Our Apologies & Cheese

To anyone who might be checking in for new blogs, we want to apologize for being away for so long.  Brent fell and injured himself early last month.  It looks like he's going to need surgery to repair his knee but the surgery has to wait until after the honeymoon.  Still, it's been a bit hectic for us trying to get him moving around again.  He is better but it's going to be a long time before he's back to normal. 

Yesterday we decided to try to make cheese.  We found a recipe and set off on a quest to find the proper ingredients.  Specifically we were looking for citric acid and rennet tablets.  We went to three different stores and called another and couldn't find either ingredient.  Accepting defeat, we went home.  I decided to do an online search on how to make cheese without rennet tablets. Lo and behold, I found one and I had all the ingredients!  Here's the recipe we used:

8 cups of whole milk
1/2 cup of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of rock salt

Slowly bring milk to a boil.  Immediately remove the milk from the heat when it begins to boil.  Stir in lemon juice and rock salt.  The curds and whey will begin to separate.  Let it sit for 5 minutes, then pour the mixture into a colander lined with cheese cloth.  Allow it to drain through the cheese cloth for 5 minutes.  Gather ends of the cheese cloth together and twist to squeeze out excess moisture. 

 

(This photo is not our original photo.  It was borrowed from another site.) 

We hung the cheese cloth for an hour even though the recipe didn't call for it.  I just prefer my cheese to have less moisture.  I have never had fresh made cheese so the texture was unusual for me but the flavor was very good.  It didn't take long at all.  Total prep time, not counting hanging it for an hour, was probably 15 minutes.

This is something we will definitely try again.  Next time we may put some herbs in the cheese, maybe some garlic or chives.  I think I will probably like it better with herbs in it.  The texture was more like that of a cheese spread or a ricotta.  Brent said the more moisture you get out of it, the harder it will get.  He preferred it with the softer consistency.  I think I'd like mine a bit harder.

This is an easy and inexpensive recipe.  And what's better than fresh, home made cheese?  Give it a try.