Spring has sprung! (Lets cook something!)

Spring has finally hit our little corner of the tundra. (Yea!) So, now we get to go out and get things that were grown here and cook them up. To that end I invited a special guest, Michelle Licata, a chef and teacher who shares her philosophy of good food and healthy eating with her eight-week wellness program, “Inspired Wellness,” upcoming cookbook, “Olives and Pearls,” and classes around Minneapolis.

This particular event happened almost a month ago, so there was very little available at the farmers market for us. But, what there wasn’t in variety, there was in flavor. Everything was beautifully fresh. We had chicken, trout, eggs, radishes, greens, grains and amazing artisnal sheep’s milk blue and fresh cheese. So we were forced to make due with just that. (Can I get any pity out there? Hm. No, eh?)

Alright, fine. The food was excellent. Michelle was an amazing and vibrant guide through a world of fresh and healthful eating choices. If you ever have the opportunity to take a class from her, I’d highly recommend it and I think anyone who was with me would as well.

Michele dazzling us with her charm and knowledge.

Linda starts to work on the roasted chicken. She decided on butterflying the chicken and dousing it with a mixture of olive oil, fresh squeezed lemon juice with thyme, salt and pepper.

Naomi is getting instruction while working on the radishes. (I think.)

Michele overseeing the risotto.

Ah, the fritatta needs some seasoning.

Meeting over the trout. Turns out the trout wants to be dipped in beaten egg, rolled in some panko and spices and then baked until done.

Michelle wokrs on panko/trout construction.

Frittata construction. Oh yes.

Linda carves up her chicken.

The finished frittata. (It was as good as it looks.)

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This salad of greens, arugula, radish and Northern Lights blue cheese is good, but not quite done. It needs a vinegarette.

Ava looks on.

Michele demonstrates how to drizzle in the appropriate amount of olive oil for the emulsion of a proper vinegarette to take place.

Trout breaded in Panko & Herbs with Honey Dipping Sauce

trout, cut into bite sized pieces
1 egg, wisked
pinch of salt
1/2 t ginger

sauce
2 T honey
1 T white wine
1 t sirracha
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375&degf;.

Whisk egg in a bowl. Place panko, salt and ginger in another bowl. Take pieces of trout douse them completely in egg and then coat in panko. Place on a baking sheet.

Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until fish feels firm.

While fish is cooking bring dipping sauce together over low-ish heat.

Serve fish with sauce.

Fritatta

4 radishes, sliced thinly
radish greens, ripped
1 T butter
6 oz fresh cheese
6 eggs
3 T cream
1/4 parmesan
oregano
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 375°f.

Saute radish in 1 T of butter over medium high heat until translucent. Toss into frittata dishes with greens and cheese.

Whisk together eggs, cream parmesan and spices and pour over radish stuffs. Put onto a cookie sheet and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Frittata is set when you press on the middle and it fights back.

Quinoua & Lentil Salad

Quinoua is not an ingredient that I’ve done much with – but as Michele pointed out it’s very easy, light and nutritious.

1 c quinoua
1 c water
salt

1/2 c lentils
1 1/2 c water
1 t salt
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig thyme

juice of 1 lemon
1T honey
1Tmustard
salt to taste

Boil quinoua in water until done. Boil lentils in water with sprigs until done.

Put both into bowls and add in lemon, honey, mustard and salt to taste. Serve. People will be happy.

Lemon Thyme Roasted Chicken

1 chicken

juice from one lemon
2 T olive oil
2 t thyme
1 t salt
1 t pepper

Preheat oven to 400 °f

Butterfly chicken by cutting out the backbone and bending the chicken so that it is flat, breast side up. Put into baking pan.

Whisk together the rest of the ingredients and liberally cover the chicken. Put into oven and cook until chicken is browned and reads 160°f on a quick read thermometer. Cover and let sit until it comes up to 165°f. It will be perfect. Enjoy!

Cheese-o-thon with Kat

Hello Cooks!

