I made some ricotta from scratch over the weekend. Been meaning to try it for a while. I used a little less than a gallon of milk and it yielded about 2 lbs. of ricotta. I think this will be a main component of tonight's dinner, but I haven't figured out yet what that'll be.
Between you and Raz, you might want to try a cooking banter next.
Yea, they could have a theme for each day...Italian Monday, Casserole Tuesday, Meaty Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday (so Tony can get he whiskey on), Seafood Friday, Miscellaneous Saturday and Pot Luck Sunday.
We can report on daily deals by Omaha Steaks, King Arthur, Williams-Sonoma....
I hate casseroles, other than lasagne.
I made Chicken Yassa on Saturday night. It wasn't the wife's favorite, but #1 son demanded the recipe. Was excellently accompanied by steamed Kale and a Gewürztraminer from the Spokane Valley. I don't usually like Gewürztraminers, but matched to this dish, it excelled.
Interesting. I had to look that one up.
"Yassa" refers to the method of cooking, meaning that the meat is first marinated, then stewed or braised. Like all peasant food, it is a means of extending a limited amount of meat and making it tasty, especially if the meat is of middling quality, so that it can feed more people with bigger appetites. The term originates in Senegal, but every culture has a dish like this.
In Senegal, the plentiful extenders are onions, garlic, and chiles. So you marinate and brown the meat you have (chicken, fish, or lamb), then gently carmelize an equal weight of onions. Then you put your meat and the marinade back in the pot with cloves of garlic and a habanero pepper, and cook at low-medium temperature until the sauce thickens and the meat is falling of the bone. Spread the meat over rice, pour the sauce over the meat and voila. Serve with some greens. The Senegalese would use blanched hibiscus. But we have an abundance of kale in the garden, so we just steamed that.
