Month: August 2017
Cheesemaking: How To Make Pouligny-Saint-Pierre
Recipe
What You Need
2 Gallons of fresh unpasteurized goat’s milk
1/16 Tsp MA011 Culture
1/32 Tsp C70 Geotrichum Candidum
4 drop single strength liquid rennet
Salt
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 72F. To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. Be sure that the water has the temperature of 120F so that the milk will heat up to 72F in less than an hour.
Once you are done heating the milk, you can add the culture. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further hour so that the culture can get to work.
2. Now it is time to add 4 drops of the single strength liquid rennet. It is important to not have too much rennet because the cheese is lactic.
Leave the milk to sit for 2-3 hours while the culture is still at work and the rennet begins to coagulate the curd. You will see that the milk has started to thicken. Allow the milk to sit for an additional 8-9 hours, making that a total of 9-11 hours of sitting since adding in the rennet.
You can see that the curd is ready when it has shrunk away from the edges and is cracked in places with quite a bit of whey on the surface. The flavor should be quite tangy at this stage.
Make sure that you have prepared molds and your transfer area by sanitizing everything, during these long wait times.
3. You don’t have to cut anything once the curd is ready, instead, you just must remove the curd with a ladle and carefully place it into the molds to avoid breakage. Make sure you fill the molds to the top and wait for them to settle before you top them up. This process may take a few cycles.
For the filled molds, allow them to drain for 10-12 hours or overnight at a temperature of 72F. You will find that they have settled in the molds by about 25-30%.
When the whey has completely drained, you can now remove the cheese from the molds and place them onto bases for the salting and drying process.
4. Once the cheese has dried out and the whey has stopped dripping, it is time to salt the cheese.
The best way to go about this is to salt by weight. Use about 2% of the cheese’s weight for salt. Place the salt in a salt shaker and evenly distribute it over the fresh cheese and allow the salt to dissolve and be absorbed into the cheese.
5. Once the cheese has been salted, dry the cheese for 2-4 days in a cool cave which temperature is at 52-56F but a drier 65-70% moisture.
After those 2-4 days, age the cheese for about 14 days in the same cave and temperature but change the moisture to 85%. During this time, you should see a dry, white surface with possible blue spots beginning to develop.
You can move the cheese to a refrigerator after those 14 days. You can also wrap the cheese. It will mature even further in the refrigerator and should be ready to eat within 1-3 weeks.
Fleur de Sel Soft Caramels
Salt is becoming more popular by the day to accompany chocolate, sugar, and cream in delicious desserts. This is because salt gives a huge burst of flavor like no other, be it in a sweet or savory dish. In this particular dessert, salt is a delightful counterpoint to rich and sweet caramel which helps it all tie into a mouthwatering symphony of flavors and textures, not to mention the chocolate.
Just before you go ahead and attempt this recipe, just be aware, for those who haven’t made caramels before, the sugar base becomes very hot and will boil vigorously when you add the cream to the mix, so be sure to use a deep pan to prevent spills and burns.
Recipe
What You Need
1 cup whipping cream
5 tbsps. salted butter
1 Tsp. fleur de sel
1 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsps. granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup water
1 Tsp. fresh lemon juice
Tempered dark or milk chocolate for enrobing
What To Do
Firstly, line a square pan with plastic wrap.
Mix together the butter, whipping cream and fleur de sel in a pan and bring them all to a boil. Once brought to a boil remove the pan from the heat and set the mixture aside.
In another pan, mix together the corn syrup, water, and sugar. Cook the mixture on high heat, do not stir and heat until the temperature is 360F or until it turns a dark caramel color. It usually takes around 5-10 minutes for this change to occur depending on what kind of stove and pan you are using.
Once done, remove the pan from the heat and stir the cream mixture in with a long handled spoon. Be sure to approach this with caution and this part is where the mixture can splatter on you. Now put the pan back on high heat and cook it, being sure to stir it constantly until the temperature reaches 250F. Now remove from heat and add lemon juice while stirring it in well.
Pour the mixture into a new pan and let it sit overnight.
Once it is set, take the caramel from the pan and peel off the plastic wrap. Cut the caramel into the desired shapes you want and place the caramels on a tray lined with parchment paper.
Holding the caramels with a fork, dip the caramels into tempered chocolate and place them onto another tray lined with a silicone mat.
