Housemade Ricotta

I was in Chicago a few months ago and got to stop at one of my favorite restaurants in the City for wine and apps; Quartino - my best friend and I noshed on Dates Wrapped in Pancetta, Bruschette and the housemade Goats Milk Ricotta which was out of this world, served with olive oil and grilled rustic bread.We couldn't get enough, we raved, we liked our fingers, we asked for more.

Ever since then I have been craving the ricotta and bread combination (great for your waistline let me tell you, not). So, for mother's day, as part of the spread I made my very own ricotta, but I used regular whole milk and heavy cream. The Whole Foods by my house does sell goats milk, so perhaps my next turn at this I'll use that.

For the recipe I turned to a website that I used to cook from a lot, Smitten Kitchen and used her recipe, utilizing the 3.5 cups of milk and the .5 cups of cream - here is a link.

What I loved about making this was all the "oooh, that must have been intense" or "oh, wow, that must have been difficult" remarks that I got from the mothers when I mentioned the ricotta was homemade. I just nodded my head and said "yes, very very hard, slaved over it - don't know if I'll do it again."

LIAR!

This is so easy to make you have absolutely no reason to not make your own. Seriously. Get on that shit!

Rating = Damn Good

Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lentils and Dates

For the past 6 years I have created a Mother's Day lunch for my Mom and Mother-In-Law, sometimes aunts come, sometimes sisters come too. I enjoy this day so much. This year I did it twice on Saturday with my mom and nana and sister, and on Sunday with my mother in law and aunt. The full menu was 

Rose wine
Homemade Ricotta (sweet Jesus was this amazing and sooooo easy to prepare) with Tuscan Bread and Olive Oil
Raw Kale Salad
Grilled Lemon Marinaded Swordfish 
Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Lentils and Pine Nuts

When I tell you that I could live off of the Cauliflower Salad for the rest of my life and not complain ever about variety I am not kidding. I loved it. Everyone loved it. It had everything, the roasted cauliflower, the sweetness from the dates, the bite from the red onion, the texture of the lentils and the great nutty flavor of the tahini dressing with the almonds. Sooo damn good. I wish I had a picture, but I shoveled it into my face so Goddamn fast that I didn't have time to whip out my iphone and snap a pic. Sorry. My Bad.

God, its been a long time since I wrote those words....So Damn Good.

I miss writing. What's my excuse? Life, man - my 30's what a blur. Chris turned 39 yesterday. When did that happen. When did we become middle age. When did I start looking so terrible in a downward dog. Ladies a bit o' advice here. Never wear shorts to yoga once you pass 35 years old. It Aint Pretty.

I'm heading to Nantucket this weekend for Chris' Birthday. We are going to the Nantucket Wine Festival so that should be fun. I'll let you know how it is and all the great wine and food we ingest while we are there.

Maybe my 30's went by too fast because I was drinking too much wine and eating too much food and in some sort of wine and food coma. Its totally possible.

Here is a link to the recipe.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/roasted-cauliflower-salad-with-lentils-and-dates