Cheese Making Recipe of the Month
Next month is Valentines Day, which holds a special place in my heart. If you have been to my workshops, you have met my sweetie, Jamie (otherwise known as "he who builds everything, fixes anything, sings like an angel and is cute to boot!").
For Valentines Day, I believe there is no better gift for your sweetie than a plate of Coeur a la Crème, smothered in berries. Coeur a la Crème means "Heart of the Cream" in French. Yum!
There are a zillion variations on this elegant dessert- involving some kind of cream, soft cheese and flavoring. In my book, Home Cheese Making, I have included a recipe which combines Fromage Blanc with cream. To make it, you will need one of our heart shaped molds and a small piece of butter muslin. For those of you who don't have the book, here is the recipe with a few helpful hints.
News From Fellow Cheese Makers
Making Burrata
By Jo
A couple months ago, I wrote about my attempts to make burrata, an artisan Italian cheese that is delicious and nearly impossible to find in stores. It is a close cousin of mozzarella, with an outer shell of cheese surrounding a sweet, rich filling of mozzarella curds and cream. I first heard about it in the Washington Post almost a year ago, and was intrigued but doubtful that I would ever find it to taste. Then, one day earlier this year, I was surprised to find it in Whole Foods, on display. I grabbed some, and when I tried it, it was true love. I have not seen it since, but I knew I wanted to have it again - a ball of burrata.
My expeditions in cheesemaking taught me that mozzarella is easy to make at home. Having finally worked out some of the variables in mozzarella making (for instance, using local milk if at all possible), tonight I made a second attempt at burrata, and this time it was a hit! My cheese was creamy and rich, and the flavor just right. The assembly is a little tricky (I admit I have not quite worked it out yet, as you will see from the pictures), but I'm thrilled to know that this delicacy can be made at home, any time I want. Fortunately for my health, it is involved enough that I won't want to make it all the time, because I could eat it any day.
For Valentines Day
Next month is Valentines Day, which holds a special place in my heart. If you have been to my workshops, you have met my sweetie, Jamie (otherwise known as "he who builds everything, fixes anything, sings like an angel and is cute to boot!").
For Valentines Day, I believe there is no better gift for your sweetie than a plate of Coeur a la Crème, smothered in berries. Coeur a la Crème means "Heart of the Cream" in French. Yum!
There are a zillion variations on this elegant dessert- involving some kind of cream, soft cheese and flavoring. In my book, Home Cheese Making, I have included a recipe which combines Fromage Blanc with cream. To make it, you will need one of our heart shaped molds and a small piece of butter muslin. For those of you who don't have the book, here is the recipe with a few helpful hints.
News From Fellow Cheese Makers
Making Cheese in Jordan
A group of 4 of us took your class on September 27th and really enjoyed ourselves (I even got to be your assistant on the first cheese!). You told us a bit of history regarding the transport of milk in the Middle East and how on a warm day, in the stomach of an animal (and in the presence of the residual rennet), the jostling motion made cheese. Well, you were absolutely-right!
Here are a couple of pictures from our recent trip to Amman, Jordan where we found evidence of this technique in the Folklore Museum (here we see a woman shaking the milk in a sheeps stomach suspended by a tripod). Thought you would get a kick out these photos. We have made several batches of yogurt and are scheduled to tackle some cheeses soon. Hope all is well with you!
David
Kosher Citric Acid
I was re-listening to Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" over the Thanksgiving holiday and was reminded of my intention to try making cheese myself. I have a copy of your book, though it's lent out to a friend currently, so I visited your web site. I noticed that in the FAQ for 30 Minute Mozz you answer the question about a source for kosher citric acid with a negative.
I went looking for this because as a child I knew that my mother used Rokeach Sour Salt to touch up the seasoning on her Passover borsht if she ran out of lemons. The brand Rokeach seems to be owned by The Manischewitz Company which lives on the web here... Rab Food Group
Sorry to butt in but I figured that more information is always good.
Thanks for providing so much great information!
Sarah, thanks so much for the information. We eagerly called the Manischewitz Company,
only to learn that they stopped making that product in 2006.
If anyone knows of any other source, please let us know.
Making Yogurt
I enjoyed your article on yogurt making and learned some new things. The author is correct about the problem of not heating raw milk when making yogurt. The culture will not thicken properly without the heating step. I have come up with a compromise method of making yogurt with my raw milk.
I heat half of it until it is just scalding. Then I mix the hot milk with cold milk. That way half of the milk proteins have been denatured, but I have not lost all the enzymes and benefits of the raw milk. The mixing cools the hot milk immediately so I can then add the starter and incubate it.
To be honest, I do not even check the temperature with a thermometer, although I think I will start doing that now after reading the article. Even so, my yogurt comes out beautifully most of the time, particularly when I remember to sterilize the incubating container by running boiling water into it.
BTW I love the Yogotherm incubator that I bought from NE Cheesemaking. It has made yogurt making a breeze. The convenience has been worth the expense, and this is coming from the queen of cheap. Just wanted to pass this along for your raw milk customers. We sure do love our raw milk!
Nancy Eason
Home Cheesemaker in Colorado
Organic Vegetable Rennet
It is finally here- ORGANIC VEGETABLE RENNET! And, because many of you have waited years for this product, we are offering it at the same price as the regular liquid vegetable rennet!
This product is gluten free, non-GMO, and it contains no caramel color. The only ingredients are Mucor Miehei and salt.
You may have noticed that when you are shopping for cheese, it is very difficult to tell which cheeses are made from animal rennet and which are made with vegetable rennet. Most of the time, the ingredients list refers to either just plain "rennet" or "enzymes." This is just one of the many reasons why we think making your own cheese is the 'whey' to go.
Please send your cheese making news & photos to: moosletter@cheesemaking.com
