Monday, June 9, 2014
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Rerun Series: Mozzarella
Sundays are for reposts this blogging month, especially since some are so old, they deserve to be rerun, and also because some of you are new here, you need to make these things! Now!
I linked to this post when I was talking about homemade pizza. This is how to make mozzarella at home. It is so easy--20 minutes give you what you crave. I know some people don't have access to good, non-ultra pasteurized milk, so I've also tested the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company's dried milk method: and it really really works. You mix up a gallon of milk from dry milk powder. Pour off (and save to consume!!) two cups of that and ADD 2 cups of heavy cream. Then make the cheese just like you do in the method below. Click here to get the full instructions for mozzarella from dried milk.
So in the past year, I've decided to take up cheesemaking...you know. In my spare time. I taught a class just the other night and planned on posting fotos and blogging about the class--two people had cameras.
Two cameras had dead batteries.
And since I was teaching, I couldn't exactly run down to apartment and grab MY camera. And besides: I was teaching! Can't shoot fotos of my own self teaching.
All that aside, it was a great class (but, oh, btw, Walgreens? Your Pet milk was the BEST inexpensive brand. I am not so in love with the new brand.), everyone went home with nearly a pound of their own fresh mozzarella and, I hope, plans to make more. And, hopefully word of me teaching cooking classes will spread and spread. We are already talking pasta making, pizza making, bread making and so much more!!
Here's a post I wrote a few months (August, 2010) back about my obsession (and click on the cheese making party in Italy link. I could watch it over and over...):
I--perhaps we all do this--I go through bouts of obsession. I've been obsessed with scuba diving. Learning a language. Reading every last book an author has written (Rumer Godden. Still working on that). Knitting. Watercolors.
Obsessions can be lovely things (um, when not destructive, let me clarify). Obsessions consume you so you drink up and drink in everything you can about your new love. Revelations come to you--once I realized every single pattern in knitting was simply a variation of knit or purl, I knitted some incredibly complex things for a beginner--because I was no longer intimidated.
This month's current obsession has been fresh homemade mozzarella. I was late to the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle party. That's the book by Barbara Kingsolver, the one where she and her family "retire" (in quotes--retire to work incredibly hard) to a farm in southwest Virginia. For one year, the family decides to eat entirely local and forgo anything not local (I think everyone got to pick a luxury item--coffee, for example). In the course of the year, they learn to make mozzarella--and it sounds incredibly simple.
So since I obsess about things, especially about the food I read about in books, I decided I need to make mozzarella. And in the course of that decision? I also committed to TEACH a class about mozzarella making.
How hard can it be, right? (And that? That's my life's mantra.) The only ingredients are whole milk, citric acid, rennet and salt. That's IT.
Well. Batch #1. Nice, but solid--too much like string cheese texture (firmer than fresh; too dry). Batch #2. Although the bottle was marked NOT ultra-pasteurized, the milk just curdled. Some reading says even those milks are occasionally over heated and could have been too much like ultra pasteurized. I actually went right out that evening and bought yet another gallon (for Batch #3) of a different brand. I was gentler. I kneaded. I drained the whey (the liquid left over when the cheese curdles. I have seen a lot of curds and whey this week.), I kneaded again...it stretched some and still? Still too hard and dry (not hard--cheese for sure, but not that soft, lovely cheese that is fresh mozz.)...Yesterday I made another batch (Batch #4), still with the inexpensive, store brand not ultra-pasteurized. I went upstairs into the lovely kitchen we have (where I'll be making the mozz in two weeks time)...STILL not what I would be proud of--yes, still cheese, still tasty but NOT RIGHT.
In the meantime I found a video of Paula Harris, the Cheese Maven, on the website at New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. I watched it once. I watched it twice. She uses gloves. (What, was I too proud to wear gloves? Did I think that real cheesemakers don't use gloves? If I did think that then I was wrong, but maybe I was trying to be this guy at a cheesemaking party in Italy. I so wish I had been invited to that party...that water looks intensely hot and that cheese looks incredibly tender and delicious...those guys are appreciating their food. I love Italians...But I digress.)
