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By mlb, on April 30th, 2013%
This was a recent meal at our house and even though I accidentally made two “errors” with it, the meal was still delicious. So, I think we’ll call this one both forgiving and versatile.
Error number one was not realizing this recipe made two cake pans worth of polenta (not a big deal as the other polenta is safely in the freezer awaiting a dinner soon) and error number two was baking the polentas in the cake pans. Also not a big deal since, as far as I can tell, it worked out fine. Lessons learned: if you’re just trying to feed two, just make a half recipe of the below and for possibly crispier polenta, turn them out onto a baking sheet. But you know, no big deal.
That all said, the versatility comes in by really being able to top these pizzas with anything you might normally put on a pizza. Mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, lamb sausage, feta — it’s completely adjustable to the season and whatever you’re in the mood for eating!
 . . . → Read More: White Polenta with Sausage, Chard and Fresh Mozzarella
By mlb, on April 17th, 2013%
If you’ve ever made paneer, ricotta is a lot like that, except even easier as you don’t have to weight it down. It’s actually so easy that I don’t see how anyone could read through a recipe for it and continue to buy tubs of ricotta at the store. This is so much better! And, I know it’s not true ricotta (I think that’s made with just whey and not milk?) but this will do for any ricotta-like purpose that you want to use it for.
You can use lemon juice to make the curds, but I found that I really like to use white balsamic vinegar.
A portion of my homemade ricotta was mixed with lemon zest, garlic, fresh herbs and parmesan and stuffed into mushroom caps. Honestly, the ricotta, herbs, lemon zest and Parmesan was quite good just on its own. I mean, if you have mushrooms definitely give it a try as a stuffing, but otherwise, you know, use the ricotta-lemon-herbs mixture for crackers. Or just eat it with a spoon…that works too.
Also, you have a few more days to try to win some freekeh! Just leave . . . → Read More: Homemade Ricotta & Baked Mushrooms Stuffed with Ricotta (Funghi al forno ripieni di ricotta)
By mlb, on April 1st, 2013%
I am very enamored of the Kale and Onion hand pie at Lauretta Jean’s. I’m trying to limit myself to one every other week, because when the pastry is that good and flakey, you know there’s a lot of butter. But, I think I have found a way to have the flavors a bit more often — Kale, Feta and Onion Quiche. And the best part? The crust is still delicious but made from a mix of whole wheat and white flours, as well as olive oil.
I’m sure I’ll still be getting a hand pie every so often, but this is a fairly good substitute, flavor-wise. Kale plus onions are just really, really delicious. The custard uses a short cut trick from Bon Appétit magazine of eggs and low fat cottage cheese. It’s not a traditional custard, of course but since the star is really the kale, it works just great here.
The olive oil tart crust is from Chocolate & Zucchini and it’s one of my favorites. I want to try making a sweet version this summer for a fruit tart. I’m thinking just substituting the dried . . . → Read More: Kale, Feta and Onion Quiche (in an Olive Oil Crust)
By mlb, on March 13th, 2013%
As promised, here’s another St. Patrick’s Day recipe (although it’s about a day later than I was hoping to post it). Luckily, there’s still plenty of time to plan on making a risotto like this for Friday’s (or Saturday’s, Sunday’s) dinner. If you are really smart, you will get a little extra corned beef and make yourself a sandwich at a later date — I was not smart. Learn from my mistake.
This is the second time I’ve used cabbage in risotto and I think it works very well — especially if you let it get a little color before you start adding broth.
On the side, we had a large arugula salad and, although we didn’t have any, some crusty bread or even Irish Soda Bread would be great too. Erin Go Bragh.
Corned Beef and Cabbage Risotto
Serves 3-4
4 cups vegetable broth
2 . . . → Read More: Corned Beef and Cabbage Risotto for St. Patrick’s Day
By mlb, on March 8th, 2013%
I had every intention of skipping this week’s French Fridays with Dorie because I didn’t think I’d have enough time to make it. Then I checked the schedule and saw that it was Cheesy Crème Brûlée and well, I found myself heading right to the store to pick up supplies.
I love crème brûlée and I love cheese, so this was quite the alluring combination for me. But, because it is all cheesy and creamy, I did opt to only make about a third of the recipe. This was roughly one egg yolk, 3/4 cup half and half (which I subbed for the whole milk and cream to make it a bit easier) and about 1.7 oz of cheese (a mix of Parmesan and cheddar). I used a very short, wide crème brûlée dish and it ended up being the perfect size to share.
Other changes I made: I added about 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard to the custard and for the topping cheese, I mixed in a little smoked paprika and more freshly ground black pepper.
I had some troubles getting mine to set at such a low oven temperature (mostly due to . . . → Read More: FFwD: Cheesy Crème Brûlée
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