junk swap quiche

Quiche is one of those things for which there are many varieties for both the crust and the filling. And having friends over is a great opportunity to try one. I typically use the recipe from The Best Recipe, a Cooks Illustrated collection of tested recipes. The quiche page from that book is tattered and worn from spilled egg yolks and cream. I was recently looking online at different food blogs, and was not surprised to find that quiche is a popular topic.

The Best Recipe calls for a filling base of 2 large eggs plus two yolks, one cup cream, and one cup milk. I decided that I wanted to use a springform pan in order to get a taller side and deeper quiche, so that it would feed more people. Naturally I would need more filling for that. Other recipes that I've read call for 6 whole eggs, two cups cream, and two cups milk. This seemed more like the amount of base that I was looking for.

Crust recipe:

• 1 1/4 cup AP flour + 7 tablespoons butter + 1/4 tsp salt
• pulse in a food processor until butter is encorporated.
• drizzle in 2-4 tablespoons of ice water
  
• run the food processor again until the crust begins to come together into a ball.
  

Some people are very intimidated about making crust. Trust me. It is not difficult. As in many other things, practice will make all of the difference to know what the correct consistency is at difference points.

After you put the crust into the pan you are using, layer it with parchment and dry beans. I have a ziploc bag of red kidney beans that I use for this purpose. Prebake crust at 375 degrees for up 12-15 minutes. This is when it starts to get exciting. The smell of pate brisee starts to waft through your kitchen and house, and you know you're in line for good eats.

Fillings are only limited by your imagination. There are, of course, the classics. Lorraine, Spinach, mushroom. I was looking for something a little more decadent. Earlier in the morning I carmelized three thinly sliced red onion. But I also thickly grated an aged gouda. I've recently discovered an aged gouda, produced I think by Beemer (I'll have to check on this one). It is strong, like a cross between sharp cheddar, manchego, and parmesan. It's got the lovely granular bit like these other cheeses, with the smooth flavor of a young gouda. It's really fabulous. I added almost two cups of this grated aged gouda, one cup of carmelized red onions, and two teaspoons of fresh thyme into the filling base. I used the ratio of 6 eggs, 2 cups milk, 2 cups cream. To additionally flavor the filling, I added two tablespoons dijon mustard, three or four grates of nutmeg, fine sea salt, and ground pepper (one teaspoon each).

Fill the blind-baked crust and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from the oven when the center is slightly jiggly. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, or standing in front of the fridge with a fork in hand.

At any rate, this is not a quiche made for trading worn clothes, this is a 24-carat make-your-mouth-dance quiche.

Daring Bakers of October

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.
















Mexican chocolate macaroons, filled with salted caramel.

The South: Part 3

I never journal quite as much as I intend, in the old fashioned format or in this tech savvy way. So sometimes I feel like blogging falls right in that gap. Oh well. A quick summary will have to do.

On this southern weekend, we had some great food, & some not so great. But that's how it is everywhere, I suppose.

As usual, I enjoyed the appetizers of almost all meals more than the entrees. There's just something about a bite sized starter that gives you a better sense about what a chef is about. I'd almost always rather have a sample of appetizers for dinner, than one big dish. There are fewer bites in which to convey an idea and it often leads to a fuller stronger flavor profile.

Here's one example. In the south people eat fried dill pickles. Who knew? Actually I did know that, but I've never had the chance to try them. These are from Uncle Bubba's Oyster house, which is a spin off of the Paula Deen empire. Obviously, this dish isn't about the concepts of one single chef, but it's consistently on all casual menus down there. I love a crisp new pickle, but won't touch a slimy old one, especially one that's looks like it's been sitting in a brine in the warm kitchen for about 20 years. However, these fried dill pickles are great even for non pickle fans.



The best starter I had was at Ye Old Pink House in Savannah. This place has very mixed reviews online regarding both the staff and the food. We found neither to be the case. We had the most attentive waiter ever, and the food was wonderful, especially the blue crab beignets. Surprisingly this was the only beignet that we had for the whole weekend, but its' texture was perfectly tender and eggy with chunks of crab and a complimentary dipping sauce.

