Amish Girl Fall
Have them wondering what you just milked.
Old Flame Craving.
I had a deep craving that cut my soul open. I typically find myself answering to my cravings rather quickly. For some reason, I waited over a week to make my current one. The Sqirl “Famed Ricotta Toast.” Sqirl is a breakfast and lunch eatery located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Sqirl has offered “Famed Ricotta Toast” for close to a decade. What makes the toast inherently desirable is the composition. Comprised of a generous slab of buttered and toasted brioche, luscious house-made ricotta and the item that put Sqirl on the map, their jam. The jams are made from lusted over fruits that have standout names like, Gold Dust Peach, Reine Claude Plum and (one of my favorites) Olallieberry. When I was living in Hollywood, near Sunset and Western, I would go to Sqirl once a week because the craving for the ricotta toast was insatiable. When cravings hit its usually for a single item. For instance, the craving recently was for ricotta. My mind works in a way where I remember all the dishes I’ve ever had with ricotta to pinpoint exactly which form of ricotta I want. After digging through hastily organized food memories I remembered how much I missed the ricotta toast from Sqirl.
This is where it gets Amish.
I have been to Pennsylvania where there is a well represented Amish population. I do feel that from years of experience traveling to this part of the United States I am at liberty to say that the Amish are brilliant. I have no doubt they have taken some modern liberties throughout the years, but they have a fierce commitment to preserving tradition. If you’re one of those people that immediately starts to think about the qualities that make the Amish morally wrong, then I would urge you to quiet that part of your brain for just a moment. The Amish understand seasons, weather, agriculture and heritage. This group of people have found their place in life and there’s a valuable principle, I believe, to learn from their experience.
When thinking about recreating the “Famed Ricotta Toast” I knew I wanted to treat this project like the ex-farm boy I am (more on that in a future newsletter). A trip to the farmers market gathering fruit for the jam would be essential. Sourcing quality whole milk (not ultra-pasteurized) from a farm upstate thats preserving the integrity of the milk was vital for great ricotta. I am a modern person and I knew I would have to pick my battles. So, I opted to purchase the brioche and focus on making the jam and the ricotta. When you go to an Amish farm-stand you can purchase fresh cheeses, jams, baked goods all made by members of the Amish community. This is the mojo of the Amish I am attempting to capture.
I do not have a long line of ancestral recipes I can tap into for this project, so I relied on (cough) the internet. You will never see me cosplaying as an Amish person for the pursuit of entertainment. I am delivering two technique driven recipes imbued with the spirit of the Amish. I think it’s just fine if you don’t want to make your own ricotta and jam. Not to play Devil’s advocate but aren’t you curious? Collectively we reach for these items in the store and don’t think twice about making them for ourselves. Perhaps you have made jam once or made ricotta on a whim and found the pursuits to be rather dull and wasteful (especially time). What I find absolutely marvelous is that we live in a world where people are making provisions with raw materials just because they want to. Principally, that is exactly how I intend to live my life moving forward. Curiosity, (which I’m sure I’ve spoken about before) is fundamental to improving your cooking. Overtime, nuance, science and the manipulation of time and temperature start to click. Cooking becomes instinctual almost primal. I would argue that the Amish do not know what a Flaming Hot Cheeto tastes like. The Amish diet might be domestic at best and perhaps under seasoned. What I am willing to wager is that the simplicity the Amish hone in on is rare. Stepping up to the stove, getting curious and learning how food is made expands our capacity to see food as a conduit to love and in my opinion a meaningful life.
Recreation Ricotta Toast
The memory and craving has been completed. I am happy to announce that this rendition, I feel, as close as you will get to the “Famed Ricotta Toast” at Sqirl. When I made the ricotta and the jam for this toast it probably took me just about an hour in total. I am no time wizard by any means. The ricotta has to come to temp slowly, acidulate and rest for ten minutes. The jam needs to be cooked on high heat to preserve the freshness of the fruit and concentrate the mixture quickly. I added ground pink peppercorns to the raspberry jam because the peppercorns echo the fruity acidity synonymous with raspberries. Good luck and be careful. Jam making is a challenge in the last five minutes. Your risk is your reward.
