Bad Blogger - homemade Ricotta, lobster, pasta

Note:  I was going through posts and realized I had a draft of a post that I never published.  Unfortunately, I think I erased the pictures I took of the ricotta and other things but I thought it was worth it to post this at least for the recipes.  Oh, I wrote this back in June.

I know, I've been a bad blogger.  I haven't been inspired to post anything lately.  The sun seemed to be playing hide and seek here in New England, mostly hiding.  But now it's out!  So I cooked up a storm this weekend.  Lucky for everyone who reads this.  I hope.
Anyway, the first thing I was inspired to make it was homemade ricotta after reading about it on Smitten Kitchen.  I admit, I've never been a huge fan of ricotta.  I've always had the ones sold in the supermarket, in the tubs with all the water.  The ones the consistency of a rubber brick.  Now tell me, how can anyone be a fan of that awful stuff?  After seeing the pics posted, I knew I had to make it.  Plus, it only requires 4 simple ingredients and takes less than half an hour of active attention.  Anyway, I used it in my pasta that I made.  But first, on to the recipe!

Homemade Ricotta
Makes about 1  cup of ricotta

3 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream (or you could use 3 1/2 cups of milk and 1/2 cup of heavy cream)
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pour the milk, cream and salt into a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan. Attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Heat the milk to 190°F (I found that when mine reached this temp, it was at the point when the milk starts to rise up like it's almost going to boil over), stirring it occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.
Line a colander or a strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. At an hour, you’ll have a tender, spreadable ricotta. At two hours, it will be spreadable but a bit firmer, almost like cream cheese. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your cheesecloth.) Discard the whey, or, if you like to make bread, I found several sources which say they've used it when making bread which I might try.  Eat the ricotta right away or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Obviously, with this softer and richer ricotta, I was inspired to make, as Picky liked to call it, an inside out ravioli.  I just called it adding the cheese to the pasta really.  There's not much to say about my pasta dish, except that or the cup of ricotta, I would only use about half the package of pasta instead of the whole package.

Pasta with Ricotta, tomatoes, basil and garlic

Serves about 2 people

1/2 a package of pasta (instead of linguini I would use something with nooks like rotini)
A couple tablespoons of olive oil
1 package of cherry tomatoes, preferably from a farmers market, cut in half
A handful of dried crumbled basil or fresh basil, cut into thin ribbons
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of homemade ricotta
Salt and pepper to taste
More olive oil to taste

Boil pasta according to package directions in salted water.  While it is boiling, add olive oil to a hot pan.  When the oil starts to shimmer, add the tomatoes.  After a few minutes, add the basil.  When the skins on the tomatoes start to wrinkle a little, add the garlic and cook for a minute.  Add the cooked and drained pasta to the pan and add the ricotta as well.  Add salt and pepper to taste and toss all together until well coated.  Add more olive oil if desired.

While Picky was eating his pasta, I had some lobster.  Living by the ocean, I can get a fresh live lobster for under $10.  So after living here for so many years, I finally bought one.  But I couldn't bring myself to kill it.  I made Picky do it.  Basically, you position the knife somewhere between the eyes and beginning of the tail and push the point of the knife all the way through, then bring the rest of the knife down through the front of the head.  Then toss it in boiling salted water.  The lobster was only a little over a pound, so I boiled it for 12 minutes.  After that, I removed it and let it cool.  I used a tenderizer to smash open the claws and the knife to crack open the tail.  Then I squeezed some lemon juice and ate the yummy lobster.  I wasn't prepared for the roe that came along with the female lobster, however, I might make a roe aioli the next time I come across it.

Semi-Fancy Mac and Cheese

 Obviously, my picture taking skills are horrible!  I promise that the mac and cheese looks much better in person than in pictures.  The pictures do add those dreaded 10 pounds.  Poor mac and cheese!

