Ricotta Cheese

The idea of making ricotta cheese seemed so far-fetched until I watched Rebecca on Working Class Foodies show me how. Observe.

Science Experiments. I'm a fan.

Required utensils, ingredients, and seasonings.
Not pictured: The nerd making the cheese.

Strainer was a little small

So I remedied that

Over high heat, bring your milk to a boil.
Continually stir to prevent the milk crusting on the bottom.  


Incidentally, watching a pot of water to boil is WAY better than watching & waiting for a pot of milk to boil. Do you know how long it takes milk to boil? I do.


It takes forever. Or at least it seems like it does.

It doesn't really. Just stir for 7-8min. over high heat & you'll get there.

Adding my lemon juice.
There's no point in using a stainless steel mini-pitcher for this task, so don't feel like you have to.

Cook for 2 minutes and watch the curds appear before your very own eyes.

Also, if you didn't know - when milk boils, it doesn't joke around. The stuff boils up and over and onto your stove in less than a minute. No need to be scared of this, since there's no use in crying over spilled milk (or boiled/spilled milk in this case) ... just be aware and try to regulate the heat as best you can.

I spilt

Stirring action



Curds & whey. So cool.

With hot pads, transfer your pot of curds & whey into the designated and prepped straining station.



r

Mine are a little worse for wear



Scrape out any little-bits left

Smoosh. Spoon. Whatever you do, get your mind outta the gutter and strain.

 

At this point, you're looking at one newborn, naked baby Ricotta Cheese. Courtesy of you. It's up to you to season this cheese & make it good. So season well. 

Not wanting to make a wrong move or potentially ruin the fresh batch of cheese, I seel my eyes shut & do like Rebecca did.

Pinch of salt. And some grinding of pepper.

Zested lemon skin.

Addition of Parm.

Done son.

Let's make some homemade cheese ravioli, shall we? Ohhh. Let us do. Please.


1/4c Ricotta Cheese
2Tbl Grated Mozzarella
1 Egg, separated (or if you're familiar w/Tom Haverford lingo, one Pre-bird or Future Bird)
24 Wonton Wrappers
Dash or Two of Ground Nutmeg

Great Gratings

 

Save the clear stuff

 

Mixi Mixi





Dampen the edges w/the reserved egg white. With your finga.

Make like a triangle

Suffocate your filling

Seal so that no air can come in or out.

At this point, you've arrived @ a fork in the road. You can either fry. Or boil.

To boil:

Per Rebecca's instructions, I boil my Ravi Reevees in the reserved whey. I WOULD feed the whey to my dog, but tragically, I don't have a pet to call my own (sad face).

The raviolis take not long at all to cook. Maybe two minutes. Once cooked, serving options are endless.

You could brown in butter w/sage & lemon.

Give it a swirl

Add some whey for sauciness

I couldn't decide which photo looked more appetizing.

So I added both. You can decide for yourself.

Or boil. Then straight to the plate.

Eat them neck-ked. (naked)

A spot of EVOO

Parm Alarm

Mater sauce (tomato sauce) is good too

To Fry:
*I wouldn't suggest frying these guys. They're not horrible, but the wonton wrapper makes the texture taste a little off. However, I'm not the boss of you. Fry if you wanna.

Heat some oil in a pan. Have a plate ready for the removal & draining of the fried food.



Weapon of choice



Give them a click

Gotta make sure they still work

By the time the 3rd is placed in the pan, the 1st is ready to flip

By the time the 3rd is flipped. The 1st is ready to be taken out.

Serve w/marinara

Or not.

Writer's Block

Well, it happened. I contracted a case of writer's block with my blog. It'd been creeping up on me over the past couple of weeks. Then, it finally took over. And I fell victim.

I had a week long hiatus from blogging due to fever, accompanied by snot infestation and violent hacking/coughing. Wasn't pretty. While I eventually overcame my sickness, writer's block was still lurking overhead... waiting to attack.

A few feeble attempts @ Salad Dressing blogs ensued. I mean really... salad dressings? Salad dressings. I'm bored already... much less getting hyped and excited about writing and snapping photos. Salad dressings technically have no cooking involved anyway. Weak.

I spent hours on end thinking of a topic to cover. Spices. Ridiculous recipes. Party foods. I'd write a draft. Leave, come back to it, look @ it with disappointment, and throw it out.

I went back to read my previous blog entries, hoping something would come to me that way. Somehow. As I read each one, confusion & self-doubt snuck in. (They're both creeps like that) What once was so easy & enjoyable to me, now seemed frustrating & forced.

I figured I would just do away with the personalized writing & blog a recipe straight up. I'd shift my focus to the cooking & leave out the theatrics. Gumbo is not an expertise of mine, but it was a recipe I had made time and time again that yielded satisfying results.

I took the pictures, I posted the recipe, I gave a few interesting facts. After a couple days & the passing of a weekend, my stats indicated I had only 11 page views. Eleven. Only 11.

Deflated, I slumped and moped away from the blog. I thought, "maybe I could post a status on my FaceBook." I'd tell the FB world I had writer's block. And to help. I worried, "What if no one suggests anything?"

Jim Carrey's voice heckled me. 

(Self doubt rearing its ugly head) I cringed.

I asked Jason for help. No help. I asked my Mom for help. No help. I asked God for help. He told me to quit praying about my food blog & things of the like.

So there it was. No help, a blank page, and poor ole Kelsey just wanting to blog again. Sad.

