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Thursday, June 18, 2009

de-mystify


T
his is one of the cheeses I showed yesterday and as you can see it has been put through a mold (look, a pun) and it is starting to change a little. Lets be official, I started the cheeses on Saturday and I took this picture this morning, 5 days later. Now let me try and de-bunk some of the bunk. Cheese making is not that difficult you simply have to be clean about it, thats one key point to remember, other than that a basic farmers cheese or a mozzarella is really not that hard to do. The cheeses I have here are a farmers cheese and a cream cheese both inoculated with a mold to create a blue cheese. I have made the basic rennet, or vinegar or lemon juice cheese for years, a little acid in the milk the milk curdles and voila its cheese. This cheese is also called paneer, queso fresco or countless other names from countless other cultures (hey is that a pun?) This website offers the most comprehensive instructions I have seen yet so if you are interested this is the place to learn. I learned from my grandparents how to make the basic farmers cheese and I have been involved in its production since I was a kid. We had a milk cow and some goats so the cheese was made from the milk of either one at various times. Ok ready for a secret short cut on the mold inoculation - you take a teaspoon of uncontaminated blue cheese and you mix it with some water this is the starter mold and this gets mixed into your freshly made curds before you put it into a mold (cup, bowl, can, whatever you want) as the cheese sits the mold does its trick, I think. This is my first attempt at blue cheese that is why I am trying it with two different types to begin with - I want to see what is what.



As far as eating is concerned, if I cant pick it up with my hands I havent eaten it lately.



Bratwurst on a bun with some Texas 1015 onions grilled till sweeter than sweet.



Eggamuffin, bacon egg and cheese on a toasted english muffin - good to go. Lazy bones around here lately - all the heavy rain is making everything boring.

23 comments:

Pavithra Elangovan said...

looking so yumm and delish..

KennyT said...

I'm amazed.

CreativeMish said...

I love blue cheese. I'll have to check out that site.. I've never ventured into cheese making.

Christo Gonzales said...

Pavithra: I am certain you have made paneer......

kenny: just trying to stay in the game thats all

mish: hey good to see you again....you need to make the simple ones first they are so tasty and fresh you wont stop...

Jenn said...

I'm loving the egg oozing from the side from that eggamuffin. Beats McD's any day.

Cheese making sounds like an interesting process. Maybe one day I'll venture in to trying it. I just have to work myself up to it first.

buffalodick said...

My salad tonight is getting my doctored(more blue cheese added to it!)blue cheese dressing- as usual! Brats looked done just right.. Couldn't handle the egg sandwich quite yet!

Ken said...

The eggamuffin.....mmmm.....
well that's a standard breakfast aboard any boat Bic'n'I have done any cruising in.
Simple!

Christo Gonzales said...

jenn: oozie egg is the best....make a ricotta - its simple

buff: get those enzymes back in there - as they say in the waterboy 'you can do it'

mic: I smell the bacon and it gives me nostagia....you dont have to tell me -

Admin said...

Blessed are the cheesemakers ...
You make it sound so easy, but I'm sure it's more difficult for some of us. Thanks for the website. Good info.

Anonymous said...

Dear Friend!
Greetings!
one ofthese days, we shall have to talk about those cheeses seriously!LOL
Now about the Wagashi/Youkan:
I should be able to post a recipe this weekend (very busy the next two days!).
The recipe basically uses agar agar (kanten in Japanese)!
Cheers,
robert-Gilles

Pooja said...

Wow the cheese is turning out perfect! Never thought of making one till now! Thanks for the link. Its really helpful. Its high time that I made some cheese :D The quick meal is delicious too. Perfect to have during gloomy rainy days!

♥peachkins♥ said...

mmmmm ......breakfast..(sorry,I just woke up)

LK- Healthy Delicious said...

I love cheese. love. i can tell this one will be beautiful.

Reeni said...

I can't wait to see how your cheese turns out! It's lookin' good! And so is that oozing egg sandwich!

Marjie said...

Yeah, we're not so thrilled with the rain either. I'm baking and roasting so I can leave the oven standing open afterward and warm up the kitchen. I shut off the furnace and refuse to turn it back on.

Christina Kim said...

mold! ha!! pun intended.

runny egg = happy

Anonymous said...

So neat that you are making blue cheese! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Jamie said...

The cheesemaking is very cool. You are so right that there are some things that are quite simple if we take the time to understand yet the mystery surrounding them makes us think they are so much harder to do. And your snack foods are so yummy!

mely said...

I whish, I can visit your blog as often as you post. :)

This recipe for blue cheese could be my next cheese proyect. Thanks for sharing.

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

I love this - having just dabbled in cheese, I looking forward to your progress on blue.

Pam said...

Brats are one of my very favorite comfort foods and the egg sandwich is making me drool...it would be so perfect for breakfast this morning.

I still can't believe you're making your own cheese... MAN, you are impressive. ;-)

Heather S-G said...

That final photo is making me drool bigtime!!

Sara said...

I've been doing tons of sandwiches lately too, yesterday was turkey burgers, next is cheesesteaks!

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