Fresh Ricotta Gnocchi with Arugula, Pine Nuts and Basil

Am I both a daring baker and a daring cook? A few week's ago, I participated in my first Daring Bakers challenge by making Almond Biscotti and Hazelnut Cheesecake. This month was the inaugural challenge for the new group Daring Cooks. Hosted by Lis and Ivonne, the challenge was to make Ricotta Gnocchi as described in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook.

A quick digression - some of you may be wondering why I do posts on baking and cooking challenges and what these are. They are typically kicked off with a challenge set by a host. The participants then virtually cook (or bake) together by trying the challenge in their own kitchens, spread all over the world, and then blogging about it, although you don't have to be a blogger to take part. At the end of the challenge period, the host will usually post a round up of pictures and links to all of the completed dishes. So why have I been doing these? To meet people by joining in the world community of home cooks, to learn by trying dishes I wouldn't usually make, and to spread the word about my blog, which I hope provides interesting information to people wishing to cook and eat simply, nutritiously and sustainably (just in case you forgot)!

Ok, so back to it. What the heck is ricotta gnocchi? I was sceptical when I initially read the recipe as it sounded like nothing more than shaped and boiled ricotta cheese. Bland tasting at best, completely disastrous at worst. I've had a cheese gnocchi disaster before. We ended up eating a pile of cheese for dinner. Or at least, two bites of one.

Even worse, I was having friends over for dinner on the only night I could make it. I decided to go for it anyway and serve it as a starter - who really cares about starters anyway?

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by both the process and the outcome.

First, I made my own ricotta the night before, which was fun and interesting. In a nutshell, (ok, actually in a pan, not a nutshell) you bring a mixture of whole milk, cream and salt to a simmer. Then add in lemon juice. Briefly stir, let simmer a minute, stir again, let sit a minute, stir again, and then strain through cheesecloth for an hour at room temperature. The result was beautiful. This cheese looked delicate, soft and fresh: much different than the mushy, wet look of store bought ricotta.

Having been forewarned that the ricotta for the gnocchi must be completely drained for about a day, I was careful to give the cheese plenty of room to drain. Rather than using a colander, I spread the cheese in a thin layer over cheesecloth (an old t-shirt actually), put this over a flat splatter guard, and set this over a plate. I folded the t-shirt up over the cheese to protect it from completely drying out. I let the cheese drain over the plate in the fridge overnight. the next day I had my results - the ricotta was dry, but not dried out, and very easy to shape.

To dress and serve it, I thought the cheese flavor and texture would be nicely offset by fresh, crisp flavors. In keeping with my spring mood, I decided to use lemon zest as the primary flavor in the gnocchi and then complimented this with flavors traditionally used with lemon zest: arugula, pine nuts and basil. Kind of a deconstructed pesto.

The result was fabulous. The gnocchi was completely different than anything I've had before. It was like an ultralight, fluffy, fragrant omelet or souffle, with just a hint of lemon. Serving it on a bed of greens provided a textural contrast that prevented the flavor from becoming repetitive. The nuts, basil and a drizzle of olive oil rounded out the flavors.

This is a dish I will make again, especially for a dinner party. With a bit of planning, the whole dish can be prepared ahead of time up to the last cooking step, which only takes a few minutes. It is a substantial and delicious starter, with a uniqueness that makes for interesting conversation.

Fresh Ricotta Gnocchi with Arugula, Pine Nuts and Basil

Makes 40 gnocchi, serves 4-6 entrees or 8 generous starter portions

Fresh Ricotta

• 2 qt. (1/2 gallon, 1.9 l) whole milk
• 1 c. (237 ml) whole cream
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 3 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Gnocchi

• 1 lb (2 cups, 454 grams) ricotta
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbs (1/2 oz) butter
• 1/2 tsp fine lemon zest
• 1/2 oz (1/4 c lightly packed) grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• all-purpose flour for shaping

Final Touches

• arugula, 1 handful per person (approx. 1/4 lb)
• 1/2 tsp fine lemon zest
• 1/4 c pine nuts
• 2 Tbs basil, finely sliced
• lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
  

1. The night before, if making fresh ricotta follow instructions on Eggs on Sunday blog. Whether store-bought or fresh, drain the ricotta as described above.
   
