WHEY (mozzarella then biscuits)

I made mozzarella cheese at home with a friend.  There is no photographic evidence.  I don't think it's worth the time or the bother and I'm a massive "there's nothing that takes too much time" foodie! I will try it again but truly can't see the draw.  I'm much more excited about making my homemade clotted cream tomorrow (post to follow)


The mozzarella was fine.  The ricotta we made with the remaining whey was better.  I'm making stuffed shells with it tonight for dinner.  There was as much ricotta (1/2 lb) from the leftovers as there was fresh mozzarella.   We boiled the whey and strained...added salt and bingo, ricotta!  It's delicious.


I think, once you factor in the time, the money for the milk and the chemicals, it's cheaper (sad to say) to buy fresh at the local Italian market.  Unfortunately, there is no local Italian market for me but still, I can't see making it much. 


THAT being said.  I ended up with 2 1/2 gallons of whey AFTER the mozzarella and the ricotta.  It's pale yellow and tastes like the memory of having a glass of milk.  I'm not a fan.  I did some research and some people use it as a cream rinse or shampoo.  Um, no thanks. 


More research revealed people use it to make bread (perk!) or biscuits (perk!)  Hello Sunday morning, let's have a go at whey biscuits. 


Insert my standard biscuit recipe here: 


2 cups a/p
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 Tablespoon sugar
Toss around then add: 
1 stick margarine (seriously, margarine)
Toss around with your fingers then add:
almost 1 cup milk... or in THIS CASE... WHEY! 


Toss with a fork to make a light, cohesive mass.  Tip out onto lightly floured board, pat it into a 1 1/2 inch thick round. and cut into 9 biscuits. 


I put them on a lightly greased comal and baked at 425 until they were done, 22 minutes I think. 


When they came out, brush quickly with a little butter (since there's none in the biscuit).  Split and eat. 


I put butter and honey on mine, I have a great line to local honey.  Connor is a purist and eats as many as he can with butter.  Husband ate one and said it was good!  *HIGH praise indeedy!


These are, without any doubt at all, the lightest biscuits I've ever made.  No stodgy bit in the middle.  I'll put these up against any old lady in town.  I know those are fighting words in grandmother biscuit land but seriously, if you can get your hands on whey, use it...  it's amazing! 


Right out of the oven... then a quick top buttering.  Can't you just dive in??
 

They just pull apart, these are crazy light!!  Flavorful as well, not quite buttermilk sour but much nicer than with regular milk

Butter and a drizzle of local honey...  oh and a little more honey!!
 

I'm going to continue to look for uses for this whey... I was going to toss it but for the biscuits alone it's worth making the cheese again!!!  

/Tracy


P.S.   *insert bad jokes here*


They're "whey" too good not to make again
"Whey" to go!
No "WHEY" you're making them with whey!
...
etc.


my family thinks they're hillarious  hahahaha

Rice Pilaf

Ok, so this may not be true rice pilaf but it's close and it's the way *I* do it.  You can add whatever you want to this base "recipe".  Fruit, nuts, herbs, vegetables, whatever.  Here's the quick and easy: 


1/2 onion, chopped small
2 Tablespoons butter
salt, pepper, thyme leaves
1 1/2 cup basmati rice (or other long grain white rice)
2 1/4 cup water or broth. 


In a medium saucepan with a lid, melt the butter over medium high heat.
Saute the onion until it's slightly golden around the edges.  Just a few minutes.  
Add the salt and pepper and thyme and whatever other herbs you like.  
Shush it around for a moment. 
Add the rice
Toss the rice around in the butter and herbs for a minute or so, you'll notice a slight change in the rice color and it'll start to look slightly toasted on the edges. 
  

Add the water or stock and bring to a hearty boil.  Put a lid on the pot, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and set your timer for 16 minutes.  

  

When your timer goes off, fluff it with a fork and pull it off heat.  
Put a tea towel on saucepan and the lid on top.  This lets the rice steam for a moment and the towel absorbs any extra liquid that evaporates to the lid.  Crazy, huh?  It really works to separate the grains!!  I seriously have the best rice ever... 

