First Spring Herbs Omelette Sans Yolks

This week I noticed the herbs I planted last spring in pots for a summer rental were sprouting! These early sprouts are the most delicate lovely tasting of the season. After all the heavy rains last night there were just enough to I make an omelette.

Follow the post for instructions of how to make a fluffy egg white omelette that is posted today April 17, 2011
Once beaten you need only incorporate the herbs..mine were chives, tarragon and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste at the end to keep the omelette tender.

I paired it  on my plate with two tiny bananas grilled lightly in the cast iron

YUM!!

First Spring Herbs Omelette Sans Yolks

This week I noticed the herbs I planted last spring in pots for a summer rental were sprouting! These early sprouts are the most delicate lovely tasting of the season. After all the heavy rains last night there were just enough to I make an omelette.

Follow the post for instructions of how to make a fluffy egg white omelette that is posted today April 17, 2011
Once beaten you need only incorporate the herbs..mine were chives, tarragon and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste at the end to keep the omelette tender.

I paired it  on my plate with two tiny bananas grilled lightly in the cast iron

YUM!!

Simple Baked Apple

While in Italy in February I came across this Italian version of a baked apple. It was on the buffet at the Hotel Lungarno in Florence

The hotel served both apples and pears prepared in this manner. 

4 Apples

4 Tablespoons of sugar

Water

Place apples in a baking pan. Pierce each apple 3 or 4 times with a paring knife. Pour boiling water up 1/3 up the sides of the apples. Sprinkle each apple with one tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 3 or 4 hours at 250 degrees  until soft. 

That is the basic recipe to which I added the following:

Reduce the liquid and float a few cardamon seeds in the liquid. Place the apples in a storage container and pour the liquid over the fruit. Cover and cool in the refrigerator.

This is recipe works for apples or pears. Perhaps it would also work for peaches, and any other reasonably hard fruit. You can vary the amounts of water or sugar, as well as the types of sugar and the spices used to flavor the water/syrup.

This keeps well in the refrigerator and is a nice way to begin the day. You can also add flavored yogurt or flavored vanilla custard sauce for an interesting dessert.  

Note: I have used fat free sugar free jello pudding with more skim milk than is called for to make pudding and flavored it to cover over the artificial flavors. It works pretty well for a faux custard sauce.

Simple Baked Apple

While in Italy in February I came across this Italian version of a baked apple. It was on the buffet at the Hotel Lungarno in Florence

The hotel served both apples and pears prepared in this manner. 

4 Apples

4 Tablespoons of sugar

Water

Place apples in a baking pan. Pierce each apple 3 or 4 times with a paring knife. Pour boiling water up 1/3 up the sides of the apples. Sprinkle each apple with one tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 3 or 4 hours at 250 degrees  until soft. 

That is the basic recipe to which I added the following:

Reduce the liquid and float a few cardamon seeds in the liquid. Place the apples in a storage container and pour the liquid over the fruit. Cover and cool in the refrigerator.

This is recipe works for apples or pears. Perhaps it would also work for peaches, and any other reasonably hard fruit. You can vary the amounts of water or sugar, as well as the types of sugar and the spices used to flavor the water/syrup.

This keeps well in the refrigerator and is a nice way to begin the day. You can also add flavored yogurt or flavored vanilla custard sauce for an interesting dessert.  

Note: I have used fat free sugar free jello pudding with more skim milk than is called for to make pudding and flavored it to cover over the artificial flavors. It works pretty well for a faux custard sauce.

Home Made Fat Free Ricotta Cheese

I have not found a smooth tasty fat free Ricotta Cheese. As I like to use it in my snacks and cooking I looked up a recipe by the famed Vegetarian Food expert, Deborah Madison. I have been following her recipes since the 80's. She wrote a book with Edward Espe Brown when she was working with him..called the Tassajara Recipe Book in 1985. It is a wonderful little book of recipes from the Zen Monastery at Tassajara who among other wonderful things ran the Green Gulch Gardens where Alice Waters originally sourced her vegetables for Chez Panise.

Her Ricotta recipe is ridiculously easy to do and a lot of fun to make. I took the recipe and used skim milk and found you could get an altogether acceptable product..far better than the commercially available fat free ricotta I rejected as grainy and unpleasant..name withheld!

I used the commercially produced skim milk but think the better quality the ingredients the better the outcome. Also I used a big porcelain lined cast iron stew pot which when I let the curds form I left in my microwave. Since the microwave is insulated and small it kept the curds warm perfectly. I used white vinegar and would imagine that using the other options would change the quality of the resulting product. finally I whipped a small amount in my mini prep to see what would happen. It resulted in a ricotta cream which I am sure to use instead of custard sauce once flavored. maybe I will play with a recipe she has for floating island dessert..more to come..

Deborah Madison's recipe can be found on the link to www.about.com shown below

http://homecooking.about.com/od/beefrecipes/r/bldairy48.htm

Home Made Fat Free Ricotta Cheese

I have not found a smooth tasty fat free Ricotta Cheese. As I like to use it in my snacks and cooking I looked up a recipe by the famed Vegetarian Food expert, Deborah Madison. I have been following her recipes since the 80's. She wrote a book with Edward Espe Brown when she was working with him..called the Tassajara Recipe Book in 1985. It is a wonderful little book of recipes from the Zen Monastery at Tassajara who among other wonderful things ran the Green Gulch Gardens where Alice Waters originally sourced her vegetables for Chez Panise.

Her Ricotta recipe is ridiculously easy to do and a lot of fun to make. I took the recipe and used skim milk and found you could get an altogether acceptable product..far better than the commercially available fat free ricotta I rejected as grainy and unpleasant..name withheld!

I used the commercially produced skim milk but think the better quality the ingredients the better the outcome. Also I used a big porcelain lined cast iron stew pot which when I let the curds form I left in my microwave. Since the microwave is insulated and small it kept the curds warm perfectly. I used white vinegar and would imagine that using the other options would change the quality of the resulting product. finally I whipped a small amount in my mini prep to see what would happen. It resulted in a ricotta cream which I am sure to use instead of custard sauce once flavored. maybe I will play with a recipe she has for floating island dessert..more to come..

Deborah Madison's recipe can be found on the link to www.about.com shown below

http://homecooking.about.com/od/beefrecipes/r/bldairy48.htm