Ostkaka: Understanding My Swedish Heritage Via Food

heathern_ajlt3w — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 02:41:55 +0000

Some Context:

Ostkaka is a Swedish cheesecake (pronounced oost-a-kah-kah by my dad). It has become somewhat of a legend to me.

I have heard my dad talk so many times about enjoying his mother’s cooking. In particular, ostkaka, was a favorite that my grandmother made on the family farm. Sadly my grandmother passed shortly before I was born so I never got to try it firsthand.

One of the main ingredients in my grandmother’s recipe is raw milk. This is somewhat hard to get – in fact, only 13 states allow raw milk to be sold in retail stores, and my home state is not one of them. According to my dad, he has tried many times to remake this ostkaka recipe but has never quite succeeded due to the difficulty of obtaining raw milk.

But recently, I moved to California where raw milk can be more easily obtained. Coinciding with this, my mom happened upon a handwritten recipe from Grandma herself that she gifted to me on my recent birthday:

I am my grandmother’s namesake, so I have always felt a particular fondness for her even though we never met. Many times people will remark how we have similar interests and personalities which only deepens my fondness. So I suddenly became obsessed with the idea of trying out this recipe – written in my grandmother’s own handwriting, using ingredients true and authentic to her recipe.

On to the ostkaka.

The Recipe

In writing is a transcription of her recipe with my additional comments and suggestions below.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

Ingredients

4 qts raw milk (fresh and unpasteurized if available) – if not, bottled
2 junket (rennet) tablets
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
(If desired) berry compote/jam to accompany

Other Things

Very large pot for heating the milk
Medium sized and small sized bowl for mixing ingredients
Measuring spoons
Pyrex type baking dish – about 8in x 11in
Mixing spoons
Thermometer for measuring the temperature of the milk
Cheesecloth or fine strainer
Whisk for beating the eggs

Ready to go!

Instructions

All steps

(1) Dissolve 2 junket tablets in small amount (about 2 tbsp) of water.

I found junket tablets to be the hardest to find. After checking Whole Foods, Target, Safeway, and Walmart, I finally ordered them from Amazon here.

(2) Combine 1/2 cup flour and 1 cup of the raw milk, or about enough to make a paste, saving the rest of the raw milk for the next step.

(3) Heat the rest of the milk (4 qts minus the cup from step 2) on the stove to lukewarm, or about 98-102 F.

A thermometer will be useful to make sure you get the milk to the right temperature.

(4) Add flour/paste mixture to the lukewarm milk and stir until well combined.

(5) Add dissolved junket tables to the lukewarm milk and stir until well combined.

(6) Let milk stand for 1 hr.

Grandma didn’t say how long to do this, but after some research I found that about ~ 1 hr should do the trick.

As shown in the photo below, the liquid (whey) should easily separate from the solid curds.

(7) When the milk has about 10 minutes left to stand, preheat the oven to 350 F.

(8) Strain the milk through a cheesecloth (or fine strainer). This should separate the whey (liquid) from the curds (solid).

(9) Beat 3 eggs with a whisk until “well beaten”.

Again Grandma doesn’t say, but after some googling I decided that well beaten meant the yolk/whites would be well combined with a bit of frothiness.

(10) Combine the curds (step #8), beaten eggs (step #9), 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp salt into a mixing bowl.

(11) Mix until well combined.

I was guessing again with well combined and opted for a slightly chunky texture. Also, I was too tired from mixing to combine it any further!

(12) Pour mixture (step #11) into baking dish.

(13) Bake at 350 F for about 1 hour, or until top looks slightly golden brown.

(14) Enjoy! A side of jam goes well :). Keep in refrigerator until fully eaten!

Verdict

I have to say that I have always appreciated the Swedish taste – not too sweet, and not too salty, and this ostkaka does not disappoint.

SO GOOD.

I first tried it hot, straight off the stove, with a bit of boysenberry jam. Lingonberries might be a bit more authentic but the boysenberry purchased from my local farmer’s market was divine.

Later I tried again after cooling in the fridge all night and the ostkaka had a much nicer texture – more firm/chunky than custard but less so than a typical American cheesecake.

Thanks, Grandma, for leaving behind such a wonderful recipe to try.

What do you think?

Have you tried this recipe? Have you tried making your own family dishes? Let me know in comments!

HELPFUL LINKS

Thanks to the following blogs for helping me figure out the techniques required for this dish:

http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/50-Ostakaka.html

https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-beat-eggs-3050527

Learning To Cook W/Home Chef

heathern_ajlt3w — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 19:35:08 +0000

For the longest time I swore that I was a terrible cook. I mean terrible. So terrible that a couple years back when I invited my parents to Thanksgiving in Chicago, my mom had to microwave the turkey since it came out so badly.

Enter: the food box revolution. Not so long ago, I learned about the concept of food boxes and became immediately hooked. First with Blue Apron, and now with my latest obsession Home Chef (note – Home Chef links includes a $30 off offer for new subscribers!).

Home Chef

For starters, Home Chef allows you to make fun meals such as this creative, Halloween-inspired Shepherd’s pie that you would never before consider. How cute are these goblins?

Two ghosts and a one-eyed monster to devour.

This Chicago-based service offers convenience (ingredients delivered right to your door) and education (I’m learning how to cook!). Best of all, I don’t have to worry about deciding what I’m going to cook each week – Home Chef has a menu of around 10-12 meals each week to choose from.

Ready to cook! All ingredients come pre-packaged and ready to go.

On the menu this week is this tasty “Steak with Crash Potatoes”. I’m convinced that food boxes may actually save money for singles and couples. No longer do you need to buy an entire carton of heavy cream for just that one dish – Home Chef provides exactly what you need. Hoorah!

Everything you need with perfectly portioned ingredients.

Home Chef contains clear step by step directions with pictures to help you along the way. They even include helpful tips such as this one “sauces are perfectly thickened or ‘nappe’…when they coat the back of a spoon or you can draw a line through the sauce…” so that you’ll learn to be a master chef in no time.

My sauce on the way to being “nappe” (perfectly thickened)

After about 30 minutes of cooking, my masterpiece is done and ready to enjoy. I swear, I’m becoming spoiled by the quality of food I get to enjoy. It’s like having a professionally restaurant cooked meal at home every evening.

Voila!

What’s the Downside?

As you can tell I’m a huge fan and it’s really hard to come up with a downside. But a few things you may want to consider:

The base plan is for 2-person meals. I’ve gotten around this by refrigerating one of the plates for lunch or dinner the next day.
If you’re feeling lazy (like I sometimes do), making a 30-45 minute meal isn’t high on the list of things to do.
Home Chef automatically assumes you want a delivery each week unless you decline – so you’ll want to make sure you pay close attention to when deliveries are coming.

Bottom Line

With it’s variety, creativity, and deliciousness, Home Chef is a winner. Try it today.

Have you tried any food box services? Tell me in the comments below!

cooking – H's Site