Raspberry Cranachan
This recipe is easy to make and full of flavor. You can use any soft fruit you happen to have. You can also adapt it as a breakfast dish, leaving out the whisky and substituting yogurt for part of the cream
3/4 cup oatmeal (not instant oatmeal)
1 pint raspberries
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
4 TBSP runny honey (a few seconds in the microwave will make it runny enough)
4 TBSP malt whiskey
Scatter the oatmeal on a baking tray and toast in a low oven or under a medium grill until golden. Watch it closely or it may burn.
Blend 50 grams of the raspberries in a blender until smooth. Whip the cream until stiff, then stir in the honey and whiskey and mix well but do not over-whip. Mix in 50 g of the oatmeal, then carefully fold in the raspberry purée to form a rippled effect.
Spoon the mixture into individual glasses or a serving dish, then scatter the rest of the berries and the remaining oatmeal on top.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Walnut Liqueurs
The Bride posted on her own blog, last fall, three recipes for walnut liqueur. It just so happens, we have friends with a huge walnut tree shading the back yard, and they offered us a step-ladder and welcome to as many walnuts as I could carry away (and come back and get more! Please! They drop from the tree, staining laundry on the line below it, attracting squirrels, and destroying tender plants. Not to mention, the dropping walnuts make a picnic in the backyard a chicken-little experience).
So, a couple of days ago, Girl-child and I picked 110 green (unripe) walnuts, more or less (she still occasionally leaves out 14 and 28, and sometimes gets confused at the transition from one decade to the next). We mailed about 30 to the Bride, and pulled out about 40 for me, and the rest will be used by our brother to make walnut oil for use in making his own paints.
Tonight, the children and I pulverized 18 walnuts for Vin de Noix, the recipe from the San Francisco Chronicle by Georgeanne Brennan (see The Bride's blog for details). The recipe calls for 35 green walnuts and 7 bottles of red wine! We don't need that much, so I halved the amounts. I had intended to use entirely local ingredients, to keep the terroire, but accidentally bought a California plonk, ur, I mean, wine, for the vin rouge. I don't think it will destroy the flavors. The photo shows the wine, some of the unpulverized walnuts and the pulverized walnuts soaking in the wine (for 40 days in a cool, dark place). On the first day of the children's school, I will strain and fortify it with sweetened vodka, and then bottle it and set it aside until we're ready to drink it.
Another 25 walnuts were more neatly cut into quarters, and then mixed with sugar, vodka, lemon zest, cloves and a cinnamon stick. It's so pretty! This is for an Italian version of the same liqueur, Nocino. No wine here, just the hard stuff (made in Oregon, too!). This bottle is supposed to sit in the sun, not in a cool, dark chat-bouton, for 60 days, at which point I will strain and decant it. This should be ready at the autumn equinox.
I'm eager to taste both of these. The walnuts have an unusual tart scent; the cutting board is stained yellow-green, but my fingers, from handling the pieces, are stained a beautiful dark brown, getting darker over the last hour. I would never have guessed that walnut stain comes from the green walnuts, not the ripe ones.
So, a couple of days ago, Girl-child and I picked 110 green (unripe) walnuts, more or less (she still occasionally leaves out 14 and 28, and sometimes gets confused at the transition from one decade to the next). We mailed about 30 to the Bride, and pulled out about 40 for me, and the rest will be used by our brother to make walnut oil for use in making his own paints.
Tonight, the children and I pulverized 18 walnuts for Vin de Noix, the recipe from the San Francisco Chronicle by Georgeanne Brennan (see The Bride's blog for details). The recipe calls for 35 green walnuts and 7 bottles of red wine! We don't need that much, so I halved the amounts. I had intended to use entirely local ingredients, to keep the terroire, but accidentally bought a California plonk, ur, I mean, wine, for the vin rouge. I don't think it will destroy the flavors. The photo shows the wine, some of the unpulverized walnuts and the pulverized walnuts soaking in the wine (for 40 days in a cool, dark place). On the first day of the children's school, I will strain and fortify it with sweetened vodka, and then bottle it and set it aside until we're ready to drink it.
