Goat Milk Ricotta with Fruit and Honey

Hi! I've been making a variation of my goat milk ricotta recipe for dessert. The recipe is very easy and the end result is wonderfully light, creamy, and not too sweet. I made this recipe up and each time I make it, I do it a little differently. Basically, just wing it and make it to your individual tastes and preferences. Here's how:

• Make the goat milk ricotta following the recipe I previously posted (May 31).
• After draining and while the cheese is still warm, whip in 3 tablespoons of honey and between 0 and 2 tablespoons of sugar, depending on how sweet you'd like it to be. I've been using Red Bee Artisanal Honeys based in CT (http://www.redbee.com). I particularly like the Blueberry Blossom Honey, and I have a friend who favors the Pumpkin Blossom. They're all wonderful!
  
• If, at this point, the cheese isn't as creamy as you'd like, you can blend in some cream cheese or sour cream, to your liking. Then refrigerate for an hour or more to set.
  
• For the topping, mix together about 3 cups total of berries (I've been using a mix of blueberries and raspberries, and sometimes halved strawberries), some fresh lemon juice, and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar. Let marinate for about an hour, then spoon over the cheese and you're done!

If anyone actually reads this and tries it, let me know what you think! (This is my first, and to date, only original recipe!)



Lisa

Soft Goat Cheese

I just finished making 2 varieties of soft goat cheese, and both turned out great! I'm working on a 3rd type right now. All of these cheeses can be refrigerated and eaten for up to 2 weeks, and all of my ingredients and supplies were purchased on line at the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company (http://www.cheesemaking.com). Here are the recipes:

Plain Soft Goat Cheese
This is a nice, tangy cheese that tastes great on toasted bread!

1. Heat 1/2 gallon pasteurized goat's milk to 76F.
2. Stir in 1/8 teaspoon Flora Danica starter (a mesophilic type culture that adds a buttery taste to soft cheeses).
3. Add 1 tablespoon diluted rennet (1 drop diluted in 5 tbs unchlorinated H2O) and stir. (I use vegetable rennet).
   
4. Cover and let sit for 12-18 hours (the room temperature should be about 70F).
5. Scoop the curds into a goat-cheese mold (a plastic woven basket that lets the whey drain freely) and leave the mold to drain for 2-3 days.
6. Remove the cheese from the mold and lightly salt.

Herbed Soft Goat Cheese
The 2nd variety is an herbed goat cheese. Use the same recipe/process as for the plain cheese, but when scooping the curds into the cheese mold (Step 5 above), sprinkle in layers of the herb (or herbs) of your choice. I used an Herbs de Provence blend, which turned out to complement the tangy goat flavor really well.

Saint Maure
The final variety is called Saint Maure, which is a soft, mold-ripened goat cheese. (My very first moldy cheese!!!!) For this I made a wheel of the plain (unherbed, but salted) goat cheese as described above, then sprayed all surfaces of the wheel with a light mist of a Penicillium Candidum suspension. PC is a white mold that, theoretically, is supposed to grow on the surface of the cheese to give it a white, bloomy rind. To make the suspension, I used 1/8 tsp of PC mold powder suspended in 1 quart of tap water with 1/4 tsp salt. Then shake it up and let the powder rehydrate for 12-18 hours in the refrigerator. (The suspension can keep for up to 60 days.) Now I just have to let the cheese age for 2 weeks at 45F in my old college dorm fridge. The humidity should be around 95%, which is (again, theoretically) accomplished by placing an open pan of H2O in the fridge next to the cheese. Hopefully this will work.....

Goat's-Milk Ricotta

Today I made Whole Goat's-Milk Ricotta for Phil to put in the lasagna he was making for dinner! Very easy and fun! Here's a pic of the ingredients:

And here's the recipe:

• Heat 1 gallon whole goat's milk to 195F, making sure not to boil - which will give the cheese a "cooked" flavor. I did this on the stove rather than in a sink of hot water because the required temp was higher than for the other cheeses I've made and I didn't have to be quite as careful.
• Once the milk hits 195 degrees, slowly stir in 1/4 cup white vinegar. The acid causes the milk to curdle. (This is pretty much what happens when milk spoils, caused by the build-up of lactic acid as it ferments.) You'll see the curds separate from the whey.
• With a slotted spoon, ladle the curds into a colander lined with butter muslin and drain for 1 minute.

• Put the curds into a bowl and add 3 tablespoons of melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and mix well.

