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The Organic Kitchen
CHEESE PLEASE, LOUISE
Cheese is one of life’s exquisite bounties. It
doesn’t have to be so good—it’s a gift of nature,
like firefies on a June evening. And like wine and
bread, cheese is a fermented food, with all the
benefits that accrue when a food is predigested
for us by microorganisms.
At the dawn of agriculture, when wild cattle,
sheep, and goats were first domesticated, milk was
a perishable product. Left sitting around for a
few days, it turned naturally into curds and whey,
and when the first farmers drained off the whey
and pressed the curds, they had cheese. It’s still
made that way, except that the curdling agents are
rennet and specific strains of bacteria. In other
words, it’s a natural product, collaboration
between animal, human, and bacteria.
Conventional cheesemakers have developed a slew of
additives to preserve and texturize their
“processed cheese food.” But as you might suspect,
organic cheese is not only additive free, but is
made with milk from organically-raised animals fed
organic the kind of feed nature intends for
ruminants.
Conventional dairies often feed their cows grains
like corn, or silage instead of grass or hay for
the same reason they give them bovine growth
hormones—to force them to produce more milk.
Today’s Holsteins produce up to 20 times more milk
than cows 100 years ago.
Just as with milk, cheese from
grass-fed cows is five times higher in conjugated
linoleic acid (CLA), a potent cancer fighter, than
dairy cows fed grains. Pasture—grass with some
weeds present—contains more omega-3 than omega-6
essential fatty acids, while corn and soybeans
(the grains usually fed to cows) contain far more
omega-6 than omega-3. That’s why cheese from
grass-fed cows has an excellent ratio of these two
essential nutrients. Nutritionists encourage
people to get more omega-3 into their diet.
Finding a source of grass-fed organic cheese is a
way to do that. And there’s more: organic cheese
from grass-fed cows has higher levels of
beta-carotene and other vitamins than cheese from
grain-fed animals. It’s not hard to find organic
cheese from grass-fed cows. Type “organic cheese
from grass-fed cows” into your search engine and
get pages of sources for this kind of
super-healthy cheese.
Cows are meant by nature to eat fresh grass, or
hay in the winter. Fed the diet nature intends for
them, they give less milk but better milk. Better
milk makes better cheese.
MARIA SINSKEY’S MANICOTTI WITH
RICOTTA
I attended a cooking class at Rob
Sinskey’s winery where his wife Maria made these
manicotti for the class. They were by far and away
the best manicotti I’ve ever had. If you want to
impress someone or a bunch of someones, make
these. Maria says this is her great grandmother’s
recipe transcribed by her mother. “Manicotti has
been served at every family gathering for as long
as I can remember,” she says. “This dish freezes
very well and can be popped in the oven frozen,
covered with foil for reheating. I suggest making
extra and freezing it for your next unexpected
soiree.”
Maria advises that the pancakes can be
made a day ahead and stored at room temperature
between sheets of wax paper overnight. The sauce
can be made two or three days ahead and stored in
the refrigerator. It’s not necessary to reheat the
sauce before assembling the manicotti, as they
will be thoroughly heated in the oven.
For the manicotti pancake batter
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. kosher salt
6 large eggs
2 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil
Mix the flour and salt together in a
bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour. In a
separate bowl, beat the eggs until smooth, then
mix in two cups of water and the olive oil,
lightly beating the eggs, oil, and water together.
Stir as you pour the egg mixture into the flour.
Stir in the liquids very slowly to avoid
lumps. Beat until smooth. Let the batter rest 20
minutes covered. Brush or spray a seven-inch
diameter non-stick crepe pan with olive oil. Pour
just under two ounces of the batter into the pan
and roll it around to thinly cover the bottom. You
can measure this with a two-ounce ladle or a
measuring cup slightly less than ¼ cup full. If
the batter seems too thick, add a little water and
stir so that the batter will easily spread as you
roll the pan around to coat the bottom. Cook on
one side until the batter is set and the edges
begin to curl from the sides of the pan. Use
enough heat to cook the crepes quickly. Flip the
pancake over and cook for a few seconds on the
other side. Stack the pancakes between layers of
wax paper with the pale side of the pancake up.
Let cool. The pancakes can be stored at room
temperatures overnight. Wrap them tightly with
cling wrap after they are completely cool. Makes
about 40 pancakes.
For the tomato sauce
Maria says that it’s far better to use
good canned tomatoes than inferior fresh ones, and
she’s right. Both organic canned tomatoes and
tomato paste are available. If possible, they
should be just tomatoes—no salt or citric acid
added. If they do contain salt, omit adding any
more salt to the recipe. If the canned tomatoes
have basil with them, that’s fine. In fresh tomato
season, use eight pounds of fresh, organic, ripe
Italian plum tomatoes like Roma or San Marzano.
7 lbs. canned peeled plum tomatoes (8
lbs. fresh)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, finely diced
8 cloves garlic, peeled and finely
sliced
1 cup red wine
2 Tbl. tomato paste
½ cup chopped fresh oregano
½ cup chopped Italian flat-leaf
parsley
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
Kosher salt to taste
1 Tbl. sugar (optional)
1 Tbl. toasted whole fennel seed
1 bay leaf
If using fresh tomatoes, blanch them
and remove the skins. If using canned, drain the
tomatoes and reserve the juice. Now the procedure
becomes the same. Working over a bowl, cut out the
hard spot where the tomato attached to the plant.
Gently open the tomato and let juice and seeds
fall into the bowl. Tear the tomato into chunks
and place in another bowl. Repeat until all
tomatoes are done. Pour the juice and seeds
through a strainer held over the tomato chunks.
(If using canned tomatoes, pour the reserved juice
from the cans through a strainer held over the
tomato chunks.) Discard the seeds. Heat a large
pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and
onions and cook until the onions are golden. Add
the garlic and cook further until the onions are
lightly browned. Don’t let the garlic burn. Add
the red wine. Turn heat down to medium low and
simmer for five minutes. Add the tomato chunks and
juice, tomato paste, chopped herbs, crushed red
pepper, and two cups of water. Season with salt if
desired. Add the sugar if the tomatoes seem too
acidic. Add the fennel seed and bay leaf. Simmer
uncovered over low heat for 1 ½ hours if using
canned tomatoes, or two to three hours if using
fresh, until the sauce thickens and the flavors
have married. When finished, remove the bay leaf.
For the ricotta filling
Use the best ricotta you can find.
4 lbs. ricotta
2 Tbl. chopped Italian flat-leaf
parsley
¼ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
Kosher salt and fresh ground black
pepper to taste
4 large eggs
In a large bowl, mix everything
together but the eggs. Beat the eggs lightly and
fold in until thoroughly mixed.
The Method
Place two heaping tablespoons of the filling along
one edge of each pancake and roll it up. Ladle
some of the sauce in the bottom of a glass or
ceramic baking dish to coat, and place the
manicotti, seam side down, in the dish. After the
dish is full of manicotti, ladle more sauce over
the top to cover. Cover the dish with aluminum
foil and bake at 350 F. for 40 minutes. Uncover
for the last 10 minutes of baking.
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