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10/30/14

Homemade Ricotta Cheese - (Use leftover whey from making mozzarella or use fresh, whole milk or even soured milk!)





If you make homemade mozzarella, you will have almost a gallon of whey leftover.  Hopefully you didn't drain it or toss it as it can be used for many things in its own right.  But the quickest, easiest and what I consider a 'no brainer' is to make a batch of ricotta from it.  A no brainer because you really don't need any new, special ingredients and almost no work.  It can be making itself while you are cleaning up the mess from the mozzarella you just made.

You can make ricotta JUST from the liquid (whey) alone, but I choose to add a little 'helper' to get the curds going, and it makes a firmer curd.  That helper can be either a quarter cup vinegar or about 4-5 teaspoons lemon juice, but the one I use is a teaspoon of citric acid.

The length of time you drain it is going to give you the difference in the texture from a more moist ricotta to a dry one.  I drained about an hour and pressed on it a bit to get the dry curds I wanted, that you see in the photo.

Hint & Help:  You can add a quart of milk or cream to your whey to make a bigger and more substantial batch. This is what I did - as you will see in the picture below.  I hadn't planned on it, but we rarely (ok, never) buy cow's milk so when I opened the quart I had in the refrigerator I smelled it and found it had gone sour from not being used.  NO PROBLEM!!!!   If you have milk that has naturally gone sour - don't throw it out!  MAKE RICOTTA FROM IT.  (Or pancakes or sour dough bread or cakes or a bunch of other uses... but never throw out 'old' milk.  It's still good for cooking, baking and cheese making).




Ricotta Cheese - homemade from leftover whey and/or soured milk

Use 1 gallon whole milk, soured milk or the whey leftover from  making a batch of mozzarella
1 t citric acid
1 t sea salt or other non-iodized salt
muslin, gauze, cheesecloth, etc. to drain (see the link below for my favorite; a cloth diaper!)

In your stainless steel stock pot, heat your whey to 195-198 degrees.  It will start to separate at this high heat.  Remove from the heat and if you are using a 'helper' add the citric acid now and stir.
Allow to sit 5-10 minutes.
Start to skim off the curds with a slotted spoon into a muslin lined colander or strainer.
Pour the last through to get all the curds.
Add the salt and break it in gently with your fingers or pressing with a wooden spoon.
Tie up and drain for 20 minutes to 3-4 hours, depending on how dry you want it.
Use it in your cooking or place in a container in the refrigerator.


Heating the leftover whey....



 It's richer looking as I added 3/4 of a carton of soured milk from the refrigerator
Heat to about 195-198 degrees - you'll know it's ready when it starts to separate.


It's separated!  These are the curds you'll gently spoon off.

Spooning the curds into a lined strainer

Mix in your salt to bring out a little flavor

Hang or drain however you wish (I do from the cupboard) - as long as you wish
(if you press on it or leave it a long time it will be dryer curds)

Fresh ricotta!  Now you can break it up if you wish, to make it look
more like the ricotta you buy in the store.


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10/29/14

Easy Homemade Mozzarella Cheese in about 30 minutes - (Lots of pictures and links to specific ingredients included)





When you make mozzarella, you can throw out the whey (the liquid) but I beg you - please don't!  That whey is all you need to make delicious and amazing Ricotta cheese!  Just assume on the days you make a batch of mozzarella, you'll take another 15 minutes to make a batch of ricotta as well.  Two wonderful cheeses from 1 gallon of milk!  (I will try to get the ricotta recipe up as soon as I can.)

Homemade Mozzarella

1 gallon whole milk - not 'ultra' pasteurized
1 t citric acid - dissolved in 1/4 c cold water
1/4 t lipase - dissolved in 1/4 c cold water
1/4 t liquid rennet (or 1/4 of a tablet cheese making rennet) - dissolved in 1/4 c cold water
1 t non-iodized salt (use cheese salt, sea salt, kosher salt, ice cream salt, Himalayan salt, etc.)

