Psssh! I wasn't wanting to order, and it was a long while till I was visiting back home.
"I'm making it!"
...one small problem--finding rennet. It was a pain.
Oh, and you need to understand, unless you live in the NOLA region, it's not going to be exactly the same. It's that whole weather thing--humidity FTW. Conditions are ideal there... I'm in Texas... there's been a super-long drought... not ideal.
Accept this fact, move on, and enjoy the awesome that you'll still get.
-SO, it's actually a pretty simple recipe:
1 gallon skim milk
1/2 cup butter milk
2 tablets rennet dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
(I halved the recipe, because I don't have a bowl large enough...yet)
-[Hardware--cause' Lord knows I didn't have most of this stuff when I set out to make this]
Cheese cloth
1 very large non-conductive bowl (glass or steel will work)
1 average sized colander
some clips to hold the cheese cloth in place
1 very large tupperware or some other container large enough to house the colander and the crap-ton of whey that's going to drain
A good bit of saran wrap
-For when you're done with the heafty part:
(Always good to know before getting everything else done--hopefully saving someone a second trip out to the store)
[This is the traditional way to eat it, but I'm not the law, make up your own mind as to how you'd like to enjoy this awesome]
half & half
sugar
whatever berry/fruit you might want to eat with it
(if you're in to that)
-SO, here's what you do:
-First, get all your dairy together
God, I love dairy... |
-Pour all the skim milk into said bowl
- (Things tend to work better, if they're room temperature, but I'm historically impatient...and forgetful, and that's not good when dairy is involved)
- -stir
(It's in the little measuring cup) Looks gross, but it'll be okay... I promise |
- -I suggest swirlling it just a bit before pouring it in
- this helps to lessen or prevent the dissolved bits from sticking to the bottom of the cup
-Pour in the rennet-water solution
- Stir ONCE (seriously, once)
- The first time I made this, I stirred maybe three times, and it broke up the forming cheese. The WHOLE THING was off...WAY firmer than intended.
- Cover the whole damn thing in saran wrap and leave out somewhere where it won't be bothered by temperature variations or any other nonsense
- (My bad--totally forgot to take a picture after this--will repost once I make this again)
- That's cheese, my friend
- don't touch it
- seriously
- Wait another 12 hours
(OR, your cheese mold, if you're being fancy--not sure if you need the cheese cloth for that one)
- Dampen the cheese cloth
- you've got some options
- enough cheese cloth to fold over itself
- two pieces of cheese cloth
- I usually go for the former
- if the cheese cloth is not wanting to stay in place, this is where the clips come in
- Set the whole thing over the sink
- it's gonna be messy
- other folks say to spoon it into the colander
- it's not preferable to break up the mass
- so, I just dump the whole thing in
- as delicately as possible, of course
- good luck with that
- don't be tempted to pour off some of the excess whey before transferring it to the colander
- the draining is part of the process
- don't mess up the process!
- After a bit of the whey has drained out, put the whole damn thing into your container
- you won't be able to have all the whey drain out at once
- again, part of the process
- Cover that thing in saran wrap
- if you plan, you can use the same saran wrap that you used earlier
- it might look something like this:
- Oh, and do your best to get a good seal
- we have an open, glass pitcher for filtered water
- whey-flavored water is quite unpleasant first thing in the morning
- Now you wait, for 48 hours
(Hey, I said it was simple, not quick...) - Oh, and you're baby-sitting...a little
- every now and then, pour off the whey that drains
Yeah, that. It's not pretty, but it's effective. |
-After 48 hours...
- Have a tightly sealed container ready that can hold the solids comfortably
- I use a pyrex container
- I'll forewarn you that (if it lasts that long), you'll have to drain a little whey off every now and again
- Should last about 2 weeks if tightly sealed and kept refrigerated
-Get out some sort of dish
(Maybe one that makes you feel proper or fancy)
- Spoon some cheese into said dish
- Sprinkle some sugar over cheese
- Pour some half & half over the cheese and sugar
- Now, here's where you have a decision to make
- you can start eating it as is
- you can fold everything in for a minute
- it'll become one
- After making that decision, you actually have another one
- fruit?
- If so, CONGRATULATIONS!
- You've made Creole Cream Cheese Evangeline
(If you used a mix of at least 4 fruits...but still, you're at least very close!)
[Again, my bad...I got excited and didn't actually take a picture of the final product. I'll post it later.]
- I know there are other things you can do with it, but this is the only one I've tried so far
- Most importantly...you get to say, "I made cheese."
- Don't lie
- You're totally at least a little proud
- It's okay...
- ...enjoy it :)
Whey-water does not sound delicious, but the final product definitely does!
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