Entrees were good (but not as good as the appetizers). See below, crab stuffed grouper (both local- which is what caught me) and seared scallops. Not the best pictures b/c the flash was acting up.




Otherwise, I must have had crab cakes three different times because I wanted to try many variations as I could. To be honest, all were good, but none as good as the ones at the Roadhouse. And I'm not just sucking up.

Lastly, dessert. For my daughter's recent 10 year old birthday she requested a red velvet cake. Being one always to rise to the occasion, I accepted and conquered. And it was pretty darn good, for a yankee. Following that occasion last week, we made a pact that when we were down south, we would find a real red velvet cake and compare. For four days, at every meal, we searched menus to no avail. We searched for bakeries. Closed on Sundays. We were totally out of luck. Until this morning. A quick stop to Gallery Espresso for pre-airport coffee, found us staring into a bakery case holding a lovely red velvet cake. They all stared at me with wide eyes. It was 8am. They didn't dare even ask. It was breakfast, for goodness sake. So you can imagine what a hero I was when I suggested cake for breakfast. We could not break our pact. A happy ending to a wonderful family trip. Red velvet cake... and pecan pie. We couldn't pass up the pecan pie, now could we?

Dinner @ Hanks

Tonight, our first full meal in Charleston took place at Hank's. Seemed a little bit too fancy for the kiddos at first, but once we settled in we were fine.

she-crab soup

grits (made with heavy cream and asiago)

crab cakes

low country shrimp and grits

from the land of biscuits and sweet tea

* music by Savannah's sweetheart, Johnny Mercer *
please open in a new window

Sometimes I daydream about what my life would be like had we not ended up in Ann Arbor. Some of it's good, some bad. There are so many things about AA that I love, but I think often about the romanticized version of living in the south.

In order to partially prepare me for this weekend that my family is spending down south, I've read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Sure, it's fiction, but as I see it, if I'm romantically involved with the fictional south, I might as well solidify the myths. It's a decent movie based on a great book, based on a real life story of a Savannah scandal. A large part of the plot of this book is the parties thrown by Jim Williams in the Mercer mansion, catered by the famous Lucille Wright with decadent spreads of low country food.

My affections for Savannah are partially grounded in my latent desire to be a daughter or granddaughter of Paula Deen. It's not that every recipe she makes on her show is fabulous, or that she's not annoying once in a while. From her TV personality (because I'm not naive enough to think there's not another one) she seems like the kind of woman that anyone would want to be nurtured by. I missed out on the whole grandmother experience, never meeting either of mine. As a result, I often covet the idea of having an older wiser stronger woman, slightly removed from disciplining you, but close enough to guide you and love you with a fierce maternal love. For some reason Paula Deen strikes a cord with this internal desire. But before this turns into a self-psychology blog, I'm going to turn back to the food.

I love the decadence of southern food and what I perceive to be an unabashed connection between food & socializing and comfort. Up north, food had its times when it was emphasized, but I didn't quite get the feeling that social gatherings revolved around food in the same way that I think they do in the south. Perhaps in certain ethnic settings, like with my Italian relatives, food was an axis, but it wasn't culturally accepted as a whole. When I think of hospitality, I think south. And I like to think that I've been establishing these "southern" traditions with my own family, some very literal, like always having simple syrup in my fridge to sweeten iced tea, to the more abstract, emotional connections with food.

This weekend, my family is going from Charleston to Savannah, hitting a few family destination spots, but equally important will be the times when the six of us sit down to eat a meal. My kids are psyched for the biscuits and grits, and so much more. We might try to do the Deen place, but even for my fictional grandmother I will not wait four blocks and 2 hours, so we'll see. We've got several other places in mind, some which are a bit out of reach with four little ones. On a large scale my goal is simply to eat as many southern cliches as possible in the next four days.

Please indulge me as I use this as a bit of a food diary for my weekend. Indulge and drool.

~ signing out from my hotel room with a pitcher of iced tea

brussel sprouts of the future

I confess. I used to hate brussel sprouts as a kid. They were bitter, and, blech, the texture was terrible. It might have been how my mother prepared them, but I think it also had a lot to do with buying them from the ShopRite. It wasn't until Tantre Farm brussel sprouts arrived at my door many autumns ago, that my mind was changed.

