They let me enrol in a cheese making course. Uh oh.
I now have marinated herbed feta, plain feta, two lots of lactic butter, a couple of litres of buttermilk and some whey sat in the fridge. On the bench is some falafel fermenting with some added whey and some pickled cucumbers fermenting with more homemade whey. I even pickled some eggs which bear no relationship with the other things previously mentioned. I am now compelled to go back to the supplier for some blue cheese and brie cultures to try those out, even though I have mozzarella and halumi to tackle yet.
I could get addicted to this lark.
We sampled the fetas earlier. They have been sat in brine solution for a day and I must admit the flavour was fabulous. I cut the curd in fairly large cubes and consequently the cheese was soft and moist. Next time I think I’ll cut the curd smaller for a firmer effect.
The butter turned out gorgeous. I used two types of cream from different dairies to see if there was much of a difference. I inoculated the cream with the culture and left them overnight by the log fire to “breed”. This morning I whipped them into butter and the results were spectacular. I spread some on some fresh crusty bread and I swear the effect was like the artisan French butter that costs a small fortune from the deli. The butter milk is rich and thick and really tasty so it should make great pancakes and scones.
Getting the temperature right.
Clean break of the curds.
The curds almost ready to put into the drainers.
Curds drained of whey and settled in the mold to be brined later.
These delicate little curds are just like the junket we used to be served for school dinner puddings. As you can see, there is some more whey to drain yet, but you can appreciate the potential. This is the plain batch, the other I added dried herbs to and will end up covering in olive oil with some added dried tomato and maybe garlic.
Whipping cultured cream.
This is just whipping cultured cream past the point of no return…
The “split”.
Fresh cultured butter using cream from two different dairies.
Final product, thick and rich with no additives other than salt and culture. The buttermilk is delicious and will make great pancakes, it’s much more creamy than the shop bought variety, which is like water in comparison.
Horiatiki salad with home made feta.
Here is the Horiatiki salad with the feta I made on Sunday…
It went well with the whey fermented falafel, which was crisp on the outside but moist and juicy on the inside, and the home made mayo for dinner tonight. Yumm.
kind regards,
J
The Art of Eating Well 