Homemade Lemony Herbed Ricotta

With a party coming up and a pot garden full of fresh herbs, I decided to make homemade fresh cheese that resembles ricotta, and combine it with lemon zest, snipped leaves of tarragon, lovage and chives, and the magenta chive flowerets. This was a delicious spread with black bread but could be served any number of ways.

Since I needed two batches of homemade ricotta to service the party (each of my normal recipes makes a little less than 1 cup), I decided to try two separate methods side by side. One, which I’ve posted before, heats milk with buttermilk until the curds (the cheese part) and whey (the liquid part) separate, which is at around 175 degrees. The other method heats milk to a slightly higher temperature –190 – and, off heat, adds vinegar or lemon juice, which curdles the milk in about 5 minutes. In both cases, the curds are gently transferred to a sieve heavily lined with cheesecloth and set over a bowl. The excess liquid drains until your cheese achieves the desired consistency, and that’s it. 

The drainage time depends on the consistency of your ricotta and the intended use. Since I wanted mine as a spread, 1drained it for 30 minutes, but I could have done less. An hour would make a ricotta that you could combine in a baked dish.   

I was aiming for a creamy spread so I used organic whole milk from a fairly local dairy that sells milk in glass bottles. The buttermilk, from the same dairy, added a certain richness to this version that was lacking in the other, along with a naturally tangy flavor. I could have added a little heavy cream to the version with lemon juice, and it probably would have been closer to the one with buttermilk. They both produced delicious whey, the liquid left over after the curds are removed, which I will use as a soup base. 

Since fresh ricotta takes under half and hour to make and cure for most uses, there’s no reason to buy the grocery version. Many of those brands add stabilizers that, while sometimes made of natural ingredients, add a slightly gummy texture to the cheese. At least that’s my view.

Homemade “Ricotta” Cheese, Buttermilk Version

1 quart milk (whole or 2%)

1 cup buttermilk

Line a small sieve set over a bowl with 4-5 levels of cheesecloth. Have on hand a silicone spatula, a thermometer (I use a candy thermometer) and a fine-mesh strainer (I use an Asian skimmer). Put the milk and buttermilk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat; insert the thermometer. Cook until the curds and whey start to separate, around 175 degrees. Do not over cook but it’s ok to go to 180. Remove from the heat and slowly scoop the curds into the lined sieve. Let them drain for 15-20 minutes. If you want a harder cheese, tie the cheesecloth in a bundle and suspend the cheese over a bowl for an hour or two. It will lose more liquid and become hard. Store in the refrigerator and use within 3-4 days.

Makes about 1 cup, ½ pound

Homemade “Ricotta” Cheese, Acid Version

1 quart milk (whole or 2%)

3 tbsp lemon juice or white vinegar

Line a small sieve set over a bowl with 4-5 levels of cheesecloth. Have on hand a silicone spatula, a thermometer (I use a candy thermometer) and a fine-mesh strainer (I use an Asian skimmer). Put the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat; insert the thermometer. Cook until the temperature reaches 190 degrees. Remove from the heat and let sit for 5 minutes, or until the curds separate from the whey. Slowly scoop the curds into the lined sieve. Let them drain for 15-20 minutes. If you want a harder cheese, tie the cheesecloth in a bundle and suspend the cheese over a bowl for an hour or two. It will lose more liquid and become hard. Store in the refrigerator and use within 3-4 days.

Makes just under 1 cup, ½ pound

Lemon Herb Ricotta Spread

1½ – 2 c fresh ricotta cheese, preferably homemade

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1-2 tsp snipped tender herbs (e.g., tarragon, chives, chive blossoms, lovage, parsley dill)

Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve with crackers or black bread.

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Waste Not Want Not: Cheese Rinds and a Celery Soup

The garden’s getting drenched with rain today, thankfully, so I stayed inside and made soup. Lovely celery and leek soup feels spring-like, light and nourishing just like the rain. Local leeks were back in this morning’s farmers’ market so I wanted to build a soup around them. I also had an abundance of organic celery with lots of leaves, a perfect pairing with the leeks, united by homemade chicken stock from last weekend’s roast. And then there was the secret ingredient: a hunk of rind from Parmesan cheese. When the cheese is mostly grated off and the rinds start to harden, I just tuck them away in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and add them to soup. They impart a rich flavor to the soup base and I know I’ve wrung the most flavor from a fairly expensive ingredient.

