Homemade Ricotta and a Birthday Dinner

Catherine came over for her birthday dinner on Friday night, and I decided to go with a late-summer-bounty theme. Here was our menu:

Crostini with Homemade Ricotta, Caramelized Onions, Basil Oil, and Sea Salt

Grilled Red, Yellow, and Orange Peppers with Grilled Tomatoes and Onions

Sweet Corn Pudding

Crash Hot Potatoes

Baltimore Crab Cakes with Basil Aioli

Summer Fruit Crostata with Vanilla Ice Cream

I was happy with everything, though the crostata cooked unevenly - burnt on the edges (I knocked them off) and a little underdone in the middle. I loved the combination of plums, peaches, and blueberries at their peak, though!

I've been wanting to try to make ricotta for a while, so I incorporated it into the appetizer. I put out a platter of toasted crostini (slice a very thin baguette into 1/2 inch rounds; bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes) and bowls of ricotta, basil oil (1/2 cup of oil; 1 cup of basil leaves, packed; and a pinch of salt whirred in a processor), caramelized onions, and sea salt. Guests could make whatever combination suited them.

Making ricotta was incredibly easy, and it tastes so much better than store-bought. It's creamy rather than gritty.

Homemade Ricotta

1/2 gallon whole milk

1 cup cream

1 t. salt

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cook milk, cream, and salt on medium low to just under a boil. Add lemon juice and turn heat to low. Stir mixture until curds form - about 2 minutes.

Pour ricotta into a pasta strainer lined with a clean cloth napkin or cheesecake. If you want to save the whey, put a bowl under the strainer. Drain the ricotta for a few minutes, then transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Pineapple Carrot Cupcakes

These are simple carrot cake cupcakes with pineapple and cream cheese frosting. They are topped with pineapple "flowers" - thin slices of fresh pineapple dried in the oven. It takes a while to dry the flowers, and they need to be sliced very thinly. But they look lovely, and the dried pineapple is delicious!

Pineapple Carrot Cupcakes

Pineapple Carrot Cake

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs, beaten lightly

1 1/2 c. self-rising flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

2 cups firmly packed grated carrot

3/4 cup drained crushed pineapple

Pineapple Flowers

2 T. sugar

2 T. water

12 wafer thin slices of fresh pineapple

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 T. butter, softened

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 t. finely grated lemon peel

3 c. powdered sugar

1. Make pineapple flowers. Heat water and sugar in a microwavable cup for 1 minute, until sugar dissolves. Brush syrup onto both sides of the pineapple.

Put a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet, and place pineapple slices in a single layer on the rack. Bake at 250 for two hours, flipping pineapple after one hour. If your slices are very thin, they will dry more quickly.

As soon as the edges are brown and they look like a flower, remove them from the drying rack. Carefully shape them into flowers and dry over an inverted egg carton.

2. Turn oven temperature to 350. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper baking cups.

3. Combine oil, eggs, flour, sugar, and cinnamon in medium bowl; stir until combined. Stir in carrot and pineapple.

4. Divide mixture among baking cups.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Turn out onto racks to cool.

5. Make lemon cream cheese frosting. Spread on top of cakes and decorate with pineapple flowers.

Salad with Fennel, Apple, Mandarin Oranges, and Pomegranate

This salad was a great counterpoint to the rich cassoulet. It's sweet and refreshing and would be an excellent choice for Thanksgiving or even Christmas. Pomegranates are out of season, so I substituted Craisins. They were good, but the juicy crunch of pomegranate seeds would be even better. You can use whatever kind of lettuce you like; I used a mix of Romaine and escarole. Just stay away from tender baby lettuces - you want the crunch of something heartier.

Salad with Fennel, Apple, Mandarin Orange, and Pomegranate

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 shallot, minced (can sub grated onion)
1/2 teaspoon (packed) grated lemon peel
1 large fresh fennel bulb, trimmed, halved, very thinly sliced
1 8-ounce Fuji apple, halved, cored, cut into matchstick-size strips

6 cups trimmed arugula, Romaine, or escarole leaves
2 mandarin oranges or tangerines, peeled, each cut crosswise into 3 slices
Pomegranate seeds

Whisk first 4 ingredients in small bowl. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Combine fennel and apple in medium bowl; mix in 3 tablespoons dressing.

Place arugula in large bowl. Add fennel-apple mixture. Toss, adding more dressing to taste. Divide salad among 6 plates. Garnish each with 1 mandarin orange slice and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Catherine's Birthday Dinner

It was Catherine's birthday tonight, and I decided to try something I've wanted to make for a while: cassoulet. I know that making French food for Catherine is a bit like taking coals to Newcastle, but I've never had cassoulet and wanted her opinion. I didn't make the traditional, three-day, pork rind-lamb bones-and goose fat version: this is yet another Pam Anderson simplified and slightly Americanized version. Cassoulet has many different versions, but it's basically a slow-cooked stew of meat and beans. Catherine liked the bread crumb topping, which is apparently not traditional.

