“There's a race of men that don't fit in, A race that can't sit still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will. They range the field and rove the flood, And they climb the mountain's crest; Their's is the curse of the gypsy blood, And they don't know how to rest.”
- Robert Service

Saturday 30 March 2013

CHEESE, Grommitt!

Are you aware of how easy it is to make cheese? Like, super duper easy. You could make cheese tonight!

As a treat while watching the Oscars this year, I thought I'd try my hand at it. Now, you're not going to come out of this with a block of aged cheddar, but it's still delicious. I supposed it's classed as Farmer's cheese, probably because all you need is
  1. fresh milk (the higher the fat content, the better. We used homo), 4L
  2. 1/2 cup of vinegar
  3. salt
  4. cheese cloth
  5. a big pot. Use the biggest one you have - it needs to hold all of the 4L, plus room in case of boiling
  6. if possible, a thermometer
You might also want to add flavours, like fruit preserves or herbs.
heating the milk. I added salt here. Don't be skimpy with the salt. Heat it up until it just starts boiling, or 190 degrees.

Then, turn OFF the heat and add your vinegar. It separated into whey (the yellow watery stuff) and curds (the good, cheese part) almost instantly. Give it about 10 minutes to completely separate.
Drain your pot into a cheese cloth. It's really, really hot. In future, this might be where I would mix in my preserves, jellies, and/or herbs and spices.
This was after we squeezed the liquid out. Mum thought we should have squeezed it less to give it a more spreadable texture, but I liked being able to slice it.
Le finished product. We coated ours with walnuts and salt & pepper. Mum provided the apridot jelly. So delish!
For more directions (and helpful tips from others), I used this recipe

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