I just bought this book from Amazon. I have been curious about cheesemaking since a few of my friends started mentioning it on Facebook. The book arrived Saturday...but my first forage into the world of cheesemaking came Wednesday night. I made a pretty nice ricotta to use in lasagna I fixed for company Friday night. The lasagna was pretty good, and I credit the home made ricotta as the reason. The ricotta was pretty simple to make. You just mix together a gallon of milk and a quart of buttermilk, heat, strain and voila'! You have ricotta- really GOOD ricotta.
Today I attempted Marscapone cheese. I did not do it right and ended up with something that may turn out to be inedible. But I know what I did wrong! I was impatient, and added too much tartaric acid to it, so the end results were grainy. I plan to try again, and adjust the amounts. I only used a quart of half and half, so it was not too much of a waste. If I can master Marscapone before fig season, I will be overjoyed. Nothing is better than fresh figs with marscapone on them- and a tiny carton of it is really pricey.
Tom doesn't know why home cheesemaking interests me. I can't explain it, but it does. As I looked through my cheese cook book, I found dozens of cheeses I would love to try. Who knows...I may even attempt to make a bleu cheese. It would rock if it were to turn out really good. For now though, I am going to stick to the easy recipes.
Maybe I will get a goat.
2 comments:
I think it is AWESOME that you make cheese!!! :)
Mascarpone with figs sounds positively amazing!
Way to go, Ellen. You are always so open to venturing out into new avenues. Cheese...who knew? Sounds good to me, since I am a big cheese fan.
Also, loved the pic of Isabella. What a doll baby. I know that you just love her. Do you have a more up to date pic. I'll bet she has grown a lot in the past 3 months. My love to everyone there.
Hugs and kisses - Susan Doeg
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