These things are fantastic, especially if they've been picked after a frost. The deep cold temperatures soften and sweeten the already nutty flavor. They're awesome sauteed in butter, or roasted with pancetta, or just steamed and drizzled with a ginger laced soy sauce.

Here's how I did them up this week.

Brussel Sprout Salad

1. Finely shred quart RAW brussel sprouts with a mandoline, enough for your family or a couple of meals for yourself.

2. Shave about 1 cup of pecorino romano using a vegetable peeler. Add to the brussel sprouts.

3. Add 1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts.

4. Drizzle with the best balsamic you've got. You'll have to play it by ear a little bit, depending on the viscosity of your vinegar. Somewhere between 2 tbsp and 1/8 cup. Then drizzle with good olive oil (this is one of my favs), about the same amount of the balsamic. Again you'll have to test this; it shouldn't be super greasy, just well coated.

5. Season heavily with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. Toss until coated.

This is one of those things that is SO simple, it's crazy not to make it. All of the flavors meld together into an unami-filled crunchiness that is so fabulous. I had designed it as a salad, but once I started eating, it was all I wanted.

Autumn is here

We all talk about the change of weather affecting our food patterns. It's not news. But it sure is truth. As soon as I find myself donning my long sleeve shirts and reaching for a scarf, my food desires start to adapt to the weather. After pining for and savoring the fresh foods of summer, it's hard to believe that I welcome the change. If I look down deep, I've got to be honest with myself. It's there. The cravings for more autumnal flavors and textures run deep.

Of course, it doesn't help that the Dexter Cider Mill is alive and hopping. Fresh cider and cinnamon sugar donuts, warm, and waiting two miles from my house.

For the past three weeks my Tantre Farm share has included a lone winter squash, one week it was butternut, the next a sweet dumpling, and just yesterday a buttercup squash. (which is a very odd looking one. Odd, but yummy.)

This afternoon I had an opportunity to prepare dinner earlier in the day because I knew that my evening time would be crunched from kids activities. Since fall flavors have been calling, and the butternut squash is two weeks old, I decided to go with:

Butternut squash soup

1. Roast one butternut squash in a 375 degree oven for approximately one hour. Don't make this more complicated than necessary. All I did was quarter the thing and put it flesh side down on a lined baking sheet with one sprig of rosemary and a half cup water.

2. When squash is softened, take it out of the oven. Wait until it is cool enough to the touch, then peel the skin off, cut the stem off, and scoop out the seeds.

3. Drop chunks of roasted squash into a stock pot full of two quarts of homemade chicken stock. Here's where you can add your own variations. I had made homemade stock last weekend after I roasted a chicken, so I had some in the freezer. If you don't have any stashed, used a box of stock from the grocery store. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, use homemade or store bought vegetable stock.

4. Bring to a slow boil. Puree with an immersion blender to make a homogenous soup texture. If you don't have one, use a standard blender, but be aware of the dangers of blending a hot liquid. (Then consider buying an immersion blender.)


5. Simultaneously boil one package of noodles in salted water. This morning I found a bag of imported Betchle spaetzle at Sparrow market (why they're selling these on Amazon, I'll never know). I knew I wanted a thicker noodle than a plain egg noodle because the broth would be thicker than plain stock.

6. Because I wasn't eating this soup right away, I gently rinsed the noodles and generously drizzled with olive oil. That way they wouldn't be stuck in a big clump when I went to serve dinner a few hours later.

7. To serve, place a nest of the reserved spaetzle in a bowl. Pour the hot soup over the noodles, until they're swimming in a golden pool of autumnal heaven.

8. Serve with soft pretzels from Zingermans', sharp cheddar, and fresh honeycrisp apples, from Michigan, of course.

Whitney, we did good!

I've been partnering with a friend to do the more complicated Daring Bakers challenges. Typically we'll make the basic part of the recipe together, in this case the puff pastry. Then we'll return to our own kitchens to personalize the recipe before we post. Sometimes we team up because it seems less daunting to have a teammate, but always because it makes the whole process infinitely more fun.

