Cheese Making Recipe of the Month
Cream Cheese
As you know, Jim does a new step-by-step recipe every month, and he submits it via e-mail (although we would much prefer that he tear himself away from his home office and visit us at the shop, in person.)
This month, he wrote a note with his recipe and we decided to share it with you:
As I usually do, I passed the cheese around to my foody friends and while they usually think its great, this time they all took the time to rave about it and come by and tell me so.
Now that tells me that the creamchz available commercially is REALLY BAD or that this recipe produces an outstanding cream cheese. Even my cats love this one.
Have to say, though, I thought doing cream cheese would be a slam dunk project until I began researching and experimenting with it.
I used the worst milk/cream combo I could find and it was a superb cheese. When I used raw milk and cream it was positively hedonistic.
Oooh! Hedonistic! That sounds good to us ...
Meet a Fellow Cheese Maker
30 Minute Burrata!
If you're familiar with burrata, you are drooling at the very sound of the word. The name means "buttered" in Italian because it melts in your mouth. It is mozzarella with a filling of soft, creamier mozzarella inside.
Suzanne has advanced in her cheese making skills to the point where she has cast aside her recipes and she is doing whatever she wants (not unlike everything else she does at her website- Chickens in the Road!) We couldn't be prouder of her. (Oh, and did we mention that she has a giveaway at her site every month of cheese making supplies donated by you-know-who?)
News From Fellow Cheese Makers
Monica's 30 Minute Mozzarella Dulce de Leche
Just wanted to pass along an easy recipe your customers might enjoy. After making your 30 minute mozzarella, I was at a loss as to what to do with the delicious leftover whey. Since it can't be used to make ricotta, I went on a web search looking for an answer. Here's what I came up with;
30 Minute Mozzarella Dulce de Leche
Bring leftover whey from 30 minute mozzarella recipe to a low boil and reduce to about one quart. It takes a couple hours.
Stir in 2 cups sugar - one part sugar to two parts whey-
Add a vanilla bean, or 1 to 2 tsp vanilla extract
Cool a bit, and blend in a blender until smooth, or use a stick-blender right in the pot.
Continue boiling until thick, browned, and creamy, sort of like caramel. Less cooking for thinner sauce, more cooking for spreading on croissants or dipping strawberries, bananas, pineapple, apples, etc.
I've attached a picture of the finished product, it turned out a bit thicker than I had hoped, more like soft caramel than coffee or ice cream syrup, but I got distracted at the end and cooked it a bit too long.
It has a slight tartness which I attribute to the citric acid, but everyone who has tried it thinks it's amazing. I'm making dry milk powder mozzarella today, and I'm going to see if the whey from that can be used for the same purpose, I'll keep you posted.
Monica Morris
Susan's Radish Dip with Lactic Cheese
Hi cheese makers! First of all, very big congratulations on the upcoming nuptuals. I hope that everything goes as befitting of royalty.
I (re)married myself 3 years ago and moved to an 80-acre farm in Minnesota with my husband and two other families (his brother and sister and their spouses). My husband is a landscaper, but aside from the tree nursery, there's no real farming going on. Just lots of prairie restoration and a hog barn turned into a woodworking shop and some chickens.
I've always been a suburban or urban person, most recently living in Long Beach, California, and for years in Chicago, so even gardening was new to me. But I love growing food and have come a long way. Reading Barbara Kingsolver's book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle really set me on a new path, one that included cheesemaking. Though I have mostly made mozzarella and lactic cheese, my last order was for calcium chloride, as I intend to graduate up to cheese curds.
We have an amazing local cheesemaker here and I can get "the hard stuff," gouda and really great gruyere and cheddar, from her. (Let her maintain the cheese cave!)
I have a blog, and in the summer it is dominated by gardening news and recipes. I just made this "rosey dilled radish dip" that is so delicious with lactic cheese, I wanted to share. The original recipe calls for cream cheese-- feh! I can't imagine it's as good as it is made with lactic cheese. I've used up the last of my radishes in this last batch, so will have to wait until fall to make it again.
Rosey-Dilled Radish Dip
By Susan Sink - See her blog
8 oz. lactic or cream cheese, at room temperature (so you can mix it)
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 Tbs fresh chopped dill
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup finely chopped radishes
Combine all the ingredients well. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to incorporate the flavors before serving. Serve with crackers, chips or vegetable strips.
Susan Sink
Angelique's Farmhouse Cheddar Bow Tie Pasta
We posted a blog article in January featuring Angelique Haschalk's Farmhouse Cheddar. Now, she's ready to eat it, so she sent us her recipe for Bow Tie Pasta, which she features at her own Home Cooking blog:
Farmhouse Cheddar Bow Tie Pasta
This time of year I usually have lots of fresh tomatoes and basil. I also made my farmhouse cheddar in January so now it is sharp, delicious and ready to eat!
- 1/2 box of bow tie pasta (or any pasta of your choice)
- 8 fresh basil leaves
- 1 cup grated farmhouse cheddar cheese
- 2 roughly chopped fresh tomatoes (skin on)
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tsp minced garlic
Cook pasta according to package instructions and drain.
Melt butter over medium heat in a medium sauce pan, add garlic and cook for two minutes while stirring.
Chiffonade cut the basil. Here's how
Reduce heat to simmer and add the pasta and the other remaining ingredients.
Mix well and remove from heat after just barely melting the cheese (about two minutes).
Can serve warm or chilled. Enjoy!
Ripening Mats
As you most likely know, when you are draining or aging your cheeses, you want a layer of air to circulate below them. The most convenient tool for this is a good mat. It must be durable and easy to clean (non-porous).
Sarah has found us these polypropylene mats with 2 kinds of mesh- fine and medium. They each come in two different sizes - small (6.5" x 6.5") and large (6.5" x 39.75").
Ripening Mat Fine Mesh - click here
Ripening Mat Medium Mesh - click here
Beeswax
This is a steal! According to Wikipedia, 10 pounds of honey yields 1 pound of beeswax. But, try to buy 10 pounds of honey for $12!
We don't know why it's such a good deal, but we do know that many of you have requested it through the years. It's 100% natural and there is no coloring added. It even smells good but you don't have to thank us- just thank the bees!
Please send your cheese making news & photos to: moosletter@cheesemaking.com