When the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle a few grains of fleur de sel and let the caramels set for about 4 hours and then store them in an airtight container, in a cool, dry place for up to 3 weeks.
Quick And Easy Appetizers Using Cheese
Chevre is a delicious, soft cheese that is so easy to make. All you need to do is add a packet of chevre culture to a gallon of goat’s milk, let it sit and then drain the curds in a butter muslin. You don’t always have to use goat’s milk either, you can easily use cow’s or sheep’s, using the same directions.
If you don’t feel like making your own Chevre, you can purchase it at Shisler’s Cheese House, our Goat’s is to die for!
Endive Stuffed With Goat Cheese
What You Need
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons honey, divided
Cooking spray
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons orange juice
16 Belgian endive leaves (about 2 heads)
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese or blue cheese
16 small orange sections (about 2 navel oranges)
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
What To Do
Preheat oven to 350F
Combine walnuts and 1 tablespoon honey; spread on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.
Combine 1 tablespoon honey, vinegar, and orange juice in a small saucepan.
Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, and cook until reduced to 3 tablespoons (about 5 minutes).
Fill each endive leaf with 1 orange section. Top each section with 1 teaspoon cheese and 1 teaspoon walnuts; arrange on a plate. Drizzle the vinegar mixture evenly over leaves, and sprinkle evenly with chives and pepper.
Credit: myrecipes.com/recipe/endive-stuffed-with-goat-cheese-walnuts
Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos With Chevre
What You Need
10 jalapenos
4 ounces soft goat cheese
7-8 slices low-sodium, center-cut bacon
What To Do
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Cut the bacon slices into thirds.
Slice the top off each jalapeno, then cut each jalapeno in half. Remove the stems and seeds.
Fill each half jalapeno with about one teaspoon of goat cheese. Wrap each jalapeno in a third of a slice of bacon.
Put the wrapped jalapenos on a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes. Then, turn on the broiler and broil for an additional 5 minutes.
NOTE: Serving size is two poppers.
Credit: healthyrecipeecstasy.com/spice-up-your-super-bowl-sunday-goat-cheese-stuffed-bacon-wrapped-jalapenos/
Goat Cheese Stuffed Peppadews
What You Need
6 ounces soft goat cheese, room temperature
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, chives, thyme, or other fresh herbs
2 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half (as needed)
salt and pepper, to taste
1 jar Peppadew peppers (about 20-30 peppers)
What To Do
In a bowl, combine goat cheese with garlic and herbs, stirring until evenly incorporated. Add cream as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, to thin out filling if necessary (the amount needed will depend mostly on the softness of your goat cheese). The filling should be the consistency of buttercream frosting.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Fill each Peppadew with about 1/2 teaspoon of filling. I find it helpful to load the filling into a piping bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip, which makes it very easy to neatly fill each pepper completely full.
Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 hours; let come to room temperature for 15 minutes prior to serving.
Credit: loveandoliveoil.com/2013/10/goat-cheese-stuffed-peppadews.html
Cheesemaking: How To Make Gamalost
Gamalost is a Norwegian cheese which is rarely found in stores outside of Norway so this recipe will come in handy for eager cheesemakers. The cheese is generally hard with a mold ripened rind.
Recipe
What You Need
3 gallons skimmed milk
1/2 Tsp. thermophilic culture
1/8 Tsp. penicillium Roquefort mold powder
1 Tsp. cheese salt
A pinch of cylindrocarpon spp. mould powder
What To Do
Firstly, sterilize all equipment in which will be used.
Begin by pouring the milk into a large stainless steel pot and let it sit until it is at room temperature.
Once the milk is room temperature, sprinkle the culture over the milk and let it stand for 5 minutes. Then begin to gently draw the culture down into the milk with a skimmer, using up and down motions. Be sure not to break the surface of the milk. Cover the milk up and let it stand at room temperature for 48 hours or until the milk is sour.
After 48 hours, put the pot in a hot water bath over low heat and slowly heat the milk to 145F.
At 145F, turn off the heat and let stand for 30 more minutes. The solids will begin to separate from the whey and form a stringy texture.
Using the skimmer again, dip curd mass from the pot and place it in a muslin-lined colander. Now fold some cloth over the curd and press it the cheese through the cloth to drain as much excess whey as possible. Let it drain for around 7 hours.