Pour the milk into a clean stainless steel pot.
Heat to 55 degrees.
Add lipase water mixture and stir slowly.
Add Citric Acid water mixture and stir slowly.
Heat slowly to 90 degrees. Remove from heat.
Add the rennet water mixture, stir slowly but stir well for 10-20 seconds.
Cover and let stand 5-10 minutes.
During this time the curd should separate from the whey and become a firm jello like layer on top.
After 5-10 minutes check for a clean break with a knife or frosting spatula.
Cut a checkerboard pattern across the curd to cut it into 1 inch cubes.
Swirl the pot a little and put back on heat.
Slowly heat to 105 degrees.  Remove from heat.
Swirl the pan again (no need to stir, but you can if you must).
Slowly spoon out the curds with a slotted metal spoon into a colander sitting inside a large bowl to catch the whey - or if you only have a wire strainer, line it with cheesecloth or a gauzy fabric so the curds don't get stuck in the wires.
Pour the last bit of the curds into the cloth from the pan.
Set the whey to the side, you don't need it for this recipe any longer.
Gently press on the curd to press out a bit more whey liquid.
Place in a microwaveable bowl.
Microwave 1 minute.
Drain again.
Knead and press to get more whey out.
Drain.
Microwave 35 seconds.
Knead and press again and drain.
Add your salt.
Microwave 20-30 seconds more and continue to knead and pull.
You can wear food safe heat resistant gloves if you have them as you are microwaving to get the cheese hot so it will stretch - and you will kind of burn your hands a bit.  It's hot!
You are hoping to be able to stretch it like taffy.
If it breaks more like bread dough, it's not hot enough.  Heat again and stretch again.
If you've reheated 3 times and it's still not quite as stretchy as you would like, that's ok, it will still look and taste great.
Form whatever shape you want (twist or balls, etc.) and plunge them into a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes.
Remove, wrap and refrigerate.



 
HINTS AND HELPS

You need rennet - liquid or tablet (either vegetable or animal).
Do not use the Junket brand in the grocery store - it's made for custard and you want
a thicker curd than that.  Get real rennet or you may not end up with a good curd.
Citric acid and lipase -  Lipase is kind of optional; some people don't use it, but it adds flavor.


Heat your milk S L O W L Y so you don't scorch the bottom
and you never accidentally boil it.


When you mix your citric acid, lipase and rennet with water, do NOT use chlorinated water,
as chlorine kills the rennet.  If you do use tap water (which is chlorinated), 
add a bit of milk to it to neutralize it first.
 

  Have a thermometer.  You HAVE to know the correct temperature
of your milk.  Some people have a digital - I bought a super cheapy on Amazon,
calibrated it right before starting so I knew it was on target.  

 This is the "clean break" you look for after adding the rennet.
When you insert a knife or icing spatula you can see it is thick, like jello
and breaks away from the liquid whey under it.

Cutting across, turning the pan and cutting across the other way
gives you cubes.  This is giving the curds more surface area so the 
whey can separate from it.

Heating to 105 degrees before removing from the heat and starting to drain and knead.

 

After you heat to 105 and remove from heat, you can let the curds sit for 5 minutes.
During this time have your colander or strainer ready over a bowl to catch whey.
Have your cheese salt ready.
You can also get your bowl of ice water ready.

Starting to remove the curds from the whey.
 

Pour the last of the curds in.  The yellow liquid is the whey you will be
pressing out gently and draining off.

After the 1 minute microwave to heat it, press and drain.


This is after the second microwave, knead and drain.
You can see it all comes together.
Keep heating and pulling until it pulls like taffy.
Yep, it's hot - you'll get burned hands if you don't have food safe gloves.


Shape into whatever shape you wish.  I do balls.  Plunge in ice water 5 minutes.


SO GOOD!  The salt brings out the flavor so you don't need anything else,
but you CAN add whatever herbs you wish to it.  (Basil, chives, etc.)