2. Prep your equipment. Spread a plate with half an inch of all-purpose flour. Put a small pan of salted water on to boil to test the first gnocchi. Sprinkle a baking sheet lightly with flour.
3. Push the ricotta through a splatter guard or large mesh colander with a wooden spoon (or use a food mill if you have one) to break up any large curds and to lighten the texture of the ricotta.
4. Using a spatula, thoroughly mix in the eggs, followed by the lemon zest, salt and Parmesan cheese. The mixture should be light, fluffy and completely uniform.
5. Use two tablespoons (the eating kind, not the measuring kind) to shape the gnocchi. Scoop about a tablespoon of the mixture into one spoon, then remove the excess by scraping the spoon face-down against the edge of the bowl. Using the other spoon, push the dough from the spoon onto the bed of flour. Sprinkle the gnocchi lightly with flour. To perform the final shaping, pick it up with lightly dusted fingers then roll it a little in your palm very gently to close up cracks and smooth edges. This video shows how the originals do it at Zuni Cafe.
   
6. To test the first piece, drop it in gently boiling water. From the time it bobs to the surface, cook it for about 4 minutes. It will dramatically puff when it is close to done. Using a slotted spoon, gently lift the gnocchi out of the pan. It's done when it holds it's shape. I was worried about overcooking the gnocchi, thinking that like ravioli it would fall apart if cooked for more than a minute or two. This worked in quite the opposite way, the longer it cooked, the more the egg set the shape. I've read that if the gnocchi still won't hold it's shape, at this point you can add a teaspoon of egg white to the mixture to firm it up.
7. Once you've verified that the mixture is correct, shape the rest of the gnocchi. You can add more than one piece to the flour at a time, but be sure not to allow them to touch. After shaping each piece, place on the floured baking sheet.
   
8. Put the baking sheet in the fridge to rest for at least an hour. I rested mine for about 5 hours with no problem. I covered them in plastic wrap for most of this so that they wouldn't get dried and rubbery, removing the covering an hour before cooking so that any condensation could evaporate. Allow the gnocchi to come back to room temperature before cooking.
   
9. Before cooking, prep the rest of the dish. Wash and dry the arugula thoroughly, then dress it in a 1:3 mixture of lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pile the arugula on individual serving plates. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a small pan on medium low heat for 5 minutes, tossing occasionally to prevent burning.
   
10. Just before serving, cook the gnocchi as described in step 6 in a large pot of boiling, salted water. Cook in batches with only enough gnocchi to cover the surface of the water in a single layer.
11. Drain three or four gnocchi at a time with a slotted spoon, let dry a moment in the spoon and then place gently on the arugula, serving about 5 per person.
12. Sprinkle with the lemon zest, pine nuts and basil. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve and sit down to enjoy!
    

Open Access at Windsor Dairy

In a recent post exploring raw milk, I concluded that because the alleged benefits and safety of raw milk are directly dependent on the living and cleanliness standards of each dairy, one could not safely drink raw milk without seeing first hand the dairy from which the milk is purchased.

This gives me a good reason for a field trip. Bonus - my son is currently going through the obligatory animal obsession phase, so he will probably enjoy it too.

Windsor Dairy is the best known dairy in this area offering raw milk shares*, and conveniently, they also feel pretty strongly that consumers should check out their cows. They require every prospective milk share purchaser to tour the dairy on one of their two weekly tours. So we went, the whole family in tow.

I had no idea what to expect. Having spent my whole life in the suburbs, I'm not even sure that milk comes from cows; I've never seen a live chicken, and I've certainly never seen a baby goat lying asleep with his head nuzzled in the crook of his front leg.

I think I was expecting a big field filled with cows next to an industrial-style milking building, but what I saw was completely surprising.

The farm was like a cross between a petting zoo and a bustling animal city: a city with a downtown (the farmhouse, the shop, the milking building, the chicken coops, the "maternity ward" for young cows and goats and their mothers), a diverse population (cows, chickens, goats, a dog, a horse and a few sheep), rush hour (free range chickens EVERYWHERE), and the burbs (200 acres of pasture just starting to green up).

I was stunned at the perfect balance of manic activity with the easy, timeless pace of nature. The frantic pace of the chickens. (they are so weird that they deserve a post of their own). The heart wrenching cuteness of the kids bumping into each other for access to the trough of hay. The black lab chasing terrified chickens. And all the while, the cows just hanging out watching everything, lazily chewing, chewing, chewing their cud.