Now remove the curd from the cloth and break it up into pieces with sterile hands.
It is time to pack the cheese into a mold which is lined with cloth and let it drain on a rack in a draining container for 2 days at room temperature.
After 2 days, remove the cheese from the mold and break up into 1-inch pieces. Place the pieces into a bowl and sprinkle them with the 2 mold powders and then mix them in salt.
Once again, place the cheese into a tightly packed mold. Add a weight to the top or place in a press and let it sit for 12 hours.
Now remove the weight and unwrap. Dry the cheese on a rack at room temperature for around 3 days, being sure to turn it daily. The cheese should become a yellowish color and be very pungent in smell.
When the cheese is ready, place the cheese on a mat in a ripening container. Ripen the cheese at a temperature of 50F and a humidity of 90% humidity for at least 3 weeks and up to 7 months. During this period, mold will begin to grow on the surface. When you notice this change, turn the cheese and rub the mold into the rind by hands at least 3 times a week.
After 2 weeks, pierce the cheese with a knitting needle or something similar all the way through vertically and horizontally in several places to encourage blue veining to occur in the interior.
What To Do With Leftover Whey
You’ve taken that step to conquering the art of cheesemaking and you find yourself landed with a pound of delicious cheese, along with a whole lot of leftover whey. You’re wondering what can you do with all that protein rich whey? Lots of things- it does not need to go to waste!
Before you start, you need to know a few things about whey. Whey is basically milk but with the solids and fats removed from it (the solids now being your cheese). It may as well be water however it contains lactose (milk sugar) which is water soluble and ends up draining off with the whey. Now if you are lactose intolerant, it is advised that you avoid whey.
The biggest part of whey is whey protein, which you may be familiar with if you are an avid gym user. There are two types of protein within milk- whey and casein. Most of the casein from the milk ends up in the cheese which you make and most of the whey protein ends up in the whey, as you would guess from the name.
Back in the day of cheese making on a large scale, cheese makers needed to be creative to find a use for their leftover whey. Before industrial cheese making took over, farm cheesemakers would feed it directly to the cattle as a protein source. Nowadays, industrial cheesemakers have to find other ways to make use of the “waste”.
Cheesemaking companies began to market their leftover whey to companies which make protein-enriched products such as protein shakes and bars because whey is bursting with protein. Since then, the protein industry has boomed and has overcome the cheesemaking side of the business altogether.
In fact, the demand for whey protein has become so huge that it is no longer the by product and is actually the primary product for some large-scale cheesemakers. However, that being said, a home cheese maker is not likely to sell their three quarts of leftover whey to a protein shake manufacturer. There is really no need when there are so many uses for whey in your home. The only thing the end use depends on is whether the whey is salted or unsalted. There aren’t as many options for the salted variety as opposed to the unsalted:
Salted:
– Baking: You can use the whey in place of the water or milk when baking bread or pastry recipes. Make sure you omit the salt.
– Rich Homemade Stock: Save up your vegetable trimmings and bones as usual and use whey to cover them instead of water and bring it all to a boil and then let it simmer for a couple hours on low so that the flavor can be extracted.
Unsalted:
– Protein Smoothies And Shakes: You can make your homemade protein products by easily adding some whey to your shakes or smoothies to boost your protein.
– Feed To Animals: Now not everyone will be able to do this, but if you happen to have farm animals such as chickens, you can feed the whey to them. It is not advisable to feed it to your cats or dogs because like milk, it can have a bad effect.
– Bathe In It: Apparently, whey can work wonders on your skin like nothing else, it is definitely worth a shot.
– Drink It: The tang of whey may be an acquired taste but it can be refreshing. The cultured whey has probiotics that can help balance the microflora in your gut for a hidden bonus of the protein.
– Freeze for later – You can always freeze your whey for later. I recommend splitting it into smaller, manageable batches and freezing separately. It will keep in the freezer for up to 6 months, possibly longer.
– Ricotta – Many people ask about making ricotta from leftover whey. If you made cheese using a culture then you must do this. You still end up with some whey to use up, but you get some additional cheese from it.
These are just a sample of some of the uses you can get out of whey. There are so many that you will never have to throw whey out again!
Creating Homemade Coffee Cheese
Back in time, the coffee cheese was originally created from warm milk, straight from a reindeer and put in coffee to form a kind of snack. It was irresistible for someone of Northern Sweden and Tornedaling and can be just as mouthwatering to you!
