An Intensive - Cultured Butter

Recently some friends asked me to come along on a hike. "I can't," I replied, "I'm taking a 6 hour cheese intensive that day."

You risk some raised eyebrows and prolonged stares when making a statement like that. But then again, this is the Bay Area. A passion for cheese (or really anything food related) is not uncommon, and more often than not the response is something like:

a. Awesome, where's the class and when can I take it?
b. Cool! I did a (insert butchery class, knife skills, pasta making, bread, etc.) last week.

The culinary arts are well respected in this part of the world. Otherwise 6 hour cheese intensives wouldn't be a possibility. Luckily for me, they are. My friend Elisa kindly invited me to join her in the class. I can safely say we didn't really know what we were in for, which was, roughly, five different cheeses (ricotta, mozzerella, camembert, chevre, feta, yogurt) and 2 different kinds of butter.

It was a long day of dairy at the Institute of Urban Homesteading in Oakland, ending in a feast of our labors. With the feta, we assembled a beautiful caprese salad, pictured above. The feta was my favorite of the bunch, tangy and mild. I've always been somewhat intimidated by the cheese making process, having only attempted ricotta and chevre. My ricotta turned out great, the chevre, not so much. It's a fairly precise art. You need the right ingredients, the right tools and above all, the right temperatures. Some of the cheeses require more time and effort than others, of course. I thought I'd share the recipe for cultured butter, totally easy and incredibly delicious.

I don't know why I hadn't considered making my own butter before. Now that I realize how simple it is to do, I'll certainly be doing it again. It's far superior to store-bought, especially the cultured butter, or yogurt butter. Basically, you just add yogurt to the milk, let it ferment a bit, and then whip it up. It was delicious.

Well worth a 6 hour cheese intensive.




Cultured Butter

1 quart heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup plain whole milk yogurt
a couple pinches of salt

In a glass bowl, mix the cream and yogurt together. Cover with a hand-towel or cheesecloth and let the mixture sit out in a warm area of your kitchen overnight. The ideal temperature for this is between 70-75 degrees. It will still work if it's colder, it will just take a bit longer.

In the morning, the mixture should have thickened a bit, letting the yogurt cultures meld with the cream.

A couple options at this point, you can put the mixture in your cuisineart (if you have one) on high for about 3 minutes, until the butter has formed a ball, you can use a hand-mixer on high, or you can put it in a jar and shake it vigorously until it's turned (if you have very strong arms).

If using a hand-mixer, turn the setting from high to low once the cream starts to form stiff peaks. At this point, the milk solids are separating from the liquid and things can get messy if the speed is too high.

When the solid butter has formed, pour off any buttermilk liquid in the bowl, and squeeze the butter to release any additional liquids (you can reserve the liquid, which is basically just buttermilk, for dressings). This is where a butter press can come in handy. The picture above is of butter that has been pressed, the press had the bird design molded into it. Pretty, no?

The final step is to rinse your butter with cold water, do that until the water runs clear and it will keep it from turning rancid. After that, salt the butter on all sides.

Dish, and serve.

Feeling Fall - Homemade Ricotta on Toast with Persimmon, Hazelnuts & Honey

As much as I love my Sunday Farmer's Market, it's not a one stop shop kind of place. Today I needed to stock up on some basic pantry staples, and after enjoying sleeping in for the first time in recent memory, it was a bit too late to hit the market. I decided Berkeley Bowl would be my best bet for the basics and good produce. Berkeley Bowl is something of a legend in the Bay Area. As the name suggests, it used to be a bowling alley, now it's aisles are stocked with gorgeous produce and hard to find spices, cheeses and other items. A word of caution, however, Berkeley Bowl is an enter at your own risk kind of place. Once you're in, it's every man for himself. The lines are ridiculously long and every Berkeley hippie with dreds and a patchouli fetish is wielding a shopping cart and not afraid to run over your foot or ram you with it. It can be an unpleasant experience, and it can take forever, but mostly, the goods are worth it.

