Brunchtastic

Inspired by the paneer from our visit to Devi, I felt the need to make some fresh cheese. Never having made soft cheese at home, I mistakenly thought it would be a cheaper alternative to the excessively expensive cottage cheese at Key Foods. I was wrong. In retrospect, my abandoned forays into yogurt making should have taught me that some things, especially dairy, are not the most cost-efficient ventures…

Alas, we had a whole gallon of 1% in the frig and some leftover buttermilk from the breads I’ve been making, so I googled around and settled on a recipe that used merely milk, buttermilk, and salt. Although the recipes all varied (some use powdered milk and water, some use whole milk,) the essential ingredient is just some sort of souring agent to help the milk curdle faster. The buttermilk did it here, but lemon juice, yogurt, or even lime juice would work. I used about a liter of milk to one cup buttermilk. The only important thing is a 4:1 milk to buttermilk ratio. That and salt, lots and lots of salt, because this shit is bland without it. Also, the more milk, the better, because, as you will disappointingly learn, the yield is very very small.

The awesome thing about making fresh cheese is how little skill is involved. I dare say most take-out ordering, empty-frig owning, I-banking Manhattanites could do it? Maybe also most Food Network personalities could make it? Maybe not Sandra Lee. All you do is boil milk with salt until it separates, stir it a bit to kick up the curds, and then turn it off. While this is happening, put a dish towel (or cheesecloth, or some nylons I suppose) into a colander and place it over a large bowl. Ladle in the milk mixture and let it drain. After about 15 minutes you have lots and lots of whey in the bowl and very few curds in the towel. At this point you’ll realize that you only have about a cup of cheese, a sad fact. Regardless, taste a bit for salt, add more if you want, scrape it out of the towel and chill.

Eat on a cracker, with a spoon, with fruit, sweeten for dessert, use in lasagna or pasta, add some fresh herbs, whatever.

Lessons learned:

Make big batches, use a whole gallon if you want any cheese for the next day.

Use lots of salt, much more than you think you could ever possibly need.

I wouldn’t call it a bargain….

It sounds really cool and pretentious to tell people you made fresh cheese last night, so you at least get some compliments from your non-cook friends, even if you didn’t get much cheese.

yum-o?

A special bonus in honor of our current trend of hating on The Food Network, a recipe for mac & cheese from Sandra Lee! No real cheese needed!

Macaroni and Cheese
serves 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes