Traditional Ricotta Cheese

I really try to get the most out of everything when it comes to cooking and food.  So when I saw a recipe on the Fias Co Farm site for making ricotta cheese out of the whey that is leftover when you make a lactic acid or rennet precipitated cheese, I was all about trying it.  So the last few times I've made my soft cheese, I've done just that.  This is extremely easy.  The downside is that you really don't get a lot of ricotta out of a quart of whey.  But this is too simple of a process not to still make the ricotta... plus the resulting ricotta tastes awesome!  I've just been adding it to a container that I've been keeping in my freezer until I get enough to use in a recipe.  I've finally got enough to use and cannot wait to try it next week in a recipe! 

Traditional Ricotta Cheese (made from whey)

You will need:
whey leftover from making a lactic acid or rennet precipitated cheese
vinegar, optional
stainless steel saucepan
thermometer
colander
large bowl or pot into which the colander fits
2 pieces of 90-count cheesecloth or butter muslin

Pour the whey into a saucepan and heat to 200 degrees.  Once you reach this temperature, you should see very tiny white particles (the albumin protein) floating in the whey.  You may add a little vinegar at this point if you'd like (1/4 cup per 2 gallons of whey).  It's up to you, some people do and some people don't.  I've done it both ways and have not really noticed much of a difference.  Adding the vinegar supposedly makes the texture of the ricotta a little more grainy, but I really haven't noticed it.

Line a colander with very fine cheesecloth/butter muslin.  I fold mine in quarters so I have 8 layers (between the 2 pieces) of cloth.  You really need a really fine cloth because the cheese will pass right through if you don't.  Place the colander over a big bowl or pot so you can save the whey for soups or baking bread.  Carefully pour the hot whey through the cheesecloth lined colander.

Tie the ends of the cheesecloth together and hang the ricotta to drain for 2-4 hours.

When it has finished draining, put the ricotta in a bowl and add salt to taste.  Ricotta will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, or you can freeze it until you have enough to use in a recipe. 

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

Soft Cheese (like Chevre/Goat Cheese)

I've been dabbling in the world of cheese making for the last month or so now. I have tried a couple different cheeses, first of which was soft cheese. I followed Wardeh from GNOWFGLINS' instructions in her guest post on Edible Aria, as well as some guidance received via email and facebook. Wardeh has been a tremendous resource to me - in more areas than cheese-making, but I especially appreciate her guidance with cheese. I'm not sure I'd have tackled the cheeses I have so far, nor plan to do the cheeses that I want to try very soon, if it was not for her. So, thank you, Wardeh!

Soft cheese would be called chevre or goat cheese if I used goat's milk, but since I use raw cow's milk, its just soft cheese. It is one of the easiest cheeses to make... hence why I chose to start with it. :) You don't need any fancy molds or presses. Just your ingredients, a jar, some cheesecloth, a large bowl, and a way to hang the cheese. I've now made soft cheese three times and will be making it again this weekend. Its great to use plain (spread on toast, sourdough english muffins, sweet muffins, as fruit dip, etc.), mixed with herbs for a delicious spread on crackers or veggies, as sour cream, salad dressing, or in dishes. We've really enjoyed the results when using it in cooked dishes. Its such a nice, mild, creamy cheese.

The recipe I follow makes about 3 cups of soft cheese. It will keep for about a week in the fridge and it freezes well. Depending on my meal plan for the week, I will keep 1-2 cups of it fresh in the fridge and freeze the remainder for use the following week or whenever. Here is what I do... it may sound like a long process, but the active time is very minimal and does not take much skill at all.

Soft Cheese

1/2 gallon of raw goat or raw cow milk
1/8 teaspoon all-purpose mesophilic culture (MA or MM)
1/4 cup clean, filtered water
double strength organic liquid vegetable rennet
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

You will also need:
cloth napkin and rubber band
stainless steel or other non-reactive colander
stainless steel pot or other non-reactive large bowl into which the colander fits
2 pieces of 90-count cheesecloth or butter muslin

DAY ONE:

On day one, pour the milk into a half-gallon mason jar. Then, sprinkle the mesophilic culture on top of the milk and stir with a wooden spoon (do not use metal).

In a separate jar or cup, put the 1/4 cup of water. Add one drop of the double-strength liquid rennet and stir well. Take one tablespoon of this solution and add it to the jar of milk. Stir the milk well with your wooden spoon. (If you are using regular strength liquid rennet, mix one drop with the water, but add 2 tablespoons of the solution to the milk and stir well... I just use the double strength since that's what I bought after seeing what Wardeh uses... maybe someday I'll try the regular strength.) If you think you will be making more soft cheese within a week or two, keep the rennet solution in the refrigerator. Otherwise just throw it away.

