Monday, September 30, 2013

Tofu Stir Fry with Soy Lime Sauce

I was travelling out of town last weekend, and a friend let me crash at his place. To thank him, I offered to cook dinner. He had a very nice garden, with fresh vegetables available. I grabbed a butternut squash, a zucchini, and an egg plant. He also had a Kaffir lime tree growing in the back yard.

For protein, there was some firm tofu. I made a marinade for the tofu from Kaffir lime juice, soy sauce, honey, lime zest, white pepper, garlic, allspice, and mixed hot pepper flakes. I cubed the tofu, then poured the marinade over it.

While the tofu marinaded, I prepared the vegetables. I made batonettes ( long square sticks) from the butternut squash and the eggplant. I cut one half of a red onion in thin slices. I cut the zucchini in half, then into thin slices.

My friend didn't have rice, but he did have rice noodles. These worked fine to suck up the sauce from the stir fry. They boil pretty quickly.

Tofu Stir Fry with Soy Lime

for the marinade:

juice of four Kaffir limes
zest of one Kaffir lime
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp.  pepper flakes

for the stir fry:

1 lb. firm tofu, drained and cut into 3/4" cubes
1 1/2 cups butternut squash battonettes
1 1/2 cups thin zucchini slices
1 cup eggplant batonettes
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
4 Tbsp. canola oil
2 tsp. cornstarch

Mix together lime juice, soy sauce, honey, garlic, lime zest, white pepper, allspice, and pepper flakes. Pour over tofu cubes, let stand for at least 15 minutes.

Remove tofu from marinade. In a wok over very high heat, add 2 Tbsp. canola oil. Add tofu, stir fry until lightly brown. Remove from pan, set aside.

Add more oil. Add onion, cook until lightly caramelized.  Add butternut squash. Cook until lightly browned, and about half cooked. Add zucchini. Cook another two minutes, add eggplant. Cook briefly. Return tofu to pan.

Whisk cornstarch into marinade. Add to pan. Cook until sauce is thickened.

Serve over rice noodles.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Business Progress: Facebook Page

Yesterday, I set up the Facebook page for the business. Put up some pictures of food we have done at various events.

Check it out, like us if you are moved to do so.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Business Progress: Chafers and Coats

Picked up four chafers that were new, never used, at a thrift store for considerably less than new from a retailer would have cost. Two are standard, one is a roll top, and the fourth is set up to hold two pots of soup or other liquid.

Also ordered a couple of chefs' coats from Happy Chef. I ordered short sleeve royal blue coats with 'Epicuriosities' over the breast pocket. We also picked up a couple of royal blue aprons with the name, in case we need to hire a couple of people now and again.

Intermediate Culinary Class: Cheese

This class is focused on taste and presentation, and this week we were exploring cheese. We a couple of cheese dishes, and while they were baking, tasted a number of cheeses.

The first thing we put together was a baked brie. Instead of the usual jam, we had made it with toasted walnuts and cinnamon sugar. The whole thing is wrapped in puff pastry, and baked until golden brown.

I liked this version. We used a better quality brie that had no rind. The brown sugar melted and coated the walnuts. It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The bottom crust of the puff pastry, infused with cheese, sugar, and walnuts was particularly tasty.


The other thing we made was a bacon, onion, and cheddar soufflé. We sautéed bacon in butter, then added onion and garlic. We added flour to make a roux, then cream to make a béchamel sauce. Egg yolks and cheddar cheese are folded into the béchamel. That sauce is then folded into stiffly beaten egg whites. That is poured into ramekins that have been coated on the inside with butter and Parmesan cheese. The soufflés are baked for 35 minutes without peeking.

They came out appropriately fluffy. They tasted strongly of bacon, onion, and cheese. They were a bit heavy. Personally, I'd probably not use the butter, and cut the amount of bacon in half.

While the brie and soufflés were baking, we tasted a number of cheeses. Being a long time cheese fan, I was familiar with all but one of the cheeses we tried. That was Boursin, a fresh cheese, mild and smooth textured.

We also were to bring in plates for appetizers. We didn't actually use them, but Chef looked them over. He really likes the more modern plain white plates in funky shapes. He is not a fan of color. Other than our every day Ikea plates,  I pretty much own no white service, at all. I have a lot of hand made pottery, and a lot of bold colors, especially blue and green.

Recipes

All recipes courtesy of Chef Joe Orate.

Cheddar and Bacon Souffle

1/2 cup diced bacon
2 oz. by wt. + enough to line ramekins butter
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup diced onion
1 1/2 Tbsp. flour
1 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks
4 oz. by wt. shredded cheddar cheese
3 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

Grease inside of eight ramekins with butter. Liberally coat butter with Parmesan cheese. Tap to remove excess.