Now, you may not have a reindeer or barn at hand, so you can just use raw milk or whole milk if you cannot get raw milk. Some of the time, you might not be able to get raw milk so pasteurized is fine to use, just be sure not to get UHT (Ultra-High Temp).
Recipe
What You Need
70 oz. of milk
2 oz. heavy cream
2 tsp liquid rennet
What To Do
First, pour the cream and milk into a large pan and heat to 99F.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the rennet. Allow it to stand for 30-40 minutes or until the liquid has curdled.
Now stir gently with a slotted spoon while heating up the liquid to 99F again.
Once heated, spoon the cheese from the edges towards the center of the pan.
When the cheese is formed into a ball in the middle of the pan, heat it up to boiling point, but do not allow to boil. Take the pan off the heat to stop the whey boiling.
After taking the pan off the heat, place the cheese in either a large strainer, colander or even a cheese mold if you have one.
Be sure to press out the whey as much as possible from the cheese. Place a weight over the cheese and leave for a few hours so the remaining whey can be pressed out and the cheese dries up.
Preheat the oven to 392F and press the cheese into a greased casserole dish. Now bake the cheese into the center of the oven until it is browned.
You don’t have to bake the cheese, but it tastes a lot better when baked.
If the edges of the cheese become hard, you can just wrap it in aluminum foil afterward to soften them up.
There are many uses for the whey which is drained, for instance, using it to bake soft bread.
When the cheese is cooled, cut it into small squares, put some in a coffee cup and fill the cup with fresh coffee. Now stir it all up and eat with a spoon. The taste is so delicious, so enjoy!
If you have any left over, package it well and freeze it.
Making Something Different: Chaource Cheese
The name of this cheese alone is interesting, not to mention its unique flavor and form. You may never have heard of it, which makes it even more worth a try on firstly pronouncing (shah-oose) and then creating it!
Chaource is a mold-ripened cheese that originates from a small village in France called Chaource. It is usually made with both raw and pasteurized cow’s milk.
The rind of these cheese is similar to Camembert and has the same texture that just melts in your mouth. It can be aged for 2 weeks to 2 months and the flavor flourishes with time.
Down below is a big recipe for around 8 blocks of cheese, but you can easily half it if you so desire.
Recipe
What You Need
2 Gallons whole milk (can be pasteurized, but not ultra-pasteurized)
1/4 Tsp Mesophilic culture
1/8 Tsp Aroma Type B
1/4 Tsp Penicilium candidum
1/16 Tsp Geotrichum candidum
2 drops Animal rennet
Cheese salt
1/4 Tsp Calcium chloride
Equipment
8 Crottin molds
Thermometer
Butter muslin
Colander
Scoop or ladle
2 Bamboo ripening mats
Ripening box
Cheese wrap
What To Do
First things first, it is important that you sanitize every piece of equipment that will be used, including the ripening box.
Now dilute 1/4 tsp calcium chloride in 1/4 cup of non-chlorinated water and add this to the milk.
Heat the milk up slowly to 77F, checking the temperature with your thermometer.
Once the milk is warmed up, sprinkle all 4 cultures onto the milk and let it hydrate for around 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, begin to stir the cultures for about 20 seconds into the milk.
Now cover the pot with a lid and let the milk ripen for around 8 hours, making sure the temperature stays at 77F for the entire period. If you are heating the pot with water, you might have to add hot water half way through the ripening to maintain the heat.
Add 2 drops of rennet to the milk and stir it in slowly for around 10 seconds.
Now cover the pot and allow it to sit for a further 8 hours, once again keeping the heat at 77F.
After the 8 hours is up, gently put the curds into a colander with a ladle, ensuring the colander is lined with butter muslin. Make sure you do not cut the curds. If you really wanted, you could skip this step and just ladle the curds directly into the molds but it can be quite difficult to get them all in.
Once in the colander, now ladle them into the 8 molds. Keep replenishing them as the whey drains from the molds.
If you would like to speed up the process of draining the whey from the molds, you can run a knife along the inside of the molds.
When the whey is getting to the bottom of the molds, empty the box. This step is important because the environment needs to be kept as dry as possible.
Let drain for around 48 hours. If the cheese seems firm enough, turn them around and put them back into the molds for 24 hours.
