SC - Sauce question

[AlviraMacD@aol.com]

I'm sure I don't know why making cheese is a big scary thing to most SCAdian
cooks.

Making your own cheese is easy, relatively effortless, cheaper than
storebought, immensely more flavorful, and is impressive as hell when
presented pressed into shape and strewn with whole fresh herbs or a decent
sauce at the feast table.

The farmer cheeses referred to in this thread are different in different
areas of the country. In some places it's near cottage cheese, in others
it's hard and semi-aged. I think what we all SEEM to mean is
what I know as farmer cheese:  Crumbly or creamy, pressed (or semi-pressed)
white curds or bricks, that are sold fresh. In other words, green cheese.
Green cheese is nothing more than fresh pressed (sometimes unpressed) curds.
It isn't actually green (the color). It's green (unripe). Thus the
moon-is-made-of-green-cheese story. It looks like a cake of pressed, uncured
cheese, complete with pits and craters.

I've done this sort of thing easily for feasts, and so can you. Curds and
whey, Green Cheese, farmer cheese, etc., they all start out the same way.
Any cheese but cream and ricotta-styles are made up of Whole Milk and salt,
with a smidgen of rennet to make it curdle. Personally I amp up the cream
(and thus milkfat and flavor)content by a pint per gallon.  You get rich
veins of high-milkfat running through your curds. Also personally, I use
unprocessed milk (that's a discussion for another time---but I pay half the
price of store-bought and the flavor is much better). Another personal
foible: I add some buttermilk, sour cream or yoghurt for flavor and to speed
along the process of curdling. The active cultures make for a better
finished product if aging the cheese, as well.

Here's what you do: Dissolve the rennet tablets in water according to
package directions. I use 2 Junket rennet tablets in 1/4 cup warm water per
each gallon of Whole milk plus additives (1/4 cup buttermilk, pint of heavy
cream). If the rennet is weak or old you will have to use more. You will
also have to use more if the milk is very new or if the cheese gods aren't
blessing your kitchen that day. Don't go overboard, however, because too
much rennet when not needed will make a rubbery curd.

Rennet is easily obtained from any cheese-supply source, in tablet or liquid
form, but you can also buy it at grocery stores. It's what's used to make
the dessert called Junket, which is nothing more than an elemental form of
cheese.

While dissolving the tablets (which can take up to 20 minutes), gently warm
the milk to blood temperature. Add your cream and cultured
buttermilk/yoghurt/sourcream if so inclined. When the
tablets are dissolved in the water, pour this gently into the milk, stir to
mix well, and then do not stir again. If you are a culture user, the culture
would be added about now, for cultured hard cheese. Not necessary for the
soft fresh cheeses.  Hold it all at blood-temperature (I end up turning the
heat off and on to do this, or wrapping the Pot in towels. Be patient.
Sometimes it's a long long wait to get a curd. The curd can look two ways
when set: obviously a separation of curd and whey, OR, it may be softer-set.

If you are looking at the pot, it's been an hour, and it doesn't look set,
don't be dismayed. Sometimes the pot will LOOK like it's not set even when
it has. Jiggle it, and see how the surface reacts (is it solid or liquid?).
If this doesn't help, stick in a spoon and see if it's solid. Don't be
afraid to add more rennet at this time if needed. If somewhat set, heat the
pot a few degrees higher (not a lot!), and this will help set the curd. The
curd should never be really hard at this stage. Slightly solidified is more
like it.

Once you know the curd has set, run a big spoon through the mass a couple of
times. You want something workable but also want to keep the curds as whole
as possible. You do not want a puree!
Line a colander with cheesecloth, linen, or a clean smooth-weave cloth. Put
it in the sink or elevate over a large bowl. Pour the mass slowly into the
colander. It will drain like crazy. The curd will slowly become firmer as it
drains.

At this point I tie the ends of the cloth together knap-sack style, and let
the mass dangle from the faucet and continue to drip. When the dripping
slows way down, you can either use the cheese as is (mixed with 1 tsp.. or
more per gallon of milk used, of salt).

If you want to press it into a cheese shape, this is easily done. I use soup
cans or larger cans for lack of professional equipment. Cut off the tops and
bottoms of the cans, and clean them very well. Use one of the circles you
cut from the cans. Throw the other away.

Place the can on the top of a screen or a fine cakerack. Line the can with
another piece of scalded wet linen, cheesecloth or whathaveyou. Smooth it to
the sides to minimize wrinkles, and let the ends hang out over the can. Put
about 1 cup the curds into this improvised cheese mold---for a soup can
sized mold (sometimes called a vate in period)---and sprinkle in salt (use 1
tbsp. salt per gallon of milk used--note that this is different fromt he 1
tsp. for curds---some of the salt is drained away in pressed cheese).
Overlap the hanging ends of cloth, and place the circle cut from the can on
top (this is a follower).  Any one pound of weight you can put on top of
this will do: Another can, clean stones, etc. Let it press until the
dripping is mostly finished. If you desire harder green cheese or want to
you cure the cheese, you can add more weight at this time, but for most
purposes this will be enough weight.  Unmold carefully, transfer to a plate
if serving as is. If curing your cheese, choose "cakes" of cheese that are
relatively smooth on the surface and have no deep cracks.  Allow to stay on
a non-reactive surface in a cool atmosphere, turning occasionally each day,
until a rind has formed (your cake rack, lined with cheesecloth, linen etc.
would be good). You may rub the surface with salt or vinegar to keep it from
molding. This will take from 1-2 days to a week. At this point you may seal
the surface with cheesewax (usually red) or beeswax.

Aged cheese should be stored in a cool dry place, and turned every so often
to ensure even moisture distribution. Sample whenever you wish, but I'd wait
several months at the least. When testing cheese, patience is a virtue.

Viola, cheese. There are various recipes for cheese out there in period.
It's quite rewarding to attempt to make them. Someone should ask Adamantius
about his slip-coat cheese sometime. It would be a very rewarding discussion
for all of us <hint>.

Cheers

Aoife

Jana penned:
OOH  soft herby cheeses to spread on bread.  Fresh hot out of the oven, (Ok
so I'll wait 10 maybe 15 minutes before slicing the bread).  This sounds
like heaven to me.  I await recipes with knife in hand.

Jana