Cover the jar of milk with a cloth napkin and secure with a rubber band. Let sit out at room temperature to culture for 24 hours.

DAY TWO:

Once the milk has cultured for 24 hours, it should resemble the consistency of a thick yogurt. Put your colander inside your pot or bowl. Layer the two pieces of cheesecloth or butter muslin in the colander. Gently pour the cultured milk into the cheesecloth. Tie up the cheesecloth, making a sort of bag to enclose the curds. You can just leave this in the colander as is, or hang it above the colander/bowl setup. I hang mine after I've let it drip in the colander for about an hour. Leave this at room temperature for 24 hours, during which time the whey will drip out and the curds will thicken.

DAY THREE:

Untie the cheesecloth and check the consistency of the cheese. It should be thick, but spreadable and not dry. You may let it hang longer if you wish the cheese to thicken more.

Once your cheese has reached your desired thickness, transfer to a clean bowl. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Stir. Adjust amount of salt to taste. Pop the cheese into the refrigerator to chill. You may freeze some if you don't think you'll use it within a week or two.

Make sure you save the whey that has collected in the pot/bowl. Keep this in the refrigerator for up to 6 months to use in lacto-fermentation or add to soups. 

I end up with a quart of whey, plus three cups of cheese from this recipe.


This post is shared as part of the GNOWFGLINS Tuesday Twister.

Whey and Labneh/Yogurt Cheese

A few weeks ago, I made whey and labneh/yogurt cheese. This is also out of Nourishing Traditions. The labneh is very similar to a whipped cream cheese that you buy at the store and can be used as such (and is how we're using ours). I needed to make this so that I would have some whey to use in some lacto-fermentation recipes that I've been wanting to try. So I gave it a go. This has to be about the easies thing I've ever done. All you do is drain the yogurt, then string it up to drip some more. It only takes a few hours and voila! You have whey and what you can use for cream cheese! Brilliant! :) I have made some spreads out of my labneh. I chopped up some chives and mixed them in. I also mixed in some chopped garlic scapes into another small amount of cheese. Both were delicious spread on crackers! I'm going to try mixing in some strawberries for some strawberry cream cheese this week. There are so many possibilities!

Whey and Labneh/Yogurt Cheese/Cream Cheese

Cheesecloth or towel for straining (I used a floursack towel)
Glass bowl
2 qts. piima milk, whole milk buttermilk, yogurt or raw milk (I used whole milk yogurt)

If you are using piima milk or buttermilk, let stand at room temp 1-2 days until the milk visibly separates into white curds and yellowish whey. If you are using yogurt no advance preparation is needed. If you are using raw milk, place the milk in a clean glass container and allow to stand at room temp 1-4 days, until it separates.

Line a large strainer set over a bowl with a clean dish towel. Pour in the yogurt or separated milk. Cover. Let stand a room temp for several hours. The whey will run into the bowl and the milk solids will stay in the strainer. Tie up the towel with the milk solids inside, being careful not to squeeze. Let drain. When the bag stops dripping, the cheese is ready.

Store whey in a mason jar and cream cheese in a covered glass container. Refrigerated, the labneh keeps for about 1 month and the whey for about 6 months.

Fermented Bean Paste

This was my second attempt at lacto-fermentation (the first being yogurt)... fermented bean paste. This comes from Nourishing Traditions - I've had the corner of the page turned down as a recipe to try some day since I bought the book... but I never made it. I had totally forgotten about it, actually. Until my SIL made some using pinto beans last month. I had to wait until I strained some yogurt to get whey first, though. I did that a couple of weeks ago... but just realized I haven't posted about that yet... oops! I'll post about that soon. Anyway, so once I had my whey, I was ready to give it a go. I'm glad I did. I made a half-recipe to start with. I was nervous to try it... I definitely had to build myself up for it... but I tried it. But you know what? It was quite good! I'd like to try it with other beans sometime. You can use this as a condiment and you can use it in place of refried beans (which is basically how I intend to use it mostly).

(This is a before picture. I'll try to remember to snap an after picture one of these days...)

Fermented Bean Paste

3 cups beans, cooked and drained
1 onion, peeled and coursely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp. sea salt
4 Tbsp. whey

Soak the beans for 24 hours. Stir in 2 Tablespoons whey or lemon juice when soaking black beans... if you use other beans, you just need water. Then cook your beans. I've found the easiest way is to use the crockpot. Just cover them by a couple of inches of water and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until they are done.

Place the onion and garlic in food processor and process until well chopped. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Place in quart-sized wide-mouth jar, leaving 1 inch of space between the top of the beans and the top of the jar. Cover tightly and leave at room temp for about 3 days before transferring to the refrigerator. It might take less time if your house is hot or longer if it's cold. Serve as a dip with pita chips or tortilla chips.

Makes 1 quart.