If I could eat a single food every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it (in addition to meat) it would be ice cream. More specifically, this homemade frozen vanilla custard ice cream. Technically, ice cream and custard are two different beasts. Ice cream is made with cream and sugar, and must contain a certain percentage butterfat, while custard is cream, sugar, and egg yolks. Again, meeting the same butterfat requirements as ice cream, but also a percentage of yolk. But, I don’t get too hung up on the specifics because they’re both ice cream to me, just different types.
But, custard “style” is so creamy, thick, and absolutely lovely that is really is different than regular ole’ ice cream (I love you too ice cream!) It has such an old fashioned taste and I’m completely obsessed. It reminds me of Hanks Frozen Custard, an ice cream stand I used to go to all the time as a kid that has been in business since the 50’s. They exclusively make and churn frozen custard on site and it is out of this world. Thankfully, it’s incredibly easy to make at home with some very basic ingredients.
Let this be my disclaimer: use the BEST quality ingredients as possible. While I believe this should always be the case, it is in recipes such as this where it’s minimal ingredients that quality makes all the difference in the world. Your milk should be full fat, your eggs from pastured birds with bright orange yolks, and your cream should be from cows (or goats) eating that summer grass. This will make all the difference in your frozen vanilla custard ice cream.
I like my custard to be subtly sweet with the help of a little raw sugar. Good cream will provide the custard with much of the sweetness on its own. I have tried recipes that called for double the amount of sugar I call for, and found it almost inedible. In my opinion, this combination provides a custard with the perfect amount of vanilla, right amount of sweetness, and oh so creamy taste.
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk (cow or goats milk)
- 8 free range eggs – yolks separated
- 1/2 cup raw sugar (suit to your taste and cream sweetness! My cow’s cream is naturally much sweeter than when I purchased it previously, and so I use 1/4 cup now)
- 4 teaspoons vanilla paste
- 2 cups high quality heavy cream (**see note below)
Directions
- Add egg yolks and sugar to a medium saucepan (NOT over heat) and whisk until fully incorporated and lightened in color. Set aside.
- Add milk and vanilla paste to a separate saucepan over medium heat until it starts to steam. Don’t boil or simmer it.
- Temper the eggs by constantly whisking the yolk and sugar mixture and add heated milk a tablespoon at a time at first, working up to a gradual pour. Tempering heats up the eggs without scrambling them, so add very little initially and work your way up to the whole saucepan.
- Return milk/yolk/sugar mixture to stove over medium heat. Constantly stir with a rubber spatula until slightly thickened and coats the back of the spatula. Remove from heat.
- Add custard mixture to a sealed container and stick in the fridge. It needs to be completely chilled before using, the longer it sits in the fridge the better! It will be thicker, creamier, etc. Once it’s completely chilled, add the heavy cream and shake to combine.
- Bust out your ice cream maker that you still have yet to return back to your best friend, and add your vanilla custard base to the bowl. Remember to shake it up and get all that vanilla that has settled to the bottom! Allow to churn to your desired thickness, my sweet spot is 20-25 minutes.
- Put on your elastic pants, sit back, and prepare for the most delicious frozen vanilla custard ice cream you every consumed.
Happy Custard Eating,
Biscuits!!!! I love you so. Up until fairly recently though, it may surprise some of you to read that I made pretty subpar biscuits. They were kind of squatty, which made them a bit dense and were missing that flake you get with a properly leavened biscuit. While biscuits are a humble food, there are a lot of little things that can really mess them up. Such a simple thing like you twisted the biscuit cutter which sealed the edges can kill your biscuit’s rise. Thankfully I refused to give up, and with a lot of little changes and things to pay attention to, here I am sharing how you can get sky high puff style flaky lard biscuits too.
Now if you can’t make flaky lard biscuits because you don’t have lard, I guess there are worse things that can happen. War, famine, drought…but it’s up there on the list. You can use all butter instead, but it really isn’t quite the same. There is a reason lard is coveted among pastry chefs! As far as the acidified milk goes, you have various options. Whey leftover from cheesemaking, buttermilk, or just some vinegar splashed into regular ole’ milk will be just fine.
