|
||
|
PETITCHEF |
Add your blog-site | Add your recipes | Receive daily menu | Contact us | |
Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: SAY CHEESE; It's HOMEMADE!
?Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality.?  Say cheese and faces light up. Big smiles all around. Cheese is a universal pleaser, a crowd puller, with few and far between who don?t fall for it?s cheesy charm. I've been on a soft cheese trip for a while, using my spare time trying to make mascarpone, ricotta, quark, cottage cheese etc at home. So when I got invited by Foodbuzz to post this month, I had this big SMILE!! SAY CHEESE!! I made cottage cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, quark and mozzarella. All, but the last, were outstanding. I had little luck with the mozzarella as it didn?t get stretchy and 'taffy like'. It reached some in between point, which could be used, but I don?t think I?ll attempt making it again. The other four were very very good, and even though I?ve made them before, I attempted a few with a different recipe. I stuck to the quark recipe though ?a wonderful one from Arwen @ HogletK .  Mango Lassi This is my own little recipe, as I love to use vanilla sugar in food now. My Mom used crushed ice to make cold coffee when we were young. We had a strong canvas bag and a mallet next to the blender at all times! Ingredients: Flesh of 2 large mangoes 500 gms low fat yogurt 6-7 tbsps of vanilla sugar (adjust if required) 10 cubes of ice, crushed Method: Whiz all the ingredients in the blender till smooth. Serve in tall glasses, garnished with sprig of mint, or keep chilled until required. Can be made the previous night. Note: use regular sugar instead of vanilla sugar if you like. Serves 4-6 I've made some refreshing Mango Lassi since the post is all about dairy products, so come grab a glass, & let's SAY CHEESE! .jpg) Characterized by a mild, clean taste, and soft texture, fresh cheese is simple to make. They are unripened, rindless cheeses, which vary in consistency from the creamy and smooth - fromage frais, cream cheese and mascarpone, to thicker curd mixtures - ricotta, pot cheese and cottage cheese. The fat content varies, with many low fat and skimmed milk recipe versions available. Mascarpone is a fresh (i.e. not aged or ripened) soft cows' milk cheese which originated from Lombardy, Italy. Technically speaking, it is not cheese as it is produced by a culture being added to the cream which has been removed during the production of Parmesan. However it is generally described as a curd cheese. Once the culture has been added, the cream is heated and left to thicken. It has a creamy white colour, a slightly sweet taste making it highly suitable for desserts, and a soft, dense, texture which can be easily spread.  Method:Heat the cream over a waterbath/double boiler until it reaches 180ºF/82ºC Stir in the lime/lemon juice and keep at this temperature for a few moments longer until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit at room temperature until it is cooled down a bit. Refrigerate over night. The next day it will have thickened further. Pour it in a strainer lined with multiple layers of cheesecloth or clean towel. Refrigerate for about 24 hours to let the whey drain Traditional, creamy, vegetarian, quark is fresh cheese made from cow's milk, which is moist and white. It has a light taste and a smooth and soft texture. Quark simply means "curd" in German and the cheese is said to date from the Iron Age. Quark can be made from whole, skimmed or semi-skimmed milk or even buttermilk. Soft and moist, like a cross between yogurt and fromage frais, it should taste lemon-fresh.  Homemade Quark (Curd Cheese)adapted from recipe @ HogletK Ingredients: 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk 3 1/2 cups full cream milk  Method: Traditional, whey cheese made from cow's milk, it is a basin-shaped cheese, pure white and wet but not sticky. Good Ricotta should be firm, not solid and consist of a mass of fine, moist, delicate grains, neither salted nor ripened. It is white, creamy and mild, and is primarily used as an ingredient in lasagna. Ricotta has a creamy white colour, a slightly sweet taste making it highly suitable for desserts, and a texture similar to some cottage cheeses though generally lighter.  Homemade Ricotta CheeseRecipe posted by David Lebovitz of DavidLebovitz.com Ingredients: 2 quarts whole milk 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt Optional: 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 teaspoons white vinegar 1 teaspoon salt Method: In a large pot, bring the milk, yogurt, heavy cream (if using), vinegar, and salt to a boil. Very gently boil for one to two minutes, until the milk is curdled. Meanwhile, line a strainer with a few layers of cheesecloth and set it over a deep bowl. Pour the milk mixture into the strainer and let drain for 15 minutes. Gather the cheesecloth around the curds and squeeze gently to extract any excess liquid. Storage: Homemade ricotta is best served slightly warm, although it can be refrigerated for up to three days, if desired. Makes 2 cups. Mozzarella is a unique Italian cheese, traditionally made from the milk of the water buffalo. It should be eaten within days, and is delicious melted on pizzas, sliced in rounds for salads, and in numerous other culinary applications. The cheese itself is very mild, tasting slightly tangy and slightly sweet, with strong milky overtones.  You can find the recipe here at Saveur.com. It's a '30 minute Mozzarella' with lengthy instructions, but didn't work for me. The recipe does have a good rating though. It'll be a while before I venture this way again!  Cottage cheese or Paneer refers a type of cheese that was originally found in the area that today encompasses Iran, India and Pakistan. This cheese is used in curried dishes and is very popular, when wrapped in dough and fried and is delightful for snacking. Since it is a high protein food, this cheese is often substituted for meat in many vegetarian entrees of Indian cuisine. It is commonly used in curried dishes.  Herbed Cottage Cheese / Paneer Ingredients: 3.5 litres whole milk 3 tbsp white vinegar Method: Bring 3.5 litres of milk to a boil, add 3 tbsp of white vinegar to it, & stir constantly till small curd form & whey becomes translucent. You should get milky whey. Strain through cheesecloth/ soup strainer and then transfer to box to set. Leave on counter for 30 minutes with weight to get rid of excess liquid, then leave in fridge overnight with weight on top. Unmold it, rinse under cool water, place in bowl, cover with water & refrigerate until use, or use immediately. Let's head for the table...
