Simply delicious. Fresh homemade curds, lightly cooked green vegetables glistening with salted butter and the whole thing drizzled with a spicy, celery seed chilli sauce. The sauce might sound odd, but trust me, it’s so good, you will immediately start thinking of all the other things to drizzle it on. Homemade curds are easy to make and so much better than store bought ricotta – you simply have to try it.
Gabrielle Hamiliton is one of my chef heros and every time I am in NYC I looked forward to eating in her East Village restaurant, Prune. Alas, she has had to close her doors, let’s hope it is not permanent. The inspiration for this dish comes from a recipe in her cookbook, one of the most battered in my cookbook collection.
Home-Made Curds, Green Vegetables Cooked in Salted Butter, and Celery Seed Chilli sauce
Ingredients
- Serves 4 to 6
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- For the vegetables:
- 150 g (1 cup) diced courgette
- 150 g (1 cup) diced asparagus
- 150 g (1 cup) fresh frozen shelled soybeans (edamame)
- 85 g (6 Tbsp) salted butter (preferably French)
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- For the fresh curds:
- 350 ml (1 1/2 cups) heavy cream
- 500 ml (2 cups) whole milk (Fresh and pasturized, but not UHT)
- 1 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/4 tsp table salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp of white wine vinegar
- 2 bay leaves
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- Celery Seed Chili Sauce
- 120 ml (½ cup) apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon celery seeds
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 120 ml (½ cup) sugar
- 2 Tbsp water
Instructions
- Make the chilli sauce:
- Combine the vinegar, celery seeds and chili flakes in a small bowl and place near the stove.
- Put the sugar and water in small heavy-duty saucepan. Heat over moderate heat until it starts to liquefy. If you have a heat resistant silicone spatula use it to lightly stir the sugar as it melts – the caramel won’t stick to the silicone - if not, lift the pan and tilt to swirl the sugar so it cooks evenly. When the sugar starts to turn amber and smoke, remove from heat and add the seasoned vinegar. *Adding the vinegar will cause the hot caramel to bubble up, take care not to get burned. * Don’t worry if some of the caramel has hardened when you added the vinegar. Return the pot to the stove on very low heat and let it simmer on low, 5 minutes or so, until smooth and syrupy. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Make the Curds:
- Bring the milk, cream, olive oil, salt, pepper and bay leaves to a boil in a medium saucepan. When the milk mixture starts to rise up the sides of the pan, remove from heat and add the vinegar. Stir gently, return to low heat for 1 minute. Turn off the heat, put on a lid and leave to rest for 10 minutes as the mixture splits and the curds form. Gently scoop out the curds with a slotted spoon and transfer to a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Let the curds drain for 10 to 60 minutes. The ricotta can be used right away or stored for up to a week in the fridge.
- To finish:
- In a medium saucepan combine the butter, water and vegetables. Simmer until almost all the water has evaporated and the vegetables are tender (but still have a bit of crunch) and glossy. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. (you are using salted butter so make sure you taste before adding anymore salt!)
- To serve:
- Spoon the vegetables into individual warm shallow bowls, spoon the curds on top and then drizzle with chilli sauce.
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