Yesterday I went to Earth Fare. I bought a gallon of milk in glass jars from Virginia and another gallon of milk from a farm just south of here in South Carolina.
I could hardly wait to try it. It was perfection. The curds came together and stretched just the way they were supposed to. I used the gloves and quickly folded and kneaded, distributing the heat through the cheese. It turned glossy. It stayed soft. I tasted it and quickly ran it down to the office here in the building so everyone could taste warm mozzarella cheese.
Obsession? Conquered. Now to do it over and over and over again. Maybe my next career will be cheesemaker and cheesemonger. Cool.
Now I think I need a big burger. I haven't eaten meat since I started my mozzarella batches.
The Mozzarella Obsession
1.5 tsp. citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water (most bottled waters: Poland Springs works) (have ready)
1 gallon whole milk, NOT ultra pasteurized and coming from as close to home as possible (I am completely convinced that this will give you the best, non-string-cheese-like results)
1/4 rennet tablet dissolved in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water (have ready)
1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt (not iodized)
Equipment: large stainless steel stockpot, slotted spoon, thermometer (get one that reads as low as 80 to 100 degrees F), colander, bowl (microwave safe), gloves (You can find everything at NE Cheese Supply Co.--well, maybe not the gloves, but I haven't checked...def. the citric acid, the rennet, a thermometer....)
1. Stir dissolved citric acid into milk in stock pot. Place over medium heat, stir to distribute citric acid and clip thermometer to side of pot. (No clip? Just keep testing milk as it heats. Don't walk away!) Stir gently now and then or simply jiggle the pot (learned that from Paula Harris video).
2.When milk reaches 88 to 90 degrees F, add dissolved rennet and stir thoroughly, but gently and only for several seconds. Reduce heat to low. Now DON'T TOUCH THE POT. Set timer for 5 minutes. When you check the milk after 5 minutes, it should have come together in a smooth mass, looking very much like yogurt.Turn heat off.
3. Use long knife and cut the solidified milk into cubes. Place colander over a bowl and place bowl right next to stockpot. Use slotted spoon to get all the curds into the strainer. Gently tilt strainer, letting whey run off as much as possible. Dump whey back into stockpot and gently turn curds into bowl.
4. Start folding curds over on themselves (do this in the bowl--it keeps the mess down)--you are encouraging them to form one piece, although curds will still escape. Fold over a few times. Drain whey again. Place bowl in micowave for 1 minute (on high). Put your gloves on and (with cheese curds still in the bowl) fold curds over again and again, working quickly to distribute heat evenly through cheese. It should be coming together even more. Drain as needed.
5. Place bowl back in microwave and heat on high for 30 seconds. With your gloves still on, fold cheese over and over again, draining several times. Pat cheese ball a bit flat and sprinkle with salt. Fold over on itself several times again.
6. Place bowl back in microwave for another 30 seconds on high. With gloves STILL on, fold over and over on itself again--at this point the cheese should no longer look "curdy" but should look smooth. It will be stretchy, too--fold over and over on itself (in or out of bowl at this point--there's no more whey coming out of the ball now) until the mozzarella cheese is smooth and shiny. Shape into ball, place on plate. Slice and eat warm RIGHT AWAY or wrap it tightly in plastic and chill.
Practice makes perfect. Batch #6 Chez Babette will be tomorrow. No, I am NOT tired of mozzarella yet.
DEFINITELY check the Paula Harris video out...seeing is believing.
I linked to this post when I was talking about homemade pizza. This is how to make mozzarella at home. It is so easy--20 minutes give you what you crave. I know some people don't have access to good, non-ultra pasteurized milk, so I've also tested the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company's dried milk method: and it really really works. You mix up a gallon of milk from dry milk powder. Pour off (and save to consume!!) two cups of that and ADD 2 cups of heavy cream. Then make the cheese just like you do in the method below. Click here to get the full instructions for mozzarella from dried milk.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Make Mine Mozz...
