Today's guest blogger today is Kate! She is obviously a girl after my own heart being a health freak and all. She is teaching us to do something today that I have wanted to try to ages, make cheese. Enjoy!
How to make
your own fresh cheeses at home?
Many
people are daunted by the thought of making cheese at home as they feel that
they will need special supplies and equipments for the craft. However, cheese
making at home can be very creative and worth the effort as cottage and curd
cheeses are very easy to prepare. It does not require rennet or any other
special ingredients as the raw material and equipment required can be readily
found in any kitchen. Cheese can be made out of the surplus milk which you may
have trouble storing for a long time. Cheese making at home is rather different
than the commercial cheeses we find in the market and they can be eaten up
fairly quick. They may not store for long in the fridge but cottage and curd
cheese can freeze well. You can always try your hand at cheese making at home
simply by following the details given below.
Cheese
is made with milk
The
most important ingredient for cheese is of course, milk. As long as you have a
pint of milk at home you can create a delicious, granular and soft milk cheese
easily. Milk can be cow's milk or any other such as camel, goat and sheep milk.
You can even make cheese from the powdered skimmed variety of milk which can be
purchased from the stores. The process is the same for any variety of milk that
you use.
A
simple recipe for cottage cheese
a.
Ingredients
1.
1200 ml or 2 pints of semi skimmed or skimmed milk
2.
2 ml or tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice
3.
A pinch of salt
b.
Things required
1.
Fine sieve
2.
Wooden spoon
3.
Stainless steel or enameled saucepan
Preparation
1.
Into a saucepan pour the milk and heat until very hot.
2.
Stirring with the wooden spoon, take care not to let the milk boil.
3.
Remove from heat and let cool for some time.
4.
When it is cooled sufficiently, pour in the lemon juice or vinegar.
5.
Stir well with the wooden spoon even as the curd separates from the whey.
6.
Allow to cool for some more time.
7.
Pour the contents of the saucepan through a sieve into another container to
catch the whey while the curd remains in the sieve.
8.
You may throw the whey away or keep it for making bread instead of water.
9.
Finally transfer the curd into a clean bowl and add the pinch of salt over it.
Store
this cheese away in the fridge and consume accordingly. You can always add a
little innovation to your cheese by mixing in double cream to the curd for a
thicker and richer consistency. You may also vary it by adding black pepper or
any other herbs for an exotic taste.
While
making the cheese, if the milk does not curdle the problem could be the milk.
You can always add some more vinegar or lemon juice to correct this. For best
result you can go for the pasteurized semi skimmed or skimmed milk and avoid
the homogenized milk or UHT.
About the author: Kate is a blogger and writer. She is a health
freak and very environmentally aware. These days she is busy in writing an
article on Fungal
Nail Infection. Beside this she loves reading. She is also a big fan of Chicco
Strollers.
