What to do with left over whey? Make Ricotta Cheese! 8'15

Home made ricotta on home made bread

 A by-product of any form of cheese-making is whey.  Whey is the liquid which is squeezed from the milk curd.   Health food stores sell  small quantities of whey for a small fortune, so we knew it must be good stuff.  But what should we do with the three quarts of whey we had left over from our mozzarella making adventure?  Back to the internet.  We found lots of suggestions, but these were the ones we liked the most:

• Make ricotta cheese 
• Substitute whey in any baking recipe that calls for water (or even milk)
•  Use whey to soak grains
•  Use whey to cook pastas, potatoes, oatmeal, or rice. 
•  Add whey to soups and stews. 
• Freeze it for later. 

The first and most obvious use was to make some ricotta cheese from our left over whey. And it’s so incredibly easy! all you do is heat the whey to 200 degrees; let it sit for several hours until the heated curd is cool enough to handle, then strain the curd through some very fine mesh.  (We used coffee filters.)

We must have done a very good job of pulling all the milk solids out of the whey during the mozzarella making process, because we only got about a half cup of cheese from the ricotta strain, and that looks and tastes more like a rich cream cheese.  Not bad for a first attempt at cheese making. For a more complete list of ideas for using whey see:  http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/06/16-ways-to-use-your-whey.html

What to do with left over whey? Make Bread! 8'15

After making the Ricotta cheese, we were down to 2 quarts of whey.   Looking at our list of ideas we decided it was time to try using whey  in  bread making. We substituted 1.12 cups of whey for the 1.5 cups of water called for in a loaf of Bob's Red Mill GF Multi Grain bread. (We also used some to steam into a quinoa side dish).

OMG ! Both the bread and the grain tasted so cheesey ( is that a real word?) and good. We are definitely going to use left over whey to cook all our grains from now on.

Homemade Mozzarella Cheese: 8 '15

Last week BJ  watched a TV segment of 'Diners, Drive-ins and Dives' about an Italian pizzeria which makes all of its mozzarella cheese from scratch daily.    Hmmm!  I've made buttermilk,   and yogurt from scratch, but  I didn't know mozzarella could be made so quickly.  That's something to investigate.   

A quick search of the internet revealed that it is no more difficult than any of the other cultured milk products I had made, but it does require rennet and citric acid, neither of which I had in the house, or nor could I buy  them locally.   Bruce ordered them online.They came in yesterday.   ( We now have enough rennet tablets to last us a lifetime. Fortunately they should keep well in their sealed foil pouches).. 

The next challenge was finding a source for raw or lightly pasteurized milk.  That is not as easy as one would think.   In today's germaphobic world, most major brands of milk are ultra-pasteurized ( even some that are not labeled as ultra pasteurized are).   We finally located one grocery store (Lowes) that carries milk from a local dairy that is not homogenized and is only lightly pasteurized.

So today we made some mozzarella cheese from scratch using a standard recipe from the rennet package.  It is not difficult, and only takes about two hours start to finish.  The only catch is that you have to repeatedly heat the milk curd to specific temperatures to draw out the whey. Get it too hot and you cook the curd and kill that batch of cheese. If it is not heated enough, the curd doesn't develop.  Since our ceramic top stove tends to overheat things, I was forced to stand with a thermometer in hand monitoring the pot for the whole two hours to make sure the curd stayed at just the right temperature.

Our reward was 14 oz of the freshest mozzarella cheese we have ever eaten.

Melon Sorbet 8 '15

We have two very large  ripe melons in the fridge which needed to be used before they spoil.  It's hotter than Hades outside, so anything cool sounds refreshing.  The cooler the better.  So sorbet it is.

I'm making a quart each of watermelon mint ginger, and honeydew basil ginger sorbet.

Here's the basic recipe with my notes on  possible enhancements:

Melon Sorbet YIELD 4 cups, or so

INGREDIENTS

YIELD 4 cups, or so

• 1cup sugar
• ¹⁄₂cup water
• ¹⁄₄cup lemon juice
• opt.1 once thinly sliced fresh  ginger root
• opt. several springs of flavorful sweet herbs like spearmint, or basil chopped finely
• opt. t tbsp orange, lemon or lime zest
• 3 cups  sweet ripe melon (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon)

DIRECTIONS

1.   Cook the sugar, water and lemon juice together, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved.   ( If using ginger cook with the slices in the sugar and water for ten minutes then remove the ginger. 

2.   Remove from heat and chill.

3.   Cut up the melon and remove all seeds.

4.   Puree in a blender or food processor.

5.   Stir into chilled syrup ( and chopped herbs or zest)

6. Chill all the ingredients in freezer until slushy.

7.   Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

8.   Pack into an airtight container and store in the freezer.

Wendy Klein's Pear Apple Chutney 8 '15

This years harvest of peaches pears and apples has been so abundant that the farmers and grocery stores are almost giving them away.   We've been taking advantage of the bounty by canning and freezing the fruits in as many forms of pie fillings and jams as out freezer and pantry will hold.    One of my personal favorite ways to preserve these fruits is a chutney recipes that came from my mother-in-law. 

