Please make your own ricotta cheese this weekend. It couldn’t be any easier if it made it itself. The experience of making your own cheese is best enjoyed with a group. Kids are especially enthusiastic about it, but any friend or family member will do just fine.
Here is what you need:
1/2 gallon of the best organic milk you can find,
2 cups of buttermilk (ditto on the quality),
salt, and
cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer.
Heat the milk over medium high heat under bubbles start to form along the edges. Not quite at the boiling stage.
At this point, add the buttermilk and 1-2 tbsp of salt and gently stir to combine. Lower the heat to medium and wait. No stirring after this point or it will become grainy. Once the milk really begins to boil, adjust the heat so it is at a gentle boil.
You will see clouds of cheese begin to form. They will separate from the whey (almost looks like a clear liquid). Make a reference to Little Miss Muffet, while the cheese forms this way for about 5-10 minutes.
(see the clouds?)
Turn off the heat and start scooping out your cheese with a slotted spoon or small strainer and gently place into a cheesecloth lined strainer (or just a very fine mesh strainer).
If using cloth, gather the cheese in it forming a pouch and twist to remove excess water. Otherwise just let the water drain for about a half hour.
That’s it. It’s ready to eat.
Here we used it in pasta with fresh basil and tomato and a clove or two of minced garlic. Just dump the hot pasta on top of the basil and tomatoes seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper. Let the heat from the hop pasta soften the tomatoes and basil. Add pieces of the cheese. They will break up as you stir it together.
(delicious!!!)
What does a cooking party look like?
Yes - there is definitely cooking going on. But, since it’s a party, there should be some fun activities too.
We came up with some challenges that involved food, but not actually cooking.
A fantastic ice breaker which gets everyone going is to put stickers with food items (mac and cheese, brownies, etc.) on the guests’ backs when they arrive. They must immediately start talking to the other guests to ask yes/no questions and figure out who they are. When they correctly guess, the sticker is moved to the front of their shirts and they can start again if they like (most do).
This is a contest where the guests were split into two groups. The first group had to peel as many oranges as they could within 3 minutes, while the second group watched and vice versa. To determine the winner, we counted the oranges and disqualified any that had peels remaining.
Another fun activity involved blindfolding the guests and asking them to guess the ingredient that was placed in their mouth. To avoid putting anyone on the spot, two people from each team were fed the same ingredient and were allowed to quietly discuss their answer. Not as easy as it seems…
The best part about a cooking party is that all of the guests are contained in one spot. All that is necessary is a large table to fit everyone standing or sitting (recommended for ages 6 and under). Everyone participates in preparing their own meal, snacks on really good food throughout the party and sits down to share their creations with friends.
(can you guess what they are making?)
What could be better for someone who loves to cook?
Tasty Wehani Rice, Leek and Corn Salad
(This recipe was first published here -> http://momtrends.blogspot.com/2010/05/tasty-rice-salad.html)
This healthy and nutritious salad has a fixed place on our dinner table starting in the Spring – remaining throughout the last days of corn season. I serve it as a side with family meals, for parties and even put it in my daughter’s lunch box. It can be made ahead of time and everyone loves it, especially my students.
Wehani rice is a type of brown jasmine rice. If you can’t find it, substitute long-grain brown rice, red or wild rice or even wheat berries. I prefer the Wehani rice for its nutty taste and chewy texture. To achieve the proper texture, cook the rice like you cook pasta. Ignore the recipes that advise you to cook this rice as you would a basic white rice – essentially using double the amount of water as rice and cooking until all of the water is absorbed. It results in the rice splitting open and getting mushy, whereas the pasta method of straining the rice from the water keeps the rice whole, allowing it to remain chewy and flavorful.
Ingredients
2 cups Wehani rice
6 cups water
2 ears of corn - sliced off of the cob
1 medium leek - green part discarded, white part cut into ¼ inch slices
1 cup shelled edamame – frozen
¼ cup minced fresh herbs – cilantro, chives, parsley or any combination you have on hand
6 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot and add the rice. Once the water comes back to a boil, lower the heat to medium. After 10-15 minutes, begin tasting the rice to determine if it is done. It should be cooked through, yet remain whole and chewy. The rice kernels should not start splitting open. Once the rice is finished, strain and rinse it with cold water.
Put the rice in a bowl large enough to hold the corn as well.
While the rice is cooking prepare the corn. Add 4 tablespoons of oil to a large skillet set to high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the leeks and stir well, cooking for about a minute until the leeks have wilted. Reduce the heat to medium and add the corn. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir together, distributing the corn/leek mixture over the entire bottom of the pan and cook undisturbed for about 5 minutes. This will allow the corn to release its natural sugar and develop some tasty brown spots. Once the corn is partially colored, stir and cook again undisturbed for another 5 minutes. Do not allow it to burn.
Once the corn is 3/4s browned, add the edamame and herbs. Stir and scrape up any browned bits that may have formed on the bottom of the pan. The frozen edamame will release some water, which will aid in scraping up these tasty bits. Taste for seasoning and remove from the heat after the edamame are just heated through.
Combine the corn mixture with the rice, stir well and allow it to cool.
Once the rice salad is cool, add the remaining two tablespoons of oil. Stir to combine and test again for seasoning.
Salad is best at room temperature and can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Mother’s Day - Breakfast Made By The Kids
here is a version made with apples on top
Fancy Egg Muffins (or Pie)
Most children have grand plans on the Saturday night before Mother’s Day to make breakfast in bed for their moms. But most have no clue how to begin. Unless someone else (Dads, perhaps?) helps them, it probably won’t happen. Or, if it does, yikes - what a mess!!
This post is for those lovely helpers.
There are lots of options for moms, but unless you go shopping ahead of time, you’ll have to use what you have - hopefully, eggs, bread, milk, cheese and if you’re lucky, some bacon.
Get out the muffin tins and lightly grease them with cooking spray or butter. (A pie plate works as well.) Put some toasted bread in the bottoms of each cup. Add some beaten eggs with milk and bits of cooked bacon and shredded/cut up cheese (any kind that you have). If mom would prefer egg whites only, feel free to separate the egg yolks first. Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. The eggs will look runny when they first come out because the cheese has melted. Don’t worry - the cheese will firm up as they cool.
The kids can crack and beat the eggs (their favorite task), shred the cheese and create a menu - which could be pictures instead of words.
Once they have cooled enough to handle them, carefully remove the eggs and place on an individual dish. Use the prettiest dish you can find. If you want to be fancy you can add a sprig of herbs and a scoop of yogurt on top.
Deliver the eggs on a tray with a single flower in a bud vase, fresh squeezed oj and coffee. The personalized menu from the kids should accompany the breakfast. The newspaper would be nice too.
Give lots of kisses and make sure you clean up. Mom shouldn’t be doing the dishes on her special day.
My first post on tumblr
(My previous posts can be found at www.blog.doughremekids.com. This blog on tumblr was much easier to post, so I will most likely use it exclusively in the future.)
Well, this week is our last for the winter/spring session. (Next week starts the spring/summer session.) I thought it would be nice to make a treat to close the session. Naturally, the kids were on board.
We made the amazing Salty Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies from Cooks’ Illustrated. My favorite part about these cookies is the sea salt which graces the top of each cookie. The interplay between the sweet and the salt literally makes my mouth water.
These cookies are definitely worth the tiny bit of effort they take. Try them and see for yourself.
Here are the kids working on them. They were so careful with the salt…
Like I always say, if they can do it, so can you.
Have fun eating them because you definitely will.
