May 13, 2008

Round 2: Low-Carb Cottage Cheese Muffins with Cheddar & Scallions

9 Comments / Baking, Breakfast, Cheese, Eggs /

These are fun. Unlike any muffin I’ve ever tasted. Textured like a cross between a souffle and a quiche. Savory. Can be flavored in any way: with ham, bacon, herbs, peppers, spinach, whatever. A nice, portable breakfast especially for those who eat on the run. Recipe can be halved. Batter can be baked in ramekins. If using paper liners, be sure to coat with nonstick spray. Adapted from a low-carb muffin recipe posted on the blog Kalyn’s Kitchen via the blog 101 Cookbooks. So yummy!

Cottage Cheese Muffins with Scallions & Cheddar
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
Yield = 6 to 8

2/3 C. cottage cheese
¼ C. grated Parmigiano Reggiano
¼ C. whole wheat flour
2/3 C. almond flour
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. kosher salt
4 eggs, beaten
3 T. water
½ C. sharp cheddar
2 T. sliced scallions
Other ideas: diced ham or bacon; sun-dried tomatoes; herbs: basil, tarragon, chives, thyme, parsley

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cheeses, flours, baking powder, salt, eggs, and water. Mix until well combined, then fold in the cheddar and scallions.

3. Line a muffin pan with six to eight liners*. Coat lightly with cooking spray. Divide batter between the muffin cups. Bake muffins 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned on top and set. *Alternatively, line ramekins with muffin cups, place on a sheet pan and bake.

Mar 10, 2008

My Cheese Book Arrived, And I Made Cheese!

2 Comments / Cheese, Uncategorized /

I can hardly contain my excitement about my new book. Soon after it arrived on Friday, I drove to Henry’s Market in Laguna Niguel to buy a gallon of raw milk (Aunt Vicki, don’t be mad … and don’t tell Jerry) and some other basic supplies: cheesecloth, a colander and a thermometer. I returned home and set to work. Within two and a half hours, I had made a small batch of lemon cheese. It was amazing!

I’m referring to the process, that is. The cheese, taste- and texture-wise, needed serious doctoring — salt and herbs, as recommended in the book, and also a few tablespoons of milk (a spontaneous decision) to help bind it together. The addition of milk gave the cheese a creamier texture, sort of like goat cheese but without the chalkiness and that distinct goat-milk flavor. I’m not sure it was the right move, however. My dad said the cheese tasted “milky,” and then devoted his attention to the wedge of gouda we had picked up earlier in the day at the Del Mar farmers’ market. View all the photos from my experiment here.

While my first cheesemaking attempt may have flopped, I’m still determined to try several other recipes in this book. And I’m going to try them despite having lost all hope that cheesemaking, as the title promises, can be made easy. Let me explain. The authors, Ricki and Robert Carroll, begin by wondering why “the art of breadmaking fled the factories and resettled in our homes so far ahead of the art of cheesemaking.” Then, they list all the tools the home cook needs to make cheese including a dairy thermometer, a curd knife, cheesecloth, butter muslin, molds, and a cheese press. A cheese press! (Pictured at the right is a Wheeler press, an English model. These can cost between $200 and $300. They don’t look like they fit easily into cupboads either). Then, the Carrolls describe the preparation process — sterilizing equipment, pasteurizing milk (they recommend not using raw milk) and making starter cultures. All of this before the cheesemaking process even begins!

I’m totally game to do all this, and I’m sure the process becomes easier/faster after several attempts, but I’m still unsure as to why the Carrolls don’t understand why home cooks picked up breadmaking before cheesemaking. Breadmaking requires yeast, flour and water only. No special equipment; no sterilization; no pasteurization. Alas, maybe one day I’ll understand.

As I mentioned Friday, I’m slowly figuring out my employment situation. I’m now writing a weekly column for The Bulletin, the newspaper I worked for this past year in Philadelphia. It’s about life in the military, or I guess I should say, it’s about life for a couple new to the military. (In other words, it’s about Ben and me.) I’ll post a link each Friday to the article. Here is the first in the series: Focus Points.

Also, as the link I posted on Friday for the rapini article failed to produce the recipe, it can be found here: Rapini To Relish.

Sep 16, 2007

Green Tea Madeleines & Birchrun Hills Farm Blue

1 Comment / Baking, Breakfast, Cheese, Cookies, Desserts /

I realized I forgot to report a few other details from my little gathering last weekend. On Sunday morning, my friends and I slowly recovered from the late-night festivities with the help of coffee for some, tea for others, and green tea madeleines for all. I had some leftover batter for these delicate treats from a batch I had made a few days ago, and baked them off while the coffee brewed — they take only ten minutes in the oven. The recipe had been adapted from a recipe I cut out of this past April’s Bon Appetit for madeleines from New York’s renown Payard Patisserie & Bistro. The recipe is excellent — very lemony — and a couple of teaspoons of matcha (green tea powder) add a nice, but very subtle touch. Truthfully, the green tea flavor is hardly detectable, so double the amount of matcha for a more pronounced flavor.