Here is Wendy Klein's recipe for:

Pear Apple Chutney GF INGREDIENTS
·         2  Bartlett pears
.         2 Granny Smith apples ( you can substitute 2 peaches or  3 apricots for either fruit.)
·         1 cup golden raisins
·         1/2 cup rice vinegar (not seasoned)
·         1/4 cup sugar
·         1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger-root
·         1 teaspoon mustard seeds
·         1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

PREPARATION

Halve and core pears and apples. Cut 2 pear halves and 2 apple halves into 1/4-inch-thick slices and chop remaining pears and apples.

In a saucepan combine sliced and chopped pears and apples with remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer, stirring gently. Simmer chutney, covered, stirring occasionally, until fruit is just tender, 10 to 15 minutes, and cool. 

Chutney may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Serve chutney chilled or at room temperature.

Fried Green Tomatoes 8 '15

Before we moved to the South, I thought  "Fried Green Tomatoes" was only the title of a movie.  Since living in South Carolina, it has become my favorite summer appetizer when we go out to eat, and a quick and easy side dish to prepare at home. Here's our recipe:

Ingredients:

1 or more green tomatoes  ( I serve 1/2 tomato per person)
Peanut oil*
1 egg 
Corn starch 
Corn meal
salt and pepper

The tomatoes you use for making this dish should be large, very firm, and  totally green.  In the South,  green tomatoes start showing up in our produce sections in early summer and continue to be on the shelves for as long as the tomato vines are still bearing fruit.  I don't remember every seeing any green tomatoes on the shelves in the  West, but you could probably get some by visiting a farmers market, or by talking to your produce manager, or your nearest tomato growing neighbor. I use 1/2  large tomato per person for an appetizer. Feel free to use more, just increase the ingredients accordingly. 

Directions

• Heat enough peanut oil in a small frying pan or deep fryer  to cover 1/4 inch slices of  tomatoes with oil (the tomatoes can be cooked in batches). Keep oil at 360 to 375 degrees to avoid burning.
• Beat the egg until blended evenly in a small open bowl
• Spread out the corn flour evenly across a flat plate then season the corn flour with salt and pepper
• Spread out the corn meal evenly across a second flat plate.

• Cut the tomato into 1/4 inch round slices

• Dip each slice in the seasoned  corn starch flour on both sides,

• then dip the slice in the egg, then in the corn meal.

•  Carefully drop  each slice in the deep fry oil until it is lightly browned on both sides. 

• Remove from the hot oil, and drain on a towel lined plate. 

• Serve Hot!  Bon Appetit!

*Note: I use peanut oil because it doesn't burn as easily as other oils, and does not have a greasy after taste.  Feel free to use bacon grease if you prefer, just be careful to keep the temperature low enough that your food doesn't burn.

Pickled Green Tomatoes: 8 '15

Every time we eat fried green tomatoes, Bruce starts reminiscing about the delights of the  Kosher Pickled Green Tomatoes he had as a child.   According to BJ, this  delicacy was available in every Jewish deli in the north east,  and many small markets carried Klausen's version of bottled Kosher green tomato pickles.   I have checked the grocery shelves and delis all over South Carolina and beyond.  I can assure you, there is not one pickled green tomatoes to be found in the Southeastern US. As far as I can tell, Klausen no longer makes that product line.   Then one day it dawned on me; "It's  only a pickle, for crying out loud. How hard can it be to make?".   I pulled a copy cat recipe for a Klausen Kosher Pickles and adapted it for green tomatoes.  So here is my version of a:

Kosher pickled green tomatoes recipe:

Yield. 1 quart jar
Preparation time. 90 minutes, aging time 1-2 weeks.

Ingredients
1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 pound firm green tomatoes (about 5 plum tomatoes) or pickling cucumbers
(about 4)
1/2 serrano chile, stem removed (optional)
6 medium garlic cloves, peeled and sliced in half
4 tablespoons dill seeds
1/2 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

Directions:

1) Make sure you have a really clean bottle and lid. The lids must have good

rubber seals. The best thing to do is buy canning jars and lids from Ball.
They are in a lot of hardware and grocery stores. Sterilize them by
submerging them in a boiling water bath.

2) Add the garlic, dill seeds, and peppercorns to the jar.

3) Thoroughly wash the tomatoes and slice them in halves or quarters. Cut
out all bad spots and the stem ends. Cram them in the jar leaving about 1/2"
to 3/4" of space at the top.

3) Make the brine by combining the vinegar, water, and salt in a
non-reactive sauce pan or pot. Bring to a boil, and stir until all the salt
is dissolved.

4) Pour the hot brine over the tomatoes to within 1/4" of the top. Wipe the
jar top, put the lids on and tighten. Age for at least 2 days in the
refrigerator.

Bruce Wins with Brown Butter Lobster

That's it!  I am officially relinquishing my chef's hat to Bruce and letting him do all of our  meal planning and  cooking.

