saucepan of water to a boil. Add the pearl onions and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain and immediately immerse them in an ice bath. Cut the ends off and peel the onions.) Cut the remaining apricots into ¼ inch strips

6. In a small saute pan, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat and saute the pearl onions until lightly golden, 5-7 minutes. Add the apricot strips and pour in ¼ cup of stock or broth, stirring and scraping with a wooden spoon to deglaze the pan deposits. Reduce the heat and simmer gently until tender, about 5 minutes. Cover and keep warm.

               (NOTE: My wife has continually held that the onions and apricots are not needed. I like them.)

7. When the meat is done, carefully transfer (you’ll probably need two people) to a “heated” platter and cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 15-25 minutes.

8. Strain the remaining liquid from the slow cooker through a fine mesh strainer into a saucepan, add ½-1 cup of beef stock or broth and bring to a boil. Continue at a boil until the liquid thickens and reduces (Wolfgang says when it is a quart, but he also was counting on an additional 2 qt of broth, I went until it was "gravy-like"). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

(NOTE: All the cooking shows and Cooks Illustrated says to throw away the vegetables after they have been used for this recipe. I feel like I am wasting food when I do this, but this time I did.)

9. Serve by slicing the meat across the grain in ¼ inch slices. Arrange the slices on the platter and spoon about half the sauce over it and garnish with the onions and apricots. Spinkle minced parley and pass remaining sauce.

Week 7: Love-Inspired (Whereby I Screw Up Everything)

So this was a simple plan. It is our traditional V-Day dinner. My wife loves scallops. She has taught me that there is great food that never even had a face, scallops are one of those. I love steak, especially a nice ribeye. Therefore, this is love-inspired.

And look at these scallops! They were amazing. They were big. They were dense. They were the best scallops I think I have ever purchased.

The steak was thick and marbled. I sprung for Prime as well.

I salted the scallops and steak and stuck it in the refrigerator for about an hour. The salt helps draw out some moisture. The refrigerator helps to dry it out. Both of which are helpful when pan-frying to get a good sear.

We reheated some Pão de Queijo (leftover from Sunday) as appetizers as we waited on the potatoes to cook. Unfortunately, that was the best part of the meal. Reheated Pão.

I attempted to make mustard-roasted potatoes from smittenkitchen, which my wife had made with success before. FAIL. Burned to a crisp due to my inattention and a pesky, unreliable oven thermometer. (Yes. I have a separate thermometer. No. I didn't pay any attention to it once I put the potatoes in.)

We ended up throwing about 2/3 of them away.

 I cooked the steak for three minutes on each side in the cast iron, pulled it off and set it to rest for ten minutes.

I cooked the scallops, so that everything would be perfectly timed. Potatoes would come out, scallops would be hot, steak would be rested, greens would be done.

While the picture may look good, I didn't rinse the scallops off and must have been heavy handed with the salt. They were too salty, to the point where they were difficult to eat alone. I cut into the steak and it was rare. Not what my wife would call yummy. So that had to go back on the stove. The potatoes, as you saw, burned. Pretty much a complete failure on V-Day. grrrr.

Week 6: Brazilian - Pão de Queijo

I was so excited when I saw that this week was Brazilian. My wife and I took an awesome vacation to Brazil with my in-laws two years ago. We spent 17 days touring the country. We had nine different flights, so when I say touring the country, I mean really touring. My mother-in-law was in the Peace Corps in Brazil so we got to meet and stay with friends of hers from those days. Also we made friends of our own out long time family friends of my mother-in-laws family.

From the beaches of Copacabana, to the falls of Iguasu, to Tirradentes in Minas Gerais, the people of Brazil are wonderful, friendly, and welcoming. And the food is amazing! We have been meaning to make Pão de Queijo since we got back and this was a perfect opportunity.

Pão de Queijo are basically cheese puffs, made with manioc flour and cheese from the Minas Gerais region. They are everywhere in Brazil. And everyone has a different family recipe. They come in different sizes with differing amounts of cheese. We even had some that were the size of a baby's head with cheese that streched out when we pulled them apart.

