Farmhouse Cheese-Maybe

So, my plan was to make Farmhouse Cheese with Italian spices inside.  However…I got distracted and cooked it much too long at too high of a temp.   As you can see, it made a good looking cheese…not sure it will taste like a farmhouse cheese, but I will know in 2-3 months.

I wrapped this cheese instead of waxing…I had not done that before, so I am excited about doing so.  You rub the cheese with lard or butter (I used “I can’t believe it’s not butter) and then wrap it in layers of cheesecloth using the not-butter as a glue to hold it on.  I placed it in my cheese fridge at 55 degrees and 75% humidity. 

Queso Fresco- Fresh Cheese

A very mild cheese often used in Latin American cooking.  Much the same as Queso Blanco, but this one uses cultures instead of vinegar which gives it a slightly deeper taste.  That said, it is still a VERY MILD cheese and best when used in a dish (not eaten on crackers).

I made this cheese last night.  It is ready to eat, although if I wait just a short time it will have more flavor.  Since I do not need a large wheel of cheese at this time, I will wrap it tightly, put it in the freezer and then shave off parts into our morning eggs as I need it.

Fontina (part 2)

The Italians in the Alps area have been making Fontina since the 1100s!  The Fontina made in other countries is MUCH more mild than the Italian Fontina.  This cheese is made from cow’s milk.

Fontina is usually sold as a mild semi-soft cheese, but it is very versatile.  When young, Fontina can be used for fondue.  When mature, Fontina makes a great cheese for grating. Cheeses that can be substituted for Fontina are Gouda, emmental and provolone.

Fontina

I made Fontina cheese, but with a twist.  Instead of making 1 cheese, I split it into 2 and dried them.  Tonight I spent about 1/2 an hour grating by hand…that was tiring!  So, I used the blender to grate the rest.  Thankfully it says it is strong!

I will be using this in recipes that call for a mild shredded cheese.

In a dish…just finished grating

Packaged for the fridge

Cheese Party

Arla Dofino® Game Day Havarti Party-  I won a CHEESE PARTY on Houseparty.com.  Luckily, the party date was the same day as the Superbowl, so we were able to get a group together to taste 9 types of cheese sent my Arla Dofino!  Regular Havarti was the favorite.  The folks at the party had a great time playing Game Day Bingo, everyone received a coupon, and the winner went home with a wooden football cheese cutting board!  I learned that a much wider variety of spices could be added to Havarti cheese.  I also learned that I like Edam cheese (which I had never tried before).  THANK YOU Arla Dofino!!

Crescenza

CRESCENZA

Mary Karlin mentions is her book Artisan Cheesemaking at Home that it is a creamy cheese made in the Po Valley of Italy.  It should be eaten within one week of making.

I did not add the calcium chloride to the cheese since I ran out.   The cheese takes 2 gallons of milk, culture and rennet.  It takes approximately 11 hours from start to finish, but much of that is draining time.

I spent the morning doing all of the steps that involve “Do This” now wait 15 mins.  “Do That” now wait 10 mins.  Most steps don’t take any time to DO them; it is the waiting in between that makes this a long process.  In the afternoon, it had to drain for 3 hours on one side and then 3 hours on the other.  Finally, at 7p.m. I was able to put it into the brine solution (extremely salted water) for a 2 hour soak.  THEN, it was dried on a bamboo mat for 1 hour.

Result:  Very mild soft cheese, a bit salty (but it had only been out of the brine for 1 hour).  It is overpowered by large slices of bread.

  

Day 2- tasted more salty…the brine soaked in.  Most people who tried it liked it better.  Not being a huge salt fan, I did not.

Day 3- most of salty taste is gone.  It is now a VERY mild cheese.  So far, we have eaten it with French bread, put slices on a pizza, put in scrambled eggs and sent some home with friends.