Among the items in my basket were a package of cheesecloth and a large glass bottle of Strauss Family Creamery Whole Milk. Strauss milk is a luxury item in my house, but today I was making my first attempt at homemade ricotta, so I wanted to use the best ingredients possible. I grabbed a couple of beautiful flaming orange fuyu persimmons as well.

The ricotta couldn't have been easier to make. I couldn't believe how quickly it came together, and with only three ingredients no less. So much tastier than buying a carton from the store. I'm so excited with the results. I spread it on a slice of sourdough I'd baked the day before, added some toasted hazelnuts, a couple slices of persimmon and drizzled some honey over that. A perfect autumn breakfast.

Ricotta and instructions have been all over the blogosphere lately, but I'm adding mine to the pile. The whole process takes about 10 minutes. Go ahead, give it a try!


Homemade Ricotta
adapted from Bon Appetit
makes about 1 cup

4 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Line a colander with 4 layers of cheesecloth. Heat milk and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until just simmering. Stir in the lemon juice. Curds will start to form, continue to simmer for 1-2 minutes. Next, using a slotted spoon or skimmer, remove the curds from the liquid, and transfer to a cheesecloth lined colander. Let the cheese drain for about 1 minutes. Don't drain it for any longer than that, or your cheese will be too dry. Transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Keep chilled. Cheese will keep 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

The Good Life - Haloumi with Melon and Avocado in a Mint-Lime Dressing

I've notice a trend amongst food-bloggers. It seems at some point in their youth, everyone went to France and since then, food has taken center stage in the daily fantasies. Thinking about that first lick of gelato which made store-bought ice cream seem like a cruel punishment, the bread which made all other bread taste like cardboard, the pastries (oh the pastries) the cheese (oh GOD, the cheese!) and, in my case, the champagne that accompanied breakfast.

My French exchange Father served me my first taste of champagne at my arrival dinner, the night I realized champagne and I were made for each other. He delighted in seeing my face after that first sip and thought it was quite funny. While we were on vacation in Corsica, he always poured a small glass with my morning orange juice. He would laugh and tell me I was meant for the good life in France. I couldn't have agreed more. Needless to say, we got along like gangbusters.

Another regular on the table in Corsica was the melon wrapped in prosciutto. A French classic. It's the perfect blend of sweet and salty. One I like to try and re-create again and again during the summer, desperately tyring to make it taste as I remember it that summer in Corsica when I was 16. Sadly, it never tastes quite as good, but that's true of just about everything that's not in France.

I stumbled across this recipe on Design Sponge, and it reminded me of that sweet and salty combination I love so much. The saltiness comes from the haloumi (one of my favorite cheeses) and it adds mint and avocado. The haloumi is a perfect replacement when you want something vegetarian. I adapted it slightly by adding more lime

Haloumi, Melon, and Avocado salad with lime-mint dressing

adapted from Melina Hammer of Design Sponge
Serves 4

1 cantaloupe
2 avocados
2 blocks of haloumi (8 ounces each)
1/4 cup chopped mint
juice from 2 limes
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix mint, olive oil and the juice of 1 lime together. Set aside.

Cut the cantaloupe in half and scoop out its seeds. Use a larger size melon ball tool to hollow out spheres from its flesh. Do the same with the avocados, using the smaller size of the melon baller. Dress the avocado balls in the juice of the 1 remaining lime to keep it from turing brown.

Slice the haloumi into 1/2 inch slices. Pour 2 tbsp olive oil into a skillet and heat over medium high. When the oil is hot, add the haloumi and sear until brown on each side. The second side will take less time than the first.

Place the cheese in a serving dish. Top with melon and avocado balls and dress with the mint-lime dressing. Serve while hot.

Peonies and Squash Blossoms - Fried Squash Blossoms Stuffed with Creme Fraiche, Basil & Lemon

I have something of a love affair going with peonies. No joke. It's a well-known fact that I swoon at the mere sight of this superior flower. I've documented this before. When I visit my parents in Portland in the Spring and Summer, my Mother always has one in a vase at the side of my bed. She is quite incredible that way. And once, after a difficult split with a boyfriend, my roommate at the time had a vase full of them waiting for me in the North corner of my room. She maintained that this particular arrangement of flowers in that particular corner would always bring me luck in love. While I've never been able to ascertain the truth of that statement, I do enjoy the thought of it. And it becomes an added excuse to buy them every once in awhile.

