Adventures in Cheese Making

Cheese making is one of those things I have always wanted to try.  Now that I have a regular supplier of RAW milk, I am totally amped about it.  

Raw milk?  You say.  

Yes, raw milk... straight from a grass fed, free-range cow's utter.  Big food corporations like the national dairy counsel have done their best to convince the us that non-homogenized, unsterilized, and non-chemically treated milk is BAD for us.  Well, its not.  Studies are showing otherwise and crunchy moms also know raw milk is where its at too.  Big dairy = patriarchal oppression of what's natural and good.  (or at least that's how I see it.)  

In Florida, it is not technically sold for "human consumption," so its my cats that drink a shit load of raw milk.  Uh huh... yeah.

Back to the reason for my post.  Raw milk is what you need to start with, in order to make cheese.  Pasteurized and homogenized just won't work.  If you're going to try this, you'll need to get raw milk.  Find a supplier, know your cows or goats, and you should be fine.  No promises, as I only know my farm is awesome and tasty.... according to my cats, that is.

My "cats" love cheese, so this is how I made some for them.

I was a little nervous about my first time making cheese, so I decided to go with a simple recipe, before diving in with rennet and investing in a slew of cheese making utensils.  

Queso Fresco is a simple, easy to make cheese that was pretty good (according to the cats), for my first adventure in cheese making.

You'll need:

1/2 gallon of raw milk

1 cup of acid (lime juice, lemon juice, or vinegar)

Salt and pepper

Pour milk into sauce pan and heat over medium heat.  Make sure you stir it often, to avoid scalding or burning it.  When its warm, but not yet boiling, add the acid (I used lime juice).  

I used bottled lime juice, because it has a more consistent and higher acid content.  If there isn't enough acid, its not going to separate.  Blame chemistry, for not being able to use an actual lime.  

 

Now stir over medium low heat.  Curds will form.  This is good.  Wait until you're pretty sure its as chunky and separated as its going to get.

Remove from the heat and stir.  Allow to sit for a few minutes.  While its sitting, you need to place a colander, lined with cheese cloth, into a large bowl.  

Next, carefully pour your curds and whey into the colander.  Press lightly and massage.  Gently work as much of the whey out of the cheese curds as you can.  Set the whey aside.  

Rinse your cheese with water, then squeeze as much of the water out as you can.  I folded my cheese cloth all around my ball of curds and squeezed it out.

Dump all the curds into a bowl.  Sprinkle with some sea salt and cracked pepper and mix up.

This cheese does not melt.  Its a firm, squeaky cheese that is absolutely delicious in salads, soups, Mexican dishes and anywhere else you want to put it.  Since I used lime juice as my acid, my cheese had a distinct lime taste.  Experiment with your acids, to achieve different flavors.   

I made black bean soup the next night, and I sprinkled my cheese over the soup.  It was simply divine, especially with the hint of lime in the cheese.

Sticking it to the cheese man never tasted so good.