Have you ever wondered what it would be like to make cheese? Well, I have. So I tried it. I used a simple recipe for Farmer's cheese requiring no special ingredients or tools. I was amazed at how easy this was!
FIRST PICTURE: The curds just after I took them out of the cooking pan. I am using my old jelly bag for a cheesecloth--it's not dirty, just stained from years of making black raspberry jelly!
SECOND PICTURE: Me squeezing the excess water out of the cheese. It's kind of like dry cottage cheese at this point. In fact, I can imagine using this same recipe and adding a bit of cream or something, skipping the next few steps and making cottage cheese. Don't know for sure if that would work or not, but I 'd like to experiment with it.
THIRD PICTURE: A nice loaf of Farmer's Cheese. This is a very mild tasting cheese, much like mozzarella. I enjoy it and treat myself to a chunk of it about every day.
There are no pictures of the last step, but after we gathered the curds into the loaf we pressed more water out by placing the cheese between two slanted cutting boards and weighting it with an iron skillet. About an hour later, we had some nice cheese!
I saved the whey--water that was left after the curds formed. I used it to make bread the next day and honestly, it was the nicest bread I can ever remember making and the family says so too! I guess there are a lot of uses for whey and I am also using it to water my compost pile. Very interesting experience with cheesemaking!
FINAL ASSESSMENT: I enjoyed this process and would definitely do it again. 
BLESSINGS, LORI
That. Looks. DeLIcious.
ReplyDeleteI've been the recipient of lettuce from a couple of friends' gardens. I've been making a simple dressing of evaporated milk with equal amounts of sugar and white vinegar added. (This was my grandmother's dressing.)
Glad you had fun making it! I've been dreaming of eating a fresh vegetables for a while now. Enjoy them :) Our grocery store has an awesome selection of fruits and veggies but you can't beat the fresh out of the garden taste!
ReplyDeleteHi! I just stopped by to see what you were up to this spring. The cheese looks really good. I wonder if in the process you could add some fresh herbs to change up the taste? I decided to give up gardening this year - the snails are just too large and many and love a good tomato! Fortunately we have a nice farmer's market nearby!
ReplyDeleteYes, I am planning on herbs for the next batch! I have so many huge bushes of fresh herbs in the garden, I can't wait to flavor some cheese with them!
ReplyDeleteI remember mom making cheese a couple times. I think I remember her saying she learned from Grandpa Schwartz and that he made it often. I would like to try it sometime...seems intimidating. So many things do though, and will until you try I suppose. :)
ReplyDeleteNo I have never thought of making cheese but I am sure that yours is good Lori, especially with your own salad from the garden.
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