Blog.EmealsForYou

Homemade Mozzarella

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Appetizers/Homemade Mozzarella)

I’ve always wanted to make my own mozzarella so when my wife found a company, Golden Age Cheese , that sells the curd needed; I thought, “what the heck”. I ordered 4 lbs and with shipping it was around $30. The cheese curd comes in a “cold pack” and arrived a few days after I ordered it. It may be frozen in the “curd state” or frozen after you have made the mozzarella.

Making mozzarella is both easy and fun. It would be fun to have a party and make this with the guests. A word of warning, this is probably not something you want your children to do as the temperature required for the curd to change to cheese is very hot. To make the cheese you simply heat a large quantity of water, add the curd, stir and then form into balls. Yeah, that simple and it is soooooo gooooood.

Golden Age Cheese recommends you add salt to the water. We tried it with and without salt. For those who are on a reduced sodium diet and probably are used to no salt; you will find it okay without the salt. I would suggest you use some lemon juice and olive oil poured over the top. For the rest of us, Michael Chiarello of NapaStyle, suggests you “put enough salt in the water to almost gag you when you taste the water. We made it pretty salty although nobody gagged.

The photo shows how we served it with the Oven-dried Tomatoes oven-dried tomatoes. It was a huge hit; gauged by the fact that it all disappeared instantly.

Homemade Mozzarella

Add salt to water and boil; pour into a very large bowl or pot. Add curd and stir until cheese begins to form long strands. Grab some of the strands and kneed into a smooth ball. Pinch the end and place the ball in cold water.
May be frozen at this point.

(more recipes and meal plans available at www.emealsforyou.com)

Antipasti Tray

(from www.emealsforyou.com Recipes/Appetizer/AntipastiTray)

With all my recent posts and rants about healthier eating it may appear that I have deserted those who eat a normal diet; normal being somewhat less health conscience and in moderation. One of the many things to come out of my NJ trip and cooking marathon is that I now have a wealth of food topics to pass along to you.

Although I usually recommend cooking from scratch to control what goes into meals; occasionally I rely on prepared or as the TV show calls them “Semi-Homemade” products. This antipasti tray was one of 11 different dishes we prepared for the buffet party in NJ for 35 people. Wanting to provide a salad-like course we decided to go the deli route. Shooting for a visual as well as a palate pleasing effect we selected thinly sliced hard salami, Gorgonzola stuffed green olives, assorted black olives, marinated artichoke hearts and goat cheese stuffed red peppers. ( we did stuff the peppers ourselves; the we being my wife). Our friend Jean arranged the dish and I can verify that it did have the desired visual and palate pleasing results.

BTW - For those keeping score I found antipasti spelled antipasti, antipasta and antipasto. Would one of my Italian readers please send a comment as to the difference in these three?

Oven-dried Tomatoes

(from www.emealsforyou.com/Appetizers/Oven-driedTomatoes)

We are back from our Food Fest week in NJ. Surprisingly everything went as planned; I think that is a first. The dinner party on Thursday was a success; we were able to accommodate everyone, the non-meat eater, the non-fish eater and the gluten intolerant. The ” normal” people enjoyed it as well. One of our appetizers appears in the photo above: Oven-dried Tomatoes.

I will be highlighting more of the meal in detail in the coming weeks but here is the menu: Appetizers: Oven-dried Tomatoes and TJ’s Special Dipping Sauce with French baguettes. Main course: Osso Buco of Veal and also Osso Buco of Monkfish, Italian salad and White Beans with Spinach. Dessert: Oven-roasted Pears with Blue Cheese Fondant and Pine Nut Brittle and Tiramisu.

Just to make life more interesting I cooked the meal at our friend Jean’s house. The main event for the week, the wedding celebration party for my brother-in-law and his wife, was at my mother-in-law’s on Saturday, we had 36 people. I must be a glutton for punishment as it is difficult at best to cook in someone else’s kitchen much less cook two complete meals in two different kitchens.

Anyway, here you are; Oven-dried Tomatoes enjoy!

Oven-dried Tomatoes

Cut tomatoes in thirds lengthwise, place on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, sprinkle with sugar, salt and pepper, garlic and thyme. Sprinkle with a drop or two of olive oil. Bake at 250- degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

Note: may be re-heated prior to serving.

This recipe and the menu recipes may be found on our website emealsforyou.com