Category Archives: Cheese

Being Frugal with Ricotta, Part 2

Fruit-studded ricotta biscuits perfect with jam, butter or all on their own.

After staying up late to witness last night’s historic presidential election, all you sleep heads might need a little pick-me-up today.

Look no further than these tantalizing Ricotta Biscuits with Dried Cherries, Apricots & Raspberries.

We refer to ricotta as cheese. But did you know that it’s really not? So says the must-have, go-to book, “The Food Lover’s Companion” (Barron’s) by the late Sharon Tyler Herbst and her husband, Ron Herbst.

Ricotta is technically not a cheese because it has neither a starter or rennet in it, the Herbsts state. Ricotta is actually reheated whey (the watery liquid that separates from the solids or curds when making cheese). When the whey is reheated, “protein particles rise to the surface, are skimmed off, strained, then placed in perforated molds or baskets to drain further.” The result is ricotta.

This great recipe comes from “Leslie Mackie’s Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook” (Sasquatch Books) by Seattle bakery owner, Leslie Mackie, with Andrew Cleary.

These fruit-studded biscuits were the perfect way to use up the last of my leftover ricotta. In my posting yesterday, as you recall, I raved about another baked good that put some of that remaining ricotta to good use.

The dough for these biscuits is very wet and loose. So much so that I needed a dough scraper to turn out and fold the “dough” as it called for in the directions. I also needed a spatula to lift the cut biscuits onto the baking pan. Either that or they would have stuck all over my hands. Yes, this dough is a mess to work with, but don’t let that discourage you from trying it.

These treats taste like biscuits and look like scones. They are not dessert-like sweet, but pleasantly sweet enough from the infusion of all the fruit. The recipe says it makes eight biscuits. It does if you want ones the size of individual meatloaves. Personally, I think you can make 16 biscuits out of this, easily. Freeze some to enjoy with coffee or tea for breakfast another time. As winter approaches, you’ll be so glad you have a stash of these hearty babies tucked away.

Ricotta Biscuits with Dried Cherries, Apricots & Raspberries

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Being Frugal with Ricotta, Part 1

A muffin worth waking up to, or ending the day with.

With our 401ks in a horrific nosedive, our stocks plummeting at a dizzying rate, and so many of us no longer bringing home the bacon with a steady paycheck (uh, yes, that includes yours truly), we simply can’t waste food these days.

So when I found myself with some extra ricotta recently, left over from making pizza, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to try new recipe or two. For me, that meant baked goods, of course.

I could have just eaten the luscious whole-milk ricotta mixed with a little honey and fresh fruit. But oh, where’s the challenge in that? I thought the leftover ricotta, with its moist, creamy texture and subtle sweet flavor, deserved more.

So on the Web, I found a recipe on Recipezaar.com that had never been reviewed yet. The Lemon Ricotta Muffins needed a little tinkering, as the oven temperature was in Celsius degrees, and the mixing instructions were a little off kilter.

But in the end, the result was a batter as thick as cookie dough that baked up to a tender, cake-like texture that melted in the mouth. The sliced almonds and sugar strewn on top of the muffins gilded the lily in the loveliest way. My hubby is already asking when I can make these again.

I think it was a fitting end to some of my leftover ricotta. Find out what other baked good was the recipient of the remainder of the ricotta in tomorrow’s post.

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

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The Pizza Dough That Takes Three Days to Make

Pizza Bianco, pre-baking

Don’t let that scare you off.

It does take about three days to make this pizza dough. But most of that time, the dough is just hanging out in the fridge, doing its own thing.

Pizza Bianco, post-baking

This recipe comes from the new “A16: Food + Wine” (Ten Speed Press) cookbook by Nate Appleman, Shelley Lindgren, and Kate Leahy. Yes, it’s the new cookbook from one of my favorite San Francisco restaurants, A16, where I have swooned over many a thin-crust, Neapolitan-style pizza.

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Whet Your Appetite with Burgers, Cheese, Sandwiches, Cocktails, and Wine

Spruce's gourmet burger (Photo courtesy of Frankie Frankeny)

Sundays were made for burgers and red Burgundy.

Spruce in San Francisco sure thinks so. The glam restaurant is offering a “Burgers and Burgundy” menu every Sunday through November in the lounge or dining room.

Chow down on the classic burger snuggled inside a house-made English muffin with pickled onions, zucchini, and remoulade, while sipping one, two or three rotating selections of Burgundy. The burger is $14; the Burgundies are available at $12, $25, and $50. A flight of all three wines also is available for $40.

Big spenders can add foie gras to their burgers for an extra $13.

Cheese more your thing? Then, you’ll be glad that the postponed sixth annual “Cheese & Wine Dinner” at Parcel 104 in Santa Clara is back on for Nov. 8.

Parcel 104 Executive Chef Robert Sapirman will be joined by chefs Chris Schloss of Cin-Cin Wine Bar in Los Gatos, Mark Dommen of One Market in San Francisco, and Arthur Wall of The Restaurant at Wente Vineyards in Livermore. They will prepare a five-course dinner, each showcasing a different artisan cheese, and paired with an appropriate wine.

Local cheese authority and cookbook author Laura Werlin will be on hand to answer questions about cheese. The night’s appetizers will be made from recipes from her cheese books. The dinner is $145.

Togo\'s turkey-cranberry sandwich (Photo courtesy of Togo\'s)

For those watching their pennies, Togo’s has a deal for you. Wednesdays through Nov. 26, participating Togo’s shops will roll back the price of a different select sandwich every week to the original 1970 price of $1.99. For Northern Californians, you’re in luck, because every Togo’s in Northern California is participating in the promotion.

During “Flashback Wednesdays,” with every $1.99 sandwich purchase, Togo’s will make a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Togo’s, though, has not yet stated how large a donation that will be.

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A Heart-Attack Meal

Clam pizza

You’re lucky I’m still alive.

After all, the amount of fat I consumed in one meal recently in Los Angeles is probably enough to send most folks into cardiac arrest. But I am a seasoned professional — used to putting my body on the line when it comes to chowing down on the finer, fattier tasting things in life.

And it doesn’t get much finer than Pizzeria Mozza at N. Highland Avenue and Melrose Avenue. Everytime I make it to Los Angeles, this is a stop I have to make, a stop I dream about all vacation-long.

A restaurant by Nancy Silverton (of La Brea Bakery fame), Mario Batali (who needs no introduction), and Joseph Bastianich  (Lidia’s son), this is a true temple of carbo-load hedonism. It makes what is arguably the best pizza around. It’s the only pizza in which I eat every bit of crust. When it’s this good, why let any go to waste? It’s at once chewy in some parts, crispy in others, and with a deep, bready flavor like a fine artisan loaf.

Since it opened, the restaurant has been a hard ticket. But it does take reservations now. And if you don’t mind eating at the odd hour of 3 p.m.-ish, you usually can walk in on a weekday or weekend to find a free table or a free seat at the bar.

Bone marrow in all its glory, baby.

That’s what my hubby and I did, snagging a table on a Friday afternoon. We started with an appetizer of sinful bone marrow ($12). Roasted in the oven, three dinosaur-like bones come to the table, encasing a wealth of unctuous, rich marrow to be spread on grilled bread. Add a sprinkling of salt, some parsley leaves, and a confit garlic clove for a taste of heaven.

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