And what goes better with crackers than cheese? Luckily, I had a surplus of goat milk building up in the fridge so today I walked on the wild side and made my own mozzarella cheese. Aside from needing to have citric acid and rennet on hand (which we do), it was relatively easy.
Recipe: Gael Glen Farm's Homemade Goat Milk Mozzarella Cheese
Combine 1 cup of water with 1 1/2 tsp of citric acid. Stir to dissolve.
Combine 1/4 cup of water with 1/4 tsp of rennet. Set aside.
Pour 3.5 litres of raw, filtered goat milk into a large pot.
Stir in the citric acid mixture.
Heat over medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 90 F (32 C).
Remove from heat.
Add rennet mixture. Stir for 30 sec.
Cover the mixture and wait for 10 min for it to set. It should have a gelatin-like consistency.
Make horizontal and vertical cuts to make a grid pattern. Be sure to cut to the very bottom.
Return the mixture to the stove and stir over medium heat. Cook the curds until the temperature reaches 105 F (41 C).
Stir the curds for 3 min.
Remove from heat and cover for 10 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon scoop out the curds into a mesh strainer.
Gently press out the whey from the curds using a wooden spoon.
Return the whey to the stove and heat until 185 F (85 C).
Place the strainer containing the curds into the hot whey for 3 min to heat up the curds.
Remove the curds from the whey. Wearing gloves, gather the curds into a ball and stretch and fold the curds until they become shiny and smooth. If the curds do not stretch, place them back in the hot whey for 2 min and then continue.
Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt on to the cheese ball and continue to stretch and fold.
Submerge the cheese ball in an ice water bath to help it hold its shape.
Eat the cheese at room temperature or store in fridge or freezer.
Once cool, I grated mine.
Cheese and crackers anyone? I also see pizza in our future.
No comments:
Post a Comment