Shortcake!

I’m firmly on the biscuit side of the biscuit vs cake for shortcake debate.   Don’t get me wrong, I would never turn down cake with seasonal fruit and whipped cream are you kidding?   But for shortcake I like a biscuit that is golden brown, a little crunchy on the edges and buttery flavour.  This fits the bill perfectly:

2 cups flour

¼ cup sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt.

¼ cup cold butter

1 egg

2/3 cup milk.

Stir together the dry ingredients and cut in the butter.  

 Beat the egg and milk together and add.  Mix gently.  Knead three times.   The dough is a bit sticky so use some flour on the counter when you roll it out to about ¾ inch thick.   I use the lid from a canning jar (standard size- not wide mouth mason)  to cut out the biscuits.   Maybe if making this for teenage boys you could use a wide mouth one.    

I love how yellow the dough is from the egg and that they are a little rough around the edges as this dessert is a bit rustic. 

Bake at 425 F for 10-12 minutes- until golden on the edges and top.   Let cool on a rack.

Serve sliced in half with seasonal fruit and whipped cream.  

Sweet biscuit, seasonal fruit, whipped cream.

Are you for biscuits, cake or just skip it all go for the whipped cream?

Lottsa Mozza!

Hey everyone, this post is by Ella of Make Cheese.  She is a vendor at the Millarville Farmers' market selling kits on how to make all kinds of cheese.   She taught a cheese making class during the market that was a great success.   

Teaching boards

Shawn and Colin are making cheese.

Ella imparts her cheesy wisdom.

Take it away Ella!

Homemade mozzarella

Fresh cheeses like mozzarella can be easy to make with simple ingredients created from fresh milk, acid, rennet, and salt. Best of all mozzarella can be produced easily at home. They'll likely be tastier than supermarket brands, probably less expensive, and certainly way more fun.

Today, Ella from www.makecheese.ca demonstrates an easy way for fresh, handcrafted and handstretched mozzarella cheese.

Mozzarella in 5 Steps: 

Stretching your own curd can be described as "ridiculously fun."

(FYI - this picture wasn't taken on a Saturday night. Why do you ask?)

Here's what you'll need: 

Ingredients: 

•    Rennet (1 tablet)

•    1 1/2 teaspoons of citric acid

•    milk (any kind except ultra pasteurized), 

•    salt (just a dash), 

•    1 cup of non-chlorinated water

Equipment: You will findeverything you need in your own kitchen however, you may need to get yourself a thermometer that reads from 60F to 200F.

Step 1 – Dilute 1 ½ tsp of citric acid into half a cup of water (non-chlorinated water).  Add solution to pot containing 1 gallon of milk. 

Step 2- Stir and heat milk solution to 90F.

 If the milk curdles a little don’t fret. It’s normal. 

Step 3 – Cut the cheese!;) With a long knife cut a checkerboard pattern into the curd mass. Cut all the way to the bottom of the pot. Slowly, heat the curd cubes to 105F. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Scoop your cubed curds out into a colander. Your curds won’t hold their shape entirely so don’t worry. Cut the curd mass into 3 sections.

Great work! You will now have curds (solid) and whey (yellow liquid).

Step 4 – Heat up the pot of whey to 175F. Dip 1 curd section into the hot whey for 1 minute using a slotted spoon.  You want to fully submerge the curd in the hot whey.

Your goal here is to heat the curd section so you can stretch it in step 5. 

Step 5 –Remove the curd section from the hot whey. Please remember to dip your hands into the cold water –The curd is hot! Now knead the curd section in your hand. This will release some whey from the curd and you will feel the curd start to stiffen up. It’s common to dip the curd into the whey a second or third time until you get a stiffer, shiny, stretchy curd. You’ll be able to feel it take shape in your hand. Braid it, roll it into any shape. Set your mozzarella aside and repeat step 10 with remaining curd sections.

 CONGRATULATIONS! YOU JUST MADE FRESH MOZZARELLA! 

If you need any of the ingredients, feel free to visit my website at: www.makecheese.ca

  

I have assembled all-in-one cheesemaking kits with all the supplies you'll need to make mozzarella.  

if you have any questions, email me at: ella@makecheese.ca

Happy Cheesemaking!

Summer Vegetables!

Late August and early September is the season of bounty!  Pasta salads are perfect for this time of year because they can be made ahead for a quick supper, used for great healthy lunches for work and school and perfect for a fall potluck.   I adjust this salad to feature whichever vegetables are freshest and in the fridge.   This week it had cauliflower, carrots, peppers, cherry tomatoes and steamed romano beans.   I had plans to put grilled corn on top but ran out of energy.   That’s super yummy too!    Cut up Farmer’s sausage from Spragg’s and it was a meal in a bowl.    The dressing recipe below is from a great cookbook called Rebar by Audrey Alsterberg + Wanda Urbanowicz.   It’s inspired by a vegetarian restaurant of the same name in Victoria.  This recipe book is a great way to step into vegetarian food as they offer ideas, tips, add meat options as well as options to make a dish vegan. 