So in the past year, I've decided to take up cheesemaking...you know. In my spare time. I taught a class just the other night and planned on posting fotos and blogging about the class--two people had cameras.
Two cameras had dead batteries.
And since I was teaching, I couldn't exactly run down to apartment and grab MY camera. And besides: I was teaching! Can't shoot fotos of my own self teaching.
All that aside, it was a great class (but, oh, btw, Walgreens? Your Pet milk was the BEST inexpensive brand. I am not so in love with the new brand.), everyone went home with nearly a pound of their own fresh mozzarella and, I hope, plans to make more. And, hopefully word of me teaching cooking classes will spread and spread. We are already talking pasta making, pizza making, bread making and so much more!!
Here's a post I wrote a few months (August, 2010) back about my obsession (and click on the cheese making party in Italy link. I could watch it over and over...):
Obsession and Batch #5
 |
| Batch #5 |
I--perhaps we all do this--I go through bouts of obsession. I've been obsessed with scuba diving. Learning a language. Reading every last book an author has written (Rumer Godden. Still working on that). Knitting. Watercolors.
Obsessions can be lovely things (um, when not destructive, let me clarify). Obsessions consume you so you drink up and drink in everything you can about your new love. Revelations come to you--once I realized every single pattern in knitting was simply a variation of knit or purl, I knitted some incredibly complex things for a beginner--because I was no longer intimidated.
This month's current obsession has been fresh homemade mozzarella. I was late to the Animal, Vegetable, Miracle party. That's the book by Barbara Kingsolver, the one where she and her family "retire" (in quotes--retire to work incredibly hard) to a farm in southwest Virginia. For one year, the family decides to eat entirely local and forgo anything not local (I think everyone got to pick a luxury item--coffee, for example). In the course of the year, they learn to make mozzarella--and it sounds incredibly simple.
So since I obsess about things, especially about the food I read about in books, I decided I need to make mozzarella. And in the course of that decision? I also committed to TEACH a class about mozzarella making.
How hard can it be, right? (And that? That's my life's mantra.) The only ingredients are whole milk, citric acid, rennet and salt. That's IT.
Well. Batch #1. Nice, but solid--too much like string cheese texture (firmer than fresh; too dry). Batch #2. Although the bottle was marked NOT ultra-pasteurized, the milk just curdled. Some reading says even those milks are occasionally over heated and could have been too much like ultra pasteurized. I actually went right out that evening and bought yet another gallon (for Batch #3) of a different brand. I was gentler. I kneaded. I drained the whey (the liquid left over when the cheese curdles. I have seen a lot of curds and whey this week.), I kneaded again...it stretched some and still? Still too hard and dry (not hard--cheese for sure, but not that soft, lovely cheese that is fresh mozz.)...Yesterday I made another batch (Batch #4), still with the inexpensive, store brand not ultra-pasteurized. I went upstairs into the lovely kitchen we have (where I'll be making the mozz in two weeks time)...STILL not what I would be proud of--yes, still cheese, still tasty but NOT RIGHT.
In the meantime I found a video of Paula Harris, the Cheese Maven, on the website at New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. I watched it once. I watched it twice. She uses gloves. (What, was I too proud to wear gloves? Did I think that real cheesemakers don't use gloves? If I did think that then I was wrong, but maybe I was trying to be this guy at a cheesemaking party in Italy. I so wish I had been invited to that party...that water looks intensely hot and that cheese looks incredibly tender and delicious...those guys are appreciating their food. I love Italians...But I digress.)
Yesterday I went to Earth Fare. I bought a gallon of milk in glass jars from Virginia and another gallon of milk from a farm just south of here in South Carolina.
I could hardly wait to try it. It was perfection. The curds came together and stretched just the way they were supposed to. I used the gloves and quickly folded and kneaded, distributing the heat through the cheese. It turned glossy. It stayed soft. I tasted it and quickly ran it down to the office here in the building so everyone could taste warm mozzarella cheese.
Obsession? Conquered. Now to do it over and over and over again. Maybe my next career will be cheesemaker and cheesemonger. Cool.