  

After about 5-10 minutes, fluff it again and serve it up.  

  


This is easy and tasty for a busy weeknight, add a store bought roasted chicken or any meat you have and bingo, dinner! 


I'm serving it tonight under roasted chicken thighs with some broccoli. 


Go make rice!



/enjoy

Lemon curd (and mini tart shells)

I used to have a ton of recipes for lemon curd.  Double boilers and fretting about over cooking or separating.  Those days are long long gone.

Enter my easiest most delicious lemon curd ever.  Don't blink, this is the easiest lemon curd you will ever, ever, make.

When it's chilled, fill tart shells, put it in crepes, cakes, on toast!  Spread it on crumpets, scones or biscuits.  Use it anywhere you'd use jam or jelly.  Leave it covered in the fridge and eat it with your finger.

In a medium saucepan, combine:

1 egg plus 2 whites.  (I break 3 eggs into the pan and carefully remove 2 yolks but do it however you get there!)
3/4 + 2 teaspoons cup sugar (yes, I'm this persnickety)
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
2/3 cup lemon juice (I cheat and use half fresh and half jarred!)
1 Tablespoon butter
pinch of salt

Whisk it together and fret that it looks broken and curdled.  I'll wait. When you're over how horrifying it looks, smile and let's continue :)

Ok, now put it on medium low heat and stand at the stove with it and whisk it slowly and gently and constantly.  Do not answer the door, the phone (unless you're going to stand there) or do anything else except watch the curdled mess turn slowly into a pale beautiful thick curd.  It takes about 6 minutes.  Don't let it boil, obviously, you'll have a disgusting mess.  If you think it's getting too hot, slide it off heat for a moment, keep whisking then slide it back onto the heat. I dare you to tell me you don't have 6 spare minutes to make the best lemon curd, E.V.E.R.

Cook it until it's thick and beautiful and the consistency of thick moisturizer!  It should leave a line on the back of a wooden spoon.  I use the "can I see the whisk marks on the bottom of the pan" test, that's when I take it off heat.

Strain the mixture into a beautiful glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap, right down on the surface of the curd or a yukky skin will form and you'll lose some of it, we cannot have THAT!

Push it to the back of the counter for a while then put it in the fridge to chill and thicken and set up.

I wasn't going to share my recipe but guilt got the better of me.

 The next day...enjoy!!

I'll post play by play pictures but for the moment... here:



I made mini tart shells (recipe follows) and when they were cooled added a mini spoonful of the curd and a teaspoon of unsweetened whipped cream.

Best treat ever!

MINI TART SHELL RECIPE

3 ounces of softened cream cheese (there's hash marks on the cream cheese :))
1/2 cup room temperature butter

Combine with a fork until smooth and cohesive.

ADD 1 cup all purpose flour and a pinch of salt.

Mix gently until a dough forms, shove it in the fridge for about 10 mins.

Divide into 24 balls and press into mini tart shell tin. Fork the bottoms to reduce puffing.

Bake 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.  Remove from pan immediately and put on rack to cool.

When cool, fill with ANYTHING!

/enjoy...

Banana muffins, mini muffins

Ok, there are a million recipes for banana bread and banana muffins online.  I'm going to pull some culinary rank here and say I seriously think I have one of the best, lightest versions out here.  I love banana bread and muffins but find them too dense sometimes.  I have remedied that problem and you're going to be delighted with the outcome.  There are a couple of little technique tricks here.  I'm not usually a big fan of the chefy technique requirement but a few little things and you will absolutely love the light, airy texture of these little nuggets of flavor.  Oh and because they are so small you can pop them completely guilt free!


Tracy's Killer Banana Mini's


1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs (I use extra large until my chickens start producing!!)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 very ripe bananas
1 1/4 cup a/p flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Line 24 mini muffin tin with papers.  In a stand mixer blend the softened butter and sugar, beat like crazy until it's VERY light and VERY fluffy, the trick to this whole thing is volume.


