A Special Dinner at Home: Part II

Homemade ricotta. Sounds intimidating, right? Nope. Not so much. Can you dump into a pot? Can you open and measure milk? Then you can make ricotta. And you will not be sorry--it is SO GOOD.

I used this recipe from Ina Garten. 

• 4 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons good white wine vinegar

Ok, so we start with the milk.

Measure out the milk and pour into a pot. Add salt and bring to a boil. I stirred the mixture a lot so it wouldn't burn. After it comes to a boil, add the vinegar and turn off the heat. I didn't have white wine vinegar, so I used red.

 

 The acid in the vinegar will cause the milk to curdle. It will separate into curds and whey. Next, dump the whole shebang into a strainer lined with cheesecloth that's been placed over a bowl. See? Here we have the curds.

All the whey will drain off, and the curds will thicken. I let mine sit for a good hour at least, so when I finally served it, it was pretty thick, like cream cheese.

I even thickened more after this photo. I served the ricotta on my homemade pasta (coming soon! Next post) and it was Top 5 Things I Have Ever Made.
With the remaining ricotta, I even used it like cream cheese--on a bagel with cranberry sauce, it was epic. And on a pizza with roasted garlic and prosciutto, it was transcendent.
So don't let the name intimidate you--it's really easy. Give it a whirl!

A Special Dinner at Home: Part I

Cookie Monster and I aren't too into Valentine's Day, but we did want to do something a little special. Obviously it would involve food. But restaurants always jack up their prices on V-Day, and they're crowded, and I'd be required to wear pants, etc. So, a special dinner at home it was. And the name of the game today? Homemade. I made, from scratch: ricotta cheese, pasta and bread. The bread was a big deal, because in the past I've had some ... issues ... with bread. Killed the yeast, didn't bake long enough, burnt beyond recognition.

Bread! It actually worked! I made it!

Using the famous no-knead recipe, I started my bread a good 24 hours before I intended to bake it. (Aside: I was totally suckered into the recipe by the adorable 4-year-old maker of the bread. So cute! And humbling. If a 4-year-old can do it, I should be able to, too.)

Ok, so here's the dough after I combined the following: 2 1/2 cups AP flour, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 teaspoon yeast, 3/4 tablespoon kosher salt and 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water. 

Then you just let it hang out. Since there are only two warm places in our house—either under flannel sheets, two blankets and a comforter in our bed, or inside the oven (turned off)—I opted for the oven. I just covered my dough with plastic wrap and let it bask in the warmth for nearly 24 hours. 

After dumping the dough onto a floured board and tucking the ends underneath, it made a lovely ball that I incubated in a Pyrex dish for another 4 hours or so.

And it rose! It did what it was supposed to do! I didn't kill the yeast! See how pretty it looked right before going in the oven?

After baking for 30 minutes with a lid, and then about 30 more without, it came out of the oven, making my house smell glorious.

 

Aaagggghhhhh. (That would be Homer Simpson drooling noises.) It was chewy and doughy but still light and fluffy. I spread real butter on top and reached nirvana.

Woo hoo! Homemade bread, dominated. Congratulations to me: I have the same skills as a 4-year-old. 

Coming next: Homemade ricotta cheese. Oh yes, it can be done.

White Chocolate Bark

I like to watch the Barefoot Contessa. 

She has a show on the Food Network that's still actually about cooking. (Not crap like: How Tall Can You Build a Cake? or How Badly Can You Fuck Up Toast, Dumbass? Food Network has MTV syndrome.) Ina's ok, but parts of her, and her show, bug me. Like the ridiculously staged parties she throws, or the "surprise" she has for someone--like you haven't rehearsed it 17 times with your script and fucked with the lighting 'til it's just so. I also hate the way she makes everyone who's not her look like a fucking moron/child in the kitchen (Wow, Jeffrey! You turned the steaks all by yourself! Would you like a sticker?)

Anyhoo, this post was not meant to be a rant about Food Network or Ina Garten, because I actually do like her show. So I was watching it the other day, and she made drool-worthy white chocolate bark. I had a bag of white chocolate chips in the cupboard, as well as my favorite complementary flavors for this not-chocolate, so I hopped to making some.

I started with white chocolate chips, chopped pecans, dried apricots and dried cranberries.

Using Ina's tempering method, I microwaved 3/4 of the bag of white chocolate chips for 30 seconds, then stopped and stirred. Another 30 seconds, then another stir. I repeated about four times, until the chocolate was melty and smooth. Then I dumped in the rest of the chocolate chips and let the residual heat melt them.

 

Ina's bark recipe says to spread the chocolate out onto a cookie sheet first, then sprinkle on the toppings. But I don't want all the shit falling off the second I break the bark. So I just stirred the toppings into the chocolate and then spread it out.

Isn't it pretty? Then I just popped it into the fridge for about an hour. Voila! It was completely set, and because of my handy-dandy Silpat mat, I was easily able to extract the bark from the cookie sheet and break into pieces. 

The time for it to set is the longest part of the process. Making the bark took about five minutes; I don't know why I haven't made it before. But it'd be a great party snack, and the combinations are endless. I think next time I'll try dark chocolate with peanut butter chips and pretzels. Ok, that pretty much sounds spectacular! That is definitely in my future.