...and soft cheese is on the menu today. I attempted to incorporate it into our meal in as many ways as possible. Must admit I never realized it was such a versatile option! When I started working with so many in tandem, I reached a point where I had to knock things off the menu to avoid overloading the table!! Here we go... The warm smell of fresh baguettes baking wafts through the house. Crostini is on the menu...  Quark & Mascarpone Cream Cheese Another wonderful way to use quark is in cheesecake or as fillings in regular cakes. I used it in an Almond Nut Torte with Peaches & Plums , and also in a Dobostorte A delightful and addictive bread, versatile & a certain winner! it's easy to make, you can even make a sweet version with ricotta, candied fruit & orange water. This is one I make often.  French Fougasse with Ricotta, Walnuts & Romescoadapted from The Practical Encyclopaedia of Baking, pg 444 Ingredients: 450gms all purpose flour 280ml warm water 20gms fresh yeast 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tsp sea salt 200gms homemade ricotta 1/2 cup Romesco sauce 1 cup walnuts, chopped Olive oil for brushing Method: Take 4 tbsps of water from the 280ml, & dissolve the fresh yeast into it. Stir the salt & 2 tbsp olive oil into the remaining water. Make a well with the flour, & pour the dissolved yeast & water mixture into it. Knead to a dough, kneading further on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes, till it gets smooth & elastic. Place in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling wrap & leave in a warm place for about an hour until doubled. Punch down & divide into 4 balls of dough (or 2 if you have a big oven) Roll out to about an 8" circle, brush with 1/4 of the Romesco, sprinkle with 1/4 of the walnuts, & 1/4 of the crumbled ricotta. Season lightly with salt. Fold over the dough 2-3 times on itself to incorporate the stuffing. Shape each back into a ball. Flatten each & fold the bottom third up, & top third down to make an oblong. Roll into ovals with a flat base, cut slits diagonally, three on each side. Pull slightly to open the cuts. Place on oiled baking sheets. Cover with cling wrap & leave to double for 35-40minutes. Preheat the oven to 220C, brush the loaves with olive oil, & bake for approximately 25-30 minutes till golden brown. Cool on racks. Serve warm or at room temperature. It's fun to serve slabs of cottage cheese grilled in different ways. If I make regular plain cottage cheese, I sometimes give it a Middle Eastern marinade, & serve it with cherry tomatoes. I also like using it as a savoury filling in lentil pancakes.  Grill slabs of herbed cottage cheese on a very hot grill pan brushed with oil. Carefully flip over & grill the other side too. serve hot with romesco sauce. Note: Always serve grilled cottage cheese or paneer tikkas hot, straight off the fire/oven, because they tend to get rubbery as they get cold. Here's a chicken ricotta pesto lasagna, adapted from a vegetarian version of Pesto Lasagna from channel4.com. It's a great lasagna, made interesting with the addition of pesto. It's a wonderful make ahead recipe. Another good recipe, my fave so far is the Chicken Ricotta Lasagna, which can be found here.  Chicken Ricotta Pesto Lasagna .jpg) Method: A meal without spuds, is a meal incomplete. I used some mozarella in the lasagna and some in the crostini. The remaining went in here. Spuds we loved ... full of garlicy & cheesy flavour. To keep fibre in the meal, these green beans tossed in a mix of quark and olive oil were good.  Potato croquettes Mash some boiled potatoes. Mix in grated mozarella, minced garlic, salt & pepper. Roll into crouqttes & shallow fry on low heat till brown on all sides. Green beans Toss blanched green beans in a mixture of roasted garlic, olive oil and a little quark.Serve warm / room temperature. Clear the deck... MAKE ROOM FOR DESSERT!  This was the most fun part of the cheesy tale. I put together a variety of desserts with mascarpone cheese as the base, oscillating between my two loves - coffee & fruit. I made a tiramisu using a batch of failed macarons, then a mango mascarpone budini using the same crisp almond cookies, and two 'faux' mascarpone panna cottas too. 'Faux' because panna cotta is cooked cream & I didn't cook the cream here. There is a lot of variety you can get together in desserts using mascarpone.  For both the tiramisu and budini, I just whipped up the mascarpone with vanilla sugar.
Thank you for being part of my new found love. Hope you had a cheesy good time! Posted by Deeba
 related searches : Foodbuzz
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mascarpone
Tiramisu
Mascarpone Panna Cotta
Related recipes
Recipes
Questions answers