Open Faced Cheese Cakes

So, this is what I did with my homemade cheese.  This recipe is from my family's Hungarian cookbook.

Recipe:

1/2 lb. (2 sticks) Butter
2 (8 oz.) packages Cream Cheese
2 cups Flour
2 tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder

Cream together butter and cream cheese, add remaining ingredients.  Roll out dough about 1/4 inch thick, cut out rounds, top with filling.  Bake for about 20 minutes at 350° until lightly browned.

Filling:

1 cup dry Cottage Cheese
2 Egg Yolks
1 tablespoon Butter, melted
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Lemon zest
2 teaspoons Vanilla

Mix together all ingredients and place a spoonful on each round of dough.

These are the ones I made with my cheese.

 These are made with regular cottage cheese.  Other than a slight difference in texture, the taste was basically the same.

These aren't very sweet, but they're very rich.  And addictive!

Cheese

That's right, I made cheese.

This wasn't exactly planned.  I opened my milk yesterday and found that it was well on it's way to being curds and whey.  Now, this was almost a full half gallon of organic milk, less than a week old, and only one day past the sell by date.  So I was positively cringing at the idea of tossing it.

So, I consulted the internet and gave it a whirl, figuring that if nothing else, I'd be entertained for the morning.


Step 1: Curds and Whey


I heated the milk, which was chunky to begin with, until it separated completely.  Appetizing, I know.

Curds and Whey

Straining

Step 2: Straining

I got one of my mixing bowls, put the colander in it, lined the colander with cheesecloth, and secured the cheesecloth with clothes pins (because, apparently, I'm the kind of person who has cheesecloth and clothespins on hand).  Then, I poured the curds and whey into the cheesecloth, where the whey drained from the curds.

I let this sit for about an hour, so the whey could drain.

Step 3: Whatever You Call This

Whatever You Call This

Basically, I gathered up the edges of the cheesecloth and tied it around a wooden spoon and let it sit for about 2 hours.  Then when it wasn't dripping whey anymore...

Step 4: Unveiling

Voila!

Voila!  Fresh cheese.  The texture is kind of like dry ricotta.  It's very mild and smells amazing, but has an acidic whey aftertaste that I find unpleasant.  It's not great for eating on it's own, but just fine for cooking!

The half gallon of milk ended up making about 1 cup of cheese, which I used to make Hungarian Open Faced Cheese Cakes.

Hummus

Hummus is so easy to make, and it's good on so many things.  Since I figured out how I like my hummus, I've been eating it with crackers, with veggies, and on sandwiches.  This recipe is basically a combination of a few different ones, plus I adjust the seasonings depending on what I'm in the mood for.

Recipe:
1 can Garbanzo Beans, drained
1/4 - 1/3 cup Olive Oil
1/4 - 1/3 cup Tahini
2 - 3 cloves Garlic
2 - 3 teaspoons Lemon Juice
Sea Salt

In a food processor, combine garbanzo beans, olive oil, and garlic.  Add tahini and lemon juice.  Remove mixture from food processor and stir in sea salt to taste.

Here it is with feta cheese and parsley.  If I have fresh parsley on hand I like to add some to the hummus itself (usually with the tahini).  It's also good with a little Greek seasoning, oregano, or cilantro.

Beet Soup

I love beets!  I think they have a great flavor, and they're versatile.  They're good raw, roasted, fried, baked, steamed...any way you cook a vegetable is a good way to cook a beet.  This is one of my favorite ways to cook beets, and it's from Nourishing Traditions, which is an amazing book.

Recipe:

4-5 Beets
1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter
Salt, Pepper
Water

Melt butter in large saucepan.  Peel and roughly chop beets, add to butter and stir to coat.  Add about 1 cup of water and cook beets until tender, 20-30 minutes.  Add enough water to just cover the beets and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and puree soup with an immersion blender (or regular blender).  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with sour cream or plain yogurt.

This is great, it really showcases the flavor of the beets, and look how awesome that color is!

I just season this with a little bit of salt and pepper, sometimes some Penzey's Krakow Nights (Polish style seasoning), but mostly I like the beets to speak for themselves.  Any seasoning should just enhance the natural, amazing beet flavor, not cover or compete with it.

Burrito Soup

This started with a recipe that I found online, but then when I actually started cooking I totally ignored that recipe.  This is really a versatile soup now, basically whatever you like in or on Mexican food can go in or on this.

Recipe:
Olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
Garlic (to taste)
2-3 stalks Celery, chopped
2 cans Black Beans, drained and rinsed
Broth (vegetable or chicken)
1-2 cups Salsa
Chili powder

Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan.  Add onions, garlic and celery and cook until onions are transparent.  Add black beans, salsa, and enough broth to cover them, bring to boil.  Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender (or regular blender). Return to heat, add more salsa and season to taste.

You can also add browned ground beef to the soup (after it's pureed). It's good topped with sour cream or cheese, and I love it with Fritos.  And Guinness.

Oat Macaroons

I was looking for a new oatmeal cookie recipe to try out for oatmeal cookie day, and came across this one in Good Housekeepings Book of Menus, Recipes, and Household Discoveries.

Recipe:
2 Eggs
3/4 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon melted Butter
2 cups Rolled Oats
1 cup Coconut
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla
3 tablespoons Cornstarch
1 teaspoon Baking Powder

Preheat oven to 350°
Beat together eggs and sugar, add melted butter.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Drop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Makes about 18 cookies.

These are great!  A little crunchy, a little chewy, and not too sweet.  They're also flour-less and have a pretty minimal amount of fat.  Happy oatmeal cookie day!

Crackers

Crackers probably seem like a weird thing to make at home, but I love these!  They're easy, if a little time consuming, and so delicious.

Recipe:

2 cups of plain flour

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons softened butter

3/4 cup of water

2 tablespoons Saco buttermilk powder (optional)

2 tablespoons spices or seasoning blend (optional)

Preheat oven to 325'F.

Add the salt and buttermilk powder to the flour, and in a mixing bowl or food processor, cut the butter in until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.  Slowly mix in enough water to form a soft, but not sticky, dough.

Divide the dough into two portions, knead seasoning into dough, and roll out one at a time, until paper thin. You can do this on a lightly floured surface, or you can roll it out onto a large, ungreased cookie sheet. This recipe makes enough for two 10" x 15" trays.

Prick the surface of the dough with a fork.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove from the oven and cut into crackers.  Reduce heat to 300, and bake on top rack until crisp, 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool on the tray, then store in an airtight container.

I cut mine with scissors, for a couple of reasons -- first, it doesn't scratch up my one and only cookie sheet, and second, my kitchen scissors are very sharp, and washable.  However you choose to get your crackers into cracker shape, it's important to bake them for awhile first.  If you cut the freshly rolled out dough into squares, the sides will pull up, and the crackers won't be thin and crispy, they'll be thick and tough.

And here they are!  I added Greek seasoning and sesame seeds to this batch, and they're delicious with hummus and feta cheese.

I've tried a lot of different spices and seasoning blends in crackers, I've also added sesame seeds, flax seeds, and parmesan cheese, and these are all really good.  I add them with the seasoning (if it's sprinkled on top it just kind of falls off after baking).

Here are some successful cracker flavors:

Sage and parmesan cheese

Italian herb

Rosemary and flax seed

Oregano

Krakow Nights (Polish style seasoning)

Tandoori

Paprika and sesame seed