In a saucepan over medium to medium high heat, melt 2 oz. butter. Add bacon, cook until fat is rendered. Add onion and garlic, cook until onion is soft. Add flour. Cook, stirring constantly for about two minutes. Add cream. Cook until thickened. Remove from heat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add egg whites and cream of tartar. Whip to stiff peaks.

Fold egg yolks into cream sauce, then mix in cheese.

Gently fold in egg whites 1/3 at a time into cream mixture. Ladle into ramekins.

Place ramekins on a baking sheet, and bake in oven for 35 minutes. Do not open oven door during that time.

Remove from oven, and serve immediately.

Brie en Croute with Walnuts

1 8 oz. wheel of brie
1/2 sheet frozen puff pastry
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat oven to 375 F.

Mix cinnamon into brown sugar, set aside.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add walnuts, toss until lightly toasted.

Lay out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Place a circle of 1/2 the brown sugar mix in the center of the puff pastry. layer 1/2 the walnuts on top of the sugar. Place the cheese on top of the nuts. Place the rest of the sugar and nuts on top of the cheese.

Fold pastry around cheese, using egg wash to seal all overlaps. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Brush entire surface with remaining egg wash.

Bake 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm, with crackers or thin slices of baguette..

Happy Eating!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

A 16th Century Italian Dinner

I had the opportunity to cook for some friends. I looked through some of the recipes from a renaissance Italian cookbook by Bartolomeo Scappi for inspiration. His Opera dell'arte del cucinare was the Joy of Cooking of the time, with over a thousand recipes, plus general cooking advice. Looking through it, one can see the start of the transition from medieval to modern cuisine.

I was surprised to find some very modern style cookery. Barbecued rack of beef ribs, with dry rub and a vinegar based sauce (no tomatoes, though) appears in Scappi. Like medieval cookbooks, he doesn't trust vegetables, and boils them to mush. He has very modern pastas, but they are served dusted with sugar and cinnamon, rather than with a cream or tomato sauce.

For the entrée, I was inspired to find a pork fat wrapped beef tenderloin in his cookbook. I found asparagus with sour orange sauce that looked interesting, and I wanted to try my hand at making pasta, and found a recipe with chard, spinach, and cheese that sounded good.

The fillet Mignon was first brushed with a mix of white wine, white wine vinegar, and rosewater. It was then seasoned with a rub of kosher salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and coriander. I wrapped them in thick cut bacon. They were pan seared, then finished to medium rare in a hot oven. I removed the fillets from the pan to rest, and reduced the pan juices with a little white wine and white wine vinegar. That made a very nice dipping sauce for the fillet.

For the asparagus, I lightly steamed them in a pan with some homemade vegetable stock. Sour oranges have only a limited growing season in the winter, so I used regular oranges with lime juice, salt, and a little cane sugar. Scappi recommends cooking wild asparagus with raisins. Instead, I added some currants (small, intensely flavored, raisins) to the sauce. I reduced the juice to about one quarter the original volume. This produced an intensely acidic sauce, which the currants helped mellow. I think it was the best thing on the plate.

The pasta were tortetelli; tortellini on steroids. The pasta dough was based on this recipe by Tyler Flores. I've had a pasta roller for years, this was the first time I've actually played with it. For the filling, I sautéed spinach and Swiss chard in olive oil with fresh parsley, oregano, and thyme. I allowed that to cool, then drained the liquid off. The greens were then mixed with ricotta and a healthy amount of Parmesan. To make tortetelli, roll the dough very thin, and cut about a five inch diameter circle. Place about a tablespoon of filling in the center. Brush the edge with beaten egg, and fold in half, pressing to seal. Bring the two corners of the half circle together and overlap, using the egg wash to stick them together. Fold the excess rim of the half circle down, forming a ring. Dust with flour, and allow to dry a little. To serve, I simmered them in vegetable stock, then fished them out, dusted with a little cinnamon sugar, and topped them with grated Parmesan.


For dessert, I made a strawberry custard tart. I sautéed strawberries in butter until they were tender. I forced the strawberries through a strainer, to remove the seeds and fibrous material. The resulting puree was placed in a food processor with ricotta, biscotti crumbs, sugar, eggs, and Parmesan, and processed until smooth. The pastry is a dough of flour, butter, sugar, and rosewater, which Scappi calls 'royal dough'. I needed a garnish for the plate, so made a basil syrup. It worked really well with the strawberry, and brought out the rose in the pastry.