Celery Rice Soup

6-7 stalks of celery, preferably inner stalks, diced (about 3 cups), leaves reserved

1 leek, white and light green parts, cleaned, halves lengthwise and sliced

2 tsp butter

4 c homemade chicken stock

1 piece (1×2 inches or so) Parmesan cheese rind

1/3 c raw rice (or 1 c cooked)

Salt

Optional: grated Parmesan cheese

Optional: Parmesan cheese croutons

Slowly saute the celery and leek in butter until the leek start to soften. Add the chicken stock and cheese rind and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the raw rice and cook for another 15-20 minutes until the rice is tender, adding additional liquid (water or stock) if the soup gets too thick. Adjust for salt and add chopped celery leaves, reserving a few for the final garnish. Serve hot, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and additional chopped celery leaves. Parmesan cheese toasts are a nice accompaniment.

Serves 4.

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Dark Days 13: Root Soup with Cheese Wafers and Slaw

A continuing series on weekly meals that use sustainable, organic, local and ethical food during the challenging winter months. For more information, go here to the DDC section of Not Dabbling in Normal’s website: Dark Days Challenge.

In which I make a garnished root soup that combines hominess with sophistication…

I need to clean out my refrigerator. I have been hoarding (well that’s a little harsh)… storing … lots of roots from our CSA and local farmers’ markets since late fall, and it’s time for them to go. Even though the Dark Days Challenge asks for local, sustainably produced and preferably organic meals once a week, I’m quite pleased that I cook that way all week, with the addition of a few non-local items here and there. Those are mostly grains that simply can’t survive our climate when grown here. And citrus fruit of course, though we’re still working our way through the crate that arrived from Florida as a gift at Christmas. I’ve barely touched the pantry, which remains voluminous. Next challenge. 

This meal is an amiable, kitchen-sink soup that can be made with various combinations of root vegetables and various combinations of liquid, including chicken stock, vegetable or bean broth, or simply water.  I used a little of each. I tend not to “junk up” the soup by including too many base ingredients. Here I used onion, rutabaga, parsnip, celeriac, and potato…

To pep things up, I made cheese “crackers” by baking grated cheese – a particularly dry and nutty type from Cherry Grove Farm called Havilah – on parchment paper in a hot oven until crisp. I made a slaw of carrots and parsnip combined with frizzled leeks and dressed with local white port from Hopewell Valley Vineyard and Stony Brook Finger Lakes Butternut Squash Seed Oil. The slaw garnished the soup and also floated on cheese crisps. This was lovely, sophisticated and homey all at once.

Root Soup

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp ghee, butter or vegetable oil

1 3- or 4-inch rutabaga, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

2 small parsnips or 1 medium parsnip, peeled and sliced

1 2- or 3-inch celeriac root, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

1 large potato, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

A few cups of liquid: chicken stock, vegetable and/or bean broth, water

Salt and pepper

Place the onion and butter/ghee/oil in a medium saucepan and cook until the onion is translucent. Add the remaining vegetables and stir to coat. Add liquid (of choice) just to cover the vegetable. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan and cook until the vegetables are tender, adding more liquid if needed. Puree slightly and thin to desired consistency. Season to taste.

Cheese Wafers

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely grate 4 oz of a semi-hard and flavorful cheese. Place in ¼-cup mounds on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 4-5 minutes until crisp and lightly browned. Remove from the oven. Let sit for a couple of minutes, and then remove to a plate to cool.

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Whey Soup with Cauliflower and Leeks

Whey, a by-product of cheese-making, is the thin liquid that’s left after the curds are removed. The other day, I made a batch of fresh cheese that resembles ricotta and saved the whey for soup. This is a simple, fresh and clean-tasting soup that takes all of 15-20 minutes to make. You basically just simmer the sliced vegetables in the whey and puree them.

