Homemade Cheeses

I recently acquired Ricki's 30 Minute Mozzarella & Ricotta kit and have started making my own cheeses! The kit is fabulous and fun and I highly recommend it. you can get it here: New England Cheese Making Supply Company .  They also offer classes in MA.

The cheese is just as good (or better than) store bought cheese and is very easy to make once you get a system down. 

My friend Christiana and her now husband Nick came over one day to make cheese with us...

Stirring the curds

finished mozzarella ball

the ricotta draining

Mushroom & Ricotta Lasagna

Lately, I've been all into making everything from scratch. Here is my lasagna recipe using homemade ricotta and pasta sauce (I would have made the noodles by hand too if I had enough time!).  You can, however, use store bought cheese and sauce. Posts on homemade cheese, pasta, ect. soon to come!

Ingredients:

1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles

16 oz ricotta cheese 

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 containers fresh button mushrooms, thinly sliced

4 to 5 cups very chunky, vegetable-y tomato sauce (I like peppers, onions, eggplant, and bacon!)

You guys know how to do this one:  spread some sauce on the bottom  of a 9x13 pan.  Layer noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and ricotta until you run out of ingredients.  Sprinkle parmesan on top. Bake at 375 degrees until cheese is melted and slightly brown on top. Enjoy!

Thai Chicken Wraps

I got this from the May 2009 issue of Fitness Magazine. Yeah, I know, pairing a peanut butter based sauce with chicken sounds a little weird. But trust me, it's DELICIOUS. Matt and I love it so much that we eat it on a weekly basis.

The original recipe says to put broccoli slaw in the wrap with the chicken, but really any crunchy vegetable will work. I put snow peas and fresh-from-the-balcony-garden cucumbers in mine. I've found that to be a pretty solid combo.

Thai Chicken Wraps

INGREDIENTS

12 ounces skinless, boneless chicken-breast strips
garlic salt
black pepper
nonstick cooking spray
1 cucumber (peeled and chopped into sticks)
1 handful of fresh snow peas (trimmed)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or fresh, grated ginger)
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (or garlic powder)
4 whole wheat tortillas (10 inch size)

DIRECTIONS

Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over the chicken strips. Coat a skillet with the cooking spray. Add chicken and cook over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes (or until no longer pink). Remove the chicken from the pan and cover it with foil to keep it warm. Add the snow peas to the skillet with 1/4 teaspoon of the ginger. Cook and stir for 2 to 3 minutes or until veggies are crisp-tender.

In a saucepan, combine peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of water, soy sauce, minced garlic (or garlic powder), and the remaining ginger. Heat over low heat until smooth, whisking constantly.

To assemble, spread about a tablespoon of the sauce over a tortilla. Put 2 or 3 chicken strips on top of that along with some of the snow peas and cucumber sticks. Roll up the tortilla and serve. Makes 4 wraps.

Back to Basics with Italian Nick (Part Due)

Courtesy of Italian Nick:

Here is my Italian slang dictionary to be referenced when reading my recipes. This is privileged information and should be held sacred to all who are allowed into the food blog. The origins and definitions should not be discussed outside the blog family or fuhgetaboutit!!!!

Gabagool: capicola, a type of Italian ham.

Schfogliadel: sfogliatelle, a type of pastry.

Bizza: pizza.

Galamaree or Calamar: calamari, squid.

Gagoots: zucchini, it’s a vegadable a type of squash.

Scharolel: escarole, it’s another vegadable endive or chicory.

Vegadable: vegetable.

Ganool or Ganoulli: cannoli, hard elongated pastry shell filled with mascarpone cheese

P-Ronee: pepperoni, spicy salami

Regorta: ricotta, cheese made from sheep milk or cow milk whey

Sangweech: sandwich, like gabagool and moozie on semolin a bread.

Moozadell or Moozarell or Moozie: mozzarella, cheese made from fresh cow’s milk or water buffalo milk

Gavadelli or cavadell: cavatelli, short pasta with rolled edges

Sauseech: sausage, made from pork usually seasoned with fennel or anise but come in many varieties

Manigott or Manigota: manicotti, long tube pasta that is filled with regorta cheese and baked in the oven. Not to be confused20with cannelloni.

Gravy: red sauce with meat, served on Sunday not to be confused with marinara sauce

Roonies: macaroni, not to be confused with pasta

Scungil: scungilli, very large marine snails, also known as conch. Served in a red sauce or in a cold salad.

Gabootzell: goats head, skull of the goat broiled with garlic, oil and other spices. Everything is eaten including the brain, eyes and tongue.

Aboopa: octopus, a Sicilian dish that is served as a cold salad

Vachstead: cow spleen, cooked and put on hero bread with regorta and olive oil.

Tripe: honyecombe trippa, comes from the cow’s stomach served in a red or brown sauce.

Agida: heartburn, which is what you will get if you eat all of the above!!

Eggplant Pizza

This pizza definitely ranks among the five tastiest foods I've ever made. I found this on Epicurious and followed the recipe exactly the first time I made it. It was fantastic! But the second time, I added a few dollops of ricotta cheese to it and that really put it over the top. I highly recommend it.

Eggplant Pizza

INGREDIENTS

For Dough:

1 packet fast-acting yeast
2/3 cup warm water
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

For Toppings:

1 large eggplant
3/4 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup grated Parmasan
1/2 cup ricotta (maybe more?)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
cooking spray
salt

DIRECTIONS:

Broil eggplant:
Cut eggplant into 1/3-inch-thick rounds and arrange in 1 layer on a foil-lined large baking sheet. Lightly spray both sides with cooking spray and season with salt. Broil 2 to 3 inches from heat until golden brown and tender, 3 to 8 minutes on each side.

