Tasty Tuesday!

Homemade Soft Cheese

     So this has been on the "to do" list for quite a while. I have consulted a lot of Youtube videos, DIY blogs, and cheese monger websites to find an easy and inexpensive way to make your own soft cheese but with each new site came a new method and each site claimed their method was the best. So, I sort of cobbled together a lot of different instructions into an easy to follow recipe and I hit on a winning formula.

     I made one of my favorite dishes, Palak Paneer, for a pot luck this last Sunday and I need a soft farmers cheese for the recipe. This, and the high cost of paneer cheese at the Indian market, was all the motivation I needed to finally try and make this style of cheese. The only thing you need for this recipe is a half-gallon of whole milk, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, and some cheese cloth. That's it! No rennet tablets or aging. I actually had a roll of cheese cloth in my cabinet that I bought in order to brew a batch of beer with a couple of years ago. If you need cheese cloth you can find it at most grocery stores.

     The version I make in this recipe is a plain cheese with no additional flavors. It will be very easy to modify the recipe to add your own fresh herbs if you choose to go that route. I may even try it again add some chives from my garden. So try it out this weekend. I think you'll be surprised. Enjoy!

• 1 half-gallon of pasteurized whole milk (ultra-pasteurized will not work). 
• Length of cheese cloth (folded in half longways) about 2.5 feet will be enough.
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (lime juice may work as well).

1. Pour the half-gallon of whole milk into a large heavy bottom pot at medium heat.
2. Bring the heat up very slowly, stirring the milk the entire time (a rubber spatula works great for this). It is important not to scorch the milk!
3. Once the milk begins to slightly boil (after about 15 minutes) add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice and reduce the heat to medium low. Continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes. At this point you should see the curds separating from the whey.
4. Turn off the heat and let cool for an additional 5 minutes
5. Line a strainer with cheese cloth, poor curds and whey into the cheese cloth, and let drain.
6. You should at this point have a nice pile of cheese curds. Tie the bag in a knot (about 2 inches above the ball of curds) and let drain over the sink for about 30 minutes. I tied my cheese cloth to the faucet.
7. Gently squeeze any excess liquid from the cheese cloth, unwrap the cheese, wrap again in plastic wrap, and allow it to cool in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Half-gallon of milk in the pot on medium heat.

Slowly increase the heat until it starts to boil. Remember to stir!

Once the lemon juice has been added you should see curds floating to the top.

You can't see me before the wedding!

Pour the curds into your cheese cloth and let drain for 30 minutes.

Wrap the cheese in plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Take care of yourself and each other...