I have made this with potatoes and leeks, and also with celery, rather liking the paleness and light green tinge. The whey is greenish, from the riboflavin in the milk, which I have to admit takes getting used to. It’s low fat since the milk fat gloms on to the curds. Float some snipped herbs or a crouton on top and you have a light and flavorful low-calorie lunch.

Whey Soup with Cauliflower and Leeks

2-3 small leeks, white and pale green section, cleaned, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 tsp butter

½ head cauliflower, florets and core, sliced

3-4 cups whey left from a cheese-making adventure

Salt to taste

Herbs, croutons, or other toppings

Cook the leeks slowly in butter until translucent, add the cauliflower, stirring to coat. Add the whey, cover the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until tender.  Puree in a food processor or in the pot using an immersion blender. Season to taste. Serve semi-hot garnished with snipped herbs and/or croutons.

Making croutons in the oven: brush olive oil on bread, salt lightly, add herbs if desired, and bake at about 450 degrees, turning, for about 5-7 minutes or until brown and crisp to your liking.

Making croutons on the stove: heat olive oil in a shallow pan until hot, add bread and fry it until golden, turning so that all sides brown. Sprinkle the hot croutons with herbs and salt (or Parmesan cheese).

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Fresh Cheese: Ricotta and Friends

It is insanely easy to make a fresh cheese that approximates ricotta and can be substituted for it without consequences. Technically, ricotta, which means “recooked,” is made from whey after the curds are removed to make cheese. The whey is left to cool and stand overnight, developing an acidic quality that is necessary for curdling the whey and resulting in the fine-grained ricotta.

There are recipes all over the Internet for “fresh ricotta,” a one-step process that is typically how one produces the Indian paneer or the Mexican queso fresco. You add an acidic ingredient (buttermilk, white vinegar or lemon juice) to milk, bring it to a temperature of 175 degrees, when the curds separate from the whey. You then carefully scoop out the curds and drain them in several layers of cheesecloth. The length of time in draining determines how soft or hard the cheese is, so you would adjust that depending on how you’re using it. For example, if you’re eating it fresh, the initial 15-20 minutes of draining is probably fine. If you’re using it for lasagna or pizza, I’d go for a couple of hours.  I don’t add salt to the curds but you could.

Following the excellent directions on Fankhauser’s Cheese Page, I tried making ricotta from the whey left over from the fresh cheese above. While I was making small quantities, I was able to get ricotta from the leftover whey. Fankhauser’s website said that they got 1 pound of ricotta from the whey left after processing 5 gallons of milk into cheese. Since I got such good results from the fresh cheese, I figured why not just substitute it for the ricotta? (Besides, look at the additives in store-bought ricotta, mostly stabilizers like carageenan, guar gum and cornstarch. All plant based but who needs them.)

Although I used to make this with vinegar, lately I’ve been using buttermilk, since we get good buttermilk from the same dairy where we get organic milk in glass bottles. I like the tanginess. Sometime, I’ll do a taste test to see which I like better. I’ve never used lemon juice and I probably wouldn’t since the acidity varies from lemon to lemon. When I can tomatoes I use bottled lemon juice to guarantee the acidity, but that doesn’t appeal to me on the cheese front.

Also, don’t discard the whey. Even though it looks greenish (from the riboflavin apparently), it makes an excellent base for soup. I’ve made leek and potato soup and celery soup from it with great results.

Fresh Cheese a la Ricotta (makes about 1 cup, ½ pound)

1 quart milk (whole or 2% is what I use)

1 cup buttermilk

Line a small sieve set over a bowl with 4-5 levels of cheesecloth. Have a silicone spatula, a thermometer (I use a candy thermometer) and a fine-mesh strainer (I use an Asian skimmer) handy. Put the milk and buttermilk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the curds and whey start to separate, around 175 degrees. Do not over cook but it’s ok to go to 180. Remove from the heat and slowly scoop the curds into the lined sieve. Let them drain for 15-20 minutes. If you want a harder cheese, tie the cheesecloth in a bundle and suspend the cheese over a bowl for an hour or two. It will lose more liquid and become hard. Store in the refrigerator and use within 3-4 days.

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