While admittedly, the fact that they are my favorite flower does not make me unique, it certainly doesn't quell the impulse purchase in the checkout line at Trader Joe's. I bought 9 for $9 there this past weekend. And oh-so carefully, lovingly and tenderly brought them home, trimmed the ends, poured a small amount of plant food into the vase, and made sure they were given the proper amount of water. Only ONE of them opened.

It was as though my favorite flower was mocking me.

Whatever, flowers. No more will I spend $9 of extra grocery money on your fickle petals. I will however have my revenge. I will eat you instead.

This week has been full of coincidences. One of which being that Beth and I bought squash blossoms to fry on the same day, neither of us having ever attempted squash blossoms before. Her recipe was a bit more adventurous than mine, I didn't even fry them in the traditional sense, but they did turn out well. Mouthwateringly delicious, actually. Flowers are so much less insulting when they're fried.

In other news, Wilco tomorrow night! Oh Jeff Tweedy. You really are quite charming with your guitar.


Fried Squash Blossoms with Creme Fraiche, Basil and Lemon
This recipe serves one, double as needed

3 squash blossoms
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp mint
1/2 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1/4 cup oilve oil

Combine the basil, mint, lemon zest and creme fraiche in a small bowl. Transfer to a plastic bag. Snip the tip of the plastic bag off, and carefully squeeze the creme fraiche mixture into each blossom until stuffed full. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, gently place the blossoms into the skillet. Fry for about 1 minute on each side. When the blossoms are slightly brown, remove and let drain on a paper towel. Serve while hot.

To truly fry the blossoms, try coating each blossom with a batter of beaten egg and a tiny bit of flour before frying.

Rocket Recipe - Guest Post by Leah - Homemade Ricotta with Macerated Strawberries, Rosemary & Black Pepper

Rocket Kitchen is a supper club started by Sonya and me about two years ago. It’s based on our belief that food should be nourishing, interesting, and shared. Our goals are to foster experimentation and to create a community dining experience different from a traditional restaurant. We’re based in the East Bay, but the actual event is nomadic. In essence, we want to bring together great people with great food that is produced with ingredients directly from our community. Mostly though, it’s just an excuse to have fun! For this week’s Rocket Kitchen, we served goat’s milk ricotta drizzled with honey and paired with strawberries to compliment both the season and our main dish of fennel crusted roasted pork loin.

In Italian, Ricotta means, "to cook again" or "twice cooked." It’s a soft, smooth, fresh and un-ripened Italian cheese usually made from the whey of cow's or sheep's milk. In our case, we used goat’s milk to give it a tangy flavor. The traditional recipe uses the whey that remains after removing the curds when making hard cheese, but since we hadn’t gotten farther than buying the rennet (the enzyme used in making cheese that coagulates the milk, causing it to separate into curds and liquid whey – Little Miss Muffet, anyone) from Rainbow Grocery we decided to make non-traditional Whole Milk Ricotta instead.

It was served as the final dish, drizzled with honey from the farmer’s market and paired with strawberries macerated in sugar, rosemary, and black pepper. Inspired, if I do say so myself!

Whole Milk Ricotta
This recipe is taken from the Fiats Co Farm web page.

2 - quarts whole Cow, Sheep, or Goat milk (do not use “Ultra-Pasteurized’)
3 – Tablespoons White Vinegar OR ¼ Cup fresh, strained lemon juice
Cheese Cloth

In a heavy pot, over direct heat, slowly heat 2 quarts of whole milk to 200 degrees. Add the white vinegar OR lemon juice. Make sure to bring the temperature back up to 200. You will see very tiny white particles (the albumin protein) floating in the whey. The heat and acid from the ripe whey has precipitated the protein.