 Anyway, this give me another opportunity to tell a Picky story.  This one occurred during the creation of this dish.  The mac and cheese was browning in the oven, and I had just finished checking on it.  The following exchange occurred:

Me:  "What are you doing?"
Picky:  *looking at me with the same expression I have seen my cat give me a million times.  It's the one where my cat is about to knock something over, but I catch him before he can commit his mischief, yet he looks at me and then knocks the thing over super fast and runs away.  So yeah, Picky had a piece of cheese in his hand, and looked at me the same way that my cat looks at me*
Me:  "Don't eat that!"
Picky: *he greedily shoves the piece of cheese into his mouth before I can take it away*

Yes, my boyfriend has now turned into my cat.  Now, I am not some cruel cheese mistress, who only lets Picky look at cheese without eating it.  He had already had some cheese on his egg sandwich this morning, plus, I had added 2 cups of shredded cheese to the mac and cheese sauce.  But no, I guess that isn't enough for Picky.  He acts like he has been cheese deprived!

 Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this recipe.  I have to admit, this is probably one of the most delicious mac and cheese recipes I have ever made.  And the way Picky was attacking not only his serving, but also the entire vessel containing the rest of the mac and cheese, I would have to say he agrees.  But stay tuned for his review.

Semi-Fancy Mac and Cheese

Inspired by various mac and cheese recipes online

I looked at many mac and cheese recipes online.  Unfortunately, I didn’t keep track of all the ones that interested me, so I’m just going from the things I saw that seemed like a good idea and combining them in one recipe.  As far as cheese goes, I had Picky select three different cheeses and combined them.  Because of the wine, the sauce will be wine colored, unless you go with a white wine.  Or you could add beer instead, but then it would be only a quarter-fancy.

Ingredients:
4 slices of applewood smoked bacon, or more if you really love bacon (reserve the fat for this recipe)

2 very large shallots or 5 smaller ones, sliced thinly

1 package of macaroni, or any tube-like pasta that you prefer

Sauce:

3 tablespoons of a combination of unsalted butter and/or bacon fat

3 tablespoons flour

½ cup red wine

1 cup low fat milk

1 cup half and half

½ cup of fontina cheese

¾ cup of aged cheddar

¾ cup of gruyere

Salt and pepper to taste

Topping:
2 cups unseasoned panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons truffle oil or extra virgin olive oil(optional)
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme

Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter or oil a 9 by 7 inch baking dish.
Place the bacon in a skillet on medium high heat until the bacon is crispy, but not burned.  Make sure to turn it halfway through cooking (after 2 or 3 minutes).  Remove to a plate with a paper towel and allow to drain.  Chop when it is cool into quarter inch pieces.
After placing the bacon on paper towels, remove most of the bacon fat except for 1 tablespoon.  Lower the heat to medium, or medium low.  Add the sliced shallots to the pan, and stir occasionally until it is light brown in color, about 8 minutes.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil over high heat (the water will boil faster if you cover the pot).  When it is boiling, make sure to salt the water, then add the macaroni, and boil for the 1 minute less than the package calls for.  The pasta should be a little more than al dente, just slightly.  Since you will put the mac and cheese in the oven, you don’t want the pasta to be too done.  Strain in a colander, but don’t rinse!
After you have started to boil the water, place your butter or bacon fat in a sauce pan over medium heat.  If you are using butter, wait until the butter stops bubbling, add the flour and whisk together.  Cook for a minute or two until the roux (flour and butter) starts to brown.  If you are using bacon fat, let it heat for a minute and then add the flour letting it cook for a minute or two.  Whisk in the wine until combined.  Let this cook for a 2 -3 minutes before you add the low fat milk.  Add a little at a time, alternating between the milk and the half and half, whisking after each addition. Your sauce should be the consistency of alfredo sauce.  If it is a bit thicker than that, add a half a ladle of pasta water to your sauce and wisk.  Add more until it coats a spoon, but isn’t the consistency of gravy.  After all the liquids have been added, add your grated cheeses, one at a time, making sure to whisk after each addition until melted.  Taste your sauce at this point.  You might not need to add salt because of the cheese and the salt contained in the cooked pasta.  Add pepper to taste.  Take the sauce off the heat.  Add the chopped bacon and the shallots.
At this point, combine the sauce and the macaroni in a large bowl and mix together until well combined.  Pour this in your greased baking pan.
Finally, combine the panko, the melted butter and your oil in a small bowl, along with the remaining herbs.  Mix with a fork until well combined.  Spread the combined topping evenly over the mac and cheese and place in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is browned.  Take out and enjoy with a loved one!