And while I mentioned that we stopped by the Birchrun Hills Farm stand at the Sunday Headhouse Farmers’ Market, I forgot to mention that we all enjoyed a wedge of Birchrun Blue with our hors d’ouevres the previous evening. Sue Miller makes this creamy blue cheese from raw milk drawn from the cows on her dairy farm in Chester Springs. I recently visited her beautiful farm, met many of her precious cows and learned about the intensive cheese-making process. I also learned that a snack Sue makes — melted Birchrun Blue over a toasted baguette drizzled with honey — has been named “Sweet Sue” by one of her neighbors.

Matcha Madeleines
Yield = 30

1¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons matcha (green tea powder)*
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter
2½ teaspoons honey
4 large eggs
¾ cup sugar
2½ tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
Special equipment: madeleine pans (3-inch-long molds)

Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and matcha in a bowl. Place butter and honey in a microwave-proof dish and microwave for one minute. Stir, and microwave 30 seconds longer or until butter has melted.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk eggs, sugars and lemon peel until combined. On low speed, add half of the hot butter mixture and mix until blended. Add half of the flour mixture and mix again until blended. Repeat with remaining butter and flour mixture being careful to mix the batter just until the flour is incorporated. Let batter chill for one to three hours.

Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Butter and flour madeleine pan or pans. (Note: If you only have one pan, it is important to let each batch of madeleines cool completely in the pan. The pan should be washed, re-buttered and re-floured as well before using on a second and third batch.) Place heaping spoonfuls of the batter into the molds. Don’t worry about spreading the batter — it fills the molds and rises in the oven.

Bake five minutes. Reduce heat to 400ºF and bake five more minutes. Check madeleines: If they are golden brown around the edges and puffed in the center, remove from the oven. If necessary, continue baking. (They may take an additional five minutes.) Remove pan from the oven, and let madeleines cool completely in their molds before removing. Serve at room temperature with tea.

*Available at Asian markets. Also, the green tea taste of these madeleines is very subtle. For a stronger flavor, add an additional 1 to 2 teaspoons of matcha.

Sep 4, 2007

Peaches with Ricotta and Honey

0 Comment / Appetizers, Cheese, Hors d'oeuvres, Vegetarian /

See, I lied. I thought I had finished posting about peaches this season, but it seems I’ve found one more way to savor this delectable fruit.

This dish couldn’t be simpler to prepare: Slice a peach, top it with a few spoonfuls of fresh ricotta cheese and drizzle the whole mixture with honey to taste. This combination makes a nice dessert, but can be enjoyed really at any time of day: breakfast, lunch, a hearty snack?

This tasty treat is particularly delicious when prepared with juicy white peaches, sweet lavender honey and Claudio’s fresh ricotta.

Jun 28, 2007

Tinto-Style Cheese Plate

0 Comment / Cheese, Eating Locally /

A month ago, my friend and I enjoyed a delectable cheese plate at Tinto, Jose Garces’ Basque region tapas restaurant. Drizzled with Acacia honey and sprinkled with bee pollen and espelette, a wedge of Petit Basque paired with a sliver of quince membrillo began the evening most memorably. Tinto offers a variety of Basque region cheeses, each served with these same four accoutrements.

Last week, to celebrate two friends’ recent move to the East Coast from San Diego, I picked up a selection of Spanish and French cheeses, mostly from the Basque Country, as well as a jar of Acacia honey and a small canister of espelette from Di Bruno Bros. While membrillo can be made at home, most specialty shops carry it, and bee pollen can be found at health food stores such as Essene or Whole Foods Market. With a light salad, a fresh baguette and a few slices of prosciutto, these cheeses made a perfect dinner.

A selection of Spanish and French cheeses, from left to right:

Blue de Basque: A sheep’s milk blue cheese made in the French Basque region. Milder and less salty than other blue cheeses, this cheese is semi-firm and slightly crumbly.

Monte Enebro: Pasteurized goat’s milk produced in Avila, west of Madrid. Semi-soft, and chalky-white, this cheese tastes tangy, with a distinct goat flavors.

Garrotxa: A pasteurized goat’s milk cheese indigenous to Catalonia, but produced throughout northeastern Spain. With a firm but moist and smooth paste, Garrotxa tastes herby, tangy and nutty.

Petit Basque: A raw sheep’s milk cheese with a creamy body and nutty taste, made in the French Pyrenees.

La Serena: A raw sheep’s milk cheese produced in Western Spain, in the community of La Serena and surrounding areas. Touted “one of the world’s greatest soft sheep’s milk cheeses,” by Max McCalman, author of The Cheese Plate (Random House, 2002). La Serena, at its peak, it is soft and spreadable, tasting rich, buttery and creamy. If purchased as a whole cylinder, the top can be cut off and the inside enjoyed by scooping out the pungent and grassy-tasting paste.

Idiazabal: A raw sheep’s milk cheese produced in the Spanish Basque Country. Usually smoked, Idiazabal has a hard, orange-brown exterior color, with a buttery and nutty flavor. Similar to Roncal, Manchego & Zamorano, this cheese pairs particularly well with quince paste.

Pictured below: The bar at Tinto