Category Archives: Recipes – Cheese

BRIE

2014-05-14 - Brie

I did some Bacteria and Mould ripened cheese today – Brie. This is one of my favorites, but is not easy to make. Heat 10 Litres of full cream Jersey milk to 30 C and ad your mother Flora Danica starter. Stir very well and let ripen for 15 minutes. While keeping the milk at 30 C add the 4 ml Rennet diluted in 50 ml distilled water. Stir with a up and down motion for one minute, then top stir for another minute. Leave it undisturbed for 3 hours while keeping the temperature at 30C.  All cheeses using little Rennet may be problematic, but trial and error is the only solution. By now the curds should have formed. Cut the curds in 12 mm cubes. The moulds to use for Brie are open on both sides, as to facilitate easy turning over. Fill the moulds and leave to draqin for 12 hours at about 20C (Room temperature). With a board on top and one at the bottom, flip the cheese over and let drain. The cheese should not break in this process. Repeat this flipping over every four hours for at least five times and let it drain all the time. Once the cheese is dry enough, approximately one day after filling the moulds, take it out of the mould and lay on a clean cloth. Now rub the top and sides with salt. After two hours, flip the cheese over again and rub the other side with salt. Let is rest for one hour and spray the white mould on all sides and store at 15 C for one week or until the white mould appears. Now store for 3 months at 13 C and 85 % humidity. The cheese should now be soft inside when pressed, slightly brownish on the surface and creamy and buttery when eaten.  If the cheese is cut before it is matures, it will not mature. A pure white coloured cheese has not matured yet and needs to be stored longer. ENJOY!!  Off coarse I made Ricotta with the Whey

 

Looked for Bufala but only found Jersey

Today was another family outing to the dairy farm and the youngest was keen to get to know the young Jersey bull a lot better by poking and pulling ears of the young future stud.

After having a good look to see if there were any buffalo around, as it was my intention to make some Mozzarella, I had to settle on Jersey milk after all.

We came home with some beautiful fresh full cream Jersey milk, of which I converted the bulk into some fine Brie and Mozzarella. The rest of the milk I put into my home made Separator to collect the rich and yellow cream tomorrow for our week’s supply. Tonight after supper I am converting the whey into Ricotta. We had a delightful antipasto of INSALATA CAPRESE, with fresh home made Mozzarella, fresh ripe tomato, fresh basil, olive oil and pepper, with fresh home made bread to clean out the plate.

2014-05-11 - Insalata Caprese 2

MOZZARELLA RECIPE

Heat  10 Liters milk to 33 C and wait until the pH is 6.8. Ad 100 g of thermophyllic mother starter and mix well. Ad 3 g lipase and stir very well. For Jersey milk, top stir for another minute. Cover and ripen at 33 C for 30 minutes. Ad 4 ml rennet and stir with a up and down motion for one minute.. Cover and let is set at 33 C for 90 minutes, or until the milk has set into a soft curd. Once set it will have the texture of a soft yogurt. Gently cut the curd into 6 mm blocks and let it set undisturbed for 20 minutes. The whey will float to the top and the pH should now be 6.5, if it is not, wait a bit longer. Slowly heat the curd t0 38C , increase heat by 2 degrees every 5 minutes. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Drain the whey from the curds (save the whey for Ricotta) Fill a large pot with water (double cooker) and heat water to 40C. Now place the curd pot into the water pot and keep it at 40 C for three hours so the curds can acidify.  Every half hour, drain off the whey and flip over the curds. At the end of the three hours check that the pH is 5.2 – 5.3, if not, wait some more. Now put the curd mass on a draining board and cut the curds in 10 mm sizes. Once cut up and drained, put the curds into a stainless steel bowl and cover with water at 78 C. Using two wood spoons, work the curd together and form it into balls. The surface will now become glossy and stretchy. when gently pulled. Continue to work the curd mass until blisters start forming on the surface. When the ph is 5.3 or less, put the cheese into a bowl with cool water to become firm. Make a brine with 5 Liters of water, 1 Kg cheese salt and 20 g Calcium Chloride and submerge the cheese for one hour. It can either be eaten fresh or stored for later use to make delicious pizza.

 

Low-Fat Fad Has Done Unfathomable Harm – Eat Healthy

Dreamtime

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/24/modern-diet.aspx

Real Ricotta – made from Whey

2014-04-15 - Montasio and Ricotta

As we all know Ricotta is suppose to made from whey and not milk. Even though the whole milk version is not bad, nothing comes close to the real deal. I make milk Ricotta every time I fetch milk, which is about once every ten days. but only can make real Ricotta after I made a hard cheese, which is not every week. Last night the Montasio went well and after it was in the press, I made some Ricotta with the whey.  Following breakfast and lunch, I had to be quick, otherwise there would have been no product left to photograph. Even though the yield from whey coming off ten liters of milk is not a huge quantity, but it made up in quality.