It is really difficult to find Brazilian food products in Cincinnati. We went to Jungle Jims, the local foodies paradise, to try and get supplies, and even they fell short. If we can't get it there, then it just ain't available. They didn't have the Mineran cheese so we made do with Queso Fresco and a little Asiago.

Bringing it together.

Adding in the cheese

Let the dough rest a bit

Roll them out. The dough was really sticky, so I oiled my hands up to do this.

Turned out perfect.  Just like we remembered!

 One of out friends is from Florianopolis, and his mother is in the country visiting. Last weekend, she made feijoada, and they had us over for a party. There was so much food, that they sent some home with us. Made for a perfect coincidence! We made some couve for a side. I realized after it was gone that we had forgotten the farofa though! A glass of ice cold beer (couldn't find any Brahma or Antartica, so Pacifica had to do), and I do mean ice cold, made for a great Sunday night meal.

If any Brazilian mother saw how little food was on my plate, I certainly wouldn't have been allowed to get up from the table!

RECIPE:

My father-in-law has been fiddling with this recipe since we got back, trying to get it just right. He did a great job! We had to make a few changes due to unavailable ingredients. We went with 250 gr of sweet manioc flour and 250 gr of sweet manioc starch. This change meant that we had to add in a bit of water while kneading the dough. I also added in about a tsp of baking powder in the flour. I used 50 gr of asiago and 250 gr of queso fresco. We dd our kneading in our stand mixer with a dough hook.

PAO DE QUEIJO (AKA BRAZILIAN CHEESE PUFFS)

Servings: 35-40 puffs depending on size

Ingredients

120 gr sweet manioc flour (Farinha de Mandioca – flour or polvilho is more coarse than starch)
130 gr sweet manioc starch (Bob’s Red Mill tapioca flour aka tapioca starch)

250 gr sour manioc starch (Yoki’s sour starch Almidon Agrio Amedo Azedo)

Total of 500gr starch mixed

125 gr Queso Fresco  crumbled                                         125 gr cows milk feta crumbled

125 gr Piave Vecchio/Parmesan coarsely shredded   or    125 gr gouda coarsely shredded

Total of 250 gr cheese, keep each cheese separate

250 ml 1% milk, for scalding  (you could use whole milk)

1 ½ tbs butter

1/2 tsp salt (more or less, depending, on the saltiness of the cheese mixture you are going to use)

3 small eggs slighty beaten

A little additional milk or warm water

Preparation

1. Put tapioca starch/flour into a large bowl and mix.

2. Combine butter, salt and milk in a sauce pan. Heat and stir constantly to boiling point  (watch closely - when the mixture starts to rise, remove immediately from heat).

3. Pour mixture all over the tapioca flour, and start stirring the mixture using a wooden spoon and as soon as the mixture is cool enough (but still very warm) rub the starch together with the milk with fingertips until mixture resembles course meal.

4. Add beaten eggs in 1/3, not all at once. Knead until it is very sticky and elastic, about 15 minutes, add a little milk or warm water if necessary (You will need a spoon or scraper to get it off your hands).

5. Add first crumbled cheese to mixture

6. Mix until smooth

7. Last add coarsely shredded cheese to mixture (If the dough is sticky, it raises more – the dryer the dough the less it rises. Sueli added a small amount of warm water if she felt the dough was not moist enough and also tasted the raw dough to see if it had enough salt.

8. Let the dough rest while you preheat the oven to 400^oF (it is very important that the oven is at high temperature when you bake the pães-de-queijo; if they start to get too brown on the bottom before getting golden brown on top, reduce the temperature a little bit).

9. Prepare two large baking pans. Oil your hands with vegetable oil and form golf-sized balls with the dough (1 in.). Place them 1-2 in. apart in the pan, as they grow considerably when baked. (You can, at this point, freeze the balls and then store them in zip lock bags to bake them straight from the freezer at your convenience - they will take a little longer to get ready, though.)

10. Bake until golden brown, usually about 28-30 minutes. Serve hot.

Cooked puffs can be frozen, and then warmed up on a low setting in an oven.