Monday, June 13, 2011

Feta!

Feta is a super easy cheese to make, and it's so tasty on summer salads.
My favorite recipes come from an old used copy of Cheesemaking Made Easy . I have several cheese making books and this is by far my favorite. Some I like better for the full color photos, and some for the great articles on cheesemaking history, but for the actual step-by-step cheese making nitty gritty, this is my book. It's easy, that's why! The recipes are basic, and that's all I have time for.

I buy my supplies at the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.  I love their customer service and I'm a big fan of the free newsletter and their blog- which is a constant supply of inspiration.

Here are some pictures of my latest feta:
1 gallon of milk cultured, then rennetted, and cut and stirred. (2 hours + stirring time, supposed to be another 20 minutes but my curds were soft, being raw goat milk, so I allowed them another 20 minutes or so for stirring, so that was another 40 minutes altogether)

Removing the curds from the whey into a ss colandar. I used the whey to make some amazing challah bread and to water my tomatoes.


All the curds are in the cheesecloth now and hanging for about 4 or 5 hours to get more whey out of the curd.
Then the curd is sliced into 1 inch squares
and salted with kosher salt flakes or you could use the cheese salt. I have both, but just opted for what was close at hand.

I found this amazing little veggie container, like a miniature fridge. I use it for cheese all the time. It has holes on the bottom and a catch pan that snaps on the bottom, so as the whey is released from the cheese still, I'm catching it away from the cheese so it doesn't just sit in it and get mushy. I put the salted curds in it and let them cure for a few days in the fridge.
after a few days I put them in jars of fresh basil, red chile peppers, and good extra virgin olive oil. Covered in the oil, the cheese will be very flavorful and stay good for a long time. These make excellent gifts. Who wouldn't love to get a jar of homemade cheese pretty enough to display on the counter I ask you?
mmmmmmmmm....I think I need a salad.

~*~UPDATE~*~
6/24/11
I read that using raw milk you can  and should use less culture and rennet in cheesemaking because raw milk already has so many live and active bacteria, enzymes, etc. and so I tried this recipe using 1 1/2 gallons of milk instead of just 1 gallon, and the same amount of rennet and culture the recipe called for. Also I hung it for only a couple hours and cured it in the fridge for only 3 days instead of 5. This was the BEST feta!! The taste and texure are the best I have ever made. I will be duplicating this tomorrow and hopefully once a week until I'm out of milk this winter!
Delicious! Raw!

6 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness that looks so good. I love feta.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know that deep "Oooh, yeah" on the song at the end of Farris Beuler? That's what I feel like right now! :-P Oooh Yeah ~ I'll bring the olives!

    Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><

    ReplyDelete
  3. Soooo wishing I was a friend of yours!!! LOL, LOVE feta!!! and the feta in olive oil looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for bringing me some! Love it!!! Eat you heart out Brent and Jenny...I got it before you did!!!! WAAAHAHAHA!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. After thinking about this recipe for several weeks I am finally going to attempt making it today Dalyn! Thanks so much!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment Be blessed!