End of summer tomatoes, corn & ricotta

We're cooking end of summer tomatoes, roasted corn and ricotta, with tomato vinegar with Chef Matt Jennings of Farmstead.

For the ricotta:

Yield: 4 cups
Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 gallon whole pasteurized milk
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt (more if you want a saltier taste and if you are not going to use it for desserts)

Steps:

Rinse the inside of the pot you intend to use with cold water (this helps prevent the milk from scorching).

Place 1 gallon milk in large, heavy non-reactive pot on medium heat. Add salt and stir briefly. Allow milk to heat up slowly, stirring occasionally.

Soon you will notice steam start to form above the surface and tiny bubbles appearing on the milk. You want it to reach 180-185 degrees, near scalding temperature, just before it comes to a boil. Check the temperature with your thermometer.

When it reaches the correct temperature, take the pot off the burner, add the vinegar and stir gently for only one minute. Add salt. You will notice curds forming immediately.

Cover with a dry clean dish towel and allow the mixture to sit undisturbed for a couple of hours. You can also begin preparing your ricotta in the morning before going to work and let it sit until you come home.

When the ricotta has rested for 2 hours or more, take a piece of cheesecloth, dampen it and place it inside a colander. With a slotted spoon, ladle out the ricotta into the prepared colander.

Place the colander with ricotta inside of a larger pan so it can drain freely. Let it drain for two hours or so depending on how creamy or dry you want your cheese to be.

Lift the cheesecloth up by the four corners and twist gently. If the liquid runs clear, squeeze a little more. If the liquid runs milky, there is no more need to squeeze.

Place in a tight sealed container. Refrigerate. It will keep for up to 7 days. Ricotta does not freeze well.

For the salad:

Lightly butter, season and place three or four ears of corn in aluminum foil and place on the grill, outside, to roast them gently.

Once cool, remove from the foil, and carefully cut the corn from the cob, into a bowl. Place one third of the corn into a blender with a couple large tablespoons of sour cream and a splash of heavy cream. Season with salt and pepper.

Puree.

Next, pour this puree into the bowl with remaining corn kernels and mix well- this will create a type of creamed corn.

You can add spices, herbs and other seasonings at this time, as well as make it looser consistency by adding more liquid, if you desire.

Slice the tomatoes of various sizes and colors into wedges, slices, and various shapes.

Arrange them on a plate. Drizzle creamed corn around them, next spoon some ricotta onto the plate for garnish and finally, drizzle with a good quality tomato vinegar (or red wine vinegar would work), sea salt and chopped herbs.

Top with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.