Ricotta Pancakes

Ricotta Pancakes

I had some leftover ricotta from making lasagna and needed a way to use it up. Then I found this recipe: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-fluffy-ricotta-pancakes-48085

What you will get is creamy custardy pancakes. Please note that I doubled the recipe when I made it. The following description will represent the original recipe , but the pictures will be of the doubled recipe.

1. Start by separating 2 eggs. See step 2.3 from the lemon meringue cake post regarding eggs.

2. Add 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1.5 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder, and an 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt to a small bowl. Mix together with a whisk.

3. In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla, 3/4 of a cup of milk, and 1 cup of ricotta cheese. The recipe recommends you drain the excess liquid from the ricotta if it is watery. Mine was pretty dry.

4. Gently whisk in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

5. Using a stand or hand mixture (it takes forever to do it by hand), whip the egg whites until they reach a stiff peak.

6. Gently fold in the whites into the rest of the batter. I like to mix in a little whites into the batter to loosen  the batter up and then fold in the rest of the whites.

7. Heat up your pan, skillet, or griddle to medium-high heat with some butter or non-stick cooking spray. The recipe recommends using a 1/3 of a cup per pancake. I think using 1/4 of a cup is more manageable. I used a measuring cup to distribute the batter.

8. Flip the pancakes when they start to rise and form bubbles, which should take 3-4 minutes.

9. Flip again after 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy with some real maple syrup or whatever spread you want.

Quick Tasty (and Healthy) Flatbread Pizza

Quick Tasty (and Healthy) Flatbread Pizza

You have a dilemma, you want great tasting pizza, but it is swimsuit season. Well don't worry any longer. You can have healthy delicious pizza in about 20 minutes if you don't count the time your oven needs to preheat. Just like the breaded tofu, this is more of a food process than a recipe. 

1. Preheat your oven to 415 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Instead of using thick carb heavy pizza crust, use flatbread instead. There are multiple brands available at around 100 calories each. The one below is available at Costco.

Each wrap has 10 net grams of carbs, 3 grams of fat, and 10 grams of protein. Place whatever brand wrap you are using on an aluminum foil lined baking/cookie sheet that has been lubricated with non-stick spray.

Spray the wrap with some more non-stick spray.

3. Baked the wrap for 10 minutes and get the rest of your ingredients prepped.

4. Add the rest of your ingredients. Here is where you can be creative. I added pizza sauce,

skim mozzarella cheese,

rotisserie chicken without the skin,

 kale and feta cheese. If you are using kale, add some salt and spices to it and spray it with non-stick spray. This will result in kale chips.

5.  Baked at the same temperature for another 10 minutes.

Voila. A delicious lunch or dinner made in a flash. . Want a BBQ twist, use bbq sauce. Want it Mexican style, use salsa and beans. I've even heard of using tzatziki sauce and feta cheese for a Mediterranean pizza. Please comment below with pictures and descriptions of your creation.

Kahlúa Cheesecake

Growing up, we used to get a pie every Friday for Shabbat dinner from Marie Callender's. Besides pumpkin pie, one other pie was my absolute favorite.  Here is how the real thing looks like courtesy of yelp.

When my coworker gave me a bottle of Kahlúa for Christmas last year, I had to try to make it. Here is my feeble attempt to make it based of the recipe that appears at the top of this link: http://www.food.com/recipe/kahlua-cheesecake-15330.
It is a little different than Marie's, a little more chocolaty. I wish everything was more chocolaty.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Cut up two 8 ounces cream cheese blocks and leave out in your room temperature kitchen so that it gets soft. I cannot emphasize how important this step is. You will regret it if you don't. It needs to be warm to combine with the rest of the ingredients.

3. Grind 1.33 cups of some kind of dry chocolate cookie/cracker in a food processor. The recipe calls for chocolate wafers, but those are hard to find and when you do find them, they are overpriced. I used chocolate teddy grahams, but you could also use oreo wafers without the filling or chocolate graham crackers.

4. Since I measured the chocolate crumbs in a large graduated measuring cup, I add the 0.25 cup of melted unsalted butter (that's half a stick) directly into the cup and mixed until well combined.

5. Press the crumb mixture into a 9" springform pan that has been lined with aluminum foil. I use a large circular measuring cup to help press the crumbs into bottom and sides of the pan.

Usually, crumb based crusts are pre-baked, but this recipe did not ask for that. I put the crust in the fridge while I made the filling to let the crust firm up.

6.  What makes this recipe different than regular cheesecake is the addition of a chocolate Kahlúa  mixture. This will make it taste amazing. Start by filling a pot with about an inch of water. Heat it up to a simmer. You don't want it to get too hot.

7. In a glass/metal bowl that fits on top of the pot without touching the water, combine 1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate, 2 tablespoons of butter, and 0.25 cup of Kahlúa or any other coffee liqueur.

8. Keep stirring until the mixture melts and is well combined, then take the bowl off the heat. Let the mixture cool as you prepare the rest of the batter.

9.  Combine 2 eggs, 0.33 a cup of granulated sugar, and 0.25 of a teaspoon of salt. For some reason I decided to mix freehand, but don't be a hero... use a stand (paddle attachment) or a hand mixture. Mixing cream cheese can get difficult. 

10. Mix in 1 cup of sour cream.

11. Mix in the warm cream cheese until it is well combined and there are no solid chucks.

Mix
.

 Mix

12. Gently mix in the chocolate mixture.

13. Pour the batter into the prepared crust.

14. Put the cheesecake in the oven for 35 minutes. Once the time is up, turn the oven off and leave the door slightly open for 15 minutes. Your kitchen will warm up a little, but it will be worth it.

I have a back log of finished dishes, so stay tuned for more. Next will be my healthy quick pizza.