Homemade Ricotta Cheese

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

It's strawberry season in Northern Michigan and one of my favorite, and simple, desserts is fresh strawberries on top of ricotta cream. Ricotta cream is 2 c ricotta blended with 3/4 c powdered sugar and 1 t vanilla. It is oh, so tasty. And even better with homemade ricotta which is what I did today. It's so easy, so good and much less expensive than purchased ricotta.

To begin, put a large saucepan in the freezer for about 5 min. Chilling the pan keeps the milk from scalding. To the chilled pan, add 1 gallon milk and 1/4 t salt. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking and simmer until the milk reaches 180-185 degrees F or until steam rises from the milk and it just begins to bubble.

Remove the pan from the stove and add 1/3 c of white vinegar and stir for one minute. Immediately, curds will begin to form. If you've never seen curds and whey, you will as soon as you add the vinegar!

Cover the pan with a dish towel (this lets it air while keeping it covered) and let it sit for at least 2 hours.

Line a colander with dampened cheesecloth and using a slotted spoon, remove the curds from the pan into the colander. Let this drain (I just put the colander in the sink) for another 2 hours.

Gently squeeze the remaining whey out of the mixture by gathering the cheesecloth together. That's it!

One gallon milk, which today costs about $3, will make a quart of ricotta cheese. In my grocery store, 16 oz of ricotta is about $5 so with this recipe, you will make the about $10 worth with only about $3 in cost. Total time of actual effort is about 10 minutes. And worth it!

Meyer Lemon Pudding--Wow

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

Oh, is this yummy. Marty brought back some Meyer lemons from Palm Springs. These lemons are so incredible-a blend of lemons and oranges. And they are huge!

So I made a pudding and it's a winner:

3/4 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
2 1/2 c milk
3 large egg yolks, beaten
1/8 t salt
the zest of one Meyer lemon
1/2 c freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1T butter

Mix together the sugar and cornstarch and then wisk in 1/2 c milk until smooth. Let stand for 5 minutes. (You can zest and squeeze the lemon while this is standing). Wisk in remaining milk and then add egg yolks, zest, and salt.

Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the pudding thickens, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter.

Pour through a strainer or steamer basket (I used a steamer basket) to remove zest from the pudding. Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the pudding to keep a skin from forming. I cooled the pudding on the counter for about 15 min and then refrigerated. However, in that 15 min., I had to eat some of the pudding warm!

Mom used to serve us warm chocolate pudding on top of lady fingers. This pudding would be outstanding on lady fingers or drizzled over angel food cake. Tasty!

Yogurt--Homemade, Of Course

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner

Yes, I make my own yogurt. I can proudly say that I have not purchased yogurt in the 15 months since Nathaniel gave me a yogurt maker for Christmas. I make one-two batches a week. There is no comparison in taste between store bought yogurt and homemade. Homemade is so much better. And making yogurt is easy!

I love yogurt and eat it daily either alone or mixed with fruit or granola. Since I have been making yogurt, I also use it in dressings or toppings. I love the yogurt blended with tart cherry juice concentrate, almond extract and orange peel, maple syrup, honey and vanilla, or with fresh fruit.

And then there is the cost incentive: my yogurt maker turns out 8 small containers that would cost $6-7 in the store. I make it for less than $1.

My yogurt maker is by Donvier but you don't need a gizmo to make yogurt. A glass jar and a warm oven will do same thing.

To make yogurt, slowly warm, stirring occasionally, 1 qt. of milk to 180 degrees F. If you are using skim milk, add 1/2 c dried milk to help it thicken.

When the milk reaches 180 degrees F, turn it off and let it cool, stirring occasionally, to 110 degrees F. To 1/2 c of the warm milk, add 2 T plain yogurt. Ok, so you have to buy a container of plain yogurt to have a culture. (Or buy a powdered yogurt culture which comes with most yogurt makers). Someone gave me a pint of plain yogurt when they were cleaning out their fridge from their summer cottage and I poured it into ice cube trays, froze, popped them out and dropped into a freezer bag, and now each cube is enough for a batch of yogurt. After you make yogurt, you can use 2 T from that batch for the next 2 batches before it loses its' potency and needs to be replaced by a new culture.

Pour the blended milk and yogurt back into the rest of the milk and stir. I then pour this into the yogurt cups, set the timer for 12 hrs. (I like it thick) and that's it.

Oven method: pour the mix into a glass jar or bowl. If you have a gas oven, just put the covered jar or bowl in the oven and the pilot light will keep the milk at a constant temperature. 8-10 hours later, you have yogurt. For an electric oven, turn the oven on until it just begins to warm up and then shut it off. Ideally, you'd want it at 110 degrees F but most oven thermostats don't go that low. Put the glass jar or glass bowl of covered yogurt in the oven and let it sit 8-10 hours. Keep the oven light on if you have an electric oven; this adds a bit more warmth.

Microwave method: pour the mix into a glass jar or bowl. Cover. Wrap in a dish towel. Place in the microwave and heat for 30 seconds every 30-45 minutes for 4 hours. Set a timer to remind you to do this every 30-45 min (I give this advice having let too much time go by). This keeps the milk at about 110 degrees.

Greek yogurt is pricey and mine is excellent at a fraction of the price. To make Greek style yogurt, pour a quantity of yogurt into a cheese cloth-linked strainer, set the strainer over a bowl or pan and place in the refrigerator over night. The next am, the cheese cloth will contain the very thick Greek style yogurt and the bowl or pan will contain the drained whey. If you want 2/3 c of Greek yogurt, begin with 1 c of regular yogurt as approximately 1/3 of that amount will drain in whey (or drain away!).

Couldn't be easier. Making gyros? Here's the Greek style yogurt for the cucumber sauce!