Cheesemaking 101 - Mozzerella

Here's a post off the beaten path as this most definitely is not soup.  However it is fairly easy yet something that will make you feel accomplished in the end - much like soup.  DP and I hosted a classical music listening night at our house and picked Mozart for our first gathering.  When deciding upon snacks there were many puns including Mozart-ella sticks, Wolfgang Puck Amadeus pizza, Don Juan almonds and the like.  I saw the shining star as clearly being Mozart-ella so I took the opportunity to teach myself how to make this easy cheese.  It turned out really good despite my worry throughout the process that it wouldn't come together.  But come together it did and served with fresh basil and garlic, our best olive oil (from here), balsamic, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and it was a party hit.  It turns out that the adage used when making beer applies to making cheese as well - don't worry, have a homebrew cheeseball.

Even though this recipe might require a stop at a home brewing store the two off the wall supplies needed, rennet and citric acid, are cheap and easy to find.  Also you use so little of each ingredient in each batch that I'll be able to stretch the amounts I purchased for many more cheese making adventures.  Up next, goat cheese...or maybe feta!  A little aside about the whey too; I read from the recipe that the leftover whey can be used in place of water in any bread recipe for an enhanced flavor so I saved mine and will be whipping up a fresh batch of bread this weekend.  Cheese making yields many treats my friends.

Homemade Mozzerella
recipe from The Pioneer Woman

1 gallon of whole milk - preferably raw and unpasteurized if you can find it (I couldn't)
1 1/2 teaspoons of citric acid powder
1/4 teaspoon vegetable rennet
kosher salt to taste

Sprinkle the citric acid powder into a large non-reactive stockpot then add 1/4 cup of water and swirl to dissolve.  Pour the gallon of milk into the pot and stir to combine.  Put the pot over medium-low heat and attach a thermometer to the side of the pot and allow to heat to 90 degrees F.  You may notice a little curdling but this is a good thing.  While that heats up combine the vegetable rennet with 1 cup of water.

When the milk comes to temp remove from the burner and add the rennet/water mixture.  Very gently stir together for about 30 seconds.  Place a lid on the pot and walk leave it alone for exactly 5 minutes - don't touch it in the meantime! After 5 minutes the mixture should resemble a very soft custard.  A note on this - mine looked more like large curds and didn't congeal as much as the recipe pictures looked.  I think this is because I didn't use raw milk so if you don't either and it just looks like a bunch of large curds, don't worry it will still come together.  Return to the burner over medium heat and place the thermometer on once again and bring up to 105 degrees F.

Remove from heat and with a slotted spoon remove all of the curds from the whey (the watery looking part) and place in a colander.  Press down with a spoon or your clean hands to remove as much of the whey from the curds as possible. Place in a microwaveable bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute.  Without burning your hand press on the cheese to drain all of the whey off.  Microwave for 30 seconds a few more times to keep removing as much of the watery whey as possible.  I only did this two times total.  Then knead in salt to taste.  Stretch out the cheese curd to get any more whey that you can out of it.  Shape into a ball and place in a bowl of ice water until completely cool.  Afterwards eat as is or add herbs, seasonings and serve with a crusty baguette as we did.

The final product before it was devoured:


Video of the making:

Labor of Love-Macaron Making

This past Valentine's day I took as an excuse to tackle a long time goal of mine-french macaron making. Michelle got me a detailed book on the subject for my birthday last year that I've been studying intently for the last 6 months. I invested in all the necessary equipment and we also got to use my new Kitchenaid mixer for the first time. A day of firsts indeed. Michelle came over to lend a hand in the kitchen and also for all the adorable crafting we did for our Valentine's gifts that we passed out to our loved ones. This was an all day project, with a couple of fails and do-overs, luckily we were smart enough to fit in pedicures and champagne drinking.

These little cookie monsters are hard to make but I think we had success in the end. They turned out really well, as did the darling packaging we made. We ended up making two different kinds of macarons. The first was a fig cookie with orange liqueur buttercream filling. The second was a pink colored cookie with fresh strawberry buttercream and a sprinkle of Dagoba's spicy chocolate powder on top. We did half of the strawberry batch with coconut on top but unfortunately those didn't turn out because we didn't cook them long enough. In the end we impressed ourselves with pulling off this baking feat. It left me wanting to experiment even more with the french macaron! Here is the detailed process of this labor of love.

Fig Macarons with Orange Liqueur Buttercream or

Pink Macarons with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream and Spicy Cocoa Topping

Adapted from I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita

Macaron batter:

2/3 cup (3 ounces/85 grams) ground almonds

1 1/2 cups (5.25 ounces/150 grams) powdered sugar

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

5 tablespoons/65 grams granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
Additions:

2 tablespoons ground dried figs or

red food coloring

Orange Liqueur Buttercream or Fresh Strawberry Buttercream:

7 tablespoons (3.5 ounces/100 grams) unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons (1.4 ounces/40 milliliters) water

3 tablespoons (1.4 ounces/40 grams) granulated sugar

1 egg

vanilla extract
Additions:

2 tablespoons orange liqueur, such as Cointreau or

4 tablespoons fresh strawberry puree

Toppings:

shredded unsweetened coconut or

Dagoba's spicy cocoa powder

To make macaron batter:

Cut a sheet of parchment paper (or silpat) to fit your baking sheet. Draw 1 inch circles on paper, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart. This patter will be your guide for squeezing out the macaron batter. In a food processor, grind almonds and powdered sugar together to a fine powder. Sift the mixture through a medium-mesh sieve twice. Set aside.

