Homemade Cheese - Quick and Easy

This is an easy and fun recipe for making a simple Farmer's Cheese from regular whole milk.  While aged cheeses with their robust flavors can be complex to make and require starter cultures, rennet, or other special ingredients, this cheese can be made in less than an hour with items that are found in most kitchens.  All we're doing here is heating milk to separate the curds and whey to make a mild, almost sweet product.  The cheese is firm, yet easily crumbled.  It doesn't easily spread and won't melt.  I'll serve it whole as a snack with knife and crackers.  Or it goes great crumbled on top of salads or tacos.  Great when cubed to accompany antipasto.  You will get different degrees of firmness depending on how much moisture you remove from the finished product.


Ingredients:

• Whole milk (can be goat's milk)
• White Vinegar or fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• Salt
• Herbs or other flavoring of choice (I like Herbs De Provence)
• Cheese cloth, muslin, tea towel

If using white vinegar, proceed with the following measurements:

• 1 gallon milk = 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 gallon milk = 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 gallon milk = 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar

Prepare a colander with