My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
We had a frost warning last night so we were out covering peppers and tomatoes, trying to eke out a couple more weeks of homegrown tomatoes, peppers, and cukes. We didn’t cover the Swiss chard, onions, basil, tomatillos or zucchini and all are just fine. …
Looking for an easy, delicious lamb shoulder chop marinade recipe? If you don’t believe me, be sure to read the comments. This is one of my favorite ways to make lamb and I’m sorry, but here’s the only photo I captured from this dinner: This is …
I love King Arthur’s Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour, so that’s the type of flour I use for this recipe.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs and then add the sugar, canola oil, shredded zucchini, and vanilla. Mix well.
Then add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix very well.
If you’re adding the walnuts, stir them in and mix well again.
Let the batter rest while you preheat your oven to 325. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans well. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.
Place in prepared loaf pans and bake for approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes.
After removing from oven, let loafs cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Using a butter knife or spatula, run it along the sides of the pan, between the bread and the pan, to loosen the bread. Carefully tilt the pan on its side and then upside down, wriggling it a bit with your hand to gently loosen it and remove the bread. Let loaf cool.
I admit that I make this a morning project when the weather starts to cool. I generally make 2-3 batches of these. One is for us, one is for my parents and the rest goes into our freezer. I’ll make at least one more round of these – probably 6 or so – in the coming weeks.
There is nothing like a slice of warm zucchini bread to make my morning complete.
This recipe is from my mom and, though I’ve tweaked it a bit throughout the years, it’s always turned out fabulous. Sometimes it takes 5 more minutes or so in the oven but the flavor is always rich and satisfying. I hope you like it!
Here’s the latest shot of our ghost chili plant, aka Bhut Jolokia: I swear this is the slowest growing pepper in all of mankind but it’s getting there. It’s just really starting to get loaded up with peppers and we’re into September. Waiting is not …
If you grow green beans, you know how quickly they can overwhelm you with their bounty. Here’s one of my go-to, easy ways to serve them. Did I mention this is really, really easy? Sesame Green Bean Salad Recipe Take a couple of cups of …
I’m dying to try my hand at using it in homemade ravioli, but I haven’t yet. It’s great with sliced fresh tomatoes from you garden though, and I love it just schmeared on a slice of toasted French or Italian bread. Add some diced roasted tomatoes and a couple of slivers of fresh basil and you’ll fall in love. It’s also a great crostini appetizer schmeared on toasted baguette slices, with a spread of homemade pesto put on first. Of course, it’s also great in homemade lasagna or any type of stuffed pasta you’re craving.
I think people are impressed by this recipe because, like me, it’s not something you really think about making yourself. But the results are DIVINE. Seriously delicious. It’s so much creamier and flavorful than store-bought ricotta and I think once you try it, you’ll be hooked too.
I think the only thing you’ll need for this that you may not already have is cheesecloth. If you don’t have it and don’t know where to find it, it’s usually with the kitchen utensils at the grocery store or department store.
First, get your cheese strainer ready to go. You’ll need:
Here are the ingredients:
Depending on how I’m going to use it will depend on the amount of lemon juice. 4 tablespoons add more of a definite lemon flavor, whereas 3 just acts as more of a fresh acidity. In this batch, I used 4 tablespoons.
Juice your lemons so the juice is ready to use when you need it. I used about 2 lemons for the 4 tablespoons I wanted, but of course, this will depend on the lemon.
Add the milk, cream and salt to a large pan. Bring to a slow boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching the milk and cream. This step takes about 20 minutes or so for me, as I’d rather err on the safe side and not have the heat too hot.
When it’s reached a slow boil, reduce to a simmer and add the fresh lemon juice. With a large spoon, stir to incorporate the lemon juice into the dairy mixture.
After 2-3 minutes or so, it should look like this:
I don’t like to stir mine too much, as I like mine with larger, softer curds. If you want smaller, tighter curds, then stir more often while it’s cooking.
After your 2-3 minutes is up, gently and carefully pour into your prepared strainer:
Wait 60 seconds and, over a sink, carefully drain off the liquid that’s accumulated in the bottom bowl then place back under the colander. Refrigerate for one hour, letting the rest of the liquid drain off the cheese.
This is a little bowl of nirvana right here:
A couple of notes from making this a lot:
Don’t be discouraged if it takes longer than 2-3 minutes for your cheese to form curds. It’s going to depend on the temperature of the dairy mixture and how much lemon juice you add. I’ve also used half lemon juice and half white vinegar for this, due to being low on lemons, and it worked great. Either way, it’s the acidity that’s making your dairy curdle. Sometimes, it takes longer than others.
Also, don’t expect the entire batch to curdle – there’s going to be some liquid left over – probably more than you expected – which is why you strain it.
Last but not least – I’ve used organic milk for this and non-organic and it’s worked great no matter which one I use. I have not, however, tried it with skim or low-fat milk so if you have, I’d love to hear your results.
If you love ricotta cheese, I hope you’ll try this! It really is a simple process that’s totally worth the end result. Enjoy!
Pesto is pretty versatile – I serve it over hot pasta or make a cold pasta salad with it, I spread it on toasted baguette slices for an easy appetizer, I brush a bit of it on chicken before roasting…the possibilities seem endless. Pesto is …