In a stainless steel mixing bowl, beat egg whites (in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer) on high speed until they are foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar to the egg whites. Add vanilla and continue to beat the meringue until it is stiff, firm, and has a glossy texture. Make sure this is VERY stiff. Just when you think it's stiff enough, beat a little more. This part is crucial to not ending up with runny macaron circles (we found out later).

Add half of the sifted flour mixture and stir with a spatula while scooping it up from the bottom of the bowl. Add the rest of the flour and mix it lightly in a circular motion. At this point add any flavors, such as the fig bits, or coloring you desire. Feel free to experiment with a variety of dried fruits or coloring, we did! After you run out of flour or have added your flavoring, press and spread out the batter against the bowl's sides. Scoop the batter from the bottom and turn it upside down. This is called making the macaronnage. Repeat this process about 15 times but not more than 20. When the batter becomes nicely firm and drips slowly as you scoop it with a spatula, the mixture is done. This is called the macaronner.. Attach a 0.4 inch tip to a pastry bag. Twist the bag to hold the tip tightly. This prevents the batter from leaking out. Place the pastry bag, tip down, inside a deep measuring cup and pour the macaronner batter into it. After pouring the batter into the bag. clip the bag top to prevent the batter from coming out. You can also use a rubber band. Using the parchment outlined in circles, squeeze small circles of batter onto a cookie sheet, making sure that the batter is firm and does not run. At this point sprinkle any coconut or cocoa or other powdered toppings you may want onto the circles.

Rap the baking sheet firmly against the counter or other flat surface. This helps the macarons hold their rounded shape and helps the pied, or "little foot", to form. Dry the batter at room temperature, uncovered, for 15 minutes. A slight crust should form on top of the macarons. On rainy days, it helps to dehumidify the room. If the batter circles do not stick to your finger when you touch them, the drying process is complete. On a dry and sunny day, the drying process takes approximately 30 minutes.

After the macarons have sufficiently dried you are ready to bake them. Place the oven racks in the center of the oven. Preheat to 375 degrees. Stack the baking sheet with the batter circles into an empty baking sheet and slide both into the oven. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until slightly crisp and crackled on top. If the insides of the macarons are still soft after 15 minutes lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees, cover the tray with foil, and bake for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and cool on a wire rack. When the macarons are completely cooled, remove them from the baking sheet.

To make buttercream:

Cut butter into small pieces and put in a medium bowl. Stir the butter with a spatula until it becomes smooth and creamy like mayonnaise, set aside. Put water and granulated sugar in a small saucepan and stir well. Heat the mixture over medium low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture begins to become syrupy. Scoop some syrup with a spoon and drop it into a small amount of water. Then try to scoop the syrup out of the water and make a ball with it using your fingers. If you can do this, the syrup is the right density. While heating the syrup, break an egg into a bowl and beat it lightly with a hand mixer. Pour the syrup like a thread into the bowl and beat it at high speed. Reduce the speed to medium and then to slow, and continue beating until the bottom of the bowl is no longer hot and the mixture becomes white and heavy.

Add the creamed butter in 3 batches into the syrup beating with the hand mixture each time you add it. When the mixture is well mixed the process is done. Stir a drop or two of vanilla extract and whatever flavoring you are adding. When the mixture is well stirred it is done. Spread the cream between the macaron puffs and sandwich together. Now they are ready to eat!

Not runny, very important

A sprinkle of cocoa

Little feet

Getting creamed

Stuffed!

Valentines presents ready to go

Just a peek at the goods

Get ready for Fall!

This post is for my sister (Hi, Sister!) and for all the readers out there who want to start making soup but need a basic tutorial to get started. I will lay out the basics of a basic soup and give you a couple of variations to get you started! The soup world is your oyster! Ok that doesn't really make sense. What I'm trying to say is, you can make any kind of soup that sounds good to you since Fall is right around the corner! Ok, here we go.

Ingredients:

You definitely need:
-1 onion, yellow or white, diced.
-2 carrots, diced.
-2 sticks of celery, diced.
-2-4 cloves of garlic, depending on your tastes, minced.
-chicken broth (2 boxes or 1 box + water and lots of seasonings) (or veggie broth or beef broth!)
-salt & pepper to taste
-generous amounts of any other seasonings you like or have on hand, such as oregano, curry, sage, dill, dry mustard, rosemary, chili powder, cayenne pepper, etc.

