Prizewinning Blueberry Buckle

Ingredients:

Batter:

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup soft shortening

1 Lolans Farm egg

1/2 Lolans Farm cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour, divided

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups blueberries

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup margarine

Mix sugar, shortening, and egg lightly together. Stir in milk, vanilla, 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Shake well drained blueberries in a bag with 1/2 cup flour. Stir into batter and spread in a 9” x 9” greased pan. Combine topping ingredients and knead into crumbs. Sprinkle over batter and bake 45-50 minutes at 350°.

Grilling Tips for the Best Burgers

Here are some tips to make the best grilled hamburgers with Lolans Farm ground beef.

1. Start with a clean grill. Oil the grill grates by dipping a folded paper towel in oil and using grilling tongs to rub the oil soaked towel on the grates.

2. Use a good quality ground beef with an 80/20 mix. Our Lolans Farm ground beef is 80% lean beef with 20% fat. This ratio ensures a juicy, flavorful burger.

3. Keep the meat cold and shape the patties quickly. I defrost a one pound package of beef and cut it into thirds. I shape the patties, making them a little wider than a round, wide mouth mason jar lid. The idea is to make them about an inch larger than the bun and about an inch thick at the edges.

4. Make a wide, shallow depression in the center of the patty with the palm of one hand. Use your other hand to keep the burger in a round shape.

5. If time allows, chill the formed burger patties.

6. Heat the grill to 450 to 500 degrees. I usually use a gas grill because it is faster but charcoal grilled burgers have an added layer of flavor.

7. Once the burgers are on the hot grill, don’t press them down. I always want the fat and juices to stay in the meat. For medium burgers, cook about 6 minutes, total, flipping the burgers once. Using a meat thermometer inserted into the side of the burger is the best way to test for doneness. A general guideline is : Rare burgers (125’F), Medium-rare burgers (135’F), Medium burgers (145’F), Well-done burgers (160’F).

8. Add cheese when the burgers are close to being done.

9. Let the burgers rest for a few minutes before serving them. This allows the juices to redistribute through the burger.

10. Enjoy!

Ricotta Science

What happens when you make ricotta cheese? 

Cow’s milk is made up of water and milk solids. These solids are proteins, minerals, lactose (milk sugar), butterfat ( milk fat), vitamins and trace elements.

“When we make cheese, we cause the protein part of the milk solids, called casein, to coagulate (curdle) and produce curd. At first the curd is a soft, solid gel, because it still contains all the water along with the solids. But as it is heated, and as time passes, the curd releases liquid (whey), condensing more and more until it becomes cheese. Most of the butterfat remains in the curd and very little passes into the whey. Time, temperature, and a variety of friendly bacteria determine the flavor and texture of each type of cheese.”  Ricki Carroll. Home Cheese Making, Storey Publishing, 2002, pg.10.

Our daughter, Mary, is a science teacher. She shared this fun link to Periodic Graphics - The science of making cheese. https://cen.acs.org/food/food-science/Periodic-Graphics-science-making-cheese/100/i19

Italian Chicken Roll-ups

Want to impress your dinner guests or wow some picky eaters?  Make homemade ricotta cheese using Lolans Farm raw milk. Click here to download the directions.  Use it to stuff chicken breasts in this simple and delicious recipe, adapted from “Our Best Bites”.

Italian Chicken Roll-Ups

3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, halved horizontally

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup spinach leaves

8 ounces ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Homemade Garlic Bread Seasoning  (recipe below)

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Marinara sauce

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350’. Mix together the ricotta cheese and garlic bread seasoning and set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place a chicken breast piece on a plastic cutting board and cover the entire board with a piece of plastic wrap. Pound the chicken breast with a meat mallet until it’s about 1/4″ thick (it will spread).  Repeat with remaining chicken breast pieces.

Line a chicken breast with spinach leaves. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture over the spinach leaves, leaving about a 1/2″ margin from each edge, then sprinkle with mozzarella. Starting at one end, carefully roll up each chicken breast and secure with 2 toothpicks. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.

Roll each stuffed chicken breast in melted butter, then roll in the Italian seasoned bread crumbs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven or until the chicken is cooked through. If you want to brown the tops a little, turn on the low broiler for 1-2 minutes (be sure to  keep an eye on it–burning things at this point would be very sad).

  Heat some marinara sauce to drizzle on the chicken breasts or serve as a dipping sauce.

 Makes 6 servings.

Homemade Garlic Bread Seasoning

This Homemade Garlic Bread Seasoning is so easy that you’ll always keep a jar in your fridge for homemade garlic bread, breadsticks, or pizza sauce!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup powdered Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 tablespoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons basil

2 teaspoons marjoram

2 teaspoons parsley

Instructions

Combine ingredients in a jar (preferably one with a sprinkle top) and shake. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until the expiration date on the cheese.