Homemade Ricotta and Herbed Ricotta Bruschetta

This is a great and simple recipe by Ina Garten. Make it and you will blow your friends' minds! I mean, who makes cheese from scratch? YOU DO! Use the ricotta in your own lasagna recipe, or in Ina's delicious herbed ricotta bruchetta recipe I included below. I made the bruchetta and loved it. It tastes like Spring, fresh and light. I hope you try it out!

Homemade Ricotta
total cook time (including inactive prep): 35 min, Yields about 2 cups

Ingredients
- 4 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 tablespoons good white wine vinegar



Directions
Set a large sieve over a deep bowl or your sink. Dampen 2 layers of cheesecloth with water and line the sieve with the cheesecloth.
Pour the milk and cream into a stainless-steel or enameled pot. Stir in the salt. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Allow the mixture to stand for 1 minute until it curdles. It will separate into thick parts (the curds) and milky parts (the whey).
Pour the mixture into the cheesecloth-lined sieve and allow it to drain into your bowl/sink at room temperature for 20 to 25 minutes, occasionally discarding the liquid that collects in the bowl. The longer you let the mixture drain, the thicker the ricotta.

Transfer the ricotta to a bowl, discarding the cheesecloth and any remaining whey. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. The ricotta will keep refrigerated for 4 to 5 days.

Herbed Ricotta Bruschetta

Ingredients
- 2 cups ricotta, store-bought or homemade (recipe above)
- 3 tablespoons minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 round sourdough bread
- Good olive oil
- 1 whole garlic clove, cut in half

Directions
Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals or turn a gas grill to medium-high heat (or, preheat your broiler.)
Combine the ricotta, scallions, dill, chives, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and set aside. Cut the bread in half and cut each half into 6 thick slices to make 12 slices total.
When the grill is hot, brush the bread with olive oil and grill on each side for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the grill and rub each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic clove. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spread with the herbed ricotta. Serve 2 warm slices per person.

Baked Eggs

Another thing I discovered on Sea Salt with Food:



Jacob and I make these almost every morning. They are easy, look so pretty, and taste fresh and delicious. I love things that can be customised for each person! I like mine with a side of cinnamon-raisin toast. Sorry for all you anti-eggers out there, this might not look too good to you, but I love you anyway.

Find the details HERE.

Homemade Marshmallows

Ina Garten's (and now MY) fabulous homemade marshmallows. So easy!

Homemade Marshmallows

You will need:- 3 packages unflavored gelatin
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:
Combine the gelatin and 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and allow to sit while you make the syrup.




Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to high and cook until the syrup reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (Note: the temperature will hover around 220 degrees for a while before beginning to rise again, so don't panic!) Remove from the heat.



With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar syrup into the dissolved gelatin.



Put the mixer on high speed and whip until the mixture is very thick, and just holds it's shape when pulled. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly.



Pour the marshmallow batter into a 9 x 13 that has been dusted liberally with confectioners' sugar:



...and smooth the top of the mixture with damp hands or spatula.



Top with more confectioners' sugar.



Allow to dry uncovered at room temperature overnight.

Remove the marshmallows from the pan and cut into squares using sharp knife (dipping the knife in confectioners' sugar will help keep marshmallows from sticking). Roll the sides of each piece carefully in confectioners' sugar.
Store uncovered at room temperature.

Baked French Toast with Bananas and Chocolate

You all need to check out the blog: SeaSaltWithFood.com
I baked this at my dad's house on our last trip out there. I couldn't believe he had all the ingredients on hand! Lucky me! Find the recipe HERE.

Brisket with the Best Dry Rub Ever, and Sweet, Sticky BBQ Sauce

This one meal contains three separate recipes from three different people: Jacob's Grandma Vance, Good ol' Sandra Lee, and some random chef who posted a deliciously simple way of cooking brisket on foodnetwork.com named Tom Perini.

Jaleen's Dry Rub:

The spice rub is a super simple blend of six spices:
-Salt
- pepper (fresh ground is best)
- paprika
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- taco seasoning

Take any container you have, preferably one that is clear, and necessarily the same size all the way up, and fill 1/3 of the way up with salt. Then add one inch of each of the other ingredients, stir to combine, and there you go.

The dry rub is delicious on most meats, and actually really yummy on fresh tomato!

Sandra Lee's Sweet, Sticky BBQ Sauce:

You will need:
- 1 bottle (12 oz) chili sauce
- 1 cup beer (Budweiser is what Sandra recommends, but you can also use any dark colored soda like: coke, pepsi, root beer, or dr. pepper)
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1 heaping tablespoon McCormick Grill Mates Steak Rub (use this, no substitutes please)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- optional 2 tablespoons cornstarch (to add extra thickness to the sauce if it doesn't thicken enough for your liking.)

Directions:
In a large skillet stir together chili sauce, beer, molasses, steak rub, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil;reduce heat. Simmer for ten minutes, stirring frequently. Sauce should have thickened up quite a bit, but if you like a thicker sauce, ladle some into a small bowl and whisk in cornstarch until you see no lumps, then add back to skillet and allow the sauce to thicken up to your heart's content! Smother your cooked and sliced brisket with sauce and eat as is, or make up some brisket sandwiches.

For The Brisket:

You will need:
- 4 pounds beef brisket, trimmed
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock
- Jaleen's Dry Rub

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Season the raw brisket on both sides with Jaleen's dry rub. Place in a roasting pan and roast, uncovered, for 1 hour.
Add beef stock and enough water to yield about 1/2 inch of liquid in the roasting pan. Lower oven to 300 degrees F, cover pan tightly and continue cooking for 3 hours, or until fork-tender.
Trim the fat and slice meat thinly across the grain. Top with juice from the pan. Serve it up!

Creamy Artichoke Soup

Sandra Lee is:
a) Hot blond
b) Hot blond with HUGE (fake?) boobs
c) Hot blond with HUGE (fake?) boobs who has proven herself twice thus far with recipes I will detail below.

C! C is the answer, and I am surprised to have ever liked any of her recipes as much as I do. They are easy to make, with no crazy ingredients. This soup comes together in about 15 minutes! If you love artichoke, you will go crazy for this.

Creamy Artichoke Soup

Cook Time: 15 minutes, including prep
Serves: 4 as side dish, 2 as main

You will need:
- 14 oz (1 can) chicken broth (reduced-sodium is great)
- 1 can condensed cream of celery soup (10.75 oz)
- 1 Jar (12 oz) artichoke hearts (packed in water) drained
- cayenne pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup light or heavy cream
- salt and ground black pepper

Directions:
In a blender, combine chicken broth, celery soup, and artichoke hearts; process until smooth.

Pour mixture into a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat. Add cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and season to taste with salt and black pepper.





So, yes, I love this soup. Te other recipe I referred to above is for a BBQ sauce that is delicious on just about any meat, from chicken to brisket. You can find that recipe HERE.