I made cheese!
Jun. 27th, 2007 12:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidI found a recipe for paneer that looked completely doable at home, requiring only milk and lemon/lime juice, no rennet or anything tricky like that. I got some milk from Jersey cows when I was out at the farm Friday, unable to resist the lure of fresh, local milk in glass bottles. I chose two half-gallons of whole milk, since I'd be able to get more cheese from whole milk than 2% (and somehow I had it in my head that I needed a whole gallon).
Last night I stopped by Tag's and got a nylon mesh bag for straining the curds (I wanted something reusable, rather than cheesecloth), and I was good to go.
So when it was finally cooling off (after dark), I started. I heated the milk, and kept getting nervous about boiling it, turning it down until I reminded myself that it was supposed to boil. As soon as it did, I turned down the heat, and poured in the juice of one fairly large lemon. The curds started separating out immediately. I stirred it for five minutes (really boring to do with no music on and no one to chat with), turned off the heat, and let it sit a few minutes more to let the curds get as large as possible before pouring it into the mesh bag. (I put the bag over my other milchig pot to catch the whey; it seems one can do the process again with the whey and get another batch of cheese.) I let the curds drain, and after a while twisted the bag to get more out.
And now I have paneer! Any suggestions for what to do with it?
For the record, half a gallon of whole milk resulted in a bit less than two fists-worth of cheese. (If I remember, I'll weigh it before I use it. edit: 9.3 ounces)
Last night I stopped by Tag's and got a nylon mesh bag for straining the curds (I wanted something reusable, rather than cheesecloth), and I was good to go.
So when it was finally cooling off (after dark), I started. I heated the milk, and kept getting nervous about boiling it, turning it down until I reminded myself that it was supposed to boil. As soon as it did, I turned down the heat, and poured in the juice of one fairly large lemon. The curds started separating out immediately. I stirred it for five minutes (really boring to do with no music on and no one to chat with), turned off the heat, and let it sit a few minutes more to let the curds get as large as possible before pouring it into the mesh bag. (I put the bag over my other milchig pot to catch the whey; it seems one can do the process again with the whey and get another batch of cheese.) I let the curds drain, and after a while twisted the bag to get more out.
And now I have paneer! Any suggestions for what to do with it?
For the record, half a gallon of whole milk resulted in a bit less than two fists-worth of cheese. (If I remember, I'll weigh it before I use it. edit: 9.3 ounces)