Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

I seriously LOVE these pancakes! I found the recipe in a brand new cookbook I picked up at Salvation Army, for like $1, a few years ago. It comes from the Food & Wine: Annual Cookbook 2003.

1 cup part-skim ricotta
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons mild honey, such as clover, sage or star thistle

In a blender, mix the ricotta with the eggs, egg whites, flour, oil, grated lemon zest, salt and 2 teaspoons of the honey until smooth.

Meanwhile, heat a nonstick griddle over moderately low heat. Working in batches if necessary, pour 2 rounded tablespoons of the batter onto the griddle for each pancake, allowing enough room for them to spread slightly. Cook the pancakes until the bottoms are golden, the tops are slightly set and small bubbles appear on the surface, 2-3 minutes. Flip the pancakes over and cook until golden, about 1 minute longer. Transfer the pancakes to individual plates, drizzle with the remaining honey and serve at once.

Carrot Soup with Cilantro Ribbons

This has become one of my all time favorite soups. I often make it for friends when they come over for lunch because it is easy but tastes good and looks fun.

It is from a book called A Good Day for Soup by Jeannette Ferrary and Louise Fiszer.

Soup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 teaspoon curry powder, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoons flour
5 cups chicken stock
1 lb carrots
4 tablespoons heavy cream
salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan, heat oil. Add onion and celery and cook until soft. Stir in curry, coriander, and flour and cook another minute. Add stock, bring to a boil and add carrots. Simmer, partly covered, 15 minutes. In a blender puree the mixture with cream. Taste for salt and pepper.

Ribbons
2 eggs
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Ina a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, milk, salt, and pepper. Stir in cilantro. In an 8-inch skillet, preferably nonstick, heat oil. Pour in egg mixture, tilting pan back and forth. Cook until batter is set. Turn over to cook other side for 1 minute. Slide onto cutting board and let cool. Cut into thin strips. Divide ribbons among 6 bowls, ladle soup over them and serve.

A couple of things I've learned with this recipe is the more I whisk the ribbon batter the more air it gets into and then they will float in the soup. Also, I don't think the ribbon to soup ratio is good. I usually double the amount of ribbons for the whole batch of soup.

Very good!

Salsa Verde

tomatillo husks

Last night I made chicken fajitas--nothing special. But to kick it up a notch I attempted to make some Salsa Verde. I got the recipe from the Williams-Sonoma book Savoring Mexico. Since the salsa was only going to be fantastic when it was super fresh I halved the recipe for just the two of us. But in halving it I got a bit reckless and started tossing in my extra chopped goods without measuring or tasting as I went. The salsa was absolutely fresh and fantastic--with one exception--it burned the #%@! out of my mouth! I put too much of the serrano chiles in. It tasted so good, it brought tears to my eyes. My advice: go light on the chiles.

Here's the recipe in it's entirety:

1 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed
3 tablespoons roughly chopped white onion
3 serrano chiles, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the tomatillos with water to cover and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, uncovered, until soft but not soggy. 8-10 minutes. Drain and transfer to a blender or food processor. Add the onion, chiles, garlic, and salt and process until a rather smooth puree forms that still has some rough texture.

Pour into a bowl, stir in the cilantro, and serve. (We chilled ours a bit in the freezer.)

Mushroom Risotto Cakes

The mushroom risotto recipe from the previous post made enough to feed a family of 10. But since we are only a small family of three and Brian rarely eats leftovers I had no idea what to do with all that yummy goodness left in the fridge. Really, it was way too much for me to consume. I gave half the leftovers to our good friends who seem to always enjoy our food and then I made the rest into risotto cakes.

These actually were not all that great. They seemed to need some sort of sauce. The crunchy, fried outside made me think, ketchup. But that wasn't it, of course.

3 cups chilled mushroom risotto
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from about 4 slices firm white sandwich bread)
6 tablespoons olive oil

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. 3Form chilled risotto into 8 (3/4-inch-thick) patties using wet hands. Put flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in 3 separate shallow bowls. Coat 1 cake with flour, tapping off excess, then egg (letting excess drip off), and then bread crumbs. Transfer to wax paper. Repeat with remaining cakes.

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté 4 cakes, turning over once, until browned, 5 to 6 minutes total. Transfer with a slotted spatula to a paper-towel-lined baking pan and keep warm in oven. Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil and sauté remaining 4 cakes in same manner.

Mushroom Risotto

A trip to Costco is a rare adventure for us. 1-We don't have a car. 2-We just don't have the space to store the goods; say, 100 rolls of toilet paper. But we made a trip a couple months ago (rented a zipcar) and I've had a big container of dried mushrooms waiting to be opened. Since I have been working really hard at using what we have in the cupboards rather than buying more and more I finally broke open the bin and made a delicious batch of risotto. The recipe is from epicurious.com and I substituted the reconstituted mixed mushrooms for the fresh ones the recipe calls for. I think it made the flavor even more pungent and rich. Also, I did not add the additional butter at the end and it tasted great.


1 oz (28 g) dried porcini (1 cup)
3 3/4 cups hot water
5 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3/4 lb fresh cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 lb Arborio rice (2 1/3 cups)
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Soak porcini in 1 1/2 cups hot water in a bowl until softened, about 20 minutes. Lift porcini out, squeezing liquid back into bowl. Rinse to remove any grit and coarsely chop. Pour soaking liquid through a sieve lined with a coffee filter or a dampened paper towel into a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, then add broth, soy sauce, and remaining 21/4 cups water to pan and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, heat oil with 1 tablespoon butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté onion, stirring, until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and fresh mushrooms and sauté, stirring, until mushrooms are browned and any liquid they give off is evaporated, about 8 minutes. Stir in porcini and cook, stirring, 1 minute, then add rice and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and cook, stirring, until absorbed, about 1 minute.

Stir 1 cup simmering broth into rice and cook, stirring constantly and keeping at a strong simmer, until absorbed. Continue cooking and adding broth, about 1 cup at a time, stirring frequently and letting each addition be absorbed before adding next, until rice is tender and creamy looking but still al dente, 18 to 20 minutes. Thin with some of remaining broth if necessary. (You will have about 1 cup left over.) Remove from heat. Stir in cheese, salt, pepper, and remaining 5 tablespoons butter until butter is melted.

Stir parsley into remaining risotto and serve immediately.