Who Made the Cheese?

Continuing our adventure through Mark Bittman's cookbook, on Friday night, Steve and I made cheese. Yes, that's right, cheese. It took us back to our German roots, though the result was something more akin to Indian paneer or Mexican queso fresco - a very mild, crumbly white cheese.

To make cheese, all you need is 1/2 gallon of milk (preferably whole), 1 quart of buttermilk, and a pinch of salt. You begin by boiling the milk, which should take 10 to 15 minutes, but ended up taking us about 45. We're not exactly sure why - could have been our electric stove's unreliable heat, the pot-cookie sheet combination we were using to provide a thicker bottom to the pot so that the milk wouldn't burn (do not try this at home! not a good idea, as we found out when we nearly burned a hole through our cookie sheet), too much stirring...I don't know. It did seem interminable though.

This is Steve stirring the unboilable milk.

During the boiling, I sustained an injury because I grabbed the hot cookie sheet without using a hotpad. You'll see evidence of that later. After the milk finally boils, you add the buttermilk and stir constantly until it separates into curds and whey.

Here you can see the cold washcloth wrapped around my finger.

The curds and whey will look like cooked egg whites floating in a slightly yellowish liquid. Then you strain the curds from the whey by pouring it through a cheesecloth lined colander. After straining, it should look like this:


The next step is to gather up the ends of the cheesecloth to form the curds into a ball, twisting the top to help squeeze out any extra whey. You can run the ball of curds through cold water so it's not too hot to handle and then just continuing squeezing out the whey until it feels firm and dry.



After you've squeezed out as much whey as you want (you can squeeze less out and it will become cottage cheese), tie a string around the top to keep the ball from opening and then tie that string to a wooden spoon. Place the spoon over the sink or a bowl to let the remaining whey drain out. Let it sit for about an hour and a half undisturbed.


Then remove the cheesecloth and taste your homemade cheese! You'll feel very accomplished!