This recipe is based off of Martha Stewarts Test Buttermilk Biscuit recipe, but modified to include lard and whatever other acidified milk you have available. Before we get into the recipe and instructions, there are some distinct biscuit do’s and dont’s that need to be mentioned. While these may seem a little ridiculous, I assure you each one is there for a reason.
Do's
- Make sure your baking powder and soda is fresh and not expired – you won’t get a proper rise!
- Bake in a hot oven, don’t put it in before it’s preheated to 450°- the heat hits the biscuits like a punch and immediately gets that butter and lard steaming to create pockets in the dough aka flake
- Snuggle them together about a half inch between – biscuits are friends and help each other rise
- Immediately put them in the oven after cutting – letting them sit out will allow the fats to start to soften
Don'ts
- Overwork or over handle dough – it will make for a tough biscuit
- Use a twisting action if using a biscuit cutter – you’ll seal the edges which will keep it from properly rising
- Over cut the fat, pea sized chunks is what you’re after – this size is ideal for creating those pockets of flake
- Use warm butter or lard – you want STONE COLD – to create that steam and pockets in dough, aka flake
- Use warm milk – again you want COLD – helps keep everything cold
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 5 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter
- 5 Tablespoons cold leaf lard
- 1 cup whey or acidified milk/buttermilk
- Milk or cream for brushing tops
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F
- Whisk dry ingredients together thoroughly in large bowl
- Cut lard and butter into smaller chunks, sprinkle overtop of dry ingredients and using pastry cutter, cut until fat is pea sized. Quickly toss with fingers to ensure fat and lard chunks are fully coated in flour.
- Drizzle whey all over, and gently toss with rubber spatula until just combined. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH. Some dry bits are okay.
- What happens next is what makes ALL the difference in the world in the flake factor of your biscuit. We are going to create a “puff” style flaky lard biscuit here, by layering, flattening, and layering (see video below) So, roll your dough out onto a piece of parchment and gently form it into a rectangle and flatten (feel free to use a rolling pin)
- Grab the parchment and fold the rectangle over itself in half, push and flatten it into a rectangular shape again using the parchment if you have hot hands so you keep the fats cold. Dead hands over here can bare hand it with these icicle flanges. Repeat. Repeat. I have done this as few as three times, and as many as five. I feel like the more folds, the higher and flakier the biscuit. But of course there has to be a limit.
- Once the last rectangle has been formed use a knife and cut into squares or use your biscuit cutter. Personally, I am a BIG fan of the square biscuits, as there is zero waste and makes for minimal handling. **By trimming just the very outer edges of the biscuit squares where it’s tapered down, it will help them rise even more. I don’t do this because I can’t bare to cut off “scraps”
- Transfer the biscuits to a butter greased cast iron skillet snuggled up with about a half inch between them. Brush the tops with milk or cream. You could bake them on the parchment on a baking sheet, but why? Bake for 16-18 minutes rotating halfway through until golden brown and cooked through.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool slightly before slathering them unapologetically in salted butter.
Happy Baking,
Last summer I became a full fledged goats milk greek yogurt addict. I was making it several times a week, and would gorge on a heaping bowl everyday topped with whatever wild fruit was in season at that particular moment. Honestly, it’s a wonder that at the volume I was consuming it, my digestive system didn’t go into full fledged revolt.
Well, it didn’t take long for my addiction to further spiral out of of control, and I started to dip my taste buds into the world of frozen goat milk yogurt. Goagurt? It is single handedly (and I’m not exaggerating here) one of my favorite things in the world. I then and went and turned my friend Anne into an a frozen goat milk yogurt manic last summer, who has been eating it ever since. It truly is a refreshing summer treat.
This frozen goat milk yogurt recipe can be adapted for quite literally any fruit. Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, whatever! Fresh or frozen! Or, *sigh* any yogurt if you are into the whole bovine versus caprine thing. The only thing that may need to be adjusted is the amount of sugar and lemon juice depending on the fruit. Some are naturally sweeter or more tart than others. Think sweet peaches versus tart raspberries, you wouldn’t add the same amount of sugar and lemon juice for both?! The good news is once you make the base, you can give it a taste test and add more of what you think is needed.