This time, I'm shouting out to her. Whitney, this is awesome. We rocked this one! Look at these layers.

Last night for dinner we had a version of Michel Richard's wild mushroom pot pie. I call it a version because I recreated it from memory after browsing Happy in the Kitchen at Whitney's while the puff pastry was chilling.
















As predicted by the Daring Bakers', I had more than needed for one dinner. So I made parmesan straws for an accompaniment. Not necessary for nutrients sake, for sure. But oh, so good.

Puff the Magic Dragon

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

Making my own puff pastry is one of those things that I would never attempt without Daring Bakers. I have never been less than satisfied with Dufour's. Frankly I'm lucky I live in a place I can get it whenever I want. However, it actually turns out to be a fairly easy thing to make. Techically speaking, it's just not that difficult. But if you're in a rush, I wouldn't reach for this recipe.

Here are a few pictures from the process - including one of my toddler helping with the butter flattening.

I had to take an unplanned trip to visit family, but I wanted to get this initial note done on the 27th so that I'm not officially late. Tomorrow I'll add the additional finished product pictures and text. Thanks for your patience.

tomah-to love

Not too many more days left of 2009 for which this can be lunch.
















Local organic heirloom tomatoes on freshly baked Zingerman's bakehouse white.

Mom, I found my special purpose!

A photo journal from last weekend's trip to Slow's BBQ in downtown De-troit.

So worth the trip.

Kudos to The Jerk.

Dessert express: Key lime pie

The thing about a key lime pie is that it's so easy there's really no excuse not to make one. If you have a well stocked pantry, you might even have everything you need for it.

Crust:
Combine

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

You can make this as complicated or simple as you're in the mood for. This morning, I was really looking for the simple version, so I bought graham cracker crumbs. If you want to get fancy, buy locally made Zingerman's graham crackers (which are seriously addictive) and crush them.

Press into the bottom and sides of a pie pan with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees.

For a change, press the crumbs into lined muffin tins for individual sized pies.

Filling:

Whisk 3 egg yolks with one 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk until combined. Add 2/3 cup of key lime juice and 2 tsp of zest. Carefully whisk together. Mixture will thicken slightly. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Bring to room temperature, then refrigerate before slicing.

Again if you want to fancy this up, please go to the trouble of zesting and juicing the golfball sized authentic key limes. But I think you'll only try this once. If I'm looking to streamline, I generally zest one persian/standard lime and simply purchase a bottle of key lime juice.

Some people will swear by topping it with a big dollop of freshly whipped cream; others like it straight up. Still others might just like to dip their fingers right in the filling of the completed pie because they just can't wait to taste it.

Top Chef Dexter

I admit I'm a little bit of poser, recording and watching every episode of Top Chef and Top Chef Masters. I love to visualize myself right in the thick of it all, pretending to be the sou-chef, mentally rising to every challenge. Look, everyone's got their daydreams.

Last night was my real life version of Top Chef. But first, let's go back a little. Since moving to Dexter a couple of years ago, I have made a few great girl friends, the kind of friends that you wait your whole life for. Real people who know how to laugh and love to eat and cook and, well, just love taking advantage of the fun in every day. Great people to be around. One of these great women happens to be Kelly, the wife of Chef Alex Young of Zingerman's Roadhouse. Another happens to be Charity, who is AWESOME (-props to the boss). Both seen below.


A 3:30 phone call presented me with my elimination challenge:
Host and partially prepare dinner for Chef Alex and his family, among other foodies.

I almost came unraveled at the mention of the idea. You know, if you've read this blog, that I'm a little bit obsessed with Alex and the Roadhouse. Not only because every single meal that I've had there is almost the best thing I've ever put in my mouth, but also because of the general attitude and passion for making food the honest and tasty way. Real food, local & seasonal ingredients clearly direct the menu.

