Another Whey to Go

 
Haven't blogged anything here for a while - so it's high time for a new post. Thought it would be fun to make cheese again, which I haven't done since this. I wanted to make a hard cheese, but the rennet I had is long out of date, so I chucked it and decided to make simple farm cheese, (basically mozzarella) and ricotta instead. Both mozzarella and ricotta are very easy to make, you only need basic kitchen equipment, and honestly, they taste really good, compared to the shop-bought stuff.

Our local family-run farm provided the milk, on tap in a large plastic barrel. I used my enamel milk container to transport it. I love the traditional look of this - bought it online years ago - it's ideal.

 

Having brought the milk up to boil in a large saucepan, I let it cool a little and then added a little apple vinegar until the milk curdled. It drained in a linen tea-towel, for want of a muslin cloth, overnight. This morning, I added salt to taste.  This was breakfast; soft farm cheese with a drizzle of olive oil and black olives. 

Next for the ricotta. The liquid from the mozzarella goes back into the saucepan, heated up to simmering, and then gets a squirt of lemon juice. It curdles again instantly. Let it sit for 6 minutes to cool down and then strain through a cloth. The whey can be drunk cold. It's good for your health and can be used in multiple ways.