The Mozzarella Obsession
1.5 tsp. citric acid dissolved in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water (most bottled waters: Poland Springs works) (have ready)
1 gallon whole milk, NOT ultra pasteurized and coming from as close to home as possible (I am completely convinced that this will give you the best, non-string-cheese-like results)
1/4 rennet tablet dissolved in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated water (have ready)
1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt (not iodized)
Equipment: large stainless steel stockpot, slotted spoon, thermometer (get one that reads as low as 80 to 100 degrees F), colander, bowl (microwave safe), gloves (You can find everything at NE Cheese Supply Co.--well, maybe not the gloves, but I haven't checked...def. the citric acid, the rennet, a thermometer....)
1. Stir dissolved citric acid into milk in stock pot. Place over medium heat, stir to distribute citric acid and clip thermometer to side of pot. (No clip? Just keep testing milk as it heats. Don't walk away!) Stir gently now and then or simply jiggle the pot (learned that from Paula Harris video).
2.When milk reaches 88 to 90 degrees F, add dissolved rennet and stir thoroughly, but gently and only for several seconds. Reduce heat to low. Now DON'T TOUCH THE POT. Set timer for 5 minutes. When you check the milk after 5 minutes, it should have come together in a smooth mass, looking very much like yogurt.Turn heat off.
3. Use long knife and cut the solidified milk into cubes. Place colander over a bowl and place bowl right next to stockpot. Use slotted spoon to get all the curds into the strainer. Gently tilt strainer, letting whey run off as much as possible. Dump whey back into stockpot and gently turn curds into bowl.
4. Start folding curds over on themselves (do this in the bowl--it keeps the mess down)--you are encouraging them to form one piece, although curds will still escape. Fold over a few times. Drain whey again. Place bowl in micowave for 1 minute (on high). Put your gloves on and (with cheese curds still in the bowl) fold curds over again and again, working quickly to distribute heat evenly through cheese. It should be coming together even more. Drain as needed.
5. Place bowl back in microwave and heat on high for 30 seconds. With your gloves still on, fold cheese over and over again, draining several times. Pat cheese ball a bit flat and sprinkle with salt. Fold over on itself several times again.
6. Place bowl back in microwave for another 30 seconds on high. With gloves STILL on, fold over and over on itself again--at this point the cheese should no longer look "curdy" but should look smooth. It will be stretchy, too--fold over and over on itself (in or out of bowl at this point--there's no more whey coming out of the ball now) until the mozzarella cheese is smooth and shiny. Shape into ball, place on plate. Slice and eat warm RIGHT AWAY or wrap it tightly in plastic and chill.
Practice makes perfect. Batch #6 Chez Babette will be tomorrow. No, I am NOT tired of mozzarella yet.
DEFINITELY check the Paula Harris video out...seeing is believing.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
List It: A Few of My Favorite Things
Here are five things I cannot live without in the kitchen:
1. Cast iron skillet. Absolute go-to. I try hard not to use water on it EVER (sometimes I have to: gasp)--but here's the best way to clean it. Place dirty skillet over high heat. Add a thin layer of vegetable oil. Let it heat until the food (the "dirty" part) starts to cook--you will see it kind of sizzling. Add a couple of tablespoons of salt--the food will practically stick to the salt like...as if the salt were a magnet...I have a well-used wooden paddle/spatula "thingee" that I use to scrape the salt around in the skillet, working off any residue. I let the whole mess cool, then I scrape the salt/oil into the trash. If needed, I add another layer of oil to protect the skills. Now it is ready to go for the next time..I promise you if you do this all the time, your cast-iron skillet will be nearly non-stick. I have recommend Lodge for the cast-iron purchase. Beyond compare... Accept no substitutes!
2. Knife Magnet for storing knives..(let's say it's a given that good knives are part of my must have!). I got so tired of giving up drawer space for my knives. A magnet strip mounts to the wall and keeps knives safe, dry, easily accessible and keeps them from dulling so quickly.
