Cheese fascinates me. I just had to know how they can take milk and turn it into so many different flavors and textures. So I took some cheese making classes over the last couple of years - a full weekend class at Evans Creamery and an afternoon class with my daughter Grace at Shannon Nichols Heamour Farms in Madison. I loved the classes, but I didn't have the equipment, the cultures, or even a cow for the milk. It's hard to make cheese without the paraphernalia - or is it?
For some reason, I had the urge to make cheese this week and I remembered a very simple farmer's cheese that Shannon showed us that only used milk, lemon juice and salt. I could do that. So out came the stainless steel kettle, the thermometer, and the cheese cloth. (Sometimes it is very helpful be a home brewer!)
How to Make "Panir" -
Farmers Style Cheese
Ingredients for 8 ozs of cheese...
1/2 gallon milk - I used Evan's Low Fat
1/8 cup lemon juice (have a little extra handy)
1/2 tsp. salt
The salt dries the curds making it crumbly. See below how to add water to make a soft farmer's cheese.
Place a colander in a large bowl in the sink (to capture the whey) and line it with fine, clean, damp cheesecloth. Heat the milk in a stainless steel pan (not aluminum) to 200 degrees. Stirring often with a spatula so it doesn't scorch.
When the milk has reached temperature, remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Stir the milk until large curds form. If it doesn't curdle after a few minutes, add more lemon juice a teaspoon or so at a time. Very soon your milk will reach the proper pH and the cheese will curdle almost immediately. Let it stand 10 minutes. If you want a softer cheese, add 1 to 2 cups hot water at this point. When the curds have settled below the whey, you are ready to drain.
Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet, Eating her curds and whey... I have no idea what a tuffet looks like, but here are curds and whey!
Tie up the cheeseclothe around the curds and hang them over the sink for an hour or so until the whey has all seeped out. I put the saved whey back in the milk jug and saved it in the refrigerator to use in recipes (See Mushroom Gravy and Scones coming soon).
When the curds are dry, unwrap, turn into a bowl and season if desired. (I used 1/2 tsp salt and a little more than 1/2 tsp ground hops. Love it!) This cheese can be seasoned with herbs, spices, dried tomatoes, chopped veggies, or eaten plain.
The final weight of the cheese using 1/2 gallon low fat milk was 8 oz. Whole milk would yield more cheese.
Eat right away (Who can wait?) or store covered in the fridge for up to two weeks.