Overall, I think this was one of my best meals yet. The fillet was really good quality, and I think I enhanced it well with the spices, bacon, and sauce. I thought the sauce for the asparagus came out great. I think I under cooked the pasta a trifle, but I really liked the flavor of the filling. The tart filling had a wonderfully smooth and rich mouth feel, and the pastry was light and flaky. Then basil syrup added a nice note, though I had hoped to get a more intense green color. Will have to work on that.

Recipes

Bacon Wrapped Fillet Mignon

for the brushing liquid:

2 Tbsp. white wine
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 tsp. rosewater

for the rub:

2 Tbsp. Kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

for the sauce:

1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup white wine vinegar

6 fillet Mignon's
6 strips thick cut bacon

Mix together brushing liquid ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together rub spices.

Brush lightly all surfaces of the fillets with the brushing liquid. Lightly coat all surfaces of the fillet with the rub. Wrap a bacon strip around of each fillet, overlapping, and securing to fillet with a toothpick of skewer. Refrigerate, covered, for three to six hours.

Pre-heat oven to 425 F. In a large heavy skillet over medium high heat, sear top and bottom of fillets. Transfer to oven, cook to medium rare, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, transfer fillets to a cutting board to rest.

Place pan with juices over medium high heat. Add wine and vinegar. Boil vigorously until volume is reduced by half. Transfer sauce to small cups for dipping.

Steamed Asparagus with Sour Orange Currant Sauce

1 bunch asparagus
2 oranges
2 limes
1/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup currants
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup vegetable stock

Wash asparagus, remove woody ends of the stems (keep and freeze to use for future stock). Juice oranges and limes. Place juice in a small saucepan with sugar, salt, and currants. Cook over medium to medium high heat until volume is reduce by 3/4.

Heat a non-stick heavy skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add stock and asparagus, cooking until asparagus is al dente.

Plate sauce, place asparagus on top.

Chard, Spinach, and Cheese Tortetelli


for the filling:

1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and rough chopped
1 bunch Swiss chard, washed and rough chopped
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced fresh oregano
1/4 cup minced fresh
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

for the pasta:

2 cups all purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
3 eggs, plus one for wash
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 quarts vegetable stock
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Place flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. While mixer is running, add three eggs, one at a time, allowing a little time between each addition. Slowly drizzle in olive oil, until dough forms a ball.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured board. Knead for ten minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.

In a large pot, heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add spinach, chard, and herbs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove from heat, allow to cool. Strain off excess liquid.

Place greens in a bowl. Add ricotta and Parmesan, mix thoroughly.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Beat an egg to use as a wash for the pasta. Using a pasta machine, roll out a thin dough, keeping it well dusted with flour to prevent sticking. Cut out five inch diameter circles. Place about one tablespoon of filling on each circle. Wet edges with egg, fold circles in half and press to seal. Bring corners of the half circles together, overlapping and using the egg to stick together. Fold down top of half circle to form a ring with a bulge on one side.

Dust tortetelli with flour, place on a baking sheet to dry.

Mix together cinnamon and sugar, set aside.

Bring vegetable stock to a simmer. Add tortetelli, cook until tender, about 4 to 8 minutes.

Remove pasta from stock. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Plate, top with Parmesan cheese.

Strawberry Custard Tart

for the crust:

9 oz. by wt. all purpose flour
6 oz. by wt. cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
4 oz. by wt. sugar
3 oz. by volume ice cold rosewater
1 tsp. kosher salt.

for the filling:

1 lb. fresh strawberries
2 oz. by wt. butter
2 oz. by wt. biscotti crumbs
5 oz. by wt. ricotta
1 1/2 oz. by wt. Parmesan
3 oz. by wt. cane sugar, plus 1/4 cup for dusting
5 egg yolks
1 egg white

Sift together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles course crumbs. Slowly add rosewater one tablespoon at a time, mixing by hand, until dough just sticks together.

Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill.

Wash, hull, and rough chop strawberries.

In a skillet over medium heat, melt two ounces of butter. Add strawberries, sautee until tender.

Remove from heat, cool. Force strawberries through a strainer to remove seeds and fibrous pulp.

Place strawberry puree in the bowl of a food processor with crumbs, ricotta, sugar, egg yolks, and Parmesan. Process until smooth.

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Lightly grease six small ceramic ramekins. Roll out dough thin, line ramekins. Cut out circles just big enough to cover. Cut out vent holes in top crusts.