I am writing the recipe as general “berry” frozen yogurt, but strawberry is the most common one I make. I consumed approximately 234,783 gallons last summer in addition to my Nana’s Strawberry Pie. Again, feel free to substitute any fruit that’s in season, or use frozen if none are in season, and adjust to taste. I personally never measure and always just add and taste as I go along. Add too much fruit? Blend in some more yogurt. Not sweet enough? Add more sugar. In order to write this blog post, I actually had to measure everything out I was eyeballing so just know it’s extremely flexible and forgiving!
There are only two things that I ask of you if you’re going to make this recipe:
- Please for the love of all that is holy DO NOT skip straining the seeds. Yes, it’s one measly little extra step, but it makes all the difference in the texture of the yogurt. I promise.
- And PLEASE, unless you’re consuming it all within a couple of hours of making it, don’t forget the alcohol. It won’t get you drunk, it won’t get your kids drunk, and you certainly won’t taste it. What it will do, however, is keep your yogurt from turning into an icy, unscoopable cinder block in the freezer. For reals.
Remember that the quality of fruit varies (and matters). When in season, some are so deliciously juicy and flavorful, while others are a bit bland. If you have bland berries, you may need to add more than the recipe calls for, and you still probably won’t get a super concentrated flavor. So, the quantities I call for are general guidelines and I erred on the side of caution when it comes to sweetness and acidity. Less sugar, less acid. You can always add more, but you can’t take it away once it’s there. The amount you add will depend on the particular fruit as well as your own personal taste. I don’t particularly care for any of mine to be super sweet, so I always use less sugar.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is use this recipe as a guideline. Add less at first, taste, and adjust to your liking. Don’t be afraid to try new flavor combinations and get creative, this is a solid base for you to expand upon.
Ingredients
- 5 cups fresh or thawed frozen berries
- 1/2 cup raw sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- A good glug of vodka ~1.5 tablespoons
- 2 cups Greek Goats Milk Yogurt (the thicker and fuller fat the better, obvi)
**I have never subbed honey or other natural sweetener here because in the grand scheme of things I use so little. I would imagine though if using honey, due to it being a supercooled liquid that it would also prevent the yogurt from freezing solid much like the vodka.
Create Your Base
- Take berries thru vodka and add it to the bowl of your blender or food processor. Give it a quick toss, then let sit until syrupy and juices have extracted. Then blend until smooth scraping down sides, then add yogurt and blend until incorporated.
- Pour through fine mesh strainer fitted over a canning funnel if you have it, into a storage container of sorts (mason jar works!). Press/stir around with rubber spatula to help push the liquid base through, scrape out seeds and put in your Big Marie slop bucket as needed. The goal here is to remove the seeds and allow the smooth yogurty goodness to strain through and leave the seeds behind.
- Put the base in the refrigerator covered and let it get good and cold.
Churn and Burn
- Pull out your best friend’s ice cream maker that you borrowed two years ago and never returned back to her.
- Add your chilled base to the frozen ice cream maker and let it churn until it reached your desired thickness. I let mine go around 20-25ish minutes usually.
- Eat it soft serve straight from the ice cream maker bowl, or put into another container and stick in the freezer for a few hours to let it firm up even more.
- Put on your elastic waistband sweatpants, sit back and enjoy!
Happy Goagurt Eating,
Everyone has that go to appetizer, side dish, or dessert that they make when they’re asked last minute to bring something for dinner right? My go to is pitter!
These situations always seems to happen to me at the most inconvenient time. I’ll be knee deep in a project, or it’s an absolutely beautiful day and I’m kicking butt outside. Both are situations where I do not want to go inside to bake a cake or scramble to make something I’m likely missing half the ingredients for.
This is where pitter saves the day for me every time. It only requires a few very basic pantry ingredients that I always have, and comes together and cooks quickly. In and out of the kitchen without skipping a beat. Pitter simply put is your choice of jam baked between two thin pieces of dough. The baking process turns the jam into an almost jello-like consistency. It’s light, tasty, and highly addicting.
Now, if you google pitter, pitter dessert, polish pitter, etc you will not find this recipe. There’s a lot of harry potter, some nail polish, and random other things. Not a recipe to be found in fact. I swear this doesn’t exist on the internet. This recipe is from an old polish cookbook, and if my Babka were still alive I’d ask her if it was ever called by another name. Sadly that isn’t possible, so here we are!