But I also know that these are real people who live just on the other side of town. I was so excited and a little bit nervous, actually no, a lot nervous. My brother-in-law declared me the most nervous he has ever heard in 18 years. I wanted to be a good host, but not only that. I also wanted to be able to show Chef Alex that I wasn't a total plebeian, though I don't have any formal training.






















(Alex and my youngest son)

At 4p.m. I declared that the kids HAD to watch TV (an almost unheard of call from this mom). After I got control of my bodily functions, I looked in my fridge and pantry which was full because I recently shopped at Plum market and the Ann Arbor farmer's market. I also called my husband and had him pick up about 4 lbs of the best salmon that he could find at whole foods, in addition to a few brats for the kids.

Alex then called (deep breath, self) and gave me as many options as I could want about what I'd like him to help with.

For a couple hours I prepped before he and his family arrived with the other guests. Here's what Alex and I ended up with:

• cheese platter (mostly supplied by Alex from the restaurant-seriously people, how lucky am I?!?) accompanied with Zingerman's sourdough
  
• tomato salad straight from Cornman Farms
• 

• A head of escarole chopped, topped with brown butter caramelized Tantre Farm onion and fennel. Alex later added pan-fried goat cheese medallions.

• A salad of watermelon, mint, Gardenworks sunflower sprouts, and crumbled feta
• Grilled eggplant drizzled with a caper Bagna Càuda
• 10 shucked ears of corn prepared for Alex to make a corn pudding that was wonderfully light and airy, totally showcasing the sweetness of corn right now.
• Perfectly grilled salmon with herbs

• My piece de resistance was this recipe from gourmet, for slab bacon adobo . Yeah, grilled bacon. It was all that. Plus a few more. I've been wanting an excuse to do it for a while, and happened to have a slab bacon in my freezer from Sparrow meat market. We all picked at it as the salmon was in the final stages of grilling.
• I had 1/4 of a bushel of fresh peaches which became a peach raspberry pie, brimming full with fresh Michigan fruit tossed with about 3/4 cup of crumbled almond paste. Honestly, we were all too full of wine and good food to even enjoy this until the next day.
  

Here I am, giddy at the end of the evening, caused partially by a bit too much red wine and a challenge well executed.

Tastespotting---

Are you like me? Do you love glossy close up shots of food? (otherwise known as food p*%n)

I feel like it's a great way to cheat on a diet. Staring, drooling at pictures of dishes created by others who love food. A wormhole into their lives and their own distinct passionate loves of food.

I can almost taste, smell, and feel these foods as I scroll down the page.

Sigh....

Daring Bakers August

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful
of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos
Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite
Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

August is a birthday month in my house, so when I saw a cake recipe set for Daring Bakers in August, I was psyched. But here's the rub, the birthday is today. So I couldn't make it early and save the pictures for the 27th as I sometimes do. I had to wait until today to start. I suppose I could have started yesterday with the sponge layers, but I decided to go out last night with a friend and see Julie & Julia. What an inspirational movie for the foodie crowd. I'd already read the book, but I think that the producers and actors really did a phenomenal job with this one. However, since this isn't a movie review blog, I'll return to the task at hand.

Exhausted this morning, yet inspired by the flick, I set out to start the cake this morning shortly after vanilla french toast with sauteed peaches was cooked and cleaned.

I've never made a cake with layers this thin before. Although I've done much baking and icing, I've never made a buttercream the way this recipe called for. Doing butter cream this way was ceratinly more time consuming, but way worth the effort. The final product was especially velvety and smooth with a full bodied taste. I doubt I'll go to all the trouble to recreate this Dobos Torta in entirety, but I guarantee I will make this frosting again.

Biggest problem was the caramel. Amber brown is subjective term; I wish there had been a temperature because I didn't let it go long enough, so it did not totally solidify. The top layer is a little bit softer than expected, but maybe that's not all bad after hearing from others that it was essentially tooth breaking made the correct way.


So I'm glad I snuck this one in, even though it was a bit late. The birthday boy is very excited, both for the cake and the homemade spaghetti and meatballs.


Please excuse the army party plate. What else could a seven year old want his cake served on?

seriously.

this is the whole reason i wanted to go to martha's vineyard.

more vaca meals to post later, but this one couldn't wait.

so I'm going on vacation....

