Cheese Experiment #2: Mascarpone

Most people have heard of mascarpone as an ingredient in tiramisu, or have seen it when browsing the fancy cheese section of the store. It generally comes in a 6oz container and costs enough that you'd think twice before purchasing it. What is it really, though?

Basically, mascarpone is like Italian cream cheese, but oh so much more refined. It is creamy, smooth and cool, perfect for desserts or mixing into a special sauce to add richness. Is it easy to make? Yep.

As with the previous experiment, first step was to gather tools.

Next, gather ingredients:

2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup dry milk solids
1 lemon, cut in half

Three ingredients, again! Doable? I think so.

First thing's first. I added the cream and milk solids together and whisked them in the pot.

Then came the waiting. The milk needed to come to 180 degrees (sound familiar?) over low heat. This took quite a while, about an hour. Once it reached temperature, I squeezed in one half of the lemon and switched to a metal spoon to mix, then added in the juice from the second half of the lemon.

This was the resulting curd. Not so much a separation as in the previous cheese, but a serious thickening.

Finally, this had to be covered and placed in the refrigerator to cool overnight. What resulted?

It looks, more or less, like yogurt, but tastes divine! It was so creamy, so rich, with just the barest aroma and flavor of fresh lemon that you might not even notice. I wanted to dig in with my spoon, but refrained. What shall I do with it? I'm not sure, but since this product has an extremely limited shelf life, three days or so, I better figure it out fast!

Have a favorite mascarpone recipe? Share it below. I love to hear ideas. :)

Cheese Experiment #1: Paneer

Here we go, cheese numero uno on my journey into cheese making. I'm stoked!

The first step is to collect all the supplies. For this recipe, I'll need:

Non-reactive pot
Measuring cup
Whisk
Rubber spatula
Thermometer
Cheese Cloth
Strainer
Draining rack
4lb Weight

Next, get all the ingredients. This one is pretty easy.

10 cups 2% milk
5 cups Buttermilk
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Three ingredient recipe? I think that's doable.

I put the milk in the pot and heated it to 175 or 180 degrees. It took a loooooong because you have to heat the milk slowly.

 Next, I added the buttermilk and the coagulation was fairly instantaneous. I then raised the heat to 195 degrees. Here's what the curd looked like.

After the curd had cooked and set a little, there was a large collection of fairly firm curds in the pot.

Next, the curd is drained in cheesecloth, salted, and pressed.

 

 

Final product:

Not the prettiest paneer ever. I think perhaps the curds were too cool when I pressed them, so they didn't make a block, but holy cow is it delicious!!!

Cheese Making

One of my goals for several years has been to learn to make my favorite food....CHEESE!

There are so many different kinds: fresh, aged, hard, soft, semi-soft, blue, mild, stinky. Each has its own personality, its own character. So far, I love them all!

So, I'll be starting with some simple cheeses in the coming days and hopefully progressing to more complicated and time consuming cheeses as time goes on.

What's your favorite? Comment below and I might just choose to make your favorite as part of my learning process. :)

Eeeek!

Worst blogger ever!!!

So I set up my contest and then forgot to draw for the New York prize!!! Well, I'm afraid it is going to have to wait a little while longer.... I can't find it! I put it some place safe while I've been working on clearing out the second bedroom and reorganizing and now I'm not sure where it went. :(

My apologies to my readers. I'll stop being such a putz and get back on it!

Overload and Institutions

So, I am back in Kansas, and it has taken me a week to get back on track with the restaurant. It's graduation season and that means lots of extra parties and caterings. I want everyone to know that there is much more New York to come, though. Keep reading and new stories will be showing up. :)

In the mean time, let's talk about Mother's Day. I've been a horrible person. This past year, my grandmother went to live in a skilled care facility, basically a nursing home. While the place is great, the rooms are comfortable, staff friendly, and there is no weird odor, I've been hesitant to visit, and in all honesty, Mother's Day was the first time I'd been there to see her. She, being the kind hearted person that she is, didn't hold it against me. Instead, she was simply thrilled that I came to see her at all. I'll be building more visits into my schedule, and perhaps bringing her food once in a while, which brings me to the focus of my post.

I've heard stories....about the food. I understand this is an institutional setting and I understand that a lot of people there are on restricted diets, but for the life of me I cannot understand why, in such an expensive facility, they cannot afford quality food for the residents. When you are living inside all day, with minimal activities to keep you occupied, you look to your meals for excitement. I feel a new mission coming on, a  keen desire to look into how food preparation works in this place. Is the budget that restrictive that they cannot hire skilled individuals in the kitchen to keep my grandmother from eating mush pasta and cardboard pork chops?