So, just know that you found it here exclusively 
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (2 sticks) softened salted butter
- 2 eggs (1 yolk reserved)
- 2 T sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 T brandy (or additional sugar)
- Fruit jam of choice (at least a half pint minimum)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Cream butter. Add sugar, whole egg, egg white, flour, and brandy (or additional sugar)
- Mix until forms dough
- Divide in two halves. Roll out first half fairly thin and place in buttered and floured pan slightly larger than pan to create a rim.
- Spread jam over dough.
- Roll out second half of dough and cover first half.
- Brush top with reserved egg yolk and bake @ 350°F for 30 minutes
Did I tell ya or did I tell ya? No muss, no fuss. Once it cools and the jam sets it can be cut into squares. The jam gels naturally and is perfectly sandwiched between two layers of thin buttery dough. I absolutely love it, and I know you will too!
Happy Baking,
Move over caesar salad, I have a new love in my life and it comes in a corn tortilla. For the past month plus I have been making (not to mention consuming my body weight in) THE BEST FISH TACOS IN THE WORLD. I am full on addicted. You know you have done it right when you have no desire to go out to eat for the fish tacos you used to always crave, and choose to stay home instead. They’re flavorful, crunchy, light, a bit spicy, and absolutely delicious. I have also made this exact recipe with shrimp, and it’s equally delicious. While I prefer shrimp’s flavor over fish, as far as the mechanics of eating go, I find that the fish tacos are easier to eat. You’re able to achieve that perfect ratio of fish : slaw : sauce in every bite. Trust me on this, I’m a professional eater.
The cabbages in the slaw are merely suggestions, feel free to experiment with different kinds or use whatever is available to you! Also note I don’t give exact measurements. First of all I don’t tend to measure, second, it’s a slaw eyeball it and adjust. Third, I don’t make it the same way every time. If I have a larger head of red cabbage one time it will have more red cabbage than Napa, or vice versa. It truly doesn’t matter, it’s all tasty!
This recipe is a compilation of elements of different recipes I’ve tried, tweaked, and then combined to create the best fish tacos!
The Fish
- Fresh fish (or shrimp!) of choice cut into strips – I prefer haddock or mahi-mahi
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1.5 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- Half and half mixture of plain and panko breadcrumbs
- Corn Tortillas heated
The bang bang sauce
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
- 1 heaping tablespoon sambal oelek chili paste
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco (or more to taste)
The slaw
- Red Cabbage
- Napa Cabbage
- Bunch of Scallions
- Fresh Mango
- Handful of fresh cilantro
- Fresh Lime
directions
- Make the batter and assemble the fish: At least an hour before you plan to eat (or earlier if you have the time!) Mix together flour through salt & pepper in a bowl. In a separate bowl whisk egg and milk and then slowly incorporate into dry ingredients whisking until smooth. On a separate plate mix plain and panko breadcrumbs. Add strips of fish into wet batter and toss around until fully coated. Let excess drip off, then roll in breadcrumbs pushing to adhere. Place fish on a drying rack over baking sheet. Once all fish is done, let sit uncovered in the fridge until ready. **While it certainly is possible to do this and immediately fry, when breading anything whether it be fish, chicken, pork, etc letting it sit in the fridge helps the breadcrumbs cling to the meat and will prevent it from falling off when frying
- Make the Bang Bang: Mix the ingredients for the bang bang sauce until well combined, adding more or less tabasco to taste to adjust heat preference
- Prepare the slaw: Shred the Napa and Red Cabbages and add to a bowl. Chop scallions green and white parts, cilantro, and mango and add to cabbage. Toss to mix, adding fresh lime juice. Add a few tablespoons of bang bang sauce and continue to toss until lightly and evenly coated.
- After the fish has rested in the fridge for at least an hour, add avocado oil to a heavy bottomed skilled on medium-high. You are pan frying, not deep frying so just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry until golden brown, and fish is flaky and cooked through.
Assemble your taco, and may I recommend bang bang sauce on the bottom and a light drizzle on top? PS – the taco holders at home are an absolute game changer. Enjoy the best fish tacos ever, and I dare you to not become a full fledged addict such as myself.