Make dough:
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Blend flour and salt in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Add oil and blend. With motor running, add yeast mixture all at once, blending until dough forms a ball. Continue to add flour little by little until the dough isn't sticky. Form the dough into a ball with your hands and put it in large bowl that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Let rise, covered with plastic wrap, in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Dust dough with flour on a floured surface, then shape and stretch into a 12- to 13-inch round. Preheat oven to 475.

Assemble pizza:
Toss together Parmesan and mozzarella and sprinkle 1/4 over dough. Cover with eggplant, overlapping it, and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Heat oil in a small skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook garlic and red pepper, stirring, until just fragrant, 30 to 40 seconds. Spoon evenly over eggplant. Use a spoon to drop blobs of ricotta all over the pizza.

Bake until dough is crisp and browned, approximately 10-12 minutes.

Salsa. The food, not the dance.

This is a nice mild salsa we put on some carnitas last night. I took a bunch of different recipes and spliced them together. Feel free to add in onions and more peppers, if you're into that kind of thing.

• 3 medium tomatoes
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 jalapeño
• 1 lime (or lime juice)
• Olive oil
• Cilantro
• Salt

Directions:

1. Dice the two and a half of the tomatoes and place them in a medium-sized bowl (you can do the same with your onions and peppers here).
2. Chop up the garlic and jalapeño, and place them in your Magic Bullet with the half of tomato you have left (NOTE: Magic Bullet can be substituted for a blender, food processor, knife, or anything that basically gets it all nice and fine without letting all the juices out) Blend until liquified. Add the lime juice, cilantro, salt and a splash of olive oil and blend some more. For extra spice, add the seeds from the jalapeño and/or some cayenne pepper.
3. Pour the delicious solution of blended goodness into the bowl with the tomatoes and mix with a spoon.
4. Serve and devour.
   

For roasted veggies:

First, place the tomatoes, garlic and jalapeño in a pan and drizzle with olive oil.
Next, put the pan under the broiler for 5-10 minutes (until browned).

If you live in a place where your lease allows you to have a charcoal or gas grill, I'd recommend using that instead of the broiler.

Back to Basics with Italian Nick

Courtesy of Italian Nick:

If I am going to participate in a Food Blog with mostly non-Italians I need to build a foundation. The attached are the ginzo equivalent to flash cards. Italian children are exposed to this training at very early period in the development cycle. I am passing this along to my new recipe buddies.

The next lesson will be how to pronounce Italian culinary terminology correctly.

Nick

[Click on images for enlarged view]

Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

The other day, the background on my laptop inspired me to bake some oatmeal cookies. What's good enough for a bunny is good enough for me.


I wanted flavorful cookies that would still be soft and chewy a few days later. And I didn't want anything with raisins because I'm not a big fan of raisins in my oatmeal cookies. I found this recipe and made a few minor tweaks based on what I had on hand at my apartment. The finished product was DELICIOUS and exactly what I was looking for.


Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS

2 sticks of butter (or margarine), softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium bowl, cream together butter (or margarine), white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and stir this into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover and store dough in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 2 cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut-sized balls and arrange them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool. Devour.

Yields about 2 dozen cookies.

Drunk on Hamburgers

I consider myself very lucky. I live within 6 miles of 2 (soon to be 3) filthy, delicious Five Guys locations. Nothing quite hits the spot like a big 'ol Five Guys burger and some cajun fries. Probably the only thing that would make it better is if they wrapped everything in bacon and had a puppy carry my greasy bag of food to me at my table. It would be like This is Why You're Fat meets Cute Overload...and it would be heavenly.

Matt and Danny and I introduced my mom to the gloriousness that is Five Guys this evening. She took one bite of her burger (smothered in delicious, delicious grilled onions and mushrooms) and exclaimed "OH MY GOD THIS IS SOOOO GOOD!" It was clearly a life changing moment for her, not unlike the birth of her first child. The only difference is her first born was not covered in grilled onions and mushrooms.

[See if you can spot the subtle difference between these two pictures]

Pasta with Ricotta, Zucchini and BACON!

I've been obsessing over the recipes on Sugarlaws since my sister introduced me to the blog last week. They all look so delicious and simple! A few nights ago, I tried my hand at making a Pasta with Zucchini and Ricotta recipe I found on the site. I made a few variations and this is what I came out with:

Pasta with Ricotta, Zucchini, and BACON

INGREDIENTS

1 box (1 lb) gemelli pasta, or similar
1 fresh zucchini, jullienned into 2″ slices
5 strips of bacon (turkey or regular), chopped
2 tbsp white wine
1 cup fresh ricotta
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon (or a couple dashes of dried tarragon)
Cooking spray
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Cook pasta according to the directions on the box. drain it and reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water for sauce. In a separate saucepan, cook the bacon in a little cooking spray. Add zucchini and saute until tender. Then add the ricotta, white wine and tarragon and heat through. Add enough pasta water to thin out the sauce, then add salt and pepper to taste, and toss with the pasta. Serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Welcome!

Welcome to The Recipe Box!

This is a forum for you to share your tastiest recipes...as well as all the yummy pictures! This could also be a good place to share pictures of foods you didn't make, as long as you can tell us where to get them.

Happy posting!