Any mothers out there will agree that there is no such thing as a vacation for a mother. There are simply changes of scenery. But I digress.

You know by now (my six faithful readers) that I have a Tantre Farm crop share that I get every week. My ups and downs revolve around this wonderful bounty every week. I'm not going to be around to pick up next week's, and I have already tagged a friend to pick up next week. But I didn't want this week's to go to waste, and we're leaving in 24 hours.

So here's how I spent my last two hours.

• snapped and blanched one quart green beans (now freezing)
  
• chopped and blanched 10 summer squash (now freezing)
  
• shucked, blanched, and took the kernels off 8 ears of corn (now freezing)
• chopped and blanched one head of kale and one head of collard greens (now freezing)
  
• breaded and fried two large eggplant (now cooling on a rack - half to be eaten tonight for eggplant parm)
• made 4 jars full of pesto (basil, garlic, pine nuts, parm reg) (now freezing)
  
• slow roasted eight tomatoes (to be suspended in olive oil in the fridge until I'm back)
• refrigerated six beets and six carrots (they'll probably keep for a week in the fridge)
• washed the lettuce to eat tonight
  
• sliced and ate one yellow watermelon between five of us
  

Whew! No wonder my feet are aching.

P.S. Another wonderful Ann Arbor blogger, Four Obsessions, is cataloging her Tantre Farm's shares every week. If you're interested, take a look at what we're also eating every week. What a great idea! At one point I thought I could do it too, but I never got around to it. I'm glad she did!

R-Rated

Indian food is like sex. (I warned ya.) Vindaloo, Paneer, Tikki, Masala, Tandoori, Basmati studded with seeds, Lassi- these sound like dirty words to a fair skinned maiden. Think about it from every sensual perspective; the passionate tastes, full of color, the smells, the intense craving, and the even more intense satisfaction.

I've been craving it for a few weeks, since I last took my brother-in-law to Shalimar, downtown Ann Arbor. That was my virgin experience in an Indian restaurant. I had made some dishes myself from a cookbook and chosen Indian from the Plum Market hot food bar, yet eating at Shalimar (this isn't really a restaurant review because I'm so much a virgin) connected the dots for me.

So I sheepishly called my hard working husband at 5 p.m. and asked him to go out of his way to pick up Indian tonight. I couldn't hold out against the craving any longer. He acquiesced and agreed to be there by six to pick up anything that I ordered. Wonderful. I hate having to beg.

It was fabulous. All that I expected, plus some. Left me satiated and happy, and slightly out of breath.

Consider me addicted, having only licked the top of the iceberg. Slowly.

Calder Dairy

I love my milkman. Not "in love" with my milkman. I just love that as I'm running out of milk, he's pulling in the driveway with gallons of whole milk, skim milk, chocolate milk (that tastes like liquid pudding), cream, butter, eggs & buttermilk. He's even got ice cream in there, if I can catch him in time. And it is fabulous ice cream.

But here's the best thing of all. This milk being delivered to my door tastes fresh. There is no industrial aftertaste. The texture is smooth. It's almost refreshing, if you're one of those people who can be quenched by milk.

If you live in the Washtenaw County area, you should seriously consider getting a Calder Dairy milkman. Not just for the kitsch-factor. You can know that you are feeding your family the best.
For only $2 per week the milk is brought to your house. If you'd rather use that $100 per year in some other way, make sure when you are at a local grocery store that you are reaching for those glass bottles. You won't be disappointed.

The only problem is that once you're hooked, regular milk is virtually unpalatable.

daring bakers :: July milanos

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

My whole family loves milanos. Get a bag in the house and between all six of us they can easily be done in a night... or just an hour... who are we kidding, 15 minutes. I was happy to see that this was an option for this months Daring bakers.

This recipe was pretty simple and quick to make, but I really didn't find that it substituted for the texture of a true milano. My cookies were soft in the middle, even though the edges were browned. If you've never tasted a milano, you'd never know that they failed. But with that comparison, I don't think I would make them again - if my goal was a milano. Because I sensed that I wouldn't be successful with the cookie, I turned to the filling for satisfacation.