Inquiring minds want to know, and find out, I shall.

Papabubble

No, I didn't just make up a word. While wondering through Chinatown, heading toward Little Italy, my friend and I stumbled upon a strange store front.

In the window were all kinds of interesting cactus looking things.

These are made out of.... sugar! Papabubble is a small handmade candy store that originated in Spain and now has several locations around the globe. They had some crazy flavors including salted licorice, mango and chili, and fun candies with various words and shapes in the center, like a burrough mix, an alphabet mix and a math mix.

Here's what their work space looked like:

The beakers contain flavors for the different candies and the tools and counter tops are all shiny stainless steel. Worth a visit and a taste. You can watch them work if you are there when they are making candy. 

Chinatown

I couldn't wait to get to Chinatown. I was so excited to see what it was like, experience China in another country. Now I've been there twice. Once on my birthday, quick walk through, visit to a temple which I posted about earlier, and again on Wednesday. Both times, I as struck  by the fact that it looked and sounded and smelled exactly like China!

It's Chinatown, you say, of course it is like China. No, I mean I might as well have been on the street in Beijing. The banks were Chinese, the newspapers were Chinese, the seafood restaurants had live fish that you selected for your meal. There were roasted ducks in the windows.

And, not to miss out, we went to Nom Wah Tea Parlor, which bills itself as the oldest Dim Sum restaurant in New York City.

If only there were more hours in the day, I would have gone back every day this week. It was delicious, real Chinese awesomeness. There is not much better than having the opportunity to try so many things. The way dim sum works is that you order a number of small plates. Think Chinese tapas. There are only a few of each things on the plate, so you get to work your way through five or six different items, savoring each one as you go.

 

 

Delicious Pork Fried Dumplings

Fried Scallion Pancake with Soy Sauce

Steamed Shrimp and Pea Pod Dumplings

Pork Short Ribs in a salty spicy sauce

Shanghai Soup Dumplings

House Special Steamed Pork Bun

Inside of said bun--pork and onion goodness

After all of this and a pot of jasmine tea, we rolled ourselves out to the street and made our way home.

What's New York Without....

A bagel. That's how the day started on Wednesday, with a trip to Murray's bagels.

I'd heard they were about the best around. There was a decent line one we were inside, but it moved quickly. The piles of fresh bagels were surpassed only by the multitude of cream cheese flavors. I passed by the cream cheese in favor of a sandwich. Who doesn't love a bagel sandwich?

Then it was back to Eataly for some coffee and a trip around their beautiful market! There were so many delicious things, it was difficult to leave. Markets are exciting. They offer an opportunity to glimpse into how people live. The market at Eataly says to me.... live decadently and enjoy flavor!

The freshly made pastas above looked incredible. The young man in the picture said he enjoyed his job. He's seen here making pappardelle by hand.

A trip over to the packaged meats section led me to this discovery.

Can you see what that says? "Smoked Hamhocks, Origin KS, USA" So, you can take the girl out of Kansas, but Kansas is still gonna find her no matter where she goes....

Best Birthday Ever! Part 3

After leaving Dogmatic, it was time to head towards Chinatown! We took the scenic route, meaning we walked. Along the way, we stopped at a little chain called Le Pain Quotidien. It's a French bakery, basically, but you sit at a big table with others.

Next, we made it to Chinatown, made a visit to the Mahayana Buddhist Temple, then hopped on the train for Brooklyn to eat Tibetan food.

I was so excited about the food, that I forgot to take pictures, lol. Suffice to say, we ate until there was no room-- spicy goodness of momos, potatoes, all kinds of other delicious things.Then it was back to Manhattan, home for a rest, then out for the evening!

I chose a little place called Don't Tell Mama. It's a combination restaurant, piano bar and cabaret theater. It's a little down off the street, cozy, dark, and everything you'd think a piano bar/cabaret theater should be. The people were friendly, the music was good and it was neither too crowded nor completely empty.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any great pictures, but we are going back to see a show in their cabaret theater.

After a few drinks (probably one too many, lol) and a trip to a little diner, it was time to go back home and rest after such a long day. It couldn't have been better! Thank you, dear friends who made it possible!

Best Birthday Ever! Part 2

After finishing that delicious coffee, we made our way through Madison Park, full of beautiful flowers and a very strange exhibit of rope walls....