Then also pick up whatever veggies you like such as:
-mushrooms
-zucchini or other squash
-corn
-peas
-bell peppers
-potatoes
-canned crushed or diced tomatoes
-kale

Also try some meat such as:
-chicken breasts or tenders (pan fry and chop/shred or try poaching!)
-turkey (same methods as chicken)
-meatballs (we favor the cheap and tasty ones from Ikea!)
-bacon (if using bacon, cook it first, then use the grease to cook the onions to add flavor! Add the bacon back in when the soup is almost done to warm it back up.)
-ground sausage (same method as bacon!)

Some other things you might want to try:
-Pasta - shells or penne work great
-egg noodles
-rice - arborrio, jasmine, whatever
-barley
-beans - kidney, black

*One thing to keep in mind before you start, try to chop all your veggies into
similar-sized pieces.*


So, now that you have your ingredients all ready to go, here's what you do!

Process:

1. The first step in making soup is to dice up your onion and throw it in a pot with some butter and/or olive oil over medium heat. Stir the onions and let them cook down. This is called Sweating. Sweat the onions until they are nearly translucent. Probably about 7-10 minutes, depending how big you diced 'em.

2. Next, throw in your carrots, celery and garlic. Stir them around and let them cook with the onions for about 7-10 more minutes, still over medium heat, until the carrots are soft, but not too falling apart. This is also the step where I would recommend adding a lot of the spices that you want to use, so that the vegetables will soak them up while they are cooking.

3. Once your onions, carrots, and celery are looking pretty good, cooked and soft but not mushy, add in whatever other veggies you decided to use. My favorites are mushrooms (usually quartered or in slightly smaller chunks), followed by zucchini (cut into 1/4 thick rounds and then halved). The key is to add the veggies and sautee them in the order in which they cook. So carrots take a long time, that's why they are one of the first things to cook. zucchini cooks pretty quick, so its one of the last things you cook before you add the broth. Practice and experimenting make perfect!

4. Stir in your chicken broth. Raise the heat on your burner up to medium high and bring it to a boil. If you are adding in meat, pasta, rice, potatoes or any combination of those things, you will add those in with the broth so that they can cook in the broth. (Egg noodles cook very fast, so you can add those in towards the end rather than when you add the broth, they are the one pasta exception.) If you are using canned tomatoes, add those in at this point too. Once your broth is boiling, reduce the heat to a low temperature so that it can simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Once it's warm, I usually taste the broth and see if i want to add any other particular seasonings.

*If you used chicken, taste the broth before you put the chicken in! Also, once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pot and shred it or dice it, then drop it back in*

5. If you added pasta or rice, once that's cooked, your soup is done. So keep an eye on it. Soggy pasta is gross. If you plan to add anything else that cooks quickly, such as canned corn, frozen peas, black beans, anything that pretty much just has to be warmed up, add that in the last 5 minutes or so of cooking. If you plan to add kale or any other leafy green that basically just has to wilt, add that in just before you serve it.

6. Once everything in the pot seems to be cooked and hot and flavored well, Serve it up! A nice big slice of delicious bakery fresh bread with butter spread on it is my favorite accompaniment to any bowl of soup.

As with most dishes, the leftovers are always almost better than the original meal!


Here are some photos of a few recent soups V and I have made in the past couple weeks. I will tell you what we used for each, though all three were made using this same basic veggie type soup recipe that I detailed above.


Soup #1:
I had a hankering for some soup!

For this soup we used:
onion, carrots, celery, garlic, yellow squash, mushrooms, one box of chicken broth and some water plus a ton of seasonings, black beans, ikea meatballs, and pumpkin flavored prepackaged risotto including some of the seasoning that came with that. This soup turned out super spicy and super hearty thanks to all the risotto.


Soup #2:
I made this at my boyfriend's house only a few days later, because once I start making soup it's pretty much all I want to eat.

For this soup I used:
onion, carrots, celery, lots of garlic, 2 boxes of chicken broth, zucchini, mushrooms, potatoes (I wish I had cut them into smaller pieces!), and black beans. I don't have too many seasonings there, just salt, pepper, oregano, red pepper, and dill. I used quite a bit of all these. There was so much soup leftover that we had to pawn it off on a couple of his friends a few days later. They both had seconds!


Soup #3:
This soup is very similar to the first soup I posted except I think it turned out a little better.

For this soup we used:
onion, carrots, celery, 1 box of reduced sodium chicken broth plus some water and lots of seasonings, mushrooms, a can of tomatoes, a can of corn, zucchini, ikea meatballs, and rice. The carrots in this one were perfectly cooked. Usually I like the carrots to sort of blend in, as I am not a huge fan. But in this soup they were just the right consistency and tasted really good. I don't know how that happened, but I think I declared this one of the best soups we had made, even better than the other meatball soup I posted (Soup #1!)


So, I hope this gets you started. These are the basics that got me hooked on making soup, and just typing all this makes me want some soup right now, and I already ate dinner! Fall is just around the corner, so get out your sweaters and scarves and fear not soup lovers! There will be plenty more fabulous and varied soups to come! In fact, I am going to make a goal of posting in this blog at least twice a month. I have been slacking!

Happy souping!

P.S. Happy birthday to the best co-blogger and best muffin maker in the West!
Love you, V!