The almighty cheese post

[LT72884]

Ello all. It has been a very productive summer. I have been teaching bbq, grilling, artisan bread and cheese making classes here at a professional kitchen. It was way awesome. Had a few food critics show up and i had no idea. Luckily they loved my class on steaks and compound butter. Landed the company a great review. They said the steaks turned out better than most steak houses here and comparable to ruth chris steak house.

I also taught a ribs class, which i think i posted about a few months ago. Now its time to share my cheese making thread. very simple and im willing to bet most of you here have done this. However, there are some of those who have never done this. Bare in mind, i am still new to the cheese making process. But love to tell everyone about it.

Thanks to you guys and the awesomeness you have been. i would have never thought of teaching my own classes. I have referenced every class i teach to this place.

-----------------------------------------------------

The almighty cheese

Life has many many simple and enjoyable pleasures. One of those said pleasures is the satisfaction of making your own cheese that is so elegant that it needs its own ramekin to be displayed in. It requires more energy to cook a pot of rice then it does to make fresh Flamage Blanc or what some of the traditionalists call Farmers Cheese. It is a very mild product that goes great with walnuts, grapes, apples, crackers and my absolute favorite, homemade artisan bread. The soft and creamy texture creates an amazing pairing with the crunchy crust and custardy crumb of homemade artisan breads, which i will have to post about soon. This is a BBQ and grilling site but, i think i can make an exception.

Ok, first, let me thank Chef John over at Foodwishes.com. He is the one who gave an excellent video demo for this cheese. The recipe has been around for hundreds of years and many people have made it, but not one single person can get all the credit, however, Chef john gets my thanks and credit for the video he made demonstrating how to make the cheese.

There are two ways i know of on how to make these kind of cheese. This method and the method involving the use of raw milk. Raw milk these days is pretty healthy for you and with all the medical advances we have and technology we use, the chance of bacteria and other baddies getting in the milk is very rare. I will explain the raw milk method at the end since it involves the same draining process as this method.


So lets start off with the ingredients:

NOTE. The amounts are crucial. Try the orginal amounts first THEN expeirment with cutting in half and so forth!!!

• 1 quart whole milk (32 ounces)
• 1 cup cultured buttermilk. Must be cultured
• 2-3 tsp lemon juice
• Salt, pepper and other favorite herbs to taste. Remember, certain herbs go well with fruit while others dont. You may just want to try salt and pepper at first.
• 4 pieces cheese cloth or a thin kitchen towel.
• A plastic spoon. Not wooden. The wooden spoons tend to give off a fishy flavor when hitted up.
• A strainer or colander
• Meat thermometer. Make sure it is clean

On medium heat, bring the milk to 175*F. Stir occasionally to prevent a film on top and bottom of the milk. It will begin to steam and have small bubbles around the edge.

Once heated to 175*F, turn off the burner and add the buttermilk and lemon juice. Stir and you will begin to see it coagulate and separate into solids. The liquid portion is whey and the solids leftover are the curds.

If it is not separating to well, add another tsp of juice. Let it sit for 10 minutes to continue the process. In the mean time, take a strainer and line it with the cheese cloth or towel. Place the strainer in a large deep bowl or pot, making sure that the bottom of the strainer is suspended in the air. Drain the cheese mixture.

This will catch all the curds and the whey will pass through the cloth. We want the cloth suspended in the air so it is not sitting in the whey. The cheese needs to drain all the whey err i mean way. Press the cheese softly with a spoon to get the rest of the whey out.

Let sit for 5 minutes and then roll up the cloth and squeeze or so very very gently. Hold above the pot or bowl for another minute or so. Just make sure most liquid is out.

Once it has drained, remove cheese from cloth into a bowl and mix in the salt and pepper. If you want to add other herbs, now is hte time. Just remember that not all herbs go good with fruits. You may have to do some googlin!

Once seasoned, place the cheese in a lidded container, or if you wanna get fancy.. place cheese in mini ramekins and cover with plastic wrap. Once covered, place in fridge for 6 or so hours to chill. If you want a depper flavor, let it sit for a few days.

Once chilled and rippend, remove from ramkins onto a plate with grapes, bread, and walnuts. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh cracked pepper!

For the raw milk method, all you do is take the raw milk, place it in a glass bowl, cover it, and lit it set for 4 days until the curds and whey are separated. Drain and hang from a spoon across the stock pot.

Thats it. Season with chive and pepper.

Enjoy!

[deguerre]

Now THAT. Was farking cool.
Thanks!

[ITBFQ]

I'm going to have to make my own cheese now. My wife is going to think I am crazy.

[Thermal Mass]

Yeah, that was cool!! We made some fresh motz last summer but going the next level is cool. For hard cheese you just press, and age correct?

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to more from your very busy summer!

Love the spatula too!

[CharredApron]

Beautiful. I am aging some cheddar I made. It is now about 2 months old, patience is the name of the game!

[LT72884]

Yes paitence is the name of the game. Thanks for lookin. I have not made any of the harder cheeses yet. Still working on that part. haha.

Yeah the spatula is from my inlaws. i own 6 guitars and love to play so they got me those for christmas last year. haha.

The wife will think it is crazy or cool. totally depends. haha. My wife thought it was cool, my friends wife was like no way and my friend was like WTF!

thanks all

[sliding_billy]

Great post!

[Bonewagon]

Nice LT! I dig the spatula too.

[J-Rod]

Thanks for sharing this- I LOVE Cheese!!

[LT72884]

you are welcome guys. i hope you guys make it. it is way easy

[oifmarine2003]

Looks pretty easy! My wife will love that. Thanks for the tutorial!

[YetiDave]

AKA paneer - this would work really well in Indian cooking

[wnkt]

Originally Posted by LT72884

Ello all. It has been a very productive summer. I have been teaching bbq, grilling, artisan bread and cheese making classes here at a professional kitchen.....

Sounds like some classes I would love to attend...too bad I live so far away.
You can also add a sausage making class in there, that ought to go over well too.

[KingRanch450]

Thanks for posting that....I'd also like to start making my own bread

[57borntorun]

If you added whey you would have transitional ricotta yet not necessary.Some of the first farmers cheese (maybe 5000 years ago in warm Asian and Middle east) and were made from soured or curdled milk made in the stomachs of ruminant calves post slaughter.(Rennet).
This process of making cheese at home is so simple and does not include stabilizers (Xanthan gum, locust bean, guar gum) like store bought.