Since cassoulet is so heavy, I started with crudites in vinaigrette and a blue cheese dip and finished with a bright green salad. I'll post those recipes, along with the carrot/pineapple cupcakes we served for dessert, in another post.

Note: Cassoulet is a great choice for a fall/winter buffet, especially one where guests aren't eating at table. Everything is bite-sized, so there's not need for a knife. It can be made a day or two ahead of time and finished before serving - in fact, the flavors will be better if they have time to meld.

Cassoulet (adapted from Pam Anderson)

3 pounds boneless lamb or pork shoulder roast, cut into 11/2-inch cubes (I used pork)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound mild Italian sausages
1 cup water for sausages
1/2 pound kielbasa, cut into 6 pieces
1 1/2 pounds boneless duck breast halves (I used three duck legs)
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup full-bodied dry red wine
reserved duck fat
2 large onions, cut into medium dice
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, minced (I used bacon)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
6 (16 ounce) cans white beans, drained
3 cups fresh bread crumbs (process sliced bread in a food processor or blender)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Place pork cubes in a bowl. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, turning to coat.

Place Italian sausages, 1 cup water, and remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large heavy roasting pan set over two burners. Cover with heavy-duty foil and turn heat to medium-high. Cook until sausages lose their raw color, about 5 minutes. Remove foil (reserve it) and continue to cook until water evaporates. Add smoked sausages and cook, turning frequently, until all sausages are browned, 5 to 8 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate. When cool enough to handle, cut Italian sausages into bite-size chunks. Halve smoked sausages lengthwise. Set aside.

Generously sprinkle duck breasts/legs with salt and pepper. Reduce heat under roasting pan and add duck breasts, skin side down. Cook until fat has rendered and skin is mahogany brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Turn duck breasts over and continue to cook until cooked through, about 5 minutes longer.
Remove duck from pan. Drain fat from pan and reserve. Slice each breast crosswise into 4 pieces. (I just shredded the meat.)

Return roasting pan to medium-high heat. Add pork cubes and cook, turning once, until a brown crust forms on two sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer lamb to a large ovenproof pot; set roasting pan aside. Add broth mixture and wine to lamb and cover with reserved foil, pressing down so that it almost touches meat, then sealing foil around top of pot, leaving a small opening for steam to escape. Bring to a simmer and simmer for a few minutes to burn off alcohol. Seal foil completely, then cover pot with lid. Bake, without checking pot, for 1 hour and 15 minutes; meat will be very tender.

Meanwhile, reheat roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add enough reserved duck fat or olive oil to pan to equal 2 tablespoons. Add onions and garlic and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add bacon and thyme and saute to blend flavors, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Add tomatoes and beans and simmer to blend flavors, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Transfer cooked lamb and broth to roasting pan. Add duck, sausages, and enough water to make a soupy, moist casserole. You can let the cassoulet mixture stand at room temperature for up to 2 hours.

An hour before serving, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring cassoulet to a simmer.

Mix bread crumbs, melted butter, and parsley and sprinkle over cassoulet. Bake until crumbs are golden and stew is bubbly, about 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, and serve.

Tapas

Tapas

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Chickpeas with Spinach

Fried Eggplant with Honey, Mint, and Sesame Seeds

Marinated Cheese (Romano marinated in olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, and red pepper)

Portobello Bruschetta with Rosemary Aioli

Garlic Shrimp (from Mark Bittman's The Best Recipe in the World)

Smoked Ribeye and Goat Cheese Empanadas

Spanish Hot Chocolate (also from Bittman's TBRitW)

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 If I had to choose a favorite, it would be the bruschetta - absolutely 5-star, restaurant quality. It has a lot of steps, but you can take some shortcuts, like using jarred roasted red peppers rather than roasting them yourself.

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I'm not posting the recipes here because the post would be enormous, but if you are reading this and plan to make any of the recipes, let me know and I'll give you my notes on the recipes.

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My first foray into Spanish cuisine was lots of fun - I'm thinking of hosting a tapas party or making tapas for the next gourmet club night.

The Gourmet Club Returns!

It was Catherine's birthday today, and we haven't had a Gourmet Club dinner in a long time - so it was the perfect time to make a full course meal from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. We had a wonderful night! I was impressed that the four children made it through six courses. Jack, our little gourmand, ate everything - he wants the leftovers in his lunch tomorrow.

Catherine is French, so she's grown up with the long, multicourse meals. I served small portions, so we didn't leave the table overfull.


I meant to take pictures of each course, but it didn't happen. Almost everything we had is on the platter above.

Course #1 - Appetizer - Tomato stuffed with shrimp. I made mayonnaise for the first time; it was very good but thinner than I expected. This looked impressive, and unfortunately, it's the only thing not pictured.

Course #2 - Pasta - Penne with bell peppers and Italian sausage. This was a huge hit! I think each child had three servings.

Course #3 - Entree - Veal Scallopine with asparagus and Fontina. This caused the only problem of the night - when I was making the pan sauce reduction, the smoke detector went off because I had the pan too hot. Other than a slightly hazy room, everything was fine.