Who ever said that maple syrup was only for pancakes and french toast? I will be honest, before I started sugaring myself for the first time this year, in my world maple syrup was typically reserved for breakfast foods. I didn’t branch out too much beyond that. But now that I have a few gallons sitting on my pantry in the cellar, I have come up with some alternative, creative, and delicious ways to use it.
Not only does it make a wonderful substitute for honey in many recipes (especially the early run lighter stuff!) that adds a different flavor, it is also a wonderful substitute for sugar in baking. Yes, in many dishes maple syrup can be substituted for sugar as a natural sweetener! The rule of thumb is for every cup of granulated sugar the recipe calls for, you use 3/4 cup of maple syrup and reduce the liquid in your recipe by 3 Tablespoons. If you are looking for ways to remove refined sugar and substitute natural sugar into your diet, this is a solid substitution to implement.
While baking is all well and good, I have to admit that my favorite way to use maple syrup aside from its primary role as a breakfast condiment is by using it in sauces and marinades. Even better, our Vermont Evaporator Sapling unit that we used to boil our sap on this spring doubles as wood fired grill! With the use of sapling grill grates, the evaporator proves to be a year round useful tool on the homestead.
Maple syrup brings a wonderful sweetness to a sweet and salty marinade that pairs well with just about anything on the grill. When cooked on a wood fired grill ,it’s elevated even more and reminds me of the flavors that impregnate food cooked in my beehive oven. It just cant be imitated. The following recipe is one I threw together one night – and thankfully, I had the forethought to write it down as I put it together! It produces a sticky glaze that goes wonderfully on some homegrown chicken legs and requires some basic pantry staples. No fuss, no muss, just a quick, easy, and delicious marinade.
Ingredients for Marinade
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 3 T low sodium soy sauce
- 2 T olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1/8 t cayenne pepper
- 1/2 t smoked paprika
- 1 t fresh thyme
- Fresh chives for garnish
Directions
- Prepare the grill by starting a fire about an hour and a half before you plan on wanting to cook dinner.
- Combine marinade ingredients (minus chives) and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour to allow flavors to meld.
- Pat chicken legs dry, let sit out at room temperature for a half hour or so to allow more even cooking.
- Oil grill grates to prevent sticking and cook legs skin side down. Once skin has good color, flip, and brush skin with marinade. Continue to cook chicken, regularly flipping and marinating each side with every turn until fully cooked. Garnish with chives
Cooking with fire is a completely different form of cooking than most people are used to. You don’t set the temperature and walk away! The fire has to be monitored and tended to. I cook almost exclusively with wood for about half of the year on my wood cookstove in my kitchen as well as my beehive oven. So, cooking on the sapling came natural for me. If you are new to cooking with wood fired heat, I have some helpful tips to help you out:
- Don’t expect to light a fire and start cooking. When cooking over a wood fired grill, the bulk of the heat from cooking comes from the hot coals. A bed of coals take some time to establish, so plan on starting the fire at least an hour and a half ahead of time. You don’t need to be constantly tending to it, just occasionally check on it and toss on a new piece of wood when needed!
- Use small pieces of wood. Using smaller logs as opposed to real big ones is ideal for cooking. They burn hotter faster, and will get your fire going and bed of coals established quicker.
- Experiment with different types of wood. You can create different flavors in your food depending on what kind of wood you use! Hickory, cherry, or applewood all will impregnate different flavors without actually having to “smoke” it.
- Move around the coals to regulate your own temperature. While you don’t have a knob to adjust your temperature, cooking on a wood fired grill by no means limits your abilities. By moving around the coals and piling them to one side you can create a hot side of the grill for searing, and a cooler “warm side” for keeping food warm or cook over indirect heat.
The diversity of the Sapling Evaporator makes it a useful tool on the homestead year round. Not only can you boil gallons of maple syrup, but you can grill, and even smoke on it with the added package. For us, multipurpose tools are of the upmost importance around here, and having a useful tool that provides several functions is key.
It also makes for some pretty fun times hanging around the grill and listening to music while cooking some homegrown chicken with home tapped and boiled maple syrup. Does it really get much better than that?
Who said that gnocchi is only for potatoes? I certainly thought this was the case until a couple years ago when I stumbled across homemade ricotta gnocchi. It’s light, quick, easy to make, and goes perfectly with a simple tomato sauce. My life has never been the same since…
This recipe is so simple, and you can easily double the recipe to flash freeze half for an even quicker and easier meal next time. I personally love to make this with homemade goats milk ricotta, but obviously you can make this with store bought or cows milk ricotta!
