Mangia! Mangia! Homemade Fresh Ricotta!

Dear Reader,

I've mentioned in past stories of dinner parties where I tried my hand at making homemade Ricotta. If you haven't tried making cheese at home, please do! And then tell me all about it because Ricotta is the only one I've made so far. I've heard that Mozzarella is also fairly easy to make, but the added ingredient of rennet always deters me (gotta find it, then go get it, you know, first world problems). One day I'll make Mozzarella, and lay freshly grown tomatoes and basil leaves on it from my organic garden, the garden that I hope will one day exist in my reality instead of just in my food fantasies. In the meantime, Ricotta will do because it's very very simple to make and is sure to wow any dinner party. I use the Ina Garten recipe, which only requires 4 simple ingredients. You can dress up the cheese however you like - my favorite is to use fresh herbs like dill, chives or even rosemary.

For my last dinner party I made this cheese plain and turned it into a delicious bruschetta with heirloom cherry tomatoes and reduced balsamic vinaigrette on top of a crusty baguette buttered to the nines. Simple, affordable, and made with a lot of love.

Homemade Ricotta - adapted from Ina Garten

Curds and Whey

Makes about 2 cups

Ingredients
4 cups of whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar (white vinegar is fine)


Pour the milk and cream into a pot, preferably stainless steel or enameled and add the salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat (so as not to burn the liquid) and stir occasionally. Once the liquids have come to a boil, add the vinegar and stir. Leave the liquid to stand for about 1-2 minutes. You will start to see the liquid curdle, eventually separating into two parts, the curds and the whey (yellowish liquid). During this time, take out a cheese cloth and put it over a sieve or a tall bowl to allow the water to drip down. Pour the liquid into the bowl and let it drain for about 30 minutes. The longer you allow it to drain, the thicker the cheese will be. Make sure the liquid does not touch the cheese cloth. Once you are done, transfer the ricotta into a bowl and discard everything else (unless you want to keep the whey - that's for another recipe). You can serve the cheese immediately or you can cover and refrigerate for up to 5 days.

Mcgyver'd Cheese Drainer

I didn't have a cheese cloth and used a nut milk bag instead, it worked fine. And since I didn't have a sieve big enough I Macgyver'd my way into hanging my nut milk bag onto a wooden ladle, which then hung over a stock pot. I also ended up draining my cheese for about 2 hours which made for extra thick ricotta. Very yummy.

A (Pork) Shoulder to Lean On

Dear Reader,

This past week and half has sped by so quickly. The holiday season is now over and I feel as if I never really got in the spirit, and now, it's too late. Our Christmas tree has been taken down, ornaments put away, and all of the holiday festivities are over. I always get a little blue from January - April, since these are the hibernating months in NYC. When winter really sets in and snow storms pass through overnight. When it's so cold that going out for a quick walk is just out of the question. The good news is that these are the perfect months for hearty stews and meats, roasted vegetables and even more dinner parties since going from house to house sounds so much nicer than going from venue to venue in the bitter cold.

Braised Pork Shoulder Goodness

Today, E and I decided to have a lazy day (these come all too often) and stay in instead of running much needed errands. We put on two pots of coffee, watched Sons of Anarchy and snuggled. Since we were staying in all day I decided to braise some pork shoulder in the oven, as inspired by a friend of mine when we visited her house. I've been trying to think of more dishes that could be made in bulk and saved for lunches and leftovers and affordable protein is always a plus. Pork shoulder (also known as pork butt) is relatively cheap at about $1.50-$2.00 per pound. For a healthier option, you can purchase pork shoulder raised without antibiotics for about $4.00-$4.99 per pound and still make a large amount without breaking the bank.

Braised pork shoulder is great because the actual prep time is very minimal, it's cheap, it can last for a long time, it's versatile and it's very difficult to mess up. I researched a few recipes and ended up making my own, but really, almost anything goes. This recipe is meant to be a guide, feel free to substitute with whatever you think will work. The Kitchn has a great post on the different ways to cook and use pork shoulder.

What's for Dinner Tonight?

Dear Reader,

There are some days spent in Brooklyn where everything seems to just make sense. Work. All is well. Like putting that last piece of a puzzle together and looking with sudden clarity at the “big picture” – ohhh, so that’s what I spent hours upon hours sifting through cardboard cutouts for! All the good and bad had and to be had makes sense on this very day. 

I’m so very thankful for such days because it’s when I feel most grateful for my life and I certainly do count my blessings. This week, E and I went for a long walk through our neighborhood, hobbling through cobblestone streets and maneuvering through tourists admiring the NYC skyline (a picture never does it justice, does it?) and our conversations tend to always center around the same vibe. We are so blessed. Even when facing the worst of circumstances, I am so thankful to E for keeping my mind in a high spirited place filled with gratitude instead of resentment or disturbances of my peace. It’s in these moments where we are often overwhelmed with joy and with a real need to celebrate life.

And I have a tendency of celebrating such said life by throwing dinner parties.

Weekend Happennings

appy Easter! Although we had a very grey and rainy Saturday in New York, the city was filled with warm weather and plenty of sunshine on Easter. Thank goodness because we were due for a nice day and some promise of spring! On Saturday, I woke up bright and early, after having worked until 3 a.m., to hit the wedding shops, determined to find a dress. This whole dress shopping thing is supposed to be the most fun part of wedding planning, but for me, it's been just a pain. I really don't enjoy sorting through hundreds of dresses and trying things on one after the other...everything starts looking the same. I didn't have an "ideal" dress in mind, but had some sense of the shape and style. Too bad there are thousands upon thousands of dresses with the same style, yet almost nothing that was exactly right. Until....I found the one. I didn't know it was the one until a few minutes after trying it on, then leaving the store, then coming back to try it on one last time. But my sister just fell in love with it and so did I. I can't give much detail about the dress (the Fiance reads this!) but I found it at a little french boutique in the East Village, Atelier Merciel. The designer owns the shop and will be doing the fittings, etc., and the seamstress used to do Vera's dresses so I know I'm in good hands. The bonus is that the fabric is all imported from Paris and the francophile in me was totally suckered into that notion. It's overbudget, but it's beautiful. And the best part? My mom will be picking up the tab on this one and she didn't really give me a budget (although, I obviously couldn't go crazy, nor would I) but that totally made me think....I'm going to get the dress I love. I was debating between this one and a $350 preowned David's Bridal dress, which is also gorgeous but I hadn't seen it in person. All in all, I'm very happy and things worked out. A group of passerbys saw me in the dress and started cheering and applauding, giving their approval of the dress...and I was sold. It was a moment.

In other news, today we had an easy day...went to Easter service in the morning, then grocery shopping for Easter dinner. Dinner involved a LOT of red wine. We used almost 2 bottles just for cooking. My sister made a "drunken" risotto and I made Boeuf en Croute -- beef tenderloin coated in sauteed shallots, garlic and mushrooms, wrapped in puff pastry. Very easy, very yummy, and very elegant. Click here for the recipe. Mine was a bit odd shaped since the pastry puff was not cooperating with me. But you can get it to look like a nice loaf or pie shaped. Highly recommended for a dinner where you want to impress while doing minimum amount of work. Warning, the prep time is a bit long (around 1.5 hours) because the recipe requires you to refrigerate the beef and sautee. I chilled them for about half the required time, and it was fine.