June 26, 2010

Lemon ricotta pancakes with berry sauce

Stack of lemon ricotta pancakes with berry sauce.These pancakes were one of the things I made with our homemade ricotta cheese. They were very light and fluffy and the ricotta gave them a nice texture. 

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I adapted this recipe for these pancakes. I'm always looking for new pancakes to try and experimenting with new tastes and ingredients to make delicious pancakes. I thought that they would be a bit more lemony in flavor than they were. 

Next time I'll probably add a bit more lemon zest. The berry sauce was a nice compliment to these pancakes and something different rather than the usual maple syrup. The recipe will make about 3 servings.
 

Lemon ricotta pancakes
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2-1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided

In a medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients, reserving about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for the sauce. Gradually combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Heat a griddle and brush it with butter when hot. Use about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Flip when they begin to bubble and the underside is golden. Repeat until all batter is used.

berry sauce:
1/2 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until thickened. Spoon on top of hot pancakes and serve.

June 19, 2010

Ricotta cheese

 
So I ordered a cheesemaking kit for mozzarella and ricotta from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company after reading about them in the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (which I loved, by the way). My kit came yesterday and so this afternoon I decided I would try the ricotta (which sounded less complicated as a first try). The below recipe is from the book that comes with their kit. 

I enlisted the assistance of my husband for this job (mostly for stirring). It was fun to make the cheese. We tasted it and it was really good. I'm sure I'll be posting some recipes in the near future that use ricotta now that we have a bunch to use. The recipe will make about 1.75 to 2 lbs of cheese. You will need a thermometer and cheesecloth to make the ricotta.

Ricotta cheese
1 gallon of whole milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized)
1 teaspoon citric acid
1 teaspoon salt (the kit comes with a cheese salt)
 

Add all ingredients into a large stainless steel stock/soup pot and stir. Heat over medium heat, stirring often as to not scorch the milk.

 
Continue heating until the milk reaches 195 degrees (this took approximately 1 hour). The curds and whey will separate. Turn off the heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Line a colander with the cheesecloth and fit it into a large bowl or pot to drain the curds from the whey. Ladle the curds into the colander. 
  
Then tie your cloth into a "bag" shape and hang to drain for another 30 minutes, or until your desired consistency (I hung it on the knob of a cabinet and placed a bowl underneath to catch all the drippings). 

The ricotta is ready to be eaten or refrigerated until needed (up to one week).

June 4, 2010

Cheese and onion salad with a creamy chive dressing

As the weather continues to warm, I'm trying to incorporate at least one salad dinner into our week. This cheese and onion salad is a recipe from Jamie Oliver's cookbook Jamie at Home. I really enjoy this cookbook. It's full of seasonal recipes and beautiful photography. I changed the recipe slightly and, as I frequently do, bumped the quantities down for two people. As with other salads I've posted in the past, I don't really give a lot of quantities in the recipe though. This is because you can make a huge salad for a main dish or make this as a side or light lunch. All you really need to know is what goes in it!

Cheese and onion salad
1 small shallot (per salad), peeled and very thinly sliced
sea salt
red (or white) wine vinegar
romaine lettuce (or other crispy lettuce)
baby salad greens of your choice
blue cheese, crumbled
walnuts, lightly toasted

Place the shallots in a small bowl along with some salt and vinegar to cover the shallots. This will make a quick pickle. Let them marinade while you make the rest of the salad and dressing. Combine all of the lettuces, blue cheese, and walnuts on each salad plate. Then make the dressing as follows.

creamy chive dressing:
two parts creme fraiche
1 part red wine vinegar
dash of extra virgin olive oil
dash of sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
fresh chives, finely chopped

Combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Refrigerate until ready to serve (you may want to whisk it up again before using).

After at least 10 minutes (30 is better!), drain the shallots and give them a squeeze in your hands to remove all the extra liquid. Spread them out amongst your salads and top with the dressing. Enjoy!

June 2, 2010

Puffed pear pancake with cinnamon-maple syrup

Puffed pear pancake in a skillet.I wanted to try a new pancake this past weekend. I had a rapidly ripening pear that I needed to use up. I had never made a baked pancake before. 

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When I found this recipe, I knew I had to try it! It didn't come out picture perfect, but it tasted great. I'll definitely be using this recipe again with other fruits in the future. I'm looking forward to making this during peach season.

Puffed pear pancake
3 eggs
3/4 unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium ripe pear, thinly sliced
1-2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons butter
powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Place a 12-inch cast iron (or other oven-proof skillet) in the oven to warm. In a small bowl, toss the pear slices with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, flour, milk, vanilla, and salt.

Remove (carefully!) the skillet from the oven and add the butter. Swirl it around until it melted and covering the bottom of the pan. Arrange the pears on the bottom and then pour in the batter. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until puffy and golden.

While it's baking, warm up some real maple syrup and add the remaining cinnamon mixture from the pear bowl to the syrup to make a warm cinnamon-maple syrup. Serve in wedges topped with the syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar, if desired.

Slice of a puffed pear pancake on a serving plate.