As you can see we have a new website!  (Actually, we have three, but we’re working on sorting that out.)  Regardless, you can come to www.CookingMN.com to find all the recipes, news about and pictures from events so that you can foodie your little hearts out.

In this post you’ll be viewing my photos and commentary of Kat’s amazing cheese-o-thon.  All the recipes are from the blog that she set up for her first Future Cheese Makers of MN meeting!

Enjoy!

 

Kat and Matt greeted us with some hors d’oeuvres featuring… cheese!

Ricotta & Fig Dip
(adapted from Gourmet Oct. ’01)

1 c ricotta
3 T fresh tarragon, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 c dried soft figs, finely chopped (We used 8 mission figs.)
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
2 – 4 T milk
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Mix the ricotta, tarragon, garlic, figs, olive oil & 2 tablespoons milk together breaking up the ricotta curds. Add more milk if the dip is a little too dry. Stir in salt & pepper.

Can be made 1 day ahead of time & kept covered & chilled. Drizzle with a little more oil before serving. Serve with breadsticks or other crusty bread.

Makes about 2 cups

Based on Indian chenna, this cheese log is full of the flavor of chive & a touch of lemon. Its super easy to make especially with a stand mixer with a dough hook.

Fresh Chive Cheese
(from Sunset Magazine)

1 gallon whole milk
1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 t salt
2 T fresh chives, chopped

In a large pan heat the milk over medium-high heat until boiling, stirring frequently to prevent scorching. (This will take a long time, it took us close to 45 minutes.) Once the milk is boiling remove it from the heat & stir in the lemon juice. Stir until the white curds separate from the green whey. Let sit for 10 minutes while the curds settle to the bottom of the pan.

Line a large colander with four layers of cheesecloth. Pour the curds & whey into the colander. Rinse with lukewarm water for 5 seconds. Bring the corners of the cheesecloth together & tie them in a knot. Squeeze the curds to form a ball pushing out the whey (be careful not to burn yourself, gloves work good here. Place the cheesecloth wrapped curds back into the colander & top with a plate. Set a 5 pound weight on top (we used a brick). Let sit for 45 minutes.

Unwrap the curd & place in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Knead for 10 – 15 minutes until the curds become dough-like, silky & not grainy at all. (You can also do this part by hand though it might take a little longer.) Add the salt & chives & blend to combine. Roll the cheese into a 2-inch log. Wrap in wax paper & chill for at least two hours up to 3 days. Slice to serve.

They showed off their lovely peas in progress.

 

 

Half of the group goes inside to do some learin’ while the other half hang in the shade with the wine and eats.

If you’ve done everything just right, your curds will form.

You let the curds sit for a bit and they’ll firm up on the bottom of the pan.  The top part is the whey.

If you haven’t done everything just right, then you call Matt in to sort things out.

There is much discussion about the ability of these curds turning into mozzarella.

Oh well, may as well just start on the Ricotta.

The nice thing about making homemade ricotta is that you don’t need any special chemical & the only special equipment is a thermometer & a bit of patience.

Fresh Ricotta
(per Lauren at I’ll Eat You)

1 gallon milk, you can use 1 percent on up, remember that the more fat in the milk, the more cheese it will yield
1 quart buttermilk
-cheesecloth,a good, tightly woven one, not the kind you buy at the supermarket – If you don’t have one of these, you can get by with a slotted spoon, but you may lose some of the cheese. ( I used supermarket cheesecloth & just doubled it. That worked just fine.)
-a thermometer
- A collander

Place buttermilk and milk in a pot, heat on med-low heat until it reaches 185 F.

It will begin to separate into curds and whey. Be sure to stir occasionally to make sure no curds stick to the bottom and burn. You will see that as the temperature approaches 185, the whey becomes clearer as the curds coagulate more.

Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined collander. Tie the ends of the chesecloth together and hang for 10-15 minutes. Remove from cheesecloth and place in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week..

