Cheese
I MADE CHEESE U GUISE.
Like fuck all the bullshit going on right now but
I MADE CHEESE?? BY MYSELF??? Ahem. Anyways. Recipe, then Ramble/rant/etc
- 1 gallon whole milk
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- Add all ingredients to list
Directions
- Prep 5 m
- Cook 20 m
- Ready In 25 m
- Pour the milk into a large pot, and stir in a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent the milk from scorching on the bottom of the pot.
- When the milk begins to boil (small bubbles will first appear at the edges), turn off the heat. Stir lemon juice into the milk, and the milk will curdle. You may need to wait 5 or 10 minutes.
- Line a sieve or colander with a cheesecloth, and pour the milk through the cloth to catch the curds. What is left in the cheesecloth is the Farmer’s Cheese. The liquid is the whey. Some people keep the whey and drink it, but I throw it away. Gather the cloth around the cheese, and squeeze out as much of the whey as you can. Wrap in plastic, or place in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator.
So, the girlfriend wanted poutine and we did not have curds. But among my random assorted useless skills, I had vague knowledge of how to make cheese so…I was curious if I could replicate making curds. (First research was discouraging; lotta specifically required Things)
And I asked an old chef I’d worked for, who I’ve been shooting the shit with for years for ideas, and he suggested farmer’s cheese, which is closer to paneer. Walked me through pressing the liquid out.
Things I learned; curds are very soupy, cheesecloth is now going to live in my cabinet, and it’s surprisingly easy to just..keep making more. O_o but it does adjust the taste.
Also that it’s surprisingly simple??? Like? Minimal prep and cleanup??
ANyways, I had made the gravy last week with some of the scrapings from smash burgers (cuz brown beef gravy is The Tradition and I can’t get all of it right but some of it I did, dammit)
End result, fucking delicious.