It was soooooo good

When he said he wanted to prepare dinner, I wasn't expecting  and gastronomic delight.   He made us a delicious brown-butter-lobster-with bacon,-crispy-kale-and-fontina-pasta. Boy was I ever impressed.  All this is for a Monday evening after work meal.  Can you imagine what he might come up with for a weekend date night?

For those of you who would like the recipe, go to:

http://keeprecipes.com/recipe/howtocook/brown-butter-lobster-bacon-crispy-kale-and-fontina-pasta

Charleston Series on Exhibition 8 '15

Charleston Series

Got my new Charleston Series hung in the SAG gallery today. I am pleased with how it looks.

Charleston Series Complete 8 '15

"The Good Life" 10 "w' x 8 "h pastel

I've  finally finished all of the  paintings of Charleston's landmarks that I started working on at the end of May.  My goal when I began this project was to have eight paintings completed, framed and ready to exhibit by the middle of July.  

St. Phillips on Church Street 8"w x 10 h pastel

I had four of them completed before we went to our family reunion in Sedona,

Chalmers Charmers  10"w x 8"h pastel

and had plans to paint another four by the first week in July. 

The First Red Dot 8"w x 10"h pastel

 Add another week in for getting them named, framed, and all the paperwork ready for the gallery and I should have been right on schedule for delivery some fresh new artwork to the gallery right at the peak of the summer tourist season. 

Pineapple Fountain 10"w x 8"h pastel

 Well you know what they say about the best laid plans.    I hadn't thought about what a strong impact the trip to Sedona would have on me.   

The Museum on Meeting and Market

Not only was I terribly homesick for the West, I couldn't get the images of Sedona out of my head.

St Michael's on Broad Street 10"w x 8"h pastel

Five paintings of Sedona later, I've finally worked most of Sedona out of my system.  Bruce and I took a day trip to Charleston so I could refill my mind's eye with all of that city's unique charm.  It worked.

Midday in Philadelphia Alley 8"w x 10"h pastel

I was able to  complete the paintings had begun in June, and added four new ones to complete the set. Of course, I will be delivering them to the gallery  a month later than I planned., but the good news is that I have rediscovered how much fun it is to work in pastels.

Home-made GF Millet Flax Bread 8 '15

We love Sami's  GF bread, but it is only available at one small health food store in our area, and they are frequently sold out. I was thrilled when I found  a recipe on the internet for a GF  Millet-Flax  bread that could be made at home. Bruce got so excited about the possibility of being able to make a decent tasting GF sandwich bread ourselves that he rushed out to get some millet and flax flours so we could get started right away.. The the only problem was that no one sells those flours in our area. We could order them over the internet, but that would mean we had to wait for them to be shipped to us. We had raw flax seed at home, and we found whole millet seed at the local health food store, so we decided to try milling the seeds down to flour ourselves with our "Bullet Blender". It worked and a couple f hours later we were slicing our first loaf of made-from- scratch ( literally) GF Millet-flax bread..

With the exception of baking it on the GF setting of our bread machine ( instead of the oven) , we followed the recipe exactly. It came out perfect.. It is moist, light, flavorful, and smells and tastes just like our favorite store brought brand..

Thank you, AnneMarie! Your recipe made our day.

Anne Marie's recipe can be found at:

http://realfoodrealdeals.com/millet-flax-bread/

Best Ever GF Coconut Zucchini Bread 8 ' 15

It's that time of year when the grocery stores, roadside stands, farmers markets, and backyard gardens  are overrun with zucchini, and everyone is growing it is sharing their bounty with anyone who will take it off their hands. Everyone is eating zucchini muffins, zucchini casserole, sauteed zucchini this-and-that. If you've run out of ideas before you've run out of zucchini, don't resort to dropping a box on your neighbor's doorstep in the middle of the night; just add this GF zucchini coconut bread recipe to the list of what you can make when the green squash is plentiful.

Best Ever Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread (with Crumble Topping)

Topping Ingredients:
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped ( I didn’t have walnuts so I used  a mic of cashews, pecans and pistachios)
3 Tbsp. sifted coconut flour ( Got mine from the local health food store)
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon ( plus ½ tsp ground cloves plus ½ tsp ground cardamon)
1/8 tsp. salt

Bread Ingredients:
8 eggs ( My eggs were jumbo size so I used 7 eggs one of which was double yolked)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon ( plus 1 tsp ground cloves plus 1 tsp ground cardamon)

3/4 cup grated zucchini ( I used about 1 cup and did  not squeeze out the moisture.. next time I will)

1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix topping ingredients together in a bowl with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, applesauce , honey and vanilla with electric mixer (or whisk well)..
4. In a separate bowl, mix coconut flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices together.
5. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients and mix until there are no lumps.
6. Mix in zucchini and cranberries.
7. Pour into greased loaf pan and sprinkle crumble mixture evenly on top.( I used a glass loaf pan)
8. Bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

*Store in fridge.
*You can make this bread without the topping as well

Recipe adapted from one found on http://www.unrefinedkitchen.com/!