"He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good." ~Isaiah 7:15
We recently had the chance to attend a dairy workshop with several other families. There were demonstrations on dairy products such as mozzarella, ricotta, cream cheese, yogurt, and butter; we even sampled homemade ice cream made from farm-fresh milk.
Arielle is the cheese-making expert for her family and has the task of using up all the milk they get from their cow. She shared her knowledge by showing us the process for each type of dairy product.
Here she is draining the mozzarella curd before we all helped stretch the cheese as the final step.
We also watched butter being made from fresh cream, churned in a food processor...
...and tasted the results with lunch after we took turns washing and paddling it.
So last week, I was able to put what we learned into practice with a couple of gallons of milk a friend shared with me. My first attempt was to try American Mozzarella, using rennet and citric acid purchased at our favorite Cheese Shop.
Here are the soft curds before setting.
The finished curds are cut into strips, immersed in hot brine, and then stretched to the proper feel and rolled into a ball.
The whey that remained from the mozzarella I made into ricotta cheese (ricotta is Italian for "recooked"). So fresh-tasting and creamy!
I used some of the mozzarella cheese on a roasted grape tomato pizza, inspired by the latest Country Living issue. [Roast tomatoes with olive oil and salt on 400 F for 30 minutes until caramelized.] We really liked it with fresh basil and chives from the garden!
Finally, I made a batch of cream cheese, which turned out delicious as well. Anyone reading have cheesemaking experiences to tell me?
~Hannah