Fill ramekins with custard mix. lightly wet lip of crust with water. Place top crusts on, pinch crusts together to seal. Dust top of tarts with egg white, and sprinkle with sugar.

Place in oven. bake 20 minutes. Turn oven temperature up to 425 F.  Cook another 5 - 8 minutes, until top is brown and custard is set.

Remove to a rack to cool.

Basil Syrup

3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup whole fresh basil leaves

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until sugar is dissolve and basil leaves are soft, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a blender. Blend until basil is finely chopped. Strain, place in a squeeze bottle, and chill until time to plate.


Happy Eating!

 


 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Intermediate Culinary Class: Spice Rub and Condiment Exploration

The homework for today's class was to create our own signature spice rub, and to go to a store and look over some mustards, oils, vinegars, and rubs.

For the spice rub, I made up a batch of a rub I love to do for grilled steak. It's base is cocoa powder. Yes, chocolate isn't just for dessert. In fact, it was a savory spice long before the Dutch got the idea to add sugar and cream to it. I like to accent the cocoa with cumin, onion powder, coriander, and a little cayenne for a touch of heat. It also has some kosher salt. I think it gives a great crust on a grilled rib eye.

Cocoa Perfection Grilled Beef Rub


      1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
      1 ½ Tbsp. Cocoa Powder
      1 ½ tsp. Cumin
      1 tsp. Onion powder
      1 tsp. Coriander
      ½ tsp. Cayenne powder

The other thing I did was go to Harvest Ranch Market in El Cajon, and poke through their shelves. It is an upscale grocery store. It has a good selection of off beat stuff. Prices range from a little high to WTF.

We were supposed to look over mustards, oils, rubs, and vinegars. I picked two of each to make notes about.

The two mustards that caught my eye were Jack Daniel's Hickory Smoke Mustard, and Cuisine Perel Zinfandel Orange Mustard. I've used, and loved, Jack Daniel's mustards before. This is the first time I have seen the hickory smoked, though. The Cuisine Perel looked really interesting, with wine and lots of citrus juice.

The vinegars that I found most interesting were Alessi Orange Blossom Honey Balsamic Vinegar, and Lucini Dark Cherry Balsamico. The Alessi sounded sweet and luscious. It was actually reasonably priced. The Lucini uses real aged balsamic, and is aged in a chestnut cask. I would love to get it, but it is outrageously out of my price range.

For oils, there wasn't a lot of choice, comparatively. I found a Monini Porchini Mushroom Olive Oil that looked intriguing. Because, mushrooms, duh. The other oil I noted was Argana Argan Oil.  I had no idea what that was so looked it up when I got home. The argan tree is native to Morocco, and the Berbers have apparently pressing the oil from the seeds for a very long time. It is supposed to taste similar to hazelnut oil, and studies seem to indicate it is one of the healthiest of oils. It's also expensive, be argan trees only grow in Morocco, on the edge of the desert.

The spice blends/rubs I thought looked fun were The Spice Hunter Fiery Chile Fusion and Weber Kick'n Chicken.

It's fun to poke through a store and see what weird things you can find.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Applemuse - A Renaissance Apple Curd

Yesterday there was a tournament for the medieval/renaissance group I belong to. There was a cooking contest for apple based recipes. There were two divisions, one for documentably pre-17th century dishes, and one for modern or undocumented recipes. I wanted to enter, so started poking around in early cookbooks, looking for something interesting but not too complex. As it turned out, something that could sit around awhile was also a criterion, as we had to turn in our dishes by 11:30, but judging wasn't until 2.

I found an interesting one in A Propre new booke of Cokery,  a renaissance English cookbook first published in 1545. If you have been reading the blog, you know I've been playing with curds for a while now. As soon as I started reading the recipe for applemuse, I recognized it as a curd.

The ingredients were mostly straight forward, with a couple of curves for those unfamiliar with pre-17th century cooking. It involved cooking apple pulp with butter, egg yolks, and flavorings in a pan until thickened. Butter was not something I have previously used in a curd, but I have seen it in some recipes.

The flavorings were ginger and cinnamon, common spices with apples, and rosewater. Rosewater may seem a curve ball to modern cooks, as it is rarely used currently in American or European cooking. It is still used in some Middle Eastern dishes, and it was a very common seasoning in medieval and renaissance cookery. It adds a nice floral note, if used carefully. Overdone, it can make food taste like soap.

Applemuse


6 granny smith apples
4 ounces butter
2 egg yolks
¾ cup cane sugar
3 teaspoons rosewater
1 teaspoon finely minced candied ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of kosher salt

Place apples on a baking sheet in a 35o F oven for 2o minutes, or until skins split and flesh is soft.