The thing that’s great about ricotta versus potato gnocchi is that it doesn’t get gummy or overworked as easily as its potato counterpart due to the high protein content in the cheese. It stays tender even if you overwork the dough a bit. Think cheesy little pillows dancing on your tongue, it’s delicious! You don’t need a ricer or food mill, so it’s less steps, less dishes, and comes together quicker!
The one thing that you need to be aware of in this recipe is the amount of liquid retained in your ricotta. When making the dough, the ricotta should be quite dry. I will usually let mine hang in cheesecloth for hours and then smear it between paper towels patting it dry if it isn’t quite dry enough by the time I’m ready to make it. If you use store bought, you can drain it through a fine mesh colander and do the same paper towel method. You want the cheese to maintain some moisture, but it should no means be wet. How wet it is will determine how much flour you end up using which is why there is a range!
Some methods call for making the gnocchi’s by turning a ziploc bag into a piping bag. I prefer to use the method where you roll out the dough into logs and cut the gnocchis, which is what I explain below. This is a very basic recipe that you can find with a simple google search. But, I have made some minor tweaks in the dough as well as the process that I feel make it easier and better!
The Recipe
- 1 pound (2 cups) ricotta cheese drained of liquid
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
- 2-3T finely miced herb of your choice (I like parsley or basil!)
- 3/4-1 cup flour, plus more for dusting work bench
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Make your ricotta cheese and strain it to desired dryness, or prep store bought as described above. Whatever you’re doing with the drained off whey, make sure you reserve some in case you need to add it back into the dough.
- Combine ricotta, egg, parmesan, salt, pepper, and minced herb until thoroughly mixed. Slowly add flour, gently folding in with rubber spatula trying not to overwork it (this is very forgiving unlike potato gnocchi if you do!) The dough should be tacky, but not overly sticky and messy. Add more flour if needed (means your ricotta was wet) or, add reserved whey if needed to get desired consistency (your ricotta was dry!).
- Turn out dough ball onto the counter and give it a few kneads until it comes together and forms a nice ball. It should not be messy and sticking like crazy to your counter, but not crumbly or dry.
- Wrap in saran wrap and let rest for at least a half hour in the fridge, I prefer an hour. This will make rolling out the rope shaped pieces easier.
- Using a bench scraper cut the ball into fourths and then fourths again, giving eight small pie wedge shaped pieces.
- Take a wedge of dough and roll between your hands creating a rough log like shape, then roll out on the countertop creating a long rope. Flour the counter if needed to prevent sticking. I try to shoot for 1/2″ diameter size, but the most important part is making sure they’re all the same size so they cook consistently!
7. Once you have a rope that’s approximately 1/2″ inch in diameter, use your bench scraper to cut it into little gnocchi’s. Again, this is kind of personal choice as to size, I just eye ball it and make my way down the log trying to keep them around 3/4″ish in size. Just try to keep it consistent for cooking purposes!
8. Repeat the same process for the rest of the wedges. Either cook immediately in salted boiling water or put on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, dust with flour to prevent sticking, and stick in the freezer to flash freeze and cook later.
9. When cooking, the water should be a light boil (these cook very fast fresh) not a rolling vigorous one. The gnocchi are delicate, and an aggressive boil will potentially cause them to break up or make them tough. The gnocchi are cooked when they float to the top. Scoop out with a spider and enjoy with your choice of sauce!
These homemade ricotta gnocchi’s are one of my favorite meals to make, especially during the summer! I have fresh milk to make the ricotta, I have a doomsday preppers supply of canned tomato sauce from our heirloom tomatoes, and freezers chalked full of meat to pair it with. Making this is one of my favorite ways to use up the goats milk when I am getting a fridge full, so that I can freeze a bunch of it and have it on hand for meals. It’s just a nice easy and light meal that gets dinner quickly on the table after a long busy day.