Course #4 - Salad - Green beans with lemon and olive oil. Delicious! Catherine's daughter had seconds - of green beans. These were very simple to make and benefitted from being cooked in salty water.

Course #5 - Fruit - Black and White marinated grapes. I liked this refreshing segue. Black and green grapes have a glaze of fresh orange juice, sugar, and lemon zest.

Course #6 - Dessert - Fourteen Layer Cake. The cake is not from the Italian cookbook; supposedly it's a Southern cake, but I've lived in Georgia for eight years and nobody's ever made me one! The greatest revelation about this cake is that there is such a thing as chocolate cream cheese frosting. And a tesseract.

Fourteen layers! The recipe is here on Bakerella's website. I baked my layers for 15 minutes in the disposable pans with a cookie sheet underneath to conduct the heat. I loosened the layers with an off-set spatula and didn't use parchment. The cake takes a while to make because I can only fit two pans at a time in the oven, but the techniques are not difficult. I loved making it - it's so pretty!

Pacific Northwest Gourmet Club

I mentioned in an earlier dinner club post that the night I hosted had a Pacific Northwest theme. While that was several months ago now, I've been wanting to post the details and a recipe.

(I can't figure out how to get my picture horizontal; it is before I attach it!)

I was inspired by a book, Timberline Lodge Cookbook, given to me by my brother- and sister-in-law a few years ago. It's from a lodge on a slope of Mt. Hood, Oregon, and it looks lovely. The food in the cookbook favors seafood, vegetables, berries, herbs, and hazelnuts. Here is our menu.

Pre-dinner: Tillamook cheddar cheese and grapes. My friend Kaeley from college was from Oregon, and she always raved about Tillamook cheese.

Amuse bouche: Shrimp with a remoulade sauce. The remoulade is not very Northwestern, but I like it better than cocktail sauce. I served two shrimp hanging on a shot glass filled with sauce. It was really cute; the shrimp make a heart shape, so it would be nice for Valentine's day.

First Course: Creamy Gazpacho. Wow, was this good! I think it may have been the hit of the night. I was so happy to have leftovers. It's a great warm-weather cold soup. The olive oil and sour cream make it more decadent than typical gazpacho. I served it in glass bowls stored in the freezer. Recipe below.

Main Course: Poached salmon with hollandaise and raspberry sauce, hazelnut wild rice pilaf, and glazed carrots. The carrots were cut matchstick sized and tied with a green onion into little packages, which added to the cute factor as well.

Dessert: Hood River Pear and Hazelnut Tart. This dessert was truly labor intensive but delicious. The tart pastry was lined with chocolate ganache, then layered with an almond paste/butter/egg/sugar/toasted ground hazelnut mixture, topped with poached pear slices and sugar, and glazed with hot apricot preserves. I seemed to have too much filling for my tart pan, so it wasn't as pretty as the picture, but it tasted amazing anyway.

It was a fun night! I think the four children took out every toy in the house while we were eating.

Here is the recipe for the creamy gazpacho. I'm going to make it again this weekend. I'll try half the oil this time, but most of the ingredients are so low-calorie that the overall profile isn't bad.

Sauvie Island Creamy Gazpacho

Serves 8

1 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 green onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 bunch parsley or cilantro, chopped

1 T. honey

1 T. chopped fresh dill or 2 t. dried

4 cups tomato juice

1 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

juice of 2 lemons

1/2 cup olive oil

garnish with fresh chives

Combine all of the ingredients except the chives in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with chives. Serve very cold.

An Evening in Provence

My friend Catherine and I have a cooking/dining club that we started recently. The idea is that one month I will cook a meal from a specific region; the next month we'll go to a restaurant that is new to us; the following month she will cook; and then we'll go to another restaurant. In March, I made a meal from the Pacific Northwest that I will post about later. Last night Catherine, who is from Paris, created a wonderful Provençal menu that was absolutely delicious. She and her husband Brian made lovely menu cards with pictures from Provence and set the table with French linens and strewn fresh rosemary. I'll list the menu with my descriptions below. What a great night, and what wonderful food!

Amuses-Bouche & Entree
Clafoutis Provençal a luscious savory custard with goat cheese and chives
Tapendade sur Pain Grille finely diced kalamata olive spread with grilled bread and cucumbers

Cake Provençal baked in a loaf pan, the crumb was more like cake than bread, but savory with olives and ham

Plat Principal

Canard à l'Orange very flavorful roast duck served atop fresh linguine with a sauce made from orange curaçao-soaked raisins (flambéed), crème fraîche, and pan drippings
Ratatouille tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and smoky bacon

Dessert

Profiteroles pastry puffs with both vanilla and pistachio ice cream, topped with dark chocolate sauce

Everything was outstanding! I loved the tapenade on the cucumbers, and the clafoutis was light and tangy. We all sighed with delight at the first bite of Canard à l'Orange.  Catherine made sure we knew profiteroles are not truly a Provençal dessert, but we all agreed we would substitute authenticity for such a wonderful taste!