Remove the pot from the heat and set it, covered, to rest undisturbed for about 15 minutes.
Line a colander with very fine cheesecloth, called "butter muslin". You must use a very fine cloth here, or your cheese will pass through. If you do not have fine cheesecloth, use a clean cotton cloth (like a pillow case). Place the colander over a big pot so you can save the whey and carefully pour the whey into the colander. Be very careful because the liquid will be hot. Bring together the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang the ricotta to drain for up to an hour or so (the longer it hangs the "drier" your finished cheese will be.) We left a bit of liquid in the cheese so it would have a creamier and have a less “cottage cheese” like consistency.

When it has drained, place the ricotta in a bowl, break up, stir and add salt to taste (1/4 tsp.- 1/2 tsp.). This Ricotta will keep for about a week in the fridge.

Macerated Strawberries with Rosemary and Black Pepper

1/2-cup sugar
3 pints (baskets) strawberries cleaned and quartered
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
1 ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Muddle the rosemary and sugar together with a mortar and pestle or with the back of a wooden spoon to release the essential oils of the rosemary into the sugar.

Pour the sugar over the berries and mix carefully to combine. Let sit for 25-30 minutes. A good deal of liquid will release from the berries, leaving you with amazing syrup you can reserve or pour over the ricotta when serving.

Just before serving crack a bit of black pepper into the macerated berries and mix gently to combine.

And finally, a few more pictures from the evening. All photo's in this post taken by Elizabeth Minor:



Post by Leah Zonis

A Squeaky Cheese - Haloumi 3 ways

I have two older sisters, both are amazing cooks, but my eldest sister, in particular, is something of a marvel in the kitchen. There are eight (human) mouths to feed in her family, not to mention the two cats, horses, goats, rabbit, and (last I checked) single goldfish acquired at the state fair. A less capable and adventurous person might surrender to pizza and take-out most nights of the week to feed a family of that size. Not so with Erika. She creates (from scratch!) the most remarkable, delicious and comforting feasts you can imagine.

Whether its her famous and totally indulgent lasagna (the one with a beschamel sauce and slices of camembert cheese in between the layers) the fragrant tangines, a delectable Carmel pear trifle or tandoori chicken, there are always, always numerous dishes on the table. A main dish accompanied by rice or pasta, fresh bread, a vegetable and a salad. Meals are never skimped on. They are a family affair; always shared and always enjoyed. I could go on and on recounting the tastes and smells that have come from Erika's kitchen, and I reap the benefits with so many recipes collected over the years. When I was in college I lived not far from their tiny, storybook Ashland, Oregon home. I came over weekly for those family dinners, and since moving to the Bay Area, my dinners and time with them is one of the things I miss the most.

I picked up one little addiction in particular from her. It's called Haloumi. Haloumi is, as advertised on the package, the Greek cheese that grills. It doesn't melt, it grills. And once it has been grilled and has ended up in your mouth, it squeaks delightfully between the teeth. The cheese is actually cured before it's brined, which gives it it's resistance to melting at a low temperature. It's very salty, savory and totally unique. It's one of my favorite toppings for toasted pita bread and it's also spectacular with slices of peaches, watermelon and cantaloupe, or when used as a garnish in salads. It also occurs to me that it would be a fantastic take on a new and improved grilled cheese sandwich, the possibilites are really quite endess. However, I happen to think it's always best when served with a few squirts of fresh lemon juice on top. Sour and salty is one of my favorite flavor combinations.

And that's how my sister would serve it, a few slices of toasted pita, halloumi and lemon on top. Served alongside hummus, babaganoush and tabouli, she'd whip together a Mediterranean feast in a few minutes. A whirling dervish in the kitchen.

You can find this cheese in most grocery stores. The kind I usually get comes in a white plastic package with blue lettering. Definitely carried at Whole Foods.

Haloumi three ways

Cut the cheese into slices, about 1/4 inch thick. You can cook Haloumi in a pan on the stove or over the grill, about 4 minutes per-side. It will be quite dark on both sides, don't let it burn, but it should be very brown.

Serve with toasted pita bread and slices of lemon, garnish with parsley.

Serve with sliced grilled peaches. Garnish with mint and lemon.

Garnish a mixed greens salad with the halloumi. Dress with vinaigrette.