That's all! The whole process took about 30 minutes. Here's the cheese in the lasagna (delicious!):

To celebrate our house being free of handymen and my being able to use the kitchen for the first time in weeks, I made small curd cottage cheese today! Here's the recipe/instructions:

• Heat 1 gallon of skim milk to 72F. Hold it at this temperature between 16 and 24 hours.
• Cut the resulting curd into 1/4 inch squares and let it sit for 15 minutes to solidify a little more.
• Heat the curds to 100F, going in 1F/minute increments, then hold at that temp for 15 minutes.
• Heat the curds to 112F in 1F/minute increments, then hold at that temp for 30 minutes, or until the curds are cooked to a semi-firm consistency.
• Pour off the whey, then hang the curds in a cheesecloth bag for about 10 minutes.
• Dunk the bag of curds into ice water a few times, then hang to drain again for 5 minutes.
• Put the curds in a bowl, break them up, and add salt to taste.
• Add a little heavy cream (actually, I used skim milk) if you'd like it a little moister.

Here is the finished product:

It's delicious (slightly more sour than what you typically buy in a grocery store), it's healthy, and it was really fun to make!

Next week I'm going to try cheddar!

I haven't had any time to make cheese in the past week (plus we are still eating the Neufchatel....). In the meantime, I keep hearing phrases like "bloomy rind" or "washed rind" and, while I intuitively THINK I understand what such terms mean, I thought maybe I'd read up on these descriptors and various cheese classifications while we're still eating the Neufchatel. (Somebody PLEASE help us eat all this cheese!) According to the American Cheese Society (www.cheesesociety.org), some basic categories include the following:

1. Fresh Cheeses. These are unaged, unpressed, lactic-fermented cheeses. These cheeses have a high moisture content and are usually mild and have a very creamy taste and soft texture. These may be made from all types of milk and in the U.S., these cheeses will always be pasteurized. These are highly perishable. The 2 cheeses I have made so far - Lactic Cheese and Neufchatel - belong to this category.
2. Soft-Ripened (Bloomy Rind) Cheeses. The term “soft-ripened” is used to describe cheeses that are ripened from the outside in and are very soft and runny at room temperature. The most common soft-ripened cheeses have a soft, white, sometimes fuzzy (thus the term "bloomy"?) rind that is edible. The rind is produced by spraying the surface of the cheese with the mold penicillium candidum before the brief aging period. In the U.S., soft-ripened cheeses are generally produced from pasteurized milk. Cheeses in this category include brie and camembert styles, triple crèmes, as well as particular branded cheeses produced throughout North America.
3. Semi-Soft Cheeses. The term “semi-soft” is used to describe cheeses that have a smooth, generally, creamy interior with little or no rind. These cheeses are high in moisture content and range from very mild to very pungent in flavor. Semi-soft cheeses may be made from both pasteurized and raw milk, depending on the aging requirements and the style the cheesemaker is creating. Cheeses in the semi-soft category include many blue cheeses, colby, fontina styles, havarti and Monterey Jack. Many washed rind cheeses (see # 6 below) fall into this category.
4. Firm/Hard Cheeses. The terms “firm” and “hard” are used to describe a broad category of cheeses with tastes ranging from mild to sharp and pungent. Textures range from elastic at room temperature to hard cheeses that can be grated. These can be made from pasteurized or raw milk and include gouda styles, most cheddars, dry jack, Swiss (Emmenthaler) styles, Gruyere styles, many “tomme” styles and Parmesan styles
5. Blue Cheeses. These cheeses have a distinctive blue/green veining, created when the penicillium roqueforti mold, added during the cheesemaking make process, is exposed to air. This mold provides a distinct flavor to the cheese, which ranges from fairly mild to assertive and pungent. Blue cheeses are found in all of the categories above except for the fresh cheeses. Blues may be made from both pasteurized and raw milk and in many styles. The most common styles are the French (roquefort), Italian (gorgonzola) and Danish blue styles.
6. Washed Rind Cheeses. These cheeses are surface-ripened by washing the cheese throughout the aging process with brine, beer, wine, brandy, or a mixture of ingredients to encourage the growth of bacteria. The exterior rind of washed rind cheeses may be pungent, but the interior is most often creamy to semi-soft. Washed rind cheeses may be made from both pasteurized and raw milk. Cheeses in this category include some tomme-style cheeses, triple-crème, and semi-soft cheeses, similar to Epoisses, Livarot and Taleggio.
7. Natural Rind Cheeses. Cheeses that have rinds that are self-formed during the aging process. No molds or microflora are added, and no washing is used to create the exterior rinds. (Those that do exhibit molds and microflora in their rinds get them naturally from the environment.) Most of these cheeses are aged for many weeks, so to develop their flavor and rinds, raw milk is often used. Many “tomme” style cheeses fall into this category, especially the French Tomme de Savoie and Mimolette, as well as the English Stilton (also a blue), and Lancashire cheeses.
8. Processed Cheeses (included out of curiosity as to what the heck goes into these....). The term “processed” is used to describe cheese by-products made from a combination of natural cheese and added ingredients, such as stabilizers, emulsifiers, and flavor enhancers that are used to create a consistent and shelf-stable product aimed at mass market consumption (ick). Cheeses in this category include American Cheese, processed cheese spreads, and “cheese flavored” spreads.