Another 25 walnuts were more neatly cut into quarters, and then mixed with sugar, vodka, lemon zest, cloves and a cinnamon stick. It's so pretty! This is for an Italian version of the same liqueur, Nocino. No wine here, just the hard stuff (made in Oregon, too!). This bottle is supposed to sit in the sun, not in a cool, dark chat-bouton, for 60 days, at which point I will strain and decant it. This should be ready at the autumn equinox.I'm eager to taste both of these. The walnuts have an unusual tart scent; the cutting board is stained yellow-green, but my fingers, from handling the pieces, are stained a beautiful dark brown, getting darker over the last hour. I would never have guessed that walnut stain comes from the green walnuts, not the ripe ones.
What The Bride is doing with the home made ricotta
With the home made ricotta I made this afternoon, I am making the following pasta. I'm going to use a whole wheat pasta for health, but since I used whole milk and cream for the ricotta it's probably futile. I'm serving it with a sliced tomato salad with a garlicky dressing, and green beans from Appleton Farm.
Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil
from Apartment Therapy, the Kitchen blog
Serves 6
1 lb good quality pasta in a short twisted shape such as gemelli or penne
2 cups of home made ricotta (or a 15 ounce package of good store bought ricotta)
1 cup freshly grated good quality Parmesan
2 TBSP olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil, sliced thing as in a chiffonade.
Set a pot of water to boil. When it boils add a few teaspoons of salt and the pasta.
Stack the basil leaves and Roll them into a tube, then cut very thinly into strips. Put aside until the end.
In a metal bowl wide enough to fit over the top of the pasta pot, mix together the remaining ingredients. excluding the basil.
When about 2 minutes remain in the pasta cooking time, put the bowl over the pot and slowly stir the ricotta and other ingredients. You will see it loosening as you stir. When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain it and add the basil to the bowl of sauce and toss with the pasta.
Because this recipe is so simple, everything depends on using the best quality, fresh ingredients.
Yum.
Lemony Ricotta Pasta with Basil
from Apartment Therapy, the Kitchen blog
Serves 6
1 lb good quality pasta in a short twisted shape such as gemelli or penne
2 cups of home made ricotta (or a 15 ounce package of good store bought ricotta)
1 cup freshly grated good quality Parmesan
2 TBSP olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil, sliced thing as in a chiffonade.
Set a pot of water to boil. When it boils add a few teaspoons of salt and the pasta.
Stack the basil leaves and Roll them into a tube, then cut very thinly into strips. Put aside until the end.
In a metal bowl wide enough to fit over the top of the pasta pot, mix together the remaining ingredients. excluding the basil.
When about 2 minutes remain in the pasta cooking time, put the bowl over the pot and slowly stir the ricotta and other ingredients. You will see it loosening as you stir. When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain it and add the basil to the bowl of sauce and toss with the pasta.
Because this recipe is so simple, everything depends on using the best quality, fresh ingredients.
Yum.
Home Made Ricotta from The Bride
Also not a Cordon Bleu recipe, but good, while we are trying to figure out what to do with this blog.
Home Made Ricotta
2 quarts whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 TBSP fresh lemon juice
Bring the milk, cream, and salt to a rolling boil over medium heat, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over. When it is boiling, add the fresh lemon juice and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until it curdles - 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Pour into fine cheesecloth or a linen dish towel draped over a colander or sieve. Leave for 1 hour, until the liquid has drained out. Longer if you want it firmer. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Makes about 1 quart of cheese, depending on how long you actually leave it to drain.
Home Made Ricotta
2 quarts whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 TBSP fresh lemon juice
Bring the milk, cream, and salt to a rolling boil over medium heat, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over. When it is boiling, add the fresh lemon juice and reduce heat to low. Stir constantly until it curdles - 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Pour into fine cheesecloth or a linen dish towel draped over a colander or sieve. Leave for 1 hour, until the liquid has drained out. Longer if you want it firmer. Store in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Makes about 1 quart of cheese, depending on how long you actually leave it to drain.
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