Let me preface this recipe by acknowledging the fact that this pie goes against most of what I believe in when it comes to food. It contains artificially flavored boxed Jello, and Cool Whip. Sooooooo not organic, highly preserved, and full of chemicals. I mean seriously, what IS Cool Whip really? Despite these downfalls, to this day is one of my favorite desserts ever! Maybe it’s because it reminds me of childhood, or summer, or the fact that my Nana used to make this pie just for me and I’d have to hide it in the fridge from my dad.
Whatever the reason or reasons may be, I can’t bring myself to change a single thing about it or even attempt to make it healthier or less artificial. Sure I could make my own strawberry jello out of strawberry juice and gelatin. And I could substitute the cool whip for real whipped cream. But it just wouldn’t be the same! So I accept it for what it is, know that it is a very rare treat, enjoy every crumb, and move on with my life.
Take advantage of strawberry season and whip up this very delicious dessert, it’s as easy as pie!
Ingredients
- One blind baked and cooled single crust pie dough
- Heaping quart of fresh strawberries (if they’re big halve them)
- 3 oz. box of strawberry Jello
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 8 oz container softened Original Cool Whip
Directions
- Make single crust pie dough and blind bake until cooked through and allowed to completely cool
- Rinse fresh strawberries well, halve or quarter any large ones until all relatively the same size and set aside in a large bowl.
- In medium saucepan bring water, sugar, and cornstarch to a boil. Once boiling, continue for two minutes until thickened.
- Remove from heat, and whisk in box of strawberry jello.
- Let mixture cool about fifteen minutes, then add to large bowl of strawberries tossing gently to coat.
- Add strawberry and gelatin mixture to pie crust, leveling off.
- Put in refrigerator for 2-3 hours to allow to cool and jello set.
- When set, add Cool Whip to the top and decorate as you please!
One of my top all-time comfort meals without a doubt has to be chicken and dumplings. It’s a hearty, rich, and rustic stick to your bones meal that’s great if you’re in the mood for a satisfying mostly hands free dinner. For some reason though despite my love for vegetables, I prefer a non-traditional take on it. Most chicken and dumpling recipes have carrots and celery in a pale gravy with dense and heavy dumplings. This just doesn’t do it for me, and I prefer a different approach.
When I think of chicken and dumplings I think of a rich darker gravy with a bright, fresh, herby and mushroom flavor and flaky biscuit-like dumplings. By omitting some of the classic ingredients such as carrots and celery, and replacing them with a wild mushroom blend and bouquet of fresh herbs, you get a different take on a classic dish. Then by preparing the dumplings like a drop biscuit, it ensures a light and airy texture that isn’t heavy and dense. Whether you love the traditional style or just want to try something different, this dish does not disappoint!
Ingredients
For Chicken
- 1 1/2 – 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or bone in skin removed learn to break down a chicken yourself
- Flour for dredging
- 4 ounces wild mushroom blend
- Medium onion sliced
- 5 cloves garlic smashed
- 4 cups chicken bone stock
- Couple rosemary sprigs (more or less to taste)
- Large bundle thyme sprigs (more or less to taste)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
For Dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons minced chives (more or less to taste)
- 3 tablespoons cold butter or lard cut into 6 pieces
- 3/4 cup milk or half and half
Directions
For Chicken
- Add olive oil to coat bottom of a heavy bottom pan with a tablespoon of butter and turn on medium high. **This has a long cook time and a heavy bottomed stainless steel or enamel coated cast iron skillet will prevent sticking/scorching.
- Prepare chicken by removing excess skin/fat, and lightly dredge in flour shaking off excess. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- When oil is shimmering, add chicken to pan working in batches browning well on both sides but not cooking through, removing to a plate. Leave oil and fat in the pan.
- Add fresh rosemary and thyme to cheesecloth tying up to create a bouquet.
- Add mushrooms and onion to pan and saute until softened on medium heat. Add crushed garlic cloves and herb bouquet, sauteeing until fragrant, then add chicken stock scraping up browned bits. Nestle chicken back into stock, adding juices collected on plate.
- If chicken isn’t covered by stock, add more until just covered. You don’t want it to be completely submerged, just barely covered.
- Turn heat back up to medium high bringing it up to a light boil. Cover with a small crack to allow steam to escape, and turn heat down to lowest setting and let simmer for 2 hours or so.
- Occasionally stir, scraping the bottom to make sure nothing is sticking, and add additional stock if needed to keep chicken covered.