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10/23/14

Homemade Vegetable Soup From Scratch


This is a soup I love to make in Autumn.  It's also one you can play with - ingredient wise - based on what you have on hand.  I have made this with fresh tomatoes or canned.  Tomato juice and V8 or just tomato juice. I've bought 'stew beef' pieces and cooked them right before adding everything else and simmering - or make everything else and add some leftover grilled steak.  I've made this with ground beef as well (I'm just not really a fan of ground beef... so I usually use steak).  Vegetables... try to use everything listed but if you have to leave out something, that's ok.  Lastly, the spices are optional - and add to it.  If you don't have spices, then add salt and pepper - don't skip that as it brings out the flavors.   You can add a can of tomato sauce or even some crushed tomatoes if you like to replace some of the juice too.  See?  So easy to use what is on hand on this one.

My favorite parts of this soup are the steak and cabbage!  And I love the tomato juice base with the beef broth.  I don't substitute those items, ever.


Homemade Vegetable Soup  (Vegetable Stew)

6 c beef broth or bouillon and water equivalent
1-2 c steak pieces, chopped (leftover grilled or fresh)
1 - 15 oz. can diced tomatoes or equivalent
3 c tomato juice
4 carrots, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 onion, diced
2 potatoes, diced
1/2 head small cabbage, chopped
Optional:  1/2 t garlic salt
1/2 t onion powder
1 t paprika
1 t chili powder
salt and pepper

Brown and cook the steak pieces in a bit of oil in an electric skillet or a pan (or get your slow cooker hot and cook them right in the crock).  Add the vegetables, juices and spices.  Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to simmer at least 3 hours.  I think if you refrigerate it overnight and reheat the next day the flavors are even more intense.  Love it!  Goes great with homemade bread.



Lots of yummy fall 'harvest' vegetables

So bright and colorful; I love this stew




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10/15/14

Orange Breakfast Rolls - Like a Dreamcicle in bread form




Orange Breakfast Rolls

Dough: You can use a loaf of store bought dough, thaw and roll out to a rectangle approximately 10X15 or make a simple dough like this one;

1 pk. dry yeast (about 2 1/4 t)
3/4 c warm water
1/3 c sugar
1 t salt
1/3 c oil
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 c evaporated milk
4 - 4 1/2 c flour
Real butter, soft
Orange juice concentrate
White sugar
Dried orange peel


Dissolve yeast in the water in a bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and knead either by hand or with the dough hook of your electric mixer.  Use more or less flour so the dough is the right consistency and not too sticky or wet.  Knead about 5 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, cover and let raise until doubled.  Punch down.  Roll out on parchment paper or a floured surface to form a large rectangle.  Aim for about 16-18 inches across and 12-15 wide.

Spread with real butter.
Drizzle with orange juice concentrate.
Spread liberally with white granulated sugar.
Sprinkle with dried orange peel.

Roll up the long way.  Slice into 1 inch slices and place in a heavily greased baking pan or muffin tin.  I used a 'lasagna' pan which is slightly larger than the traditional 13X9" so I made 16 of them (4 across, 4 down).  You could make it into 12 - 16 depending on your pan and how thick you want them.  Place them into the pan.  Cover and let raise in a warm place until double in size (about 3 hours).  Bake at 350 degrees about 15-20 minutes until center rolls are done.  If you want to make them ahead and freeze; let rise about 1 hour and then cover and place in the deep freeze.  When you want to use them, remove from the freezer, let thaw and then let them raise about 1-2 hours past thawing until they double in size.  Bake as directed.

Let them cool a bit and then cover with a simple powdered sugar glaze.
One idea is this;

1 stick butter
4 c powdered sugar
1-2 t dried orange zest
2 T orange juice concentrate

Mix and spread on warm but cooled rolls.




