FOOD + DRINK
in THE KITCHEN WITH cont...
MARCUS’ S ST. LEONARD’ S HOUSE RICOTTA
Ingredients:
• 1 litre Hinxden Dairy whole milk
• 200ml Hinxden Dairy whole cream
• 1 fennel bulb, finely sliced
• 10g dill, finely chopped
• 2g white peppercorns
• 1 garlic clove, peeled
• 1 lemon, juiced
Chef’ s note: You will need a digital thermometer for this recipe.
Method:
1. Put the milk and cream in a medium saucepan with a lid and combine with the fennel, dill and aromatics. Bring the milk up to 70 ° C, before turning off the heat, putting on the lid and leaving the mixture to infuse for 20 minutes.
2. Once infused, pour the liquid into a clean bowl through a fine sieve to collect the herbs, peppercorns and garlic clove. Pour back into a clean pan and bring the milk up to 89 ° C.
3. Take off the heat and stir the milk to create movement before adding the lemon juice and leaving the mixture to curdle.
4. Leave the curdled mix for 20- 30 minutes before passing through a cheesecloth and fine strainer in a clean bowl. Once strained hang the cheesecloth in a room-temperature environment for 25 minutes.
5. Blend the curds with 50ml of whey before seasoning and gradually adding additional whey to reach the desired silky texture.
ADDITIONAL LEFTOVERS RECIPE: BROWN CHEESE
With the leftover whey, we make a brown cheese, which is a Scandinavian-style cheese. The cheese is unique as the flavoured milk intensifies as it reduces and caramelises.
I’ ve served this as a take on the retro cheese and pineapple hedgehog you used to get at kids’ parties. It sits on a piece of toasted spiced parkin cake, topped with a thin slice of the brown cheese and a slice of coastal cheddar on the top. I lightly melt the cheese and top that with caramelised pineapple, garlic and lemon thyme before glazing with the leftover reduced juice from the pineapple.
Method:
1. Pour the remaining whey from the ricotta recipe into a saucepan and while continuously stirring reduce the liquid to approx 600ml. The mixture will start to thicken because of the natural sugars and will coat the back of a spoon.
2. Add 200ml double cream and continue to reduce and stir until it reaches a fudge-like consistency.
3. Prepare a one-litre container with greased cling film. Pour in the mix and fold over the cling film to seal. Weight down with a second container and press overnight in the fridge. Slice and enjoy.
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