Add the eggs, one at a time and continue to beat like crazy, we want volume and pale fluffiness here.  Add the vanilla and bananas. Beat like crazy.
        



Add the dry ingredients all at once and fold/stir gentle the mixture with a spatula just until it comes together.


IF you are adding a handful of chocolate chips or nuts or dried fruit or whatever other addins you like, do it with the dry ingredients.

  


Scoop into paper lined mini tins and bake 17 minutes at 350.  Until they are done.  A toothpick comes out clean and they bounce back when touched lightly in the middle.  (*I get 32 mini's from this recipe so you can make the 24 then make 6 regular sized or do a second pan of minis.)
      


A little look inside, melty chocolate, mini banana bits and light texture.  



These muffins come together in a snap, go make some, you'll love them. 


/Tracy

Cake Mix Peanut Butter Cookies

A hankering is a dangerous thing, here.

I sat in my living room last night convinced that who ever was in charge of cake in this house had failed miserably. 

I got up this morning and realized that as much as I wanted some cake, I wanted cookies.  I wanted cookies N.O.W.  

I went through my mental cookie inventory and it all seemed too much work.  Seriously, there's a crisis happening when you want cookies but can't muster the strength, vision or bother to actually stand up to make them.  I was having one of those moments.

I searched through my cupboard for inspiration and came across a cake mix I'd bought for a dump cake.  Maybe I'd make a cake from a mix.  To be honest, I don't remember the last time I made a cake from a box and wondered if I'd even LIKE the flavor.  I think I've spoiled myself the way I spoiled Connor's tastebuds.  In any event, I had a bit of an epiphany...cake mix is what? It's just a box full of, wait for it...flour, sugar, baking powder, salt ... hmmmmm, in a box...  BINGO! 

Here's what happened at my house this morning: 

In a mixer, combine;

1 cup peanut butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 Tablespoons water

healthy teaspoon of Vanilla

Beat it

Add 1 boxed yellow cake mix. (I just dumped it in and mixed for a minute or so on medium)

Mix it till it looks like cookie dough.  Scoop into little balls and place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.
  

I used a small ice cream scoop to make round balls then some I pushed a spoon into with some raspberry jam, some I flattened with the peanut butter cookie criss cross, some I left as balls, some I added chocolate chips to after they baked, some I rolled chocolate chips into the ball and then just flattened slightly.  It made about 48 cookies.

Oh yes, this is a keeper idea!

     

Go make some, and eat them.

/enjoy!

Meat Pie in Jars

For this recipe you will need:

Cooked pie filling of your choice.  Enough for 1 large pie.  Sweet or savory, it's unimportant.
1 double crust pie recipe, or prepared pie crust, your choice.
12 mini mason jars, straight sides matter.

I line up my jars.  I heat up, then drain, whatever filling I'm using and lay it on a sheet pan to cool down.  I leave the gravy in a bowl  to add some to the pie and some to use later.  I find it easier to scoop filling with a little scoop, I'm bad at equal distribution, this method works for me :)

This is my own pastry but sometimes I buy, if the premade stuff is on sale, I'm in!  My mother would be horrified, she's the pastry queen but what she doesn't see...  :)

Roll out the pastry, cut 2 circles per jar (1 for the bottom and 1 for the top).  I cut strips with a pizza wheel and press them into the jars around the sides.

Fill to most of the way up, add a little extra gravy/sauce and top with the reserved circles.  A knife slit in the top stops any future explosions.  Pop the lids on, throw a letter on top so you know what they are and shove them in the freezer!  DONE!

                    

M is for meat :)  Off to the freezer with them.  When I am ready to bake, I'll preheat the oven to 375, pop as many jars on a tray as we need OPENED and bake them about 45 minutes.  Run a thin knife around the edge when they are baked and they'll pop out!  Eat hot or cold, with a meal or a salad, there's nothing better than opening your freezer and finding......

Fresh out of the oven,


Run a knife around the edge and they pop out very easily!
  

With mashed potatoes, green beans and some gravy...
 

mmmmm, pie.

/enjoy