A few things contributed to this flavor combo. I'm late again for my posting which I'm frustrated about. And I'm in that summer kind of mood where Reeses peanut butter cups call to me in my dreams. (Someone recently told me that they make the best smores.) So I'm here to say that a little ganache plus a generous spread of peanut butter makes the best sandwich cookie you'll ever have, even if it is a little soft.

four cheese calzones

So this whole ricotta adventure started because when I was back in Jersey, we went to a pizzeria called Italian Village. It's the best in Madison after all. My sister ordered a cheese calzone that I coveted. It was full of the freshest ricotta and loads of mozzarella. A cheese lover's paradise. And THIS was my vision and mission statement, starting even at step one of ricotta making.

One of my favorite Italian-American cookbooks is Lidia Bastianich's Italian American kitchen. The pizza dough recipe in there is fairly simple - the ratio seems to work really well in my kitchen as well as hers.

Dough recipe (for pizza and calzones)
based on recipe by Lidia Bastianich

1. Dissolve 1 tsp yeast in 1 cup warm water in bottom of mixing bowl with paddle attachment.
   
2. After yeast has bloomed add 1 tablespoon each honey and olive oil (my addition, for flavor)
   
3. Combine 2 tsp (or up to 1tbsp) salt with 3 cups flour. Sprinkle dry ingredients over wet ingredients
4. Mix until combined.
   
5. Switch to dough hook. Knead for 10 minutes in machine.
6. Move dough to an oiled bowl. Cover top loosely with a damp towel. Let proof until doubled about 2 hours.
7. Separate into smaller balls of dough for individual pizzas or calzones.
8. Let proof again in refrigerator for 8-24 hours.
9. Allow this to come to room temperature before stretching for pizza or calzones.
   

I made this dough early in the morning. It's pretty easy to knock off during breakfast time. Then it proofed, once and twice, while the day's controlled chaos swirled around it. This recipe made me six reasonably sized calzones, of which a hungry man could have had two.

Cheese calzone filling (for one calzone)

• 1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese
• 2 generous slices fresh mozzarella
• 1/4 cup pecorino romano
• one slice mild provolone
  

1. Stretch dough into a circle
2. Put above filling into half of calzone
3. Fold half over top of filling.
4. Fold edges over each other to prevent filling from leaking out.
5. Bake at 450deg (convection if you have it) for 12-15 minutes, or until browned.

Served above with garlic wilted kale and a simple tomato salad.

fresh ricotta

When most mothers of four get their little ones settled into various rest time activities, (sleeping, reading, multiplication practice, painting) I imagine that they also sit down and read, or even better, switch on Oprah. Not me. For some reason that mental flashing red light which warns of a future sore back or aching head is broken. Alas, I use my ninety minutes in the kitchen when I could be resting.

This afternoon I banged out vanilla syrup (for iced coffees), Paula's banana bread (best this side of the Mississippi) and here's the best.... homemade ricotta cheese. I've had a few people suggest to me how easy this is, and after following this recipe on 101 Cookbooks, I can say this is almost as easy as cracking open a pint of Polly-O.

Basically you bring to a boil one part buttermilk to four parts whole milk. 101 Cookbooks calls for 1 quart buttermilk to a gallon of whole milk, but I halved it because I only had 2 cups buttermilk. Stir until mixture is steaming, & when it gets hot enough (roughly 175 degrees), the curds will come to the top. At this point, you pour it through 6 layers of cheesecloth and drain for 10 -15 minutes depending on the texture you desire.

Back in the mother country, New Jersey, we pronounce this wonderful soft cheese, with two distinct shortened syllables : re - goat, not the typical WASP, ri-cot-tah. As I was stuffing the cheese calzones that I was making for dinner, scenes from the Sopranos flashed into my mind, making me reminisce the good old Italian-New Jersey-American kitchen.

If you're making any dinner that involves or more importantly revolves around high-quality ricotta, this is definitely a trick you're going to want to have up your sleeve.

I don't usually put these playlists directly on here, but I just can't help myself with this one.