Jam by Ratio.
Here is the formula for jam making. I would only use this ratio for “traditional” fruit based jams. Although, experiment and report back.
Total weight in grams of Fruit = Xg
Multiply Xg by .65 and that equals the weight of sugar.
Multiply Xg by .025 and that equals the weight of lemon juice.
*additional flavors depend on quantities but I will go ahead and give you the exact jam recipe I made regardless.
Raspberry Pink Peppercorn Jam
Makes roughly a quart of jam
Ingredients:
970g raspberries
630g sugar
25g lemon juice
2tsp pink peppercorns, ground finely
Method:
Place a small plate in your freezer an hour before making your jam.
In a large bowl combine raspberries, sugar and lemon juice. Crush berries with your hands incorporating the sugar and lemon juice to start an initial maceration. Set aside for you roughly ten minutes.
Grab a heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven large enough that the amount of jam base is 1/3 of the overall volume of the pot. Add the jam base to the pot and cook over medium-high heat. If you’re comfortable and confident in your pursuits, cook over high heat. Using a long handled heat proof spatula initially stir the mixture to get everything acquainted.
You will begin to notice the fruit discharging some foamy bits reminiscent of sea scum. This is natural and should be removed with a wide spoon and placed in a small bowl as discard. The jam will begin to bubble and rise in volume, this is a phase where it’s releasing a lot of water. At this stage, continually stir with the spatula because you have roughly 10-15 minutes remaining on the jam. *jam should be cooked quickly to preserve the hallmark characteristics in the fruit, also you do not want to caramelize the sugars.
When the jam begins to spit and the mixture is becoming noticeably thicker it’s time to do the frozen plate test. Grab the plate from the freezer and spoon a small amount of jam on the plate and place back in the freezer. Check after 2-3 minutes. When you run your finger through the jam and it separates and stays separate, it’s done. Cut the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding ground pink peppercorns.
Allow the jam to come to room temperature before storing in containers. If you want to make jam jars, I would encourage gaining that knowledge on canning and adopt that method if thats what you’d like to do. I keep the jam for roughly 1-2 months in the refrigerator in an air tight container.
Ricotta
*Do not use ultra-pasteurized milk. Find the best milk you are willing to spend money on because you will taste it in the final product.
Makes 1-2 cups of ricotta (depending on milk)
Ingredients:
1/2gallon of whole milk
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
2tsp kosher salt (diamond crystal)
1-2T heavy cream
Method:
In a large dutch oven, add whole milk and over medium-low heat bring to a simmer, roughly 170-190ºF. The point here is that you do not want to boil your milk. Gently stir occasionally to even out the temperature of the milk and prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot.
When the milk comes up to temperature, add in vinegar and salt and give one light stir and cut the heat. Do not touch the mixture for ten minutes in total. In the meantime, line a strainer or bowl with cheesecloth. Make sure you have at least four layers of cheesecloth for the most effective way of straining the whey from the ricotta.
After ten minutes, using a slotted spoon or small fine mesh strainer, gently pull the curds from the pot and directly onto the cheesecloth. You will notice that theres roughly a cup (more of less) of over all ricotta, this is okay and accurate. Allow some space between the draining ricotta and the bowl to catch the remaining whey. After 30 minutes to an hour you should have ricotta that is ready.
To make the ricotta more supple and spreadable I add anywhere from 1-2 tablespoons of heavy cream. This ricotta can keep up to a week in the refrigerator, I would not freeze this ricotta, it’s too good.
The Recreation Ricotta Toast
Here are the necessary parts assembled in order (bottom to top):
Buttered and well toasted slab of brioche, cut at least 1 inch thick.
1/2 cup homemade ricotta.
2-3T homemade jam.
drizzle of lemon juice and and a pinch of flaky salt.
Loved this letter! I remember going to Sqirl with you (and then checking out the church of Scientology!). And I agree we all have something to learn from the Amish!