Ricotta Pancakes with Lemon Curd

My roommates officially think I'm crazy.

I'm currently living in an Airbnb with two close friends for the summer while we transition apartments. The previous Airbnb was super cute, but the kitchen was lacking: a hot plate, mini fridge, and a toaster oven were all we had to work with for two weeks. This second place at least has a full kitchen and boasts around 20 different pots and skillets; but oddly at the same time, it has almost no other kitchen tools. And so the improvising begins.

The other day I made a delicious jar of homemade lemon curd--gold, I tell you!--and obviously, I had to make something worthy of spreading such a delicacy on.

Enter, ricotta pancakes. Light, tender, melt-in-your-mouth good. An ideal vessel for lemon curd.

I had all the ingredients except ricotta, which I promptly bought. That night, lying in bed dreaming about the pancakes, I suddenly panicked. What makes the pancakes so light and tender? Whipped egg whites. And not simply whipped, but whipped to stiff peaks. Oh no.

No stand mixer. No handheld blender. Not even a whisk.

The next evening, I assessed the kitchen situation. I would have to whisk the egg whites by hand...with a fork. And with a blender bottle insert held with tongs. Oi.

I separated the eggs, let them come to room temperature, and added cream of tartar to give myself as much of an advantage as possible.

Then I began to whip. And whip. And whip.

It was hard work, but I did see progress. After 10 minutes, the egg whites were not only frothy, but starting to gain some volume.

And then they didn't. They started to deflate. That was when I realized that the back of the fork was hitting the egg whites and deflating the poor, delicate things!

I switched to the blender bottle-tong contraption. Definitely not ideal. But after 20 more minutes of whipping as fast and hard as I could, switching hands when needed, I had soft peaks! Good enough for me--it was 80º in the kitchen, with no AC.

From there it was smooth sailing, and I cooked up a whole pile of pancakes to eat in the following mornings. I was relieved they tasted good after all that hard work!

If you're interested in these recipes, here are the ones I used (I highly recommend NOT whipping the egg whites by hand haha):

Ricotta Pancakes from Food 52

https://food52.com/recipes/24533-cottage-cheese-pancakes-with-creme-fraiche-and-seasonal-fruit

Lemon Curd from Sally's Baking Addiction

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/how-to-make-lemon-curd/

World's Best Bean Dip and Easy Quesadillas

Okay, so I haven't actually tried any other bean dip, as far as I can remember. But I am still fully convinced that this is, in fact, the world's best bean dip. We don't have it that often, but when we do, I eat a lot of it! It's good on quesadillas (which are also easy and customizable) or tortilla chips. Today we even figured out it's nice on pita chips too—the commissary was out of tortilla chips.

When my dad worked in a restaurant during college, he learned this recipe. Now, everyone in my family loves it...and it's so simple, only three ingredients!

First, scoop in the refried beans.

Next, the salsa.

Estimating is completely fine! I just dumped in about a 1/3 to 1/2 jar of this salsa.

Stir in a few handfuls of cheese until it's all hot and melty, and it's done!

The salsa and cheese in this bean dip can be increase or decreased according to preference. Any heat of salsa can be used, and any type of cheese. Use quesadillas, tortilla chips, or pita chips to dip in it.

Easy Quesadillas

Ingredients:

Tortillas

Cheese (Colby Jack or cheddar are best)

Suggested ingredients:

Shredded chicken

Black beans

Salsa

Sour cream

Directions:

1. Place a tortilla on a hot frying pan.

2. Sprinkle desired toppings on, and top with another tortilla. When the bottom tortilla is golden-brown, carefully flip using a large spatula.

3. When that side is also golden-brown and the cheese is melty, place on a cutting board and slice into pieces using a pizza cutter or sharp knife.

World's Best Bean Dip

makes about 2 cups

Ingredients:

1 can refried beans

3/4 cup salsa

3/4 cup cheese (Colby Jack or cheddar are best)

1. In a small pot over medium-low heat, mix refried beans, salsa, and cheese.

2. Stir frequently until cheese is melted and bean dip is hot.

3. Taste, and add extra cheese or salsa to preference.

Chocolate Magic Shell

It's finally Christmas break—I can't believe that Christmas is in a week! We're making ice cream today for an ice cream party tonight...even though it's winter. The snow is melting anyways (I'm a little disappointed in you, Russia!), so why not eat ice cream?

Chocolate magic shell is surprisingly easy to make, and works well. The secret ingredient: coconut oil. My grandma sent me this coconut oil, and Damon helped me make the shell today. Yes, you can taste the coconut oil a little in the magic shell...except Damon; he was licking the bowl and said he couldn't taste it. All the better! Magic shell can be made with many variations...switch the type of chocolate chips and you get endless options!

The recipe I used (the first in the list) is from addapinch.com. It hardens after awhile, even at room temperature, and can be stored for a long time.

The rest of the recipes are from cookly.net. There are additional ingredients added in those recipes, so if you don't like the coconut oil taste, these recipes would probably have less of that flavor.

Chocolate Magic Shell

Ingredients:

1 cup milk or dark chocolate chips

2 tablespoons coconut oil

Instructions:

1. Add chocolate chips and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl. Stir together and then microwave in 30-second increments until the chocolate chips have completely softened. Remove from microwave and stir together until smooth.

2. Spoon or pour over ice cream or frozen yogurt.

3. Store at room temperature in a squeezable container or a jar.

*Use different types of chocolate chips to get different flavors.

Recipe from: http://addapinch.com/cooking/2013/06/19/homemade-magic-shell-recipe/#.UrQOlH8ayK3

Chocolate Magic Shell 2

Ingredients:

1/3 cup coconut oil

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cocoa powder

(Optional) 1/8tsp Instant Coffee or Espresso

Directions:

1. Place a few inches of water in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. On top of that, place a heat-safe mixing bowl. Thus creating a double boiler.

2. Add the Chocolate, Coconut Oil, and a pinch of Salt to the mixing bowl of your double boiler.

3. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted.  Once the chocolate has melted, add the vanilla extract and remove from the heat.

4. Allow your mixture to cool down to room temperature.  It should only take 20-30 minutes.  (Do not place in the fridge or freezer to help cool off or it will turn rock hard!)

5. Pour onto ice cream.

6. Store at room temperature in a squeezable container or a jar.

Variations on Chcolate Magic Shell 2:

White Chocolate Peppermint Magic Shell – Replace the semi-sweet chocolate with white chocolate and replace the vanilla extract with peppermint extract.

Cookies & Cream Magic Shell – Use the base recipe above but skip the cocoa and instant coffee. Once the mixture has melted, add 1 tsp of vanilla extract (instead of just 1/4) and add 1 tablespoon of crushed up Oreos

Cookies & Cream White Chocolate Magic Shell – Follow the Cookies & Cream recipe above but use white chocolate instead of the semi-sweet chocolate from the original recipe base.

Chocolate Peanut Butter – Use the original base recipe but instead of 4 oz of semi-sweet chocolate add 2.5 oz of semi-sweet chocolate and 1.5 oz of peanut butter chips.

http://cookly.net/recipes/recipe-to-make-magic-shell-ice-cream-topping-5-flavors/

Peanut Butter Sauce

This peanut butter sauce recipe is easy and good; it is a little sweet. It makes a lot, but the recipe isn't difficult to halve. It tastes very good on vanilla ice cream or on a brownie mug cake.

Peanut Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter (you could use crunchy if you like)

3 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk (any milk)

Instructions:

1. Combine in a small saucepan and heat until sugar is dissolved and peanut butter is melted. Mixture should be smooth!

2. Remove from heat, serve over your ice cream warm or let it cool and use it cold, the choice is yours.

3. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container. (When you go to reheat this, you might need to splash it with a little milk to get it smooth and creamy again.)

Recipe from: http://www.foodthoughtsofachefwannabe.com/2013/07/homemade-vanilla-ice-cream-with-peanut.html