48 hours later, it is time to remove the cheeses from the molds and place them on wax paper or a paper towel whilst drying off the box.
Prepare your rack in the dry box.
Get each cheese and rub a thin layer of salt onto both ends of it. Be sure to wait a few minute between each end and then put each cheese into the box until they have all been salted.
Now close the lid on the box and place it in a space of 50-55F
Make sure you flip the cheeses every day and drain any whey in the bottom of the box.
The cheese will be ready to eat after 2 weeks of being in the box. If you are wanting to age them any longer, keep them in your cave with the lid ajar and make sure you flip them every day. Once you are ready to eat them, wrap them and place in the refrigerator. They’re best served at room temperature.
For All The Coffee Lovers Out There: Coffee Chocolate Truffles
Mmmm two of the best consumables in the world besides cheese- coffee and chocolate! Although coffee and chocolate is a common trend in foods, it is not easy to make perfectly delicious truffles especially when this recipe calls for you to use coffee instead of cream to make these lactose-free tastes of heaven.
In this recipe, it has been made with both 60 percent dark chocolate and high-quality milk chocolate. It is clear that dark chocolate wins overall as it produces an intensely flavored bonbon that is guaranteed to be mouth watering and a black coffee and dark chocolate addict’s dream come true.
However, if you prefer to put plenty of cream in your coffee and enjoy chocolate with less kick, making this recipe with milk chocolate will be better for you. All you have to do is reduce the coffee by 1/3 and use milk chocolate.
Recipe
What You Need
7 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 tbsp. salted or unsalted butter
1/3 cup coffee or espresso, depending on how strong you want the coffee flavor (or 1 tbsp. and 2 tsp. if using milk chocolate)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
What To Do
Firstly, put the chocolate into a bowl suitable for a blender. Place the coffee in a pan over medium heat until it is hot but not simmering and remove from the heat. Another method to heat the coffee can be placing it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Pour the heated coffee over the chocolate and blend until the consistency becomes smooth.
Now add the butter and stir until the butter is well incorporated into the chocolate and coffee mixture. Make sure there are no lumps and that the chocolate is melted. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for one or two hours or until it has set and is firm.
Once the ganache is set, scrape a spoon across the surface. Dust your hands with cocoa and quickly press the truffle with your fingertips into 1 inch balls. Roll the balls in the cocoa until they’re well coated.
Now place the truffles on wax paper to set for several hours. You can store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container for around a week or freeze them for a month or so. Enjoy!
Using Tartaric Acid In Cheese Making
You can usually find tartaric acid in a lot of fruits, especially tamarind, from which tartaric acid is derived from a lot of the time. It is not only a product of cheese making though, it is also a by-product of the wine making process because it is also found in grapes.
We tend to use tartaric acid in making Mascarpone as it is an easy to make cheese and very inexpensive. It is perfect for beginners because it is consistent and works well.
It takes such a small amount of tartaric acid to make Mascarpone that when you use the full 1/4 teaspoon, there is enough to create Mascarpone 95 times from a 4-ounce packet of it. (Perfect for Tiramisu lovers!)
To make around 10-12 ounces of Mascarpone, food grade tartaric acid is used. All you have to do is add 1/4 teaspoon of tartaric acid to a quart of milk and cream or around 1/8 teaspoon for if you are using raw cream.
Recipe For Mascarpone With Tartaric Acid
What You Need
1/8-1/4 teaspoon tartaric acid
1 quart light cream or half-and-half
What To Do
1. Heat the cream to 185F in a double boiler.
2. Add the tartaric acid and stir it into the cream for several minutes. The mixture will begin to thicken into a cream of wheat consistency, with tiny flecks of curd forming. Don’t worry if the cream doesn’t seem to coagulate, just add some more of the remaining tartaric acid and stir for another 5 minutes. Just be careful not to add too much tartaric acid, or the texture will become grainy.
3. Now line a stainless-steel colander with a double layer of butter muslin. Begin to ladle the curd into the colander and drain for an hour.
4. Once that is completed, place the finished cheese in a covered container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy!
The Cheesemaking Process For Tomme au Marc
This cheese is usually found in Italy and France. Tomme is made and buried in the seeds and skins of wine making and from these skins, a liquor is also made in the name of ‘Marc’, which explains where ‘Tomme au Marc’ comes from.
