sundaysuppers

Burrata

2 lbs curd
sea salt
1 pint heavy cream

-allow the curd to come to room temperature and cut into 1 inch cubes.
-in a large pot, boil water and add a good amount of salt, taste the water it should taste like seawater.
-turn the flame to very low or off and add the curd cubes.
-with a spoon knead the curd so that it begins to come together.
-after a few turns remove about ¼ of the curd and begin stringing it apart.
-add enough heavy cream to the frayed curd so that it resembles the consistency of ricotta.
-continue kneading the remaining curd till soft and malleable.
-pinch off 3 inch balls from the mother curd, and while still hot spread thin, if it cools too much and looses its pliability dunk in into the warm water.
-scoop a good amount of the heavy cream-cheese filling into the curd you’ve spread thin and immediately close all the ends to resemble a little pouch.
-have a bowl of lightly salted cool water to drop your pouches of burrata into.

Recipe By Camille Becerra

Early Girl Tomato Jam

From The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook

This most simple of tomato jams reminds us that tomatoes are a fruit, and one of the very best. Early Girl tomatoes, especially when dry farmed, are spectacularly sweet and thick skinned. Mace and salt bring our their flavor perfectly.
9 pounds medium sweet tomatoes, such as Early Girl
3 pounds 15 ounces white cane sugar
2 1/4 ounces strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 small blade of mace
2 small pinches of salt

Place a saucer with five metal teaspoons in a flat place in your freezer for testing the jam later.

Bring a medium kettle of water to a boil, then carefully drop the tomatoes into the water to loosen their skins. Leave the tomatoes immersed for 1 minute, then drain them in a large colander. When they are cool enough to handle, peel them over a large heat-proof mixing bowl, discarding the skins. Place a cutting board on a rimmed baking sheet and chop the tomatoes into medium pieces. Transfer the tomatoes and their juices back into the mixing bowl. Add the sugar and lemon juice, stirring well to combine. Transfer the mixture to an 11- or 12-quart copper preserving pan or a wide nonreactive kettle. Place the mace into a fine-mesh stainless-steel tea infuser with a firm latch and add it to the mixture.

Bring the jam mixture to a boil over high heat. Add the salt and decrease the heat slightly. Skim off any surface foam with a large stainless-steel spoon. Continue to cook, monitoring the heat closely, until the jam thickens and no longer seems watery, 30 to 45 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pan often with a heatproof rubber spatula, and decrease the heat gradually as more and more moisture cooks out of the jam. For the final 15 to 20 minutes of cooking, or when the jam starts to visibly thicken, stir the jam gently and constantly to prevent burning.

To test the jam for doneness, carefully transfer a small representative half-spoonful to one of your frozen spoons. Replace the spoon in the freezer for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove and carefully feel the underside of the spoon. It should be neither warm nor cold; if still warm, return it to the freezer for a moment. Nudge the jam gently with your finger; if it seems thickened and gloppy when you nudge it, it is either done or nearly done. Tilt the spoon vertically to see how quickly the jam runs; if it runs very slowly, and if it has thickened to a cohesive consistency, it is done. If it runs very quickly or appears water, cook it for another few minutes, stirring, and test again as needed.

When the jam is ready, remove the mesh tea infuser. Skim any remaining foam from the surface of the jam. Pour the jam into sterilized jars and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions

I’m super excited to announce my new website (my goal for 2011, yay!) 3 sections, Weddings, Family and Food and a new logo as well (brought to you by Suann from Simplesong). I will share stationery pics soon, her work is just gorg.
Well, I hope you’ll enjoy clicking around and please let me [...]

Homemade Focaccia

1 cup warm water
1 ¼ tsp yeast
1 tsp honey
1 ¾ cup flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla salt
olive oil

-dissolve yeast and honey in water.
-add flour and 2 tsp of salt.
-mix with a dough hook on medium speed for 10 minutes.
-transfer into an oiled bowl, cover and rest 1 ½ hours in a warm spot of your kitchen
-spread onto an oiled sheet pan
-rest for 30 minutes.
-spread dough to ends of sheet pan, drizzle with oil and cover loosely, rest for 1 ½ hours.
-preheat oven to 400 degrees
-sprinkle vanilla salt
-bake for 15 minutes, top shouldn’t have much color and bottom should be lightly golden

Adapted from Claudia Fleming’s Flatbread Recipe, tweaked by Camille Becerra