So there you have it--some of the basic cheese categories in a nutshell!

Next on my cheese making agenda is cottage cheese, after which I graduate into the cheddars. Can't wait!!!

Neufchâtel Final Product

Neufchâtel is done and it tastes great - like a sweet

cream cheese! Here are some pictures of the process.

Curds before draining the whey:

Curds hung in butter muslin to drain:

(Maybe not so good for

the faucet....)

And the final, "dry" curds (in our nice, new orange

mixing bowl):

Finally, after some kneading, salting, and shaping,

here is the finished product:

Voila - 4 cute little hearts! I was careful not to oversalt this time.

To finish, I wrapped each in a square of cheese paper, and

now they can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

I am really enjoying this new hobby, but we will need to

find some people to help us eat it all. This recipe yielded

2 pounds of cheese!

Neufchâtel

As promised, I dug out my digital camera so I could add some pictures to my posts. This is the book I'm currently getting my recipes from - Home Cheese Making - Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses by Ricki Carroll. Great book!

Tonight I'm making Neufchâtel, a cheese that originally comes from a town of the same name in Normandy, France. Here is some info on this cheese..... Neufchâtel is a soft, slightly crumbly, mould-ripened cheese, and is one of the oldest cheeses in France, dating back to the 6th century. It looks a bit like camembert, with a dry, white, edible rind, but the taste is saltier and sharper and it has a grainier texture. It's usually sold in heart shapes (cute!). In 1872, a dairyman in the town of Chester, NY accidentally created a soft cream cheese when attempting to make Neufchâtel. This American Neufchâtel is sometimes called farmers' cheese.

Here's the recipe:

1. Combine 1 gallon of pasteurized whole milk and 1 pint of heavy cream and heat to 80F.
2. Add a packet of mesophilic starter and mix thoroughly.
3. Add 1 tsp of diluted rennet (I diluted 1 drop of my vegan rennet in 1/3 cup of chlorine-free H2O) and stir gently.
4. Cover and let sit at room temp (at least 72F) for 12-18 hours, until a thick curd forms.
5. Pour the curd into a square of butter muslin and hang to drain for 6-12 hours at room temp.
6. Put some weight on the cheese (2 bricks-worth of weight), cover, and refrigerate for another 13 hours.
7. Remove the cheese from the bag, break it up, and add salt cheese (if desired).
8. Knead the cheese a little, then divide it into 4 sections and shape into little hearts.
9. Wrap each separately in cheese wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 1-2 weeks.

I'm currently at step 4. Here is what the cheese looks like right now:

OK - I'll update you tomorrow!

Lactic Cheese

This was REALLY fun to do, easy, and the cheese actually turned out! Lactic cheese is a type of cream cheese - maybe a little sweeter and softer. Since it only took 24 hours, I was able to have some for lunch today. I put a chunk on some Italian bread that I made yesterday - delicious! I did make a couple of small mistakes, so I'll be making this again before I move on to another type of cheese. It was a little too soft, so next time I need to use a little more rennet (I'm using a vegetarian version). Also, I think I slightly over-salted - but I'm waiting for Phil to confirm this opinion..... Regardless, the next time I make this I will post the recipe and pictures of every step. In case anyone is interested, I got my cheese-making supplies from the New England Cheese Making Supply Company (http://www.cheesemaking.com). For this recipe in particular you need a thermometer, mesophilic starter, liquid rennet, unchlorinated H2O, and butter muslin.

This recipe and some of the others I'll be trying came from Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Delicious Cheeses by Ricki Carroll.

Hello!

Hello. My name is Lisa. I've never made cheese and I've never kept a blog, but for some reason today I decided to try both. I have a growing fascination with artisan cheeses and thought it would be fun to learn how to make my own at home, so today I gave it a shot. I'm in the process of making lactic cheese - the simplest recipe I could find. A good starting point, I figured.... As I try out new recipes, I'd like to use this blog to record the recipes, jot down notes, and just generally keep track of my experiences. Bear with me as I struggle with both the recipes and the blogging..... The lactic cheese is supposed to only take about 24 hours, so I'll provide an update of how everything turned out tomorrow!