Not knowing what to do, I reverted back to my regular cooking/recipe searching ways. This included: Youtubing "Working Class Foodies" by Hungry Nation while listening to Jason cuss and get mad at his video games for "cheating." Cooking meatballs come Sunday. Making a batch of soup to last the week. Eating my breakfast burritos @ night, before bed. Laughing hysterically @ FoodNetworkHumor.com. Flipping through cookbooks, thinking I have too many cookbooks for my own good. Immediately correcting myself, knowing there's no such thing.

Still. There was something missing.

So yearning to meet my blogging desires, I ventured out a little bit from my
mundane cooking/recipe routine. It was on an unassuming day (like today) when I visited Bethenny.com & read Nick's blog.

Read it.
http://www.bethenny.com/2011/04/29/nicks-culinary-crawl-you-keeping-up-with-all-of-this/

At that moment, my little blogger's light-switch turned back on. I loved everything Nick had to say on the subject of whatever he was writing about. So specific, so elaborate, so familiar, so funny, so flattering, so humble, so so sooo sweet. Call me Nick. We can blog away into the sunset, seen to other's as the horizon, and do like food blog lover's do.

So, while I am, admittedly, at a loss for which/what recipe I'll choose to feature next. I'm not too much worried about it anymore. I'm blogging again! I'm back!

Kramer said it best.

  

  

Never gets old.

Gumbo

What is the difference between Gumbo & Jambalaya?

I googled the age old question. This is basically what I learned from the answers that popped up:

Gumbo: Soupy, generally includes seafood, uses a dark roux, must have okra, Gumbo file powder's presence is welcomed, served w/rice or french bread
Jambalaya: Doesn't use a roux, usually includes andouille sausage, okra is optional, Gumbo file powder's presence is unwelcomed, rice is included in the cooking of the stew

What is the difference between Etouffe & Shrimp Creole?
I had to investigate these similar recipes.

Etouffe: Uses a light roux, notoriously made with crawfish, commonly made with shrimp
Shrimp Creole: Younger cousin to etouffe, doesn't use a roux, tomatoes & Tabasco are always present

Whichever 4 of these you decide to call, cook, or claim your own pot of Creole to be, doesn't really matter to your tastebuds. They are all delicious.

Some take more patience than others to make. The required patience to make each one, there lays in the length of time needed to darken your roux. What is roux? Roux is a mixture of fat & flour used as a thickener.

This has always confused me when making gumbo. To me, the point of having a darkened roux in gumbo is more for its flavor & color rather than for its lended thickness. Whatever the reason, I let it slide & just do as I'm told.

Over Med-Low heat
Cook 3Tbl veg oil w/4Tbl all purpose flour
For 30-40min.

This would be a great time to open & sip on a beer.

Beer or no beer. Do not leave the roux's side. Once you turn your back on it, it will turn its back on you & burn. So stay near to stir. This is prime time to gather round and prep the rest of the ingredients.

Chop
2 Onions
2 Stalks of Celery
2 Fat Green Onions' white parts (or 4 skinny)
3 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 Green Bell Pepper

Spices
2 Dried Bay Leaves
1teas Dried Thyme
1/2teas Salt
1/2teas Onion Powder
1/2teas Garlic Powder
1/4teas White Pepper (or 1/4teas Cayenne)
1/4teas Black Pepper

Flavorings
3oz Tomato Paste
2teas Better than Beef Bouillon
1teas Better than Chicken Bouillon

Liquids
Reserved fish liquid from package
3c Water

Seafood
1 Can undrained Crab Meat
8oz cubed Cod (or other fish of your choosing)

Roux takes its sweet ass time to cook. You have to accept the fact that you are at its mercy.

after 5 min.

after 10 min.

after 15min.
This stage is known as the "Peanut Butter stage" because of its color.

I often get a little gun-shy with my roux having burned one before. I usually turn my heat back to low and  end up adding an extra 10 min. to my cooking time. Usually around my 20min. mark, I take courage, turn my heat back up to med-low & darken the roux like a big girl.

20 min. mark

40min. Old Roux
This is as far as I can take it

Summa My Ingreedys

Segregated Garlic

Add in your onion, celery, bell pepper, and green onions to the roux

Stir & Cover

Cook for 10min.

Uncover & add your garlic.
Stir & Cover
Cook for 5min.

Next, Add your bay leaves, thyme, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, and salt.

Stir through to combine
Cook for 2 min.
Then add the beef & chicken bouillon, water, & reserved liquid

This looks like diarrhea. But it's not. Trust.

Adding the reserved liquid is unnecessary.
Adding a bottle of clam juice is another way to be unnecessary.

Bring to a boil
Reduce heat to low
Cover & simmer for 10min.
Once cooked, add in your fish of choice, okra, and any other extras you deem necessary.

Don't forget to remove the wrapper!

Raise the heat
Cook for 5min.

DONE!

Serve with rice & beer.

Toppings: Green onion tops, Tabasco, squeeze of lemon, cayenne pepper, or Gumbo file.

Ranch Dressing

In a blender or food processor, blend or process the following ingredients:

1 1/2c Hellman's Mayo
2 Garlic Cloves
3 Green Onions (green & white parts)
Handful of Parsley (about a 1/4c chopped)
1teas White Vinegar
3/4teas Garlic Powder
3/4teas Salt
1/2teas Onion Powder
1/4teas Black Pepper

This recipe is always a bit taste & go, if you will. Sometimes I feel like it needs an extra clove of garlic or maybe a splash of buttermilk.

A Kelsey's Mom approach to Ranch Dressing is made with a Hidden Valley Ranch packet mixed with 16oz of yogurt. Served with sliced red bell peppers. Hers is better. I don't know why I like making my own.

One thing for sure though, is that all bottled ranch dressings out there can GET LOST!