In the coming weeks, I'll do a few more posts, one on chickens, just because they're so fun, and the other on the point of my visit - the cows. But before getting into detail, I'll say that the whole place was wonderful, interesting, natural, clean and totally open. It was much more than I'd been hoping to see.

One final note - one of the chicken coops has apparently been taken over by a very exclusive club. See the rules below...



*Colorado is one of many states that prohibits the sale of raw milk. To get around this, raw milk dairies sell shares of cows ... you buy part of a cow for a one-time fee, and then pay a monthly boarding and milking fee to get your milk.

Where to Start Looking for Real Milk?

The next step in my quest for eating real food will be the exploration of milk. As I've mentioned before, my son isn't drinking a whole lot of milk, but he does drink some, and he eats quite a bit of homemade yogurt. Because this is an important part of his diet, I'd like to give it a little more thought than I have in the past.

Based on my prior research, I know that I'd like to find milk from cows that are pastured, or 100% grass fed. A cow is a ruminant; grass is the food source to which they are adapted, and I subscribe to the belief that milk and meat from cows/cattle that have eaten their natural diet is far more nutritious than that from cows that are fed otherwise. Also, cows that are pastured live in their natural habitat, which is the least we can do in exchange for what they're doing for us.

So what are my choices?

My investigations in this area so far have led to more questions than answers - specifically one major question, why is milk pasteurized and is it safe to drink raw (or unpasteurized) milk?

Why do I ask this, you might wonder? Because raw milk shares (I'll explain this later) are becoming increasingly common in my area, and in my search for pastured milk, raw milk dairies seem to follow pasturing practices more strictly. So the question of whether or not to drink raw milk has been on my mind for quite some time.

When my son was younger, I simply wasn't comfortable experimenting with this topic. I'll confess that I didn't research it much. While I do believe that it is important not to over-sterilize a baby's environment because they need to build their immune system, I was reluctant to go against a century of common acceptance of the pasteurization process and potentially introduce a foodborne illness to my son.

So until now, we've been getting milk delivered from an all natural, but non-organic, local dairy. I decided that a compromise of getting fresh milk from a local, all natural source, with zero waste due to the use of glass bottles, was preferable to buying organic milk from a large company at the local health food store.

Now that my son is almost two, it's time to reconsider this decision. But first I need to answer the question of whether or not I'm comfortable giving him raw milk.

I found a few commonly cited sources in favor of drinking raw milk:

• William Campbell Douglass II, MD. wrote a well known book called The Milk Book: The Milk of Human Kindness is Not Pasteurized. After quite a bit of surfing, I've noticed a few things - first, this book is commonly cited as the sole source of evidence in favor of drinking raw milk. Second - Dr. Douglass has written a lot of literature, including a book touting the health benefits of tobacco. Hmmm, I'm open minded, but perhaps not that open minded. Maybe I'll keep looking for sources.
• The Weston A. Price Foundation runs an interesting website devoted to raw milk. "The Foundation is dedicated to restoring nutrient-dense foods to the human diet through education, research and activism. It supports a number of movements that contribute to this objective including accurate nutrition instruction, organic and biodynamic farming, pasture-feeding of livestock, community-supported farms, honest and informative labeling, prepared parenting and nurturing therapies." This mission describes a number of my beliefs and passions perfectly. Their website contains a number of interesting articles challenging FDA publications promoting pasteurized milk. They also publish their board of directors, which looks like a reasonably qualified group. So... this looks like a good place to start reading.
  

Against drinking raw milk, I found quite a bit of information on the FDA website, for instance Got Milk? Make Sure It's Pasteurized.

When I began putting this post together, I planned on doing only a single entry on milk. But I've been doing research for two nights now and come up with a wealth of interesting information. So I had a think... if I was reading someone else's blog, would I want to read a list of sources followed by the writer's ultimate conclusion, or would I want to read a more detailed analysis of the two sides? Given that I couldn't find any blogs or articles that I felt compared both sides objectively, I'd like to do that here (I'll try to be objective!). Which means that one post isn't enough. (You might have guessed that after reading my egg posts.)

