CSANews 107

I enjoy making homemade cheese. I also teach cheese-making workshops. Making fresh cheese at home is easy, especially ricotta. This is the easiest fresh cheese to make. Using milk, cream, salt and lemon juice, you can make a batch of fresh, creamy and rich ricotta in 10 minutes or less. And once you’ve tasted homemade ricotta, it’s difficult to go back to factory versions. Let’s face it, cheese is high in saturated fat and salt. It’s not exactly healthy. I don’t care, because I eat cheese in moderation and I believe in the philosophy of enjoying comfort foods once in a while. Making homemade cheese is similar to baking. When working with living cultures, you’re in partnership with Mother Nature. Mother Nature will always win if you get sloppy. You’ve got to let her do her part, which is to curdle the milk. If you use poor quality, old or ultra-pasteurized milk, or you fidget too much with the curds or try to speed up the process by heating the milk too quickly, you’ll end up with a batch of clumpy milk rather than cheese. Making homemade cheese is a simple process if you just follow the instructions. Winging it – adding a little of this and that to the basic process or not measuring your acids and cultures – will only produce poor results. Use the appropriate ingredients and follow the instructions. Through trial and error, I’ve also learned that one’s home environment plays a role in whether certain milks will ferment and coagulate. I have a friend who attempted to make cream cheese and failed several times. The reason is that she lives in a farmhouse with drafts. So, the interior of the house is cold. The environment was too cold for the milk to sour and coagulate. I suggested that she put the batch in the oven under the oven lights, rather than on the counter. It worked. The quality of the milk used and its level of pasteurization also play a major role in the taste, texture and quality of the cheese which you produce. If you don’t have access to getting milk right from the farm or from a local producer, buy your milk and cream at a health-food store. Look for organic milk that has not been ultra-pasteurized. A common ingredient inmany Italian dishes, ricotta is made from sheep or cow’s milk. It is clumpy with a slightly sweet taste and works well in dishes such as lasagna and desserts such as cannoli. The name literally means ‘recooked’. Ricotta Salata is a firm, salted version. During the cheese-making process, the curds coagulate with the use of citric acid, never rennet. A fresh lemon is all you need. While ricotta is classically a cheese made from the whey of the milk, my recipe calls for the use of whole milk and cream. I use whole milk and cream because this produces a creamier, richer ricotta. There are so many ways to enjoy ricotta. Add it to spaghetti. Add it to a salad. One of my favourite salads combines watermelon cubes, avocado and ricotta. Put ricotta into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil, add salt and pepper and serve with crackers. Or mix ricotta with cooked spinach, Parmigiano-Reggiano and a little mayonnaise, and serve as a fabulous spinach dip. Have you ever sampled scrambled eggs with ricotta and fresh chives? Delicious! Grilled peaches with ricotta and granola makes a scrumptious dessert, as well. Food & Drink by Shari Darling For more information on wine and food, go to www.sharidarling.com Homemade cheese 44 | www.snowbirds.org

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