If you don’t have time to roast the peppers and garlic you can use the roasted ones you can buy in the antipasto section with the fancy olives at the grocery store.    The trick I find with any pasta salad is to use lots of dressing.   The recipe below makes a lot of dressing and it seems like you’re going to drown the salad.   But, once it gets stirred in and fills all the lovely ridges on the pasta it’s perfect.

Santa Fe Pasta Salad

Dressing:

2 roasted red peppers

4 cloves garlic roasted

2 tsp chipotle puree (these are the chipotle peppers in the can that have a great smoky flavour)  Puree it and keep it in a jar in the fridge- it’s worth it and keeps a long time. 

1 shallot

½ tsp salt

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

¾ cup olive oil

Puree together. 

  

Cook 4 cups dry pasta such as fusilli.  Or some other kind of pasta that has ridges and spots to hold the dressing.    Drain and rinse with cool water.  

Add seasonal vegetables such as corn, tomato, beans, snap peas, cheese, sausage, salmon,

Season with your choice of fresh herbs, - dill, sage, rosemary, parsley, savory.

Pour the dressing on top and stir to coat well.   Refrigerate until serving.

I LOVE TOMATOES!

With the Priddis/Millarville Fair last week I didn't have time to post a blog!  And this week....I'm going to cheat a little and post some of my favourite tomato photos.  It really is tomato season.  So if you love tomatoes but don't have time to deal with a case of them you can cheat.  Pull the green stem part off and put them in ziplocks and put them in the freezer.   That's it.  Really.   When you want to use them in sauce take out as many as you want and then run them under the water in the sink- the skin slips off and then drop them into the soup, pan, sauce etc.    If you have enough time you can also roast them.  Again pull off the green stem, lay them in a baking pan in one layer.  It needs to be deep like a roasting pan, not a cookie sheet.  Roast in the oven at 400 F.  The water comes out of the fruit and concentrates the flavour of the tomato in the remaining pulp.  You can put them in ziplocks after they cool or can whiz them in the blender first and measure out portions appropriate for your needs.   One of my tricks in the fall when I am super busy is that I buy a huge case of roma tomatoes- roast them, put them in big zip locks and then they are set to thaw and use to make a big batch of salsa on a chilly fall day.  

Greenhouse tomatoes and field tomatoes come in all shapes, sizes and colours.   Cherry, roma, grape, yellow, orange, striped, green, beefsteak, and on and on.   I have two all time favourites if you can ever find a Big Rainbow - they weigh at minimum a pound apiece, and have red, yellow, orange, peach stripes running through them.   One slice makes a doozy of a sandwich!

My other all time favourite is a very light green/chartruse colour with darker green stripes,  called Green Zebra.   The taste is tangy, zingy, almost reminds me of the ocean.  

My husband, kids and I started growing greenhouse tomatoes in 2003 when the kids were little.  We were given a CD of Connie Kaldor called a Duck in New York City which has an awesome song on it called "I Love Tomatoes." The kids and I would play it in the truck at top volume and sing along on tomato deliveries.  

I LOVE TOMATOES

I love tomatoes

I love tomatoes

You can keep your carrots and potatoes

I love tomatoes

 

I've got tomatoes in my pocket, tomato colored clothes

I carry a tomato everywhere I go

I've got tomatoes on my windowsill, tomatoes on my bed

I sleep each night with a tomato on my head

I love tomatoes

I love tomatoes

You can keep your carrots and potatoes

I love tomatoes

 

I love tomato cookies, I love tomato cake

I love tomatoes in my salad and tomato milkshakes

I like tomatoes in my cereal, tomatoes with my tea

I like tomato flavored toothpaste and tomato fricassee

 

I love tomatoes

I love tomatoes

You can keep your carrots and potatoes

I love tomatoes

 

I even go so far as to sing off key

And I sing so loud "la la la la la"

And I don't listen to the music "la la la la"

And then they start to boo and then they throw tomatoes at me!

"Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much..."

 

I love tomatoes

Oh, I love tomatoes

You can keep your carrots and potatoes

I love tomatoes

T-O-M-A-T-O

In my garden that's all I'll grow

Cherry or Roma, I love them so

T-O-M-A-T-O

 

"Faster now!"

T-O-M-A-T-O

In my garden that's all I'll grow

Cherry or Roma, I love them so

T-O-M-A-T-O

I love tomatoes

Oh, I love tomatoes

You can keep your carrots and potatoes

I love tomatoes

"I love tomatoes!  I just love tomatoes!  I love tomato sauce on my spaghetti and tomatoes on my pizza!  I love a wonderful tomato salad with just a little bit of mayonnaise!  I love BLT's!  Oh, I love tomatoes!"

 

from A Duck In New York City

©2003 Word of Mouth Music, Lac Laplume Music

Here is a taste of what it sounds like:    http://www.thesecretmountain.com/node/354