3. Lemons. Lemon peel, lemon juice, real lemonade, best chicken by Marcella Hazan (my adaptation since MY FAMILY WON'T EAT CHICKEN ON THE BONE (wimps)), easy chicken with rosemary, garlic, lemon and olive oil... Never be without lemons.
4. Good olive oil. It stays on the counter, always at the ready. I don't use veg oil very often--just about everything gets sautéed in olive oil. EVOO, as Rachael would say.
5. Wine. Um. Does this need explaining? Cook with it, drink it. Never be without it. It's GOOD for you.
 |
| Baking an onion "tart" in my cast-iron skillet |
1. Cast iron skillet. Absolute go-to. I try hard not to use water on it EVER (sometimes I have to: gasp)--but here's the best way to clean it. Place dirty skillet over high heat. Add a thin layer of vegetable oil. Let it heat until the food (the "dirty" part) starts to cook--you will see it kind of sizzling. Add a couple of tablespoons of salt--the food will practically stick to the salt like...as if the salt were a magnet...I have a well-used wooden paddle/spatula "thingee" that I use to scrape the salt around in the skillet, working off any residue. I let the whole mess cool, then I scrape the salt/oil into the trash. If needed, I add another layer of oil to protect the skills. Now it is ready to go for the next time..I promise you if you do this all the time, your cast-iron skillet will be nearly non-stick. I have recommend Lodge for the cast-iron purchase. Beyond compare... Accept no substitutes!
2. Knife Magnet for storing knives..(let's say it's a given that good knives are part of my must have!). I got so tired of giving up drawer space for my knives. A magnet strip mounts to the wall and keeps knives safe, dry, easily accessible and keeps them from dulling so quickly.
3. Lemons. Lemon peel, lemon juice, real lemonade, best chicken by Marcella Hazan (my adaptation since MY FAMILY WON'T EAT CHICKEN ON THE BONE (wimps)), easy chicken with rosemary, garlic, lemon and olive oil... Never be without lemons.
4. Good olive oil. It stays on the counter, always at the ready. I don't use veg oil very often--just about everything gets sautéed in olive oil. EVOO, as Rachael would say.
5. Wine. Um. Does this need explaining? Cook with it, drink it. Never be without it. It's GOOD for you.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Fun Food Things I Read About this Week
1. Saveur's Annual Blog Awards. Should I aim to be there next year? Better get cracking, better get cooking.
2. The above list is long. Let me save you some time. Discover Pen and Palate. Where they draw their food! Why didn't I think of that!?
3. My friend Pat Blumer likes to talk about food (among other things) on her blog, "I Really Should Be In Church Right Now." Yesterday she blogged about in-season peaches, and now I am CRAVING peaches...
What food blogs are your faves these days? Share!!
2. The above list is long. Let me save you some time. Discover Pen and Palate. Where they draw their food! Why didn't I think of that!?
3. My friend Pat Blumer likes to talk about food (among other things) on her blog, "I Really Should Be In Church Right Now." Yesterday she blogged about in-season peaches, and now I am CRAVING peaches...
What food blogs are your faves these days? Share!!
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Pizza For Breakfast
 |
| Breakfast is Served |
I am a creature of habit, a tendency that shows most strongly in the morning. I wake up without an alarm, pretty early most of the time. I get up, warm up some milk, make a cappuccino using the machine I've had for a couple of decades, at least (well done, Krups: the most basic model years ago, it still makes some of the best espresso I know). While that is brewing, I unload the dishwasher (this is how I know the job I despise only really takes three minutes of my life--I need to stop the whining), and get started on either the egg I eat (scrambled lightly, still soft) or the current fave, plain Greek yogurt with a tablespoon full of my homemade Granola Gold, a touch of honey and a heap of frozen blueberries (Frozen berries? they never go moldy on me, thank-you-very-much). Then I steam the milk, pour the espresso, grab my breakfast and, if the weather is nice enough, head outside for my breakfast, some quiet time and maybe some catching up on email.
