Cheating, southern style.

I'm a big fan of big flaky biscuits. I'm not a fan of the big mess of flour that I tend to make on the counter, the flour, and the dog somehow gets into... so I've cheated with the traditional southern biscuit recipe and I've started making them in my food processor. Clean up is simple and my results are always consistently delicious.

Food Processor Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

4 tablespoons butter, COLD!

1 cup buttermilk

Protocol

1. Preheat your oven to 450˚

2. In your food processor combine all of the dry ingredients, and pulse to mix. This eliminates the need for a sifter, hooray!

3. Slice your 4 tablespoons of cold butter into smaller pieces and disperse them throughout the bowl of your food processor.

4. Add your buttermilk and turn the food processor on until the biscuits just combine. (Picture #3)

5. Place your dough on a floured surface. Work the dough by folding it over on itself 6 times. These folds will produce the layers in the biscuit. Keep folding to a minimum though! Biscuit dough does not like to be touched excessively and any overworked dough will not be light and fluffy but a hard hockey puck.

6. Cut out the biscuits with a cookie cutter, and reform any scrap biscuits. Place biscuits on a baking sheet and bake until they are golden brown approx. 12-15 minutes.

Churn Baby, Churn

Homemade Unsalted Butter

Ingredients

Heavy whipping cream, no substitutions! lighter fat creams will not work!

Protocol

1. Before starting the process of making your butter, chill your bowl in the fridge for 15 minutes.

2. Place your heavy whipping cream in the bowl and using the paddle attachment set your mixer on the highest speed without making a mess. Your cream will reach the whipped cream stage and you will keep whipping beyond this.

3. A couple minutes after the whipped cream stage you will achieve results like the second picture, which is butter in a puddle of buttermilk. Drain off the buttermilk and reserve it, it's better than store bought varieties. This butter will be rich richer like a european butter and can be used for baking, eating, and inhaling.

The Biochemistry of Butter

Note to self: I should get some lined paper.

bacon, bacon, bacon.

Cornmeal Bacon Waffles

Makes 10 waffles

Ingredients

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 c. yellow cornmeal

2 cup water

1 1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons bacon grease, not butter. (oh yes, I went there, this is bacon day.)

8 strips of crunchy crispy bacon, chopped

Protocol

1. Preheat your waffle maker to the requirements for a medium waffle. I have an all clad waffle make and I set mine to a 3 on a 6-point scale.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking powder, salt and sugar and set aside.

3. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and add the water and cornmeal. Whisk constantly, until the content of the pan reaches a simmer. This will be a quick, rapid change so your constant attention will be required.

4. Whisk in the milk in to the saucepan to help release the cornmeal from the pan.

5. Whisk the cornmeal & milk in the saucepan into the dry ingredients of the bowl. Add bacon grease.

6. Fold in chopped bacon.

7. Make waffles according to directions of your waffle maker.

Cooking, Slowly.

Jambalaya with Shrimp and Ham

(Technically, this should be made on the stovetop and then be transferred to the oven but I've forgotten that step throughout the years and haven't noticed the difference. I didn't have any tomatoes on hand so I had to sub them out.)

Yield: 4 quarts

Ingredients

olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 carrots, peeled & diced

3 stalks of celery, diced

6 oz. smoked ham, diced

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1.5 cup aborio rice

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

.5 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 lbs shrimp

Protocol

In a large dutch oven over medium heat, sauté the garlic until just tender. Add the onion, carrot, and celery, this is known as a mirepoix. Once the vegetables have become tender add the ham and the bell pepper and give it another 5 minutes minute to sauté.

Once the vegetables have finished cooking add the aborio rice and let it sit in the bottom of the dutch oven for a few minutes (approx 2). This allows the rice to toast and develop a nutty flavor. Add the chicken broth, water, and the spices to the dutch oven, cover and cook for another 30 minutes. Add shrimp and let them cook through, this will take approximately 6 minutes and they will turn into little "C"s. Take off heat and serve immediately to avoid overcooking shrimp.

The Biochemistry of Ricotta

Ricotta, it's easy peasy.

Easy Peasy Ricotta

For 1 cup of ricotta cheese..
(Note: Traditionally ricotta is made from rennet and whey, this is actually more similar to queso fresco or paneer or what you will find marketed as ricotta in american grocery stores)

Ingredients

4 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp. strained lemon juice

Protocol

1. Place milk and salt in a saucepan over moderate heat until the milk reaches 185˚ F. Make sure to stir the pan constantly to avoid scalding the milk or boiling it over.

2. Once the milk reaches appropriate temperature remove it from the heat, and add stir in the lemon juice. The milk will visibly separate into curds and whey.

3. Filter the curds and whey through a fine mesh strainer.

Experimentation with Sous Vide

The steak is a 2 lb 1.5 inch thick black angus sirloin that was placed in the immersion circulator for 1 hour at 132˚F and seared for 30 seconds on each side. The salmon is a steelhead fillet and was immersed for 13 minutes at 122˚F.