Put into a greased bowl, cover and let rise

After rising and punching down, roll out to a large rectangle and spread with real butter
Sprinkled with dried orange peel

Drizzle with as much or little orange juice concentrate as you wish
 
Rolled up lengthwise and ready to slice into approximately 16 one inch slices to let raise and bake




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10/14/14

Homemade Ravioli - this time I made it Grilled Chicken, Artichoke and Smoked Gouda



Homemade Pasta

2 1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1-2 t olive oil
3-4 eggs

Whatever filling you like.
(I used a chicken, artichoke, smoked Gouda for this one!)
This is s guesstimate of what I used;
Leftover grilled chicken - about 3/4 cup
Canned or jarred artichoke hearts - 3/4 cup hearts
Shredded smoked Gouda - 1/2 c
Cream Cheese - 1 - 2 oz
Egg - 1
Garlic - about 1-2 teaspoons
salt and pepper to taste

I put the filling ingredients through the processor and pulsed a few times to mix.

Dough:  In a food processor bowl, place the salt and flour.  Put the top on and while pulsing or running on low, add a teaspoon or two of oil and start adding eggs.  You probably only need 3 eggs so start with that.  Process until the dough forms a ball shape.  This happens fairly quickly within a few pulses.  If it hasn't gathered itself in a ball by the 3rd egg, you can add another teaspoon of oil or water or use a 4th egg.  Water or additional flour by the teaspoon will give you the texture you need for it to be a ball.

Let it rest 10 minutes.  Divide into pieces - about 4 if you are using a roller or just in half if you are rolling by hand; Then either roll very, very thin with a rolling pin or use a pasta machine.  I use a manual, hand crank pasta machine and starting with number 1, I run it through to a number 4.  The first thin, rectangle shape is laid over the base of the ravioli mold.  You can use the white plastic mold to lay on top of the dough which quickly and easily presses the dough gently through the metal to form small rounds for filling. Put about 2 teaspoons or more of your filling of choice into the indentations.  If you are making by hand, you simply place the fillings about 2 inches apart, in rows, on your first layer of dough.  The second run through the pasta machine is for the top layer. Repeat as you did with the bottom, except lay it over the top of the fillings.  If you are making by hand, lay the second layer of dough over all.  Now you can easily see where your mounds are.  Use your finger to gentle press and seal the dough around each mount.  Just use a butter knife or a pizza cutter to cut your dough into squares around the filling mounds.  If you are using the ravioli mold, run a rolling pin over the top to seal (see photo below).  Remove the excess dough,flip over and press each ravioli out.

You can let them set a few hours, you can use them right away or you can put them on a baking sheet, freeze them solid and then move them to a container or ziploc baggy to use later.  To prepare, just put them into boiling water and boil until tender, then drain and serve with your favorite sauce.

Letting the dough rest about 10 minutes


You can make a filling while it rests. Just some cheese and spinach or whatever you want


Today's filling was Grilled Chicken, Artichoke & Smoked Gouda
 

Roll a rolling pin over to seal and cut in one step


Ready to pop out


Pushing out the ravioli's


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10/9/14

Homemade Pasta - For Chicken Soup, Butter, salt and pepper or Alfredo



Whenever I make homemade ravioli, I always look forward to saving a bit to make a favorite comfort food from my childhood; homemade pasta.  One of my all time favorite Fall foods!  This dough is a nice, hearty, filling dough I use for noodles and homemade ravioli.  I'll post my Grilled Chicken and Artichoke Ravioli with Smoked Gouda... but first, the homemade noodles that make my mouth water just thinking about them.


Homemade Pasta

2 1/4 c flour
1 t salt
1-2 t olive oil
3-4 eggs

In a food processor bowl, place the salt and flour.  Put the top on and while pulsing or running on low, add a teaspoon or two of oil and start adding eggs.  You probably only need 3 eggs so start with that.  Process until the dough forms a ball shape.  This happens fairly quickly within a few pulses.  If it hasn't gathered itself in a ball by the 3rd egg, you can add another teaspoon of oil or water or use a 4th egg.  Water or additional flour by the teaspoon will give you the texture you need for it to be a ball.

Let it rest 10 minutes.  Then either roll very, very thin with a rolling pin or use a pasta machine.  I use a manual, hand crank pasta machine and starting with number 1, I run it through to a number 4.  You can then cut into thin noodles.  Let set to dry and store or use right away.  Boil til tender.  Drain.  Serve as you wish; my favorite is simply butter, salt and pepper but these are equally awesome in homemade chicken soup!!!  