Ah, but today I broke from routine. Because last night I made pizza. The dough is from Carole Field's The Italian Baker, the same recipe I've used for years (I can say it by heart: 1 package yeast, 1.5 cups plus 1 T warm water, 1.5 teaspoons sugar, 2 T olive oil, 550 g flour and 8 g salt--actually I have to get back to you on the salt!). I had fresh mozzarella (not my own, homemade, alas). Some great harvati, a homemade sauce, also from Ms. Field. If you prep the dough during the day, it's really quick to roll out half the dough, grill it (my preferred method these days), top it and ...BAM! Really good pizza.
Anyway, fast forward to this morning. There was still pizza left from last night. That means good bread, good cheese and a touch of homemade sauce. Bread, cheese, a vegetable (tomato and onion equals a veg in my book).
I would say homemade pizza is an ideal breakfast. And it was. Some habits just deserve to be broken. Now and then, anyway. Tomorrow? I'm already looking forward to yogurt.
Mangia.
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
Eat Real Food
 |
| Real fries, anyone? |
Same goes for french fries. Potatoes are cheap. Freezer space is kind of expensive, right? Why buy frozen fries? I would rather eat real fries once every six months than frozen fries once a week. Nothing holds a candle to the real deal.
And can we also talk mashed potatoes? I don't care if instant mashed potatoes are 100% dehydrated potatoes. I really want to know WHY? Unless you're packing all your food supplies to some remote area and weight and shelf life is an issue, you should be eating real potatoes. Real food.
Here's what you need to make instant mashed potatoes: water, pot, packet of instant mashed potatoes and a utensil to stir the resulting "potatoes." Here's what you need to wash up: pot and utensil.
Here's what you need to make REAL mashed potatoes:
water, pot, potatoes and a masher. You don't have to even CUT the potatoes if you don't want to. Here's what you have to wash up: pot and masher.
You choose which one you'd rather eat.
Me? I'm going with a batch of real fries now and then and REAL mashed potatoes, because really. I don't get why you'd do anything else.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Bakewell Tart...ish.
 |
| Tea Time Chez Babette Feasts |
So, one of my (British) husband's favorite sweets is bakewell tart, a tart of pastry, jam, almond paste, and, if you ask him, fake white frosting with a maraschino cherry on top. Eww. I don't like the frosting or the cherry--let's call it icing, not frosting really--royal icing, that sugary layer of white that coats so many sweets, hiding inferior ingredients, if you ask me...
We decided to have a tea party for my daughter's graduation, just a tea to replace a family dinner. The bakewell tart was a must for this, and requests for icing were non-stop. I didn't succumb, although I did buy a little package of store-made bakewells, thinking anyone who needed icing could eat the store-bought, mass-produced stuff. The rest of us could enjoy homemade goodness.
I pulled out Great New British Cooking by Jane Garmey, which has a recipe I've made in the past (um, "New" British cooking is now nearly 30 years old...huh? Where did the time go?)...
but it's with apricots. I've made that and it is AWESOME, but G wanted strawberry jam, as he insists that is the only way. So, I tweaked the recipe and made the strawberry tart and it was...good. But not as great as I remembered.
So I made it again, but this time with black currant jam and more of it. I made it in a pie shell, not a tart pan...and it was GREAT. I think I like the tartness of the black currants, which seem to cut the richness of the almond topping better.
No icing needed. Be generous with the jam!!
Barb's Bakewell (inspired by Jane Garmey)
1 pie shell, baked at 350ºF for about 8 minutes with pie weights and 3 minutes without)
3 ounces butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup ground almonds
Pinch salt
1 T milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup black currant jam
1. While pie shell bakes, cream butter with sugar until it is light and fluffy. Add extract, eggs, almonds, salt, milk and flour and baking powder. Beat until just mixed.
2. Remove pie shell from oven. Spread jam over bottom of shell. Top this with almond mixture, spreading it over the jam to the edges of the pie shell.
3. Bake about 25 to 30 minutes, until almond topping is set.
4. Remove from oven, let cool and dust with powdered sugar.
Slice and serve, hiding slice for yourself to eat for breakfast the next day.
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