Remove from oven, allow to cool. Force flesh through a strainer.

In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add apple puree, sugar, rosewater, egg yolks, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Place in a vessel to cool. Cover top of curd with plastic wrap so that a skin doesn't form. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Happy eating!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Cold Soups

Last weekend, I did food for an outdoor equestrian event. I knew it would be outrageously hot (it topped 100 F) so thought that ice cold soups would be very refreshing. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of the soups.

I made what are probably the two most famous cold soups: gazpacho and vichyssoise. Gazpacho is a cold soup of fresh vegetables, generally with a tomato base. It originated in the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Vichyssoise is a cold soup of leeks, onions, potatoes and cream. It's origin is disputed, but most likely was the creation of a French chef working in the US around the turn of the 20th century. The gazpacho was vegan, the vichyssoise was decidedly not.

The gazpacho I made was inspired by this recipe by Ina Garten of the Food Network. I used mixed vegetable juice (V8 and a store brand of the same type) as the base, and added fresh cluster tomatoes, cucumber, red and green bell pepper, onion, garlic, olive oil, and white wine vinegar. I find it greatly refreshing on1 a hot day. I love the crispness of the uncooked vegetables.

My vichyssoise recipe is based on this one. It is leaks, onions, and potatoes cooked in chicken stock, then pureed. There is actually less potato than one would think. It's just enough to provide some body to the pureed soup. Cold cream is added right before service. It has, thanks to the cream, a rich and luscious mouth feel. The flavor of the onions and leaks shines through, making this a very flavorful soup.

Recipes

Gazpacho

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and fine diced
1 large yellow onion, fine diced
1 red bell pepper, fine diced
1 green bell pepper, fine diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups mixed vegetable juice (V8 or equivalent)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large container, mix together cucumber, onion, peppers, and garlic. Stir in vinegar and oil. Add juice; vegetables should just barely be covered. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chill in refrigerator for at least three hours, and preferably over night.

Vichyssoise

2 leeks, tough greens removed, chopped
1 large yellow onion, chopped
6 oz. by wt. peeled diced potatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
12 oz. by vol.  chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy pot over medium heat, sweat onion and leaks in olive oil until tender. Add chicken stock and potatoes, simmer until potatoes are just tender. Use an immersion blender to puree vegetables. When smooth, add salt and pepper to taste. Chill until cold.

Right before service, stir in cream.

Happy eating!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Sour Apple Schnapps Cheesecake

Saturday we were invited to a gathering at the beach, and I wanted to take something to contribute. I had a five pound container of ricotta left over from the Renaissance Italian lunch, so thought cheesecake would be a good use. I decided to adapt the Greek style cheesecake I made for Gaslight Gathering.

I looked at what I had by way of flavorings, and decided I liked the idea of using sour apple schnapps. It's honestly not very good for drinking, but adds a nice flavor when cooked. I decided to make an almond crust, as I had plenty of them left over as well.

Because this style uses no egg yolks, and whips the whites into a meringue, it is a very light style, especially compared to the density of a New York style cheesecake. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

The sour apple flavor came through clearly. It is not overly sweet, rich enough to be satisfying without being heavy.

Sour Apple Schnapps Cheesecake

For the crust:
 4 oz. by wt. almonds
1/6 cup sugar
 8 oz. by wt. all purpose flour
 4 oz. by wt. butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch salt

In a heavy skillet, toast almonds over medium heat. Transfer to a food processor. Pulse several times. Add flour, sugar, and salt, process until nuts are finely ground.

Transfer nut mixture to a mixing bowl. Add butter, egg, and vanilla. Work by hand until ingredients are well mixed. Form into a ball, wrap balls in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least ten minutes.

For the cheesecake:
4 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
16 oz. by wt. ricotta cheese
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sour apple schnapps
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, mix together ricotta and schnapps, refrigerate.

In an ungreased ten inch spring form pan, press almond dough to form a 1/8 inch thick crust on the bottom, and about 3/4 inch up the sides of the pan.

 In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Slowly beat in flour, sugar, and salt until eggs are medium stiff peaks. Beat in honey, until fully incorporated. Fold ricotta into egg whites until well blended, with no lumps of egg white or ricotta remaining.

 Pour batter into spring form pan, using a spatula to smooth to an even layer. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until cheesecake is resilient to the touch, and lightly browned. It should be a little jiggly in the center.

Remove from oven. Lightly dust with cinnamon powder. Place on cooling rack to cool. Refrigerate until serving time. Remove spring form ring when ready to serve.
Happy eating!