Spinach Artichoke Dip

I do not know about everyone else, but...  If I am throwing a party in cold weather I want hot dips.  My favorite of these is Spin(ach)Art(choke) Dip.

After researching and looking for the flavors I want, I came up with this recipe which goes equally as well with a French Baguette or Sourdough.  It goes together so quick.  You can make it in a crock pot, the oven or on the range.  It is even better the second day.  So, do not be afraid to make ahead and cook or reheat in when you need it.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

INGREDIENTS

8 oz cream cheese
1/4 c sour cream
4 oz asiago, or other hard Italian cheese
4 oz mozzarella
1 (15 oz) can artichoke hearts in water
6 oz frozen spinach1 1/2 T garlic
1 t salt
1 t red pepper flake



DIRECTIONS

1)  Grate Asiago and Mozzerella

2)  Roughly chop Artichokes and mince Garlic

3)  Combine all ingredients and heat to 165, stirring occasionally

4)  Serve with slices of bread, chips or crackers

Pimento Cheese

I have no idea how I have not posted this before!  I have been using this recipe for about two years and kept having to refer to an email I sent it to a friend in to find it.   So, here it is!!!



PIMENTO CHEESE

Ingredients
1/2 lb Sharp Cheddar
1/2 lb Pepper Jack
4 oz Jar Pimentos
1 t Chipotle
4 oz Cream Cheese

DIRECTIONS
1)  Grate Cheddar and Jack
2)  Drain Pimentos
3)  Place all ingredients in mixer and mix until mostly smooth
4)  Refrigerate until service


NOTES
1)  If you can not get Pimentos you can use roasted red peppers
2)  If you can not get Chipotle use 1/2 t Cayenne & 1/2 t Paprika
3)  I originally used Mayonaisse, but the cream cheese gives better flavor, texture and mouth feel.

“The only thing that will make a souffle fall is if it knows you're afraid of it.” James Beard

Souffle's are notoriously temperamental, or so I am told, as it is common knowlege.  Having an overload of egg whites I decided to make one.  It was not as difficult as everyone says.  Let me start with what I could have improved on.  I think that using ramekins or a souffle pan instead of a spring form pan would give better temperature evenness.  I also think I over compensated for the temperature discrepancy in my oven and had it too hot which created a kind of tough exterior.  Barring those two issues I look forward to making souffles in the future.  Those of you who know me know that I consider recipes mere guidelines and have a hard time following them.  After consulting the WorldWideWeb, the Joy of Cooking and a number of other resources I determined my course of action.  Trying to write it down sounds like a lot of steps, but the hardest part is not peeking as my oven door does not have a window.  I will try to give the best approximation of what I did though I would probably suggest following a proven recipe your first time.

BACON STILTON SOUFFLE

INGREDIENTS

1/2 rasher bacon

1/4 c flour

2 c milk

4 oz stilton

1/2 t pepper

8 egg whites

1 T butter

1/4 c bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

1)  preheat oven to 375

2)  chop up and cook bacon

3)  mix flour to cover bacon

4)  mix in milk and bring to boil stirring frequently

5)  turn off heat and stir in cheese and pepper to melt it and cool sauce

6)  use butter to completely coat inside of souffle pan then coat with bread crumbs to cover and shake out excess

7)  beat egg whites to stiff peaks

8)  gently fold egg whites into bechamel in 3 additions

9)  pour mixture into souffle pan

10)  place souffle pan in a pan to make a water bath

11)  place in oven and put 1-2" of water in pan

12)  bake for approximately 1 hour- do not peek before 30 minutes

13) souffle is done when the top is dry and firm

14) remove from oven and serve imediately as the souffle starts falling the moment it is removed from the oven

Provolone

I was fortunate to find that Trader Joes carries cream line milk.  It is not quite as good as raw milk, but for half the price and only a slightly lesser quality I am quite happy with my find.

I finally belted down and on a whim I made Provolone with 1 gallon of cream line milk and 2 cups of buttermilk.

Here is the process

Heat the milk to 97 degrees, sprinkle the thermophilic powder over the top, let set for 2 minutes then stir in and let ripen for 60 minutes.

Add 1/4 teaspoon lipase powder that has been disolved in water for 20 minutes, stir in and let set for 10 minutes

Mix in 1/4 teaspoon rennet and let set for 20 minutes

Cut the curd into 3/8 inch cubes and let set for 10 minutes

Heat and stir the curds while heating it to 144 over 45 minutes and let set for 15 minutes

Remove the curds to a colander and let it sit above the whey, covered for 30 minutes

Then you move onto the stretching process and this is where things, once again, do not go quite right

So, I gloss over the stretching process, put the curds in a mold and squeeze out the extra whey for about half an hour with 5 lbs of pressure

Then I brine it in a solution of 1 lb kosher salt and 2 quarts water for 2 hours

I have to say it turned out pretty well, with the exception of the stretching thing.  Though I think I know where I went wrong.  I think that instead of going for short, cubes of curd I just need to make long curds and see if they pull well.

