Wednesday, March 7, 2012

DIY Day Off! Homemade Ricotta and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes

Today I took off of work and decided to carpe the diem and make some homemade basics for the kitchen. Both were incredibly easy! Here are the recipes:


Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
Slow-Roasted Tomatoes


Roughly 1 lb. cherry tomatoes, sliced lengthwise
Olive oil
Salt
Oregano and other dried herbs
One clove of garlic

1. Preheat you oven to its lowest setting. Some ovens only go as low as 200 degrees F, but mine goes to 170.

2. Place the halved tomatoes face up on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

3. Bake in the oven for about three to four hours. I baked mine for about three and a half.

4. When you remove them from the oven, taste one! They're delish.

5. Place into a jar.

6. Pour some olive oil into a bowl and add your herbs (however much you like, honestly) and a grated clove of garlic to it.

7. Pour the mixture over your tomatoes and close the jar. You're done!

Ricotta Cheese
Ricotta Cheese 
recipe adapted from Evan's Kitchen Ramblings

3 cups milk
1 cup (250 ml) whipping cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Juice of one lemon

1. Combine milk, cream and salt into a heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

2. Line a colander with cheesecloth or a coffee filter or paper towels and place over a large bowl.

3. Once the milk combo comes to a boil, add the lemon juice and turn the heat to low. Simmer for two more minutes.

4. Off heat and let stand for five minutes.

5. Pour into lined colander and allow the whey to strain out for an hour.

6. Refrigerate! Though apparently it freezes well.



Nom away.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Dreaming about this salad.



Last night I set out to make this salad for lunch today. It was so good, I had to have some then and there! It was really hard to not eat the whole thing. A few things I had to change. I didn't want to use a second lemon, so I just used the juice of one and got away with it. I didn't have pesto, so I grated a half a clove of garlic in it. If you're not a big fan of garlic or onion breath, I recommend using one or the other. Because IDGAF, I used both.



Tangy Tuna and White Bean Salad
3 tablespoons lemon juice (I used a little less-- about one lemon's worth.)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white) beans, drained and rinsed
1 7-ounce can of tuna, drained
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons pesto (I didn't have pesto, so I grated a half clove of garlic.)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons sundried tomato, diced
In a medium bowl, whisk together the pesto, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt.
Add the drained beans, tuna, onion, parsley and sundried tomatoes and toss gently to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours to blend the flavors. Serve.

Enjoy like I did!

Can we stop pretending?

I moved recently, so this isn't as timely as I wanted it to be.


If you're a socially aware person, you know that Chris Brown performed at the Grammy Awards. If you're a celebrity gossip lover, like myself, you know that three years ago Brown had to cancel his performance as well as his then-girlfriend's, Queen Rihanna, because he beat the shit out of her in the car on the way over. So he performed, twice, and people cheered and gave him standing ovations and everyone was so happy to finally have a golden talent in their midst again. And I am furious. Thank you, Chris Brown, for inspiring me to make this list of verbally and physically violent people who I am sick of seeing people fawn over. I don't know about you, but I hold a grudge and never forget that someone did shit. You shouldn't either. (Check out this stunning piece on HelloGiggles for more insight into why.)

So here is my list of horrible men praised in Hollywood. Enjoy.