Susanne's Crafty
Corner: Cooking
Making
fresh cheese
|
Store bought fresh
cheese is nice, but home made is even nicer! This recipe is especially
something for you if you have cows or goats yourself, or you can get the
milk very cheap at a local farmer. Not as economic but just as nice is
to make this recipe with store bought milk. Use it in pastry, salads,
sandwiches and dips. This recipe yields about 200 g of fresh cheese.
You can make more just by multiplying the amounts.
What do you need?
- 1 L
whole (goat)milk
- 2.5 dl
cultured (goat) buttermilk
Heat the
milk and buttermilk over low fire till it almost boils. Reduce heat to
low and keep it simmering. Cook for about 20 minuts for a very soft-curd
cheese to about 35 minutes for a firmer curd. The total cooking time
from milk out of the fridge can be 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Do not stir while
cooking - it breaks up curd excessively and produces poor yield and
texture. A small scorched area will probably develop on pan bottom.
Line a strainer
with a tea cloth or 3 o 4 layers of cheesecloth that have been dipped in
cold water and wrung out. Gently pour the cheese mixture into the
strainer; don't scrape pan. Let this drain for about 30 minutes. After
that the cheese can be squeezed carefully to get more liquid
out.The liquid that remains is whey and can be sweetend and have some
fruit juice added to make a refreshing drink. Keep it in the fridge
though!
The cheese can be used directly in pastry or you can make different
kinds of fresh cheese. You could form balls of it and keep those a bit
salted in olive oil, garlic and herbs. This way the cheese can be kept
in the fridge for about a week. You could also make a harder cheese by
putting it (mixed
with some salt and herbs perhaps) in a container with holes in it while
applying a weight overnight. This would push the access liquid out and
give a harder and denser cheese. Don't start with immediately applying maximum
pressure though. Easing into it allows the whey in the middle of
the cheese to be squeezed out, instead of back into the
cheese. Let it
ripe a bit and enjoy! there are probably lots more of possibilities you
can think of.
For more on making fresh cheese (including pictures), click here.
|
|
|