Flippin' Crepe Madness

Well, maybe this is Crepe Flippin' Madness.
Sarah made us crepes again while we visited Colorado. I got the recipe and made them again. Her's are so much better! There is something delicious about another person's cooking!
The recipe is here. Phoebe's favorite is with powdered sugar. Mike likes peanut butter with jam. I loved how Sarah made them with chicken, sauteed mushrooms, and asparagus spears drizzled with garlic-lemon butter. Totally fantastic!
While home in Colorado, Dad turned me on to Charlie Rose with a show about the movie Julie & Julia, or is it Julia & Julie. Whichever! I decided during the crepe making that I wanted to give it some flair and flip! Phoebe got some video of the experience. Excuse any stove dirt. I cook therefore it gets dirty.

Say Cheese!

I made mozzarella and ricotta cheese for our lasagna. The cheese was awesome, but I over did the garlic in the layering. It was potent! Even worse than the garlic chili that was later used as starter. For leftovers, a bit of plain sauce and it should be good to go.

To make the cheese, I started a city wide trek to find rennet and citric acid. I thought the rennet would be hard to find. Nope, exactly the opposite. The grocery clerk at HEB knew exactly what I was talking about when I asked for rennet! It was on the top shelf of the ice cream makings and toppings. I would not have thought to even look there, but it is used for custards and ice cream making. Never knew.

The first batch was weird and never really made up into cheese. I used a recipe from the internet.

For the second batch, I used the recipe that was included in the box of rennet. It tasted great, but I couldn't get it to stretch out and get semi-hard. It stayed rather smushy. I also made ricotta with the remaining whey.

Here is the mozzarella curd cut up in the pot floating in the whey. It was fun to actually see what Little Miss Muffett ate!

Making cheese was so easy, but definitely took some time. I will do it again in a heart beat, but want to get a book to know a bit more about the chemistry to troubleshoot as I go. The best part was using cheese cloth for its intended purpose! It felt like the universal forces of cheese aligned in my kitchen and patted me on the back and said, "Whey to go!"

Cane syrup is NOT a honey substitute

I have made Alton Brown's granola bars before and we ate them up. FiberBars have become a staple in the house, but I want to substitute something healthier and be able to alter the flavors as we get sick of them.
What a boo boo I made! I had some cane syrup from the farmers' market that needed to find a use. Granola bars are definitely not the use. Back to the mixer I go.
I also made the digestive biscuits. They are good out of the oven, but lack on the next day around. It is a small batch, so if I half it, we could enjoy them during a movie or game of Settlers.

granulated salt vs kosher salt

Yeah, made the big mistake tonight. I didn't compensate for the quantity difference between kosher and granulated salt. So, I ended up using twice the amount! Now, I am so thirsty!
Doctor says all is fine with baby and I. Belly hasn't grown too much, so another picture when there is real progress.

On Top of Homemade Pasta!

Whew, what a crafty weekend! Phoebe and I made felt barrettes, ribbon barrettes, a barrette holder for all the new barrettes, worry dolls, and, to top it all off, homemade pasta.
FINALLY! I have found a good, basic noodle recipe! I found it in my pasta machine's instruction booklet [Note: Dang! Those things have just shot up in price!].

Pasta Dough Recipe
6 Servings
Ingredients:
5 eggs
1 lb flour (I used about 4 cups)

Place a pound of flour on a working surface and make a hole in the center. Put 4 eggs into the hole. Gently begin mixing the flour with the eggs.
To soften the mixture, 1/2 oz of olive oil, a little water, or another egg may be added. (I dipped my hands in water and kneaded that into the dough. It really only needed the slightest bit more dampness).
Continue to knead the dough until it reaches a uniform texture and color. It should be soft and smooth. Form a ball with the dough, wrap it in a towel, and let it rest for a few minutes.
Cut the dough into small slices and pass each piece through the flat rollers of the Atlas Pasta Maker, with the regulating knob set at the widest position, number 1.
Fold the pressed sheet in two and pass it again through the rollers.
Repeat folding and rolling several times, lightly flouring the sheet each time it is passed, to keep it smooth.
Then reduce the thickness of the sheet by passing it through the rollers one thickness setting smaller each time, until you reach the desired thickness.

The trick was: I kneaded it all with my hands! Every batch I made in the KitchenAid was bland and weird. This doesn't mean I won't try to make these with it or my food processor, but the tactile sensation associated with the kneading and mixing was necessary to get the right dough. Added plus: the recipe is so basic it is a great base for flavored pasta.

Phoebe & I rolled these through to a setting of "3" and then through the fettuccine cutter. The result was similar to kluski noodles. Phoebe & Mike thought them a bit thick. For sauces, I agree. These will be perfect in Beef Stroganoff!

Phoebe took all the bit dough left overs with which we had cleaned the pasta machine and dyed them all sorts of colors. She has plans for red & green Christmas noodles; orange & black Halloween noodles; and orange, red, & yellow for Christgiving time.

Side note, yet still applicable: I found a whorking huge bag of salt at Costco. So ridiculous it was in hugeness that, of course, I wanted it. 25lbs for $3.25! I didn't get it, but now I will. I need to salt my boiling water since the noodles are so basic.
Now, to get fancy and add flavors to the noodles. What can I add?