So stay tuned for the rest of my milk posts - in the next one, I'll try to outline the major arguments for and against raw milk, primarily using sources from the FDA and the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Homemade Ice Cream

So maybe I've been a little too Gung Ho about this blog. The three people reading it may have noticed that I skipped last night because, if you've been paying attention, you'll notice I update every other day, except last night I didn't. My last entry was three days ago, and that one wasn't even particularly noteworthy. I pride myself on verbose, boring, painfully accurate entries, and in the last one I just bitched about Thin Mints. Anyway, the effort required to maintain my normally high standard of quality is taking its toll. This weekend, I felt burnt out. I couldn't think of what to write about, so I skipped.

But I was in the kitchen. Well, actually, first I was on the phone with my sister (writer, pie-crust maker):

"Saw the Thin Mints post. It was good."

"What do you mean? It was really short and I just complained about Thin Mints. I didn't even do a proper analysis of the dangers of partially hydrogenated fat."

"Yea, too bad about that. It was funny. All the others are too long."

"Are they boring?"

"The chicken ones are."

"Oh. Really? I find that topic fascinating." Quick side note, I found a neighbor around the block that keeps 8 chickens in his yard. I've been making detours when I take my son on wagon rides so that we can watch them. They're really weird animals. Seeing them alive, I am not quite sure I'm comfortable with the idea of eating them. Ok, focus...

"What are you going to do next?"

"I was thinking of making profiteroles."

"Why? That is totally off-topic."

"Huh? No, my blog is about buying and making non-processed, natural, local food. This is an attempt at making a challenging dessert that you'd normally buy. Besides I want to try it." About a year ago, I became obsessed with making profiteroles. I hunted all over town for a large, non-plasticy pastry bag and the right size tip. By the time I found it, I was so bored with the whole project that I forgot about them. Ok, back to the conversation.

"Are you going to make your own ice cream?"

"Uh.... definitely."

"How? Did you get an ice cream maker?"

"No, why would I need one? I was just going to stir it myself in a bowl of ice"

"Please, please tell me you're kidding"

Ok, here is where I have an interesting entry about how I attempted to make ice cream the old school way, with 2 bowls, some ice and a spoon. My sister convinced me that I was crazy to try it without some equipment. So I thought, well I'd better acquire more equipment to postpone the fictional profiterole project, and I went hunting for an ice cream maker.

As luck would have it, KitchenAid makes an attachment for their mixers. Sweet! I definitely had to have it.

I realize that this seems in contradiction with my attempts to be non-consumerist, buy local, etc. I do definitely try to keep my material purchases to a minimum. Except I have a little bit of an issue with kitchen equipment. There are certain completely useless things I'll never buy (e.g. a garlic press - I'm a purist, I mince it with the side of a knife), but an insulated ice cream bowl and paddle for my KitchenAid mixer was just too tempting.

And holy cow is homemade ice cream good. The first night I made vanilla (with a drop of brandy), and the second night I made chocolate.

I probably shouldn't plagiarize the recipe I used (from Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food), but here is a link to a similar recipe. Hers has about two more egg yolks, but is otherwise pretty much the same.

I was completely amazed, once I started processing it in the bowl, it only took about 15 minutes to thicken.

I will say that, given how much ice cream I eat, seeing how much sugar and cream go into it is a little depressing. All these years, I'd been using selective hearing to ignore the "cream" part of ice cream.

Anyway, it was delicious, although perhaps a bit heavy. My husband accidentally bought a bunch of table cream for the first batch, which wasn't called for in the recipe. I may try making some ice cream with that instead of the heavy whipping cream. I'm sure it'll turn out less creamy, but it might be a bit lighter.


A few final thoughts on making homemade ice cream. Apart from the equipment purchase, it is definitely worth the effort.

First, it really wasn't much work at all. I made the custard style, which means you slowly cook the egg yolks, sugar and half and half together. Of the two common varieties (the other is just cream, sugar and milk mixed together), this is the harder one, and it still only took about 20 minutes to make the mixture.

I took the first batch I made to a friend's for dinner. She decided to have a taste test and compare it to two local ice cream brands she had on hand. My ice cream was richer and much, much smoother. The egg yolks are what add the richness - flavor you definitely can't get from store-bought, although I don't think I will always be in the mood for something so rich, so I plan to try the other style as well.

The only downside is that I now have six egg whites waiting to be dealt with (3 per batch). Any suggestions?

Homemade Yoghurt

No, I haven't returned to the chicken topic yet. I'm keeping my readers hanging in suspense - "So what DO free-range chickens eat, I'm just dying to know?"

