Weeks 12, 13 & 14: Making up for lost time

So I have been a little delinquent with my blogging and with my cooking but in one meal I feel like I made up for a bit of that. For this meal I made my own mozzarella cheese and made a so-so salad and I super yummy orzo dish. I will start with the cheese;-)

After watching some food show on Youtube and seeing someone make their own mozzarella cheese I thought "I can do that!" When I did a little search with the old Google machine I found out that not only can I do it but I must be an idiot for waiting 36 years to try it. There are countless recipes, etc out there but I decided to follow the one I found on Youtube. It starts with cheese curds and is so simple it should be illegal. I bought my curds from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks (http://www.cheeseworks.ca/) at our local farmers market. Little Qualicum makes awesome cheese so it stands to reason their curds would be good too. 

Yummy cheese curds. Where is the poutine?

To start I heated up some salted water to somewhere between 75-80'C. It is best to do this in a big pot and heat up more water then you think you will need. In a mixing bowl place several cups of the heated water and drop in your curds. After they have been sitting in the water for a few minutes they will get nice and soft so you can start mixing them together.You want to keep your water nice and warm so add more water as needed from the extra you heated up earlier. The guy on Youtube used his hands and covered them with several layers of plastic gloves I was smartass and used a wooden spoon and it worked just fine. Once you have got all your curds into one nice clump you can take it out of the water and form it into a nice round ball or multiple balls. When you are happy with the size and shape of your mozzarella drop it into a bowl of cold water to give it a firm exterior. You are now ready to enjoy your cheese.

Mozzarella hanging out in cold water bath (left) and about to be eaten (right).

Now on to the Sugar Snap Pea and Cucumber Salad I found on Epicurious. This salad seemed like it would be good and maybe it would if all the ingredients were in season and not from Mexico and China! Here is the recipe

1 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, toasted
1 tablespoon fat-free chicken broth or water
1 tablespoon walnut oil (who has walnut oil? I used olive)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

For the sauce you mash the walnuts with a mortar and pestle then add to a bowl and whisk in the lemon juice, oil, broth, cayenne and dill and add some salt and pepper to taste. 


They wanted me to quickly boil the snap peas, for 2 mins, and then shock them in some ice cold water. I did this because the snap peas were from China and clearly not fresh but I think in the summer I would just use them as is. Now throw everything into a bowl, toss and serve. 


Mark's thoughts: Not the biggest dill fan so I would leave it out next time. Overall not that good although would be willing to give it another shot in the summer with fresh veggies.


Jamie's thoughts: Looks good but the taste was disappointing. Tasted oil probably needed more nuts.

Now that I look at the picture it looks like puke on veggies.

Now on to the main course, Orzo with Grilled Shrimp, Summer Vegetables, and Pesto Vinaigrette which I also got off of Epicurious. I should really try to find another recipe resource;-) This dish was money and really how could it not be with these ingredients


8 ounces orzo (about 1 1/3 cups)
6 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
2 medium zucchini or summer squash (about 9 ounces total), cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 red or yellow bell pepper, quartered
3 tablespoons pesto (store bought or homemade what ever you have will work)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 pound uncooked large prawns, peeled, deveined
2 heirloom tomatoes (8 to 10 ounces total), cored, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves plus sprigs for garnish
1 8-ounce ball fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (made by me!)


This is essentially a pasta salad where you could change any number of the ingredients and still have a winner. The sauce is excellent and would go well with any type of summer dish. 


To start cook the orzo then cool it down with cold water, toss with some oil and set aside. Next you are going to grill your veggies, whisk some oil and vinegar together and brush onto you veggies. Drop them onto your BBQ and grill away. The length of time needed will depend on the veggie. Once they are done chop into bite size pieces. In another bowl, whisk pesto, lime juice and remaining oil and vinegar to create your vinaigrette. In yet another bowl, toss your prawns and a couple of Tbsp of the vinaigrette. Grill your prawns quickly and throw into the bowl of orzo. Add all the rest of the ingredients and toss in the remaining vinaigrette. Serve and enjoy.


Mark's thoughts: Excellent summer dish that has endless variations.


Jamie's thoughts: Really yummy!

Delicious! Note the nice big chunk of fresh mozzarella in the upper left.