Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Technically, it's not a type of cheese. It's made from the by-product of cheese making - whey -. For those of us who lack access to cheese-making by-products, there is a very easy way of making Ricotta, without the needs for special cheese-making ingredients such as rennet. Most people would already have the ingredients at home: cow milk (or a blend of cow and goat milk), vinegar (or lemon juice), and salt. All you need to do is heat them up and drain. 30 minutes is all it takes for a delicious homemade warm fresh Ricotta.

Instead of using white vinegar, I use fresh squeezed lemon juice since it provides the acid needed for curdling just as well as vinegar. You can also make Ricotta using buttermilk without the need for acid. I adapted the recipe from David Lebovitz.

Ingredients:
(makes 2 C)

• 8 C whole milk
• 1 C homemade plain yogurt
• 1/2 C cream (optional)
  
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

1. In a saucepan, heat all ingredient to boil.

2. Turn the heat down to a gentle boil for another one or two minutes, until mixture is curdled.

3. Line a few layers of cheesecloth over a deep bowl. Pour the mixture over and let drain for 15 minutes, or less for a creamier texture.

4. Serve it warm or refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Grilled Peaches with Ricotta Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

Remember what I was saying about peaches are meant to be eaten fresh? I eat my own words. It's just so tempting to cook with peaches! Well, if I may defend myself, at least this is a grilling recipe....

I have been using the top rack of the kitchen oven as broiler AND grill. To make things right for this recipe, I bought a grill rack. I figured if people can place it over barbecue pit, it must be ok to place it over kitchen stove. You bet I'm gonna be grilling a lot from now! At least until I get bored.

I wanted something sweet to compliment the Veggie Chickpea Burger and Citrus Beet and Feta Salad, but nothing overwhelming. This grilled peach topped with fresh ricotta cheese and a drizzling of a balsamic reduction, is not only fresh but also healthy. It promises to leave you feeling spoiled and wanting more. I especially like the balsamic reduction. I wonder what more I can do with it....

By the way, this recipe also won me the "Best Presentation to date" award.

Ingredients:

2 ripe peaches, halved with pits removed

1/2 cup fresh ricotta cheese

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon natural cane sugar

4 sprigs of mint

1. When the grill is nice and hot, grill each half peach for 4-5 minutes per side. Placed peaches on a plate with cut side facing up. Place a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese in the center of each peach half.
2. Cook vinegar with cane sugar on medium heat until it is reduced by half. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Drizzle over grilled peach half.
   
3. Garnish with a sprig of mint.
   

It's definitely on top of my personal best

I was going to make this dinner for our special day tomorrow. But I changed my mind and made it today instead - I have a bigger ambition for tomorrow night. I knew it would be good just by imagining the taste. Indeed. It's so good that I'm kind of regretted of not having to keep it for tomorrow night. After all, tomorrow's dinner is a whole new territory I have been shying from.
Anyway, back to tonight's dinner. I had a Herbed Goat Cheese with Mushroom Relish as appetizer, a Broccoli Salad and Almond Crusted Salmon Fillet with Lemon Leek Cream Sauce as main.
They are all very good recipes to be fair. However, the salmon fillet was so good that it stole the limelight from the other two.

Herbed Goat Cheese with Mushroom Relish

I like how the flan looked when I tipped it over. The mushroom relish with sun dried tomatoes also acted as visual aid to the presentation. I would add more goat cheese next time just for personal preference.

Ingredients:
(make 6 muffin-sized flans)
4 ounces goat cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used parsley and basil)

4 ounces baby bella mushrooms (I used shiitake), chopped
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
3 - 4 sun dried tomatoes , chopped
salt and pepper
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly oil muffin tray (I used ramekin).
2. In a bowl, mix together cheese, ricotta, eggs and herbs.
3. Spoon cheese mixture into tray and bake for 25 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Let cool.
4. Sautee mushrooms till fragrant. Add sundried tomatoes and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Tip flan out from the tray/ ramekin. Spoon mushroom relish over cooled flan.

Broccoli Salad
I feel sorry for this dish. It really is one of the best broccoli salads. It's a shame that it faded into the background over the overwhelmingly good Salmon Fillet. It actually has a pretty insane name - One of the Best Salad in the World Ever! Instead of using sugar, I substituted with Agave nectar. I roasted the raw cashew nuts that I had but I suspect salted cashew nuts (as called by the recipe) were the real deal in this recipe.


Almond Crusted Salmon Fillet with Lemon Leek Cream Sauce

Because I seldom eat fish, and also because I am skeptical of most cooked fish at restaurants, when I cook fish, it's got to be special. I thought this recipe sounded good when I read it. That's an underestimation - not only does it sound good but look and taste GOOD! The almond crust was crispy and it just went perfect with the lemony leek cream sauce. "This is insanely good" to quote from Adrian. Not convinced? How about "It makes me want to kneel down, pause and savor the taste". More testimonial? "Definitely one of the best dishes I have had". Enough said.

Ingredients:
2 Large salmon fillets
1 Cup slivered almonds
1/8 cup bread crumbs
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon butter
juice of 1/2 a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter
1 large leek, root and green top removed, slice the remaining part thinly
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt butter over medium low heat. Add leek and let cook for 15 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C.
3. Place fillets on a baking sheet with the skin side down. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Drizzle juice of 1/2 a lemon over the fillets and let sit.
4. In a food processor, blend together almonds, breadcrumbs, garlic cloves and butter.
5. Spread almond mixture over fillets, pressing firmly to adhere.
6. Place the baking sheet on the top second rack of oven. Let broil for about 12 - 15 minutes until browned.
7. Once the leeks are softened and cooked through, add juice of 1 lemon followed by cream. Stir over low heat. The cream will thicken and reduce in half.
8. When the salmons are cooked, pull them out from the oven, gently lift to plate.
9. Top salmon with lemon leek cream sauce. Serve immediately.