I feel that I must keep my blog current - in other words, when I've tried to cook something interesting, I'll post an update about it. I'll fill in with the more classic, timeless entries on other days.

So, I'm still trying to use up milk, as you know. I thought I'd try yoghurt. Why? A few reasons

• My son likes yoghurt - unsweetened yoghurt mixed with fruit or applesauce and sprinkled sneakily with wheat germ. I know someday he'll discover sweetened yoghurt, but until then he's getting the sour stuff.
• We go through quite a bit of yoghurt and I feel guilty about the containers. I'm trying to reduce my container purchases in general and yoghurt has been one of the last to go. These are especially unethical because while they are recyclable, I'm ashamed to say that I don't recycle them. I know, I'll probably go to hell for that. Here is the dilemma. Plastic tubs are the only container that can't be recycled curbside, which means that I would have to make a special trip to the recycling center across town to drop them off. I tried for a long time to save them, but the reality is that I never make it there. It seems crazy to make one special trip just to drop off yoghurt containers. I don't understand why Type 1 plastic bottles are picked up for recycling but Type 1 plastic tubs aren't. I would like to do a blog on the mystery behind this, but that seems a little off topic. Oh, and the lids aren't recyclable at all. What's with that? Bottles are an easy shape, tubs are a harder shape, and lids are just an impossible shape to melt down?? For a while, I saved tubs to use for freezing chicken stock. That alleviated my guilt for about 2 months, but if I save any more then I'm just denying the inevitable fact that they'll someday go in the trash. After all, I'll probably never make 8 quarts of chicken stock at any one time. Hmm, this rant is probably worthy of its own paragraph and not a mere bullet point. I'm sure my sister of the successful piecrust (also a writer) will correct me on this.
• Third reason for making yoghurt (in case you've forgotten the subject of the list) - it doesn't matter if I blow it because I've got a lot of milk to get rid of.

I looked up a few recipes, and they're all basically the same. Bring a quart of full fat milk just to a boil. Let it cool to about 120⁰F, then stir in 2 Tbs of yoghurt. Leave it in a bowl, covered with a towel, at a warm, but not hot, temperature (85 to 120⁰F) until it sets, usually 10-16 hours. Refrigerate as soon as it sets or it will turn sour.

That sounded pretty simple. Except that I had to plan out my timing. In order not to have too much yoghurt sitting in the fridge, I wanted to have just a little bit left in my last store purchased container.

As luck would have it, my husband did the grocery shopping on the weekend before the big experiment, and he bought ... the WRONG kind of yoghurt.

What is the wrong kind of yoghurt, you might ask? Every yoghurt has different cultures and therefore tastes slightly different. My yoghurt will (I hope) taste like the yoghurt I choose as the starter.

For the last, I don't know how many, million weeks, we've bought Straus Family Creamery European Style Organic Plain Whole Milk Yoghurt. It's thick, creamy, not too sour, a little sweet. The texture is wonderful. It's not local and the cows aren't pastured (please see the comments section where I was set straight on this incorrect statement!), I'm ashamed to say, but I buy it anyway because it is just the best. This is another reason why I want to make my own.

On this particular week, my husband did not buy this yoghurt, but instead bought Horizon Whole Milk Plain Yoghurt, which I just do not like. I find the texture weird and quite tangy. What to do, what to do.

I decided to proceed anyway. At least I'd save myself a container for one week.

It was actually pretty easy. I just had one mix up, I started at about 2pm, which meant that I should start checking it's progress at midnight. I did consider for one moment that it might be worth getting up in the middle of the night to check, but that seemed extreme for yoghurt that might not even taste good. All in all, it sat for about 18 hours. I put it in the warming drawer of our oven on the lowest temperature with the door slightly ajar. Unfortunately I accidentally turned it off before going to bed, so I think it cooled down to about 60 overnight. That might have been a good thing given how long I left it out.

When I checked it in the morning, I could not believe it, it had set perfectly. And guess what, it tasted exactly like Horizon yoghurt, not that nice, but edible. For some reason, my husband is scared to eat it, but my baby and I have been eating it for 2 days now and haven't gotten sick yet. Given my success rate lately, I'll call that a winner.

Next week, I'll have to sacrifice one more plastic container to see if I can replicate the Straus flavor. And I may try making ricotta as well!