The experiment will be duplicated sometime in the future using the longer curds and hopefully that will fix my stretching issue.

Anthoinette

Chevre

I found some creamline goats milk at Trader Joes.  I just had to get it to make cheese.  As I was futzing on the internet I ran across an easy Chevre recipe.

The recipe is pretty simple.  You heat the goat milk to 185 then add 1 T lemon juice per cup of milk and stir for a few minutes then strain through cheese cloth and hang in the cheese cloth for 1 1/2 hours then mix with a little salt and herbs if desired.

I used the juice of 2 lemons which came to about 3 T of lemon juice and tried at 185, but it just did not perk.  Remembering previous adventures I tried between 200 and 205 and it started to perk.  I kept it in that temperature range for about 10 minutes, until it did not appear to be making any more curd then poured into my cheese cloth and hung it for 1 1/2 hours.

It is dryer than I expected and very lemony.  I did not think salt and herbs would be good with it so I put it in a mold in the fridge.  I think I will mix it with honey and use for a fruit desert or make a small cheese tart with it.

Either way it is not what I had expected or hoped for, but, I will have fun with it all the same.

Anthoinette

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CHEESE take II

I was recently reminded that I did not do an update on my cheese adventures.

The next day I had to find out what I did wrong with my first batch of mozzerella.  I searched the web and found another recipe that was similar to the one I had used.  Unfortunately it called for 2 gallons of milk, where as I only had 1 gallon of raw milk left.  I ended up using half raw and half low temperature pasteurized milk.

The first difference I saw in the recipe were the directions on how to use the Mesophillic direct set.  The first recipe assumed I knew what I was doing.  Which I clearly did not.  The new recipe advised to gently sprinkle the Mesophillic on top of the milk and let sit for 2 minutes until you stir it in.  Following this new set of instructions I got the firm, solid block of curd I was looking for.  Everything else was the same.  This time I made it much further in the process.  I did not get the pulling quite right, in that I used too much water.  Next time I will know better.

I noticed a few major differences in the batches.  The raw milk batch was very sweet and produced a large amount of ricotta from the whey.  Whereas the batch with the pasteurized milk had an almost sour flavor to it and produced only half as much ricotta as the raw milk.

I have recently found what I believe to be cream-line milk at Trader Joe's and will try that for my next batch.  The reality is that were I live I can only get raw milk at a farmers market on Sunday and at $15 a  gallon it is cheaper to buy the cheese.  I can get cream-line milk at Trader Joe's any day of the week for half the cost.  If it makes a good cheese I will be a happy cheese making girl.

I will try to keep you better posted on the "cheese files".

Anthoinette

Cheese take I

Yesterday my new friend, Aurora, and I tried making mozzerella and ricotta.  Here is how it went...

For starters I wanted to make the ricotta out of the whey from the mozzerella, which calls for a different recipe than I previously used.  I am going to call it a tie Cheese 1: Cheese Makers 1.

The mozzerella has a lot of steps to it.  Take 1 gal of raw whole milk, heat to 90, add thermophilic culture, let sit 45 min, add rennet, stir 5 min and let sit 1 hour, cut curds, reheat to 90 for 30 min, take 30 minutes to heat to 105, drain the whey, keep in a double boiler at 105 for 2-3 hours until the pH reaches 5.0-5.3, cut the mass into 1/2" cubes, drain off excess whey, put into 4 c water at 170......

You get the picture.  When I checked the whey before cutting it, it was the texture of a natural sea sponge, not the smooth gelatinous mass I am used to.      The next issue was that the pH remained neutral at 7.0. I did not go any further.  The cheese tastes great. It just will not have the characteristic stringy texture of mozzerella.  I have another gallon of milk that I will retry this experiment later this week.  Cheese 1:

The ricotta, though troublesome was much more successful.  The ricotta directions were to heat the whey from the mozzerella to 200, stir in 5 t vinegar and start scooping out the curds as they form.  We followed these directions and got little arrhythmic curds that looked more like flour floating in the whey.  We waited about 15 minutes and it did not get better.  We added the vinegar again.  It got a little better, but was still weak.  Aurora noticed the temperature had slipped a few degrees and gave it a little heat.  We found if we kept it between 200 & 205 that we got big beautiful creamy curds of ricotta.  I think we were getting curds for at least half an hour.  The Ricotta is *creamy* and B-E-A-utiful.  Cheese Makers 1.

When I make the mozzerella again there are three areas that I think may have been the problem.  The first is that there were some temperature control issues in the beginning.  The second is when I made cheeses in the past when you stir in the rennet you want to be as quick as possible.  I will do some research and see if taking 5 minutes to stir in the rennet is unusual or normal for mozzerella.  The third thing I may try is covering the mozzerella when I am holding it at 105 for 2-3 hours.  In the meantime I have research to do.

I look forward to updating the cheese diary later this week, hopefully with a successful mozzerella.


Until then have fun

Anthoinette





Reference:  Making artisan cheeses by Tim Smith