This recipe will give you about a pound of cheese. I made 1/4 of it & got 6 oz.

It will take Matt’s skill to save the curd.

In the end it all works out.  Team 2 has achieved good curd!

Homemade Mozzarella

1 gallon milk (see the notes on milk in the supplies post)
1/4 t calcium chloride mixed in 2 T distilled water (check your calcium chloride it may call for a different amount per gallon of milk) (optional, this will give you a firmer finished cheese)
2 t citric acid
1/4 t liquid rennet mixed in 1/4 c distilled water
flake salt

Place the milk in a large enamel or stainless steel pan over medium-low heat & stir in the calcium chloride. When the milk reaches 55 F stir in the citric acid. Continue to heat until the milk reaches 88 F. You should see curd starting to form. Gently stir in the diluted rennet. Continue heating the milk until it reaches 105 F, do not stir if at all possible so as not to break up the curd. Once it has reached 105 F, turn off the heat & cover the pan. Let sit for 20 minutes allowing the curd to gel. The curd should pull away from the side of the pan & be firm almost to the bottom of the pan. Let sit another 10 minutes if not quite set.

Using a slotted spoon carefully remove the curd to a microwave-safe bowl. (Save the whey!) Press the curd & pour off as much whey as possible. Microwave the curd on high for 60 – 75 seconds. Press again with a spoon & drain as much whey as possible. Start kneading the whey as you would bread either with your hand or the back of the spoon. Microwave for another minute. Drain any remaining whey. Knead again with the spoon adding 1/2 t salt a little at a time. The curd should have come together in a smooth mass & be sticky. Continue to knead until it is smooth. Try stretching the cheese. If it stretches easier stretch & pull like taffy until cool. If it doesn’t microwave for another 35 minutes & try again. For a softer cheese don’t stretch. Put cheese in a cold water bath (I salted my water for extra flavor.)

After all that work, we need cheesecake!

This cheesecake was very light & quite smooth. We used local Ames honey from the farmer’s market & it has such great flavor we didn’t miss the orange zest at all. The nuttiness of the biscotti made for a fabulous tasting crust.

Honey Ricotta Cheesecake

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 8 ounces purchased biscotti
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 (12-ounce) container fresh whole milk ricotta, drained
• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup orange blossom or clover honey (I just used some good local honey)
• 1 tablespoon orange zest (I didn’t have any so I just skipped this)
• 4 large eggs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with 2 layers of heavy-duty foil. Finely grind the biscotti in a food processor. Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumb mixture over the bottom (not the sides) of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is golden, about 15 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a cooling rack.

Blend the ricotta in a clean food processor until smooth. Add the cream cheese and sugar and blend well, stopping the machine occasionally and scraping down the sides of the work bowl. Blend in the honey and orange zest. Add the eggs and pulse just until blended.

Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the pan. Place the springform pan in a large roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the cake moves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 1 hour and 5 minutes (the cake will become firm when it is cold).

Transfer the cake to a rack and cool 1 hour. Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least 8 hours and up to 2 days. Cut the cake into wedges and serve.

Ahh.  That was nice.  I’d like another dessert, please.

Ricotta Gelato
(from Bon Appetit Sept’ 07)

4 c fresh whole-milk ricotta
1/2 c whole milk
1 1/2 c chilled simple syrup**

Put the ricotta & milk in a blender & process until smooth. Add the simple syrup and continue to process until completely smooth. Put in an airtight container & chill.

Transfer to an ice cream maker & process according to the machine’s directions.

Put into an airtight container & freeze until firm, about 3 hours.

Can be keep for 2 days.

** Simple Syrup

1 1/2 c water

1 1/2 c sugar

Put the sugar & water into a saucepan & bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. Turn down to simmer. Let simmer for 3 minutes. Chill.

A lovely time was had by all.  A big thanks to Kat and Matt for opening their home and refrigerators to us!

If you would like to join us at our next event, go to Cooking Minnesota, www.meetup.com/cookingMN.

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