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kumquats

Ricotta parfaits

I’m addicted. I cannot stop making and eating little layered concoctions with a base of ricotta. Ricotta with jam. Ricotta with honey. Nuts or crumbled wafer cookies or cacao nibs sprinkled in there somewhere. My favorite combination so far is to top the ricotta with the honeyed kumquats I made a few weeks ago – I’m running out fast and find myself wishing I had made a lot more of them – and some toasted walnuts.

I’ve been constructing them in simple glasses for dessert, as above, but also slathering them into cereal bowls for breakfast. Here’s the one I’m eating as I write:

Yogurt, of course, works, too. Note: my dashing husband vastly prefers them when made with thick Greek yogurt. He finds the ricotta “grainy.” Um, yeah, I think, that’s the whole point – the oddly dry-yet-still-moist, sort of chewy but still mainly smooth texture of ricotta is its entire appeal to me. But, if, like him, you like things more obvious and creamy, then by all means, use some yogurt. The nice thing with a parfait is that they are individual. So I make mine with ricotta and everyone else’s with Greek yogurt. It makes me feel quite kind and generous and thoughtful as I force yet more layered dairy product, sweet fruity element, and crunchy bits on my family.

2010 04 27

breakfast
cheese
desserts
honey
kumquats
yogurt

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Honeyed kumquats

Panic set in. Kumquat season is coming to an end. We’ve been digging these tiny completely edible (peel and all!) citrus fruits for a couple months (ever since we had that endive kumquat salad, in fact). We’ve had that salad about a thousand times and eating plain kumquats as snacks.

The time for fresh kumquats is coming to an end, however, so I put some up.

Honeyed kumquats

These preserved kumquats and their delicious honey kumquat syrup are delicious on ice cream, yogurt, and even ricotta (add a few walnuts for crunch).

2 pounds kumquats

3 cups water

2 cups honey

1/2 cup sugar

6 half-pint jars (or 3 pint jars), sterilized

Cut off stems from kumquats. Either poke a small hole or two in each kumquat with a skewer or toothpick or cut kumquats in half and remove any seeds. (It’s your choice – do you want pretty, whole fruits with the seeds in or less elegant kumquat halves with seeds already removed?)

In a pot, bring water, honey, and sugar just to a boil. Add kumquats and bring back, just to a boil. Adjust heat to maintain a steady simmer and cook, skimming off any foam that develops, until kumquats are tender, about 25 minutes for halves and 40 minutes for whole kumquats.

Transfer hot kumquats to sterile half-pint or pint jars and screw on lids. Bring a canning kettle full of water to a boil and hot-water process the jars for 10 minutes.

Let cool and store in a cool, dark place for up to six months. Once a jar is opened, keep it in the refrigerator.

2010 04 02

honey
kumquats

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