- After 2 hours or so when chicken is fall apart tender, turn heat back up to medium-medium high until stock comes to a light boil. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Whisk flour and milk together, until there are no clumps to make a thickener, then slowly add to pan constantly whisking until fully incorporated. Turn heat down to medium-medium low, frequently stirring to thicken and prevent any sticking to the bottom of the pan. Taste again, adding salt and pepper as needed.
For Dumplings
- While gravy is thickening, start to prepare the dumplings. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and chives until combined. With pastry cutter, add butter or lard and combine. You want chunks about pea sized, not big chunks. Slowly and gently fold in milk/half & half until just combined. Do not overmix! Cutting in butter/lard this way, and gently/slowly folding in the half and half will create a biscuit-like dumpling that is light with pockets rather than dense and tough.
- Once gravy has started to thicken, turn heat down to low, and drop dumplings by the spoonful scattered on top (I use an ice cream scoop so it easily releases and I have consistent sized dumplings). Once all dumplings are all added, allow to continue to simmer with the lid off and heat on low for 5 minutes. Then, cover, and allow to cook for an additional 10 minutes. At this point test your dumplings. If they are firm then they are cooked through. If they are still soft/tacky they need additional time. Depending on the size, they may need up to an additional 5 minutes.
- Remove herb bouquet, serve and enjoy!
Okay, I confess. I am a bit of a caesar salad snob. When we actually do go out to dinner, I always order caesar salad. But before I order (if it’s a new place) I ask the waitress “is your dressing oily or creamy?” *Insert my husband’s eye roll* I am quite particular about my dressing. I don’t like it too oily, nor do I like it to taste like a bucket of mayonnaise. And it has to have juuuust the perfect amount of dressing. I hate that no one makes homemade dressing anymore with raw egg yolk and anchovies. You just can’t have a true caesar without either of them! Let’s just say I always leave the restaurant disappointed asking myself why I even bothered ordering it when I knew it couldn’t possibly live up to my high standards.
So, in my quest to find that elusive balance of oil, umami, lemon, and parmesan with a perfect touch of creaminess, I started to make my own. I tried various recipes online, and each one fell short. Through experimenting and adjustments I finally found a winner that’s a slight variation of Bon Apetit’s Recipe. I have a big beef with vegetable oil, and it’s the main oil used in every recipe I saw due to its neutral flavor. Why is no one using avocado oil? It’s neutral and incredibly healthy! Now that I have a go to recipe, it’s turned into a full blown addiction and we eat it very regularly.
This recipe is comprised of a short list of simple ingredients. It’s in recipes such as these that it’s more important than ever that you use quality ingredients. If you use the cheapest parmesan cheese you can find or a yolk that came from a chicken or duck that had a strict grain diet I promise it won’t be as good.
Ingredients
For Dressing
- 6-8 anchovies or 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
- 1 clove garlic
- Coarse sea salt
- 2 egg yolks from pastured eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup avocado oil
- 3 heaping tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
- Cracked black pepper
For Croutons
- Loaf of italian/french bread with crust
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For Salad
- Torn fresh romaine lettuce leaves – rinsed and dried in salad spinner
- Parmesan shavings
Directions
For Dressing
- Chop or muddle together garlic, anchovies, and a pinch of coarse sea salt until it reaches a paste-like consistency adding to a bowl. Add yolks, fresh lemon juice, dijon mustard and whisk until thoroughly combined.
- Very slowly start to drizzle in olive oil drop by drop. Then, add avocado oil in a thin stream constantly whisking, and continue to add until thick and glossy creating an emulsion.
- Whisk in freshly grated parmesan, then add salt and cracked black pepper to taste.
For Croutons
- Preheat oven to 400F, and cover cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Tear pieces off of loaf as large as you desire, and add to cookie sheet. Arrange into a single layer, drizzle with olive oil, and generously season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
- Bake in oven for 10 minutes, toss, and put back in the oven until golden brown another 5-10 minutes.
- Make ahead to allow to cool before adding to salad to prevent wilting
Add torn romaine lettuce and croutons to a salad bowl, and lightly drizzle dressing on top. Add some grilled chicken or steak, toss to coat, adding more dressing or croutons as desired. Garnish with freshly shaved parmesan cheese and serve. That’s all there is to it!