Mozzarella

The evil cheese!  Now don’t get me wrong…who doesn’t love a cheese stick or melted mozzarella all over your pizza?  BUT, making mozzarella is supposed to be easy.  “They” say so (whomever these “they” people are who say all of this stuff need to re-evaluate mozzarella).

I have tried it two times.  Neither time it would stretch.  So, there was a cheese, but NOT proper mozzarella.  So, after looking into it (third book was the charm), I discovered a tiny little note at the bottom of the page that said if your cheese would not stretch, try a different brand of milk. It was probably due to over-pasteurization at the plant. Hmmm…okay…although I did not use the same brand either time.  BUT, next time…and there WILL be a next time since no cheese is going to beat me…it does not even have a brain…I will get fresh off the farm milk and give it a try.

Fromage Blanc

A soft cheese much like cream cheese.  Fromage Blanc means ‘White Cheese’ in French although you can add spices and herbs to change the flavor.  From start to finish, this cheese takes about 18 hours to make and will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.  Generally this cheese is made with nonfat milk, so it is healthier than cream cheese and can also be used as a substitute for Ricotta.

Cheddar

CHEDDAR

 The second cheese I made…the first time I used a kit.  The beauty of the kit is that it came with very simple-to-follow instructions and all of the supplies I would need except for the milk.

Cheddar is not only the name of the cheese; cheddaring is the process that makes this cheese a cheddar.  It involves draining the cheese over warm whey, then cutting the curds, mixing with salt and pressing them.

Once my cheese had ripened, I noticed that it was not soft like the Cheddar cheese in my grocery store…it would not melt when put on nachos.  I wrapped it up and threw it in the freezer having no real use for it at the time.  Later, a SCA event was approaching, so I packed up the cheese and took it with us.  Since cheese was very sharp, I am not a fan of that, I knew that I would not be a very good judge of this cheese.  Thankfully, there were many people who were fans of sharp cheddar who were willing to taste it.  And they liked it!!!

But still…I wanted melty cheese.  So, at Pennsic, I approached the Cheesemaking class armed with questions.  The answer is this:  “Americans are in love with melty cheeses” she explained.  “But this is not the same through the world.  There is a very small area on the pH meter that will result in melty cheeses; the rest will result in the normal cheese types favored by the rest of the world”.  SO, without a pH meter (and the strips do not work half as well), I decided to embrace non-melting cheddar.

I grate it into macaroni and cheese, eggs, and other dishes to get an excellent cheesy taste without cheese goo all over my pan.  Since it is a hard and sharp cheese, I do not have to use as much in the recipe and that saves me money.  (This, if you recall, was my reason for starting cheesemaking in the first place!)

Recently I made a beer infused cheddar which I was happy to share with people at War of the Wings 2014.  I was excited that I could taste both the cheddar and the beer in the cheese.  The texture was a little chewier than I would have wanted, but was otherwise tasty and was enjoyed by the people I shared it with.

Brie

The reason I make cheese!!

BRIE

The first cheese I made…considered an advanced cheesemaker’s cheese. (Thankfully I did not know that at the time!)  Made with Penicillium candidium and Geotrichum candidium molds, this cheese has a bloomy white rind that is edible.  For a strong tasting cheese, keep the rind; for a milder cheese, cut it off.  Hailing from France, this cheese can be made with the milk from cows, goats, or sheep.

Day 1

I made this cheese before I had my cheese fridge, so I used a plastic container in our laundry room as a ripening cave.  Since the laundry room at that house was not heated, the temperature was ideal for the cheese.  Once the cheese has ripened, the inside should be soft and creamy.  If you want a stronger flavor, you can ripen it longer, but once it is over-ripe, it will smell a bit like ammonia!  This is the cheese that goes into Savory Toasted Cheese and the reason for my Cheesemaking beginning. I wanted to make this dish for a pot-luck event, but the Brie at my local grocery was very expensive.  Like most handy folks, I thought “maybe I can just make it myself”.  Thankfully, it turned out well and made some excellent fondue.

Day 5