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10/7/14

Make ahead for freezer if you wish.... ORANGE BREAKFAST ROLLS



The picture above is rolls in the pan before rising or baking.



I will be posting a 'finished' baked product photo of them but today's post is to show my kids (and anyone else visiting my site) that you can make these ahead of time when you have a little bit of free time and then put them into the freezer for a future date.

It's no secret I'm not a fan of cinnamon rolls - but I do make really, really yummy ones!  I'm not a fan of breakfast in general, but these rolls are so tempting even I will eat one!  Picture a Dreamcicle or a Orange Julius drink in a breakfast roll.

Orange Breakfast Rolls

Dough: You can use a loaf of store bought dough, thaw and roll out to a rectangle approximately 10X15 or make a simple dough like this one;

1 pk. dry yeast (about 2 1/4 t)
3/4 c warm water
1/3 c sugar
1 t salt
1/3 c oil
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 c evaporated milk
4 - 4 1/2 c flour
Real butter, soft
Orange juice concentrate
White sugar
Dried orange peel


Dissolve yeast in the water in a bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and knead either by hand or with the dough hook of your electric mixer.  Use more or less flour so the dough is the right consistency and not too sticky or wet.  Knead about 5 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, cover and let raise until doubled.  Punch down.  Roll out on parchment paper or a floured surface to form a large rectangle.  Aim for about 16-18 inches across and 12-15 wide.

Spread with real butter.
Drizzle with orange juice concentrate.
Spread liberally with white granulated sugar.
Sprinkle with dried orange peel.

Roll up the long way.  Slice into 1 inch slices and place in a heavily greased baking pan or muffin tin.  I used a 'lasagna' pan which is slightly larger than the traditional 13X9" so I made 16 of them (4 across, 4 down).  You could make it into 12 - 16 depending on your pan and how thick you want them.  Place them into the pan.  Cover and let raise in a warm place until double in size (about 3 hours).  Bake at 350 degrees about 15-20 minutes until center rolls are done.  If you want to make them ahead and freeze; let rise about 1 hour and then cover and place in the deep freeze.  When you want to use them, remove from the freezer, let thaw and then let them raise about 1-2 hours past thawing until they double in size.  Bake as directed.

Let them cool a bit and then cover with a simple powdered sugar glaze.
One idea is this;

1 stick butter
4 c powdered sugar
1-2 t dried orange zest
2 T orange juice concentrate

Mix and spread on warm but cooled rolls.



Put into a greased bowl, cover and let rise

After rising and punching down, roll out to a large rectangle and spread with real butter
Sprinkled with dried orange peel

Drizzle with as much or little orange juice concentrate as you wish
 
Rolled up lengthwise and ready to slice into approximately 16 one inch slices to let raise and bake







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Blueberry Bread - or Blueberry Pound Cake with Whipped Cream


I've stated before (and I'll say it again) this blog isn't about 'photo shoots' and being the prettiest pictures of food.  It's about food.  Real. Food. As you see it, as you eat it.

This site has been around since before 'food blogs' existed.  The word blog had just gotten started and most of America didn't know what it (blog) was.  Social media wasn't a coined phrase yet (they were debating what to call it and throwing a few phases around) -  And so... photos like the bread above - crumbs and aluminum foil and all are real. food.  Right before it's gobbled up.  No wasted pretty photo shoot food here!

Blueberry Bread

1 c butter
3 c sugar
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1/2 t lemon extract
6 eggs
3 c flour
1/2 t baking soda
1 c sour cream
2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Beat in the extracts.  Add eggs, beat well.  Combine the flour and baking soda.  Add to the mixture alternately with the sour cream.  Fold in the blueberries.  Spoon into 2 greased or lined loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees 65 minutes or until the center is done when tested with a knife.  Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar crystals and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before removing to cool completely.  This is best when wrapped in plastic wrap, then in foil, and refrigerated overnight.  You can slice and serve as is, or slice and serve laying down with whipped cream as you would a blueberry pound cake.












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