RECIPE

Fresh whey – less than two hours old

50 ml Apple Cider Vinegar

100 G Mesophillic Starter (I propagate my own cultures)

3 g Salt (Non iodised)

50 g Heavy cream – I made my own milk separator – simple and cheap – and will blog about it soon.

Put whey in a large non corrosive pot and heat over direct heat to 94 C.  Stir continuously to prevent the whey from burning to the hot bottom of the pot, but do not boil

Turn the heat off and slowly ad the vinegar whilst stirring continuously. Small white particles will commence to form which is the precipitated protein (curds)

Ladle the curds carefully into a ricotta colander lined with fine muslin cloth.  When all the curd is in the colander, allow to drain for about ten minutes and when no more visible moisture is present in the curds, then mix in the starter.

Tie the corners of the muslin and hang over a container to drain for about three hours. When the ricotta does not release moisture any more, untie the muslin and mix in the salt and cream

Store in refrigerator for up to ten days (It never lasts that long in any case).

One of the most common cheese products used in Italian cuisine

BUON APPETITO !!

 

 

Montasio Cheese

Cheese Press2014-04-14 - Montasio

My Cheese Press was made from a couple of pieces of spare wood, plus I purchased one threaded rod, a couple of wing nuts and washers and two compression springs – all for less than $30.  After manufacture, I calibrated the press with the wife’s bathroom scale and it can press from 0.5 – 10 Kg of cheese at 0 to 50 Kg of pressure.  Also I stole a baking tray to serve as dripping tray (I hope the wife does not read this, as I had to drill a hole in the tray)

If you have not tasted Fricco before, it is definitely worth the while to spend the time and make Montasio for your next Fricco experience

Today I made some Montasio Cheese, but broke all the rules. Traditionally it is made from cow milk (Rule 1 – I used goat milk). Also the milk is normally collected from two milkings, i.e. morning and evening (Rule 2 – I got milk from my goat farm from a single milking). In Gorizia a region of Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy milk is collected from three different bovine races i.e.  Friesian, Swiss Brown and Pezzata Rossa (Rule 3 – Unfortunately I could get only Saanen goat milk). So I am sure I would not get a DOP trademark certification for my cheese, but still am of the opinion that it would not be too bad.  Montasio is a “cooked”  cow milk cheese so we need to process it at 41 degrees C. This is why we use  two different starter cultures – Mesophillic as well as Thermophillic starter.

Montasio in New Zealand is best made from Jersey milk and I shall be making another batch with Jersey milk next week – unfortunately I shall have to wait for months to make the comparison between the two cheeses.  Montasio is normally aged three different ways to give three different types of cheeses :

Fresh  – This is consumed after 60 – 90 days ripening

Mature  – Consumed as a table cheese after 5 to 10 months of ageing

Aged  – Used as a grating cheese if aged for periods in excess of ten months

Now for the recipe:

10 Liters of fresh unpasteurised milk

100 g Thermophillic Starter (I propagate my own cultures)

50 g Mesophillic Srtarter

5 ml Liquid Calf or Goat Rennet

1 Kg Plain Salt (Not iodised)

5 Liters of fresh water (Non chlorinated)

Heat the milk in a double cooker to 32 C and ad both the Starters. Stir well and cover and leave to ripen for 60 minutes, while keeping the milk at 32 C

Ad the Rennet and stir gently with a up and down motion for two minutes. Cover and keep at 32 C allowing the curds to to set. This may take up to 30 minutes for the curds give a clean break

Cut the curds in approximately 6 mm cubes

Heat the curds to 39 C, raising the temperature with maximum 1 C every five minutes, then hold at 39 C for 60 minutes. During this process stir the curd gently all the time to prevent it from matting.

Drain the curd and ad hot water to the curd to get the curd and water mixture to 44 C and hold at 44 C for ten minutes, while stirring gently all the time

Drain the curds and place in a cheesecloth lined mold immediately.

Press at 2 Kg for 15 minutes – remove the cheese and peel away the cheesecloth – Turn over the cheese and dress with cheesecloth and press at 2 Kg for 30 minutes. Remove the cheese and peel away the cheesecloth – Turn over the cheese and dress with cheesecloth and press at 5 Kg for 12 hours. Remove the cheese and peel away the cheesecloth – Turn over the cheese and dress with cheesecloth and press at 5 Kg for 12 hours.

Make a saturated salt solution, in a non-corrosive container, with the salt and water. Now soak the cheese in the solution for 4 hours, at room temperature, per Kg of cheese.  Remove and pat dry

Store cheese at 12 – 15 C until ready to use. Turn over cheese oat least once every week.

ENJOY!!