Next was a lovely walk down to Union Square. Where we encountered this great guy selling some very interesting NY art.

He and his brother create and sell their stuff all around the city. You can find more info and more detail about their work here: http://www.liveartonthestreet.com/

Next it was off to Dogmatic for a mid-morning snack. Dogmatic is a great little place off Union Square. The take what looks like a mini baguette, heat it on a Spanish Inquisition-sized spike, grill up an organic dog of your choice, from beef to lamb to chicken, even asparagus spears, fill the inside of the baguette with some delicious gourmet sauce, pop in the dog and you have a no muss, no fuss healthy bit of pure heaven.

 

Pictured here is a lamb dog with truffle gruyere sauce. I had the lamb, but with chimichurri, instead.

Can you believe it was only 11am?

Best Birthday Ever! Part 1

What a truly awesome day!I was going to write about it last night, but I was so worn out from everything that I went straight to sleep, lol.

The day started with a trip to Eataly Caffe.

Yeah....sorry about the lamp post....

Once there, we indulged in the best coffee beverages I do believe I've ever had. My beverage of choice? Iced cappuccino.

I'm a coffee drinker by nature, but this was not your average cup of joe. Behind the counter were two beautiful, shiny espresso machines, able to produce many, many shots of espresso at one time, which is good, because there was quite a line. This drink took a few minutes to make. The shots were poured over ice and allowed to chill while the barista frothed chilled, sweetened milk. When everything was finally layered together, dark chocolate was grated over the top.

Sitting outside in the slightly chilly morning, watching people go by, life could not have been better.

New York Contest

In order to get more people to read and comment on my blog, I am going to have a little contest. While I am here, and for a short time after I am back (actual time to be determined), I will be posting about my trip.

Everyone who comments on any of my New York blog entries will receive an entry into a drawing to win a mystery prize! While I am here I will be finding something fun, cool, or quirky to give away. The more comments you make, the more you will be entered into the drawing. Then, on May 31st, I will draw for the winner!

It's simple. Comment, and enter for the chance to win!

*end shameless plug for own blog*

Much Nicer Than They Say

So, here I am, in New York City! I finally made it. Now, everyone says how mean, rude, and impolite New Yorkers are, but I have a different story.

When the plane came in, it was drizzly, 54 degrees and couldn't have been more perfect! Off the plane and through the airport, I stopped at the information counter to find out where to buy a metrocard. The super polite guy at the counter welcomed me to New York and pointed me to the vending machine, then said if I needed any help with subway maps, he would be happy to assist. Another nice man showed me the map and said to tell the bus driver what stop I needed, so he would be sure to call it. I made it to the subway, and when I got off, wouldn't you know that some nice guy offered to help me with my bag.... No, lol, I didn't take his help.

At my friend's apartment building someone kindly held the gate for me, held the door for me, and another man held the elevator.

After a long day of helping her buy new furniture in New Jersey (yes, I spent my first day in New York in New Jersey) we went back to her place where one of her neighbors helped us move everything upstairs.

So, regardless of what else happens here, New Yorkers have started off on the right foot with me. Smiles and friendliness go a long way and always come back to you, even in this biggest of cities.

24 Hours and Counting

With a little less than 24 hours until I'm on the road to the airport, this trip is finally starting to feel real!

Of course, being busy with sold out dinner shows and tons of prep work so I can actually take this vacation, means that I haven't even started packing.... I admit, it's been a while since I traveled, but seriously, how hard can it be? Throw a few things in the old suitcase, and out the door ya go.

Here's a list of some of the things I hope to take in while I'm there.

A Broadway show (duh)
At least one museum
Chinatown
Cabaret theater
Food
Food
Food

And the most important thing: Spending the week with the most incredible, awesome friend in the world!

A New Start with Old Friends

It's been a while since I posted here, but things have been going crazy in my world. However, I want to get this thing started back up and what better way than with a bang!

Here it is--- I'm going to New York City! Next week, just in time for my big 30th birthday, I will be in the Big Apple. Guess what I'll be doing? You got it-- eating, drinking and making merry!

Share my adventure with me as I eat my way through the city. I plan to hit as many ethnic restaurants as humanly possible as well as squeezing in a Broadway show, maybe a museum or two and of course a few bars. Join me by reading my blog entries. I'm even gonna try to upload some video. Won't that be awesome?

Who knows, there might even be prizes involved.....  :)

Stay tuned!