You know those friends who seem to do it all? You go over to their house for dinner and there are fresh flowers, a clean kitchen, wine chilling — and they're making homemade cheese!? I was wowed by some homemade mozzarella at a friend's dinner party recently and, after some research, realized it's actually not all that hard to pull off.
As it turns out, making most soft cheeses is do-able from any home kitchen. All you need is high-quality milk (full-fat is generally the way to go here), a little time, patience and faith. So break out your thermometers, get to know your curds and whey, and impress your friends with the creamiest cheese you've ever tasted.
Try a Recipe:
• How to Make Homemade Mozzarella like Giuseppe in 30 Minutes - Local Lemons
• How to Make Homemade Burrata - Sunday Suppers
• Supereasy Homemade Cream Cheese and Sour Cream - Mother Earth News
Related:
• DIY Recipe: Homemade Paneer Cheese
• DIY Kit: Make Your Own Goat Cheese
• How-to: Make Cheese at Home
(Photo: Allison Arevalo from Local Lemons)
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I am going to try to make the goat cheese from Guilty Kitchen. It looks divine!
Mascarpone is also incredible simple...and it's so much cheaper to make!
8 oz, Trader Joe's = 3.99
12 oz, homemade using Trader Joe's ingredients
1 pint heavy cream, 1.99
1/2 lemon = .50
Baking Obsession's recipe is here - it's wonderful!
I love making homemade mozzarella! Once you have those special ingredients--citric acid and rennet--it's super-easy! And paneer--the same thing, basically, as queso fresco, by the way--is even easier, since all you really need is citric acid or lemon juice.
Yesterday, I also used up a little bit of heavy cream by turning it into butter. Just put it in a jar and shake it--past the point of whipped cream--until the water breaks and you have butter!
I'll definitely be giving a few of these a try! I make my own ricotta on occasion, but I didn't know all of these were just as easy.
I make 2 batches of ricotta weekly! It's SO simple, SO delicious and SO much more rewarding than that icky stuff at the grocer.
Using a non reactive pot bring 8 c whole milk, 2 c buttermilk, 1/2 tsp citric acid powder and 1/2 tsp kosher salt to 180 degrees. Remove from heat. Allow to rest 15 min or so. Then strain to desired consistency. Done!
**MAKE SURE THE WHOLE MILK IS NOT ULTRA- PASTEURIZED. It should just say "pasteurized" on the label**
My favorite way to enjoy this is on toasted baguette slices with a sprinkle of fleur de sel, crushed red pepper, a drizzle of good olive oil and fresh basil. It's SO addicting!
My grandmother used to make Hungarian egg cheese. I know it used milk, about a dozen eggs and cinnamon. Unfortunately no matter how closely we follow the recipe it never seems to come together.
I love making ricotta and mozzarella! I was surprised how easy they were. But my thermometer recently broke in my overcrowded drawer and needs replacing before I get to make any more.
totally just ordered the mozzarella ricotta kit from new england cheese as noted in one of the posts. Can't WAIT to get it and make something very special for my family!