NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/999185
JULY 2018 • NEBRASKAland 37 PHOTO BY RYAN SPARKS Burbach's Dairy Milk Ricotta Gnocchi To me, summer is full of heirloom tomatoes. The window to use the tomato is so short once they are off the vine, and the tomato season as a whole only lasts so long in Nebraska. Rhizosphere Farm is in Bennington, and they grow amazing produce. We use their tomatoes any way we can. Burbach's Dairy is in Hartington and produces incredible naturally sweet and creamy milk. We culture their cream here at the restaurant and churn our own butter. The buttermilk that is left after churning is what we use as our milk for ricotta, but please feel free to use their traditional whole milk. The ricotta is then turned into a small dumpling, traditionally made with potatoes. Using the ricotta results in a very supple dumpling. ShadowBrook Farm is just east of Lincoln. Kevin and Charuth grow a variety of produce, specializing in greens and a diverse line of cheeses. Farmstead First is the collaboration between ShadowBrook Farm and Branched Oak Farm. ShadowBrook produces the goat milk and Branched Oak produces the cow milk. The result is a silky- creamy aged wash rind cheese. The flavor is like nothing I have worked with before. Krista and Doug Dittman own Branched Oak in Raymond. The recipe serves up to four. It is difficult to reduce the quantity in which you make the gnocchi, but they do freeze well and may be saved for later. Homemade Ricotta Yield: 1 pound ricotta cheese – the recipe should yield 1 pound of cheese per gallon of milk, but use whatever cheese you yield from the gallon. • 1 gallon whole milk • 6 ounces white wine vinegar or lemon juice Place vinegar or lemon juice in the milk and put on medium-heat. The milk will start to slowly form curds over the course of an hour and a half. Be patient and don't turn up the heat! The curds are much creamier when formed slowly. Once all of the curds have risen to the top of the milk and the rest of the milk looks like yellow water, pull the ricotta off stove and skim the cheese off the top. Let the cheese drain in a pasta strainer or something similar in the refrigerator overnight with a small amount of weight on top until the following day. Ricotta Gnocchi • 1 pound ricotta cheese • 1 farm fresh egg (we use Double K Farm's in Clarinda, Iowa) • 1 farm fresh egg yolk • Zest of 1 whole lemon • All-purpose flour or hard white flour, as needed to form dough • .25 ounce olive oil – just a splash! • 1 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste • 1 ounce whole, unsalted butter • 3 ounces crème fraiche or sour cream In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, eggs, olive oil, lemon zest and salt. Slowly incorporate flour with a rubber spatula until the dough is firm enough to handle, but still very soft. You will likely add about 1½-2 cups of flour to this cheese ratio. Once dough is formed, make tiny balls the size of a nickel (or quarter if you prefer). Place the dough balls on a fork and indent with your thumb like you would if you were giving a thumbprint. Roll the dough over itself to form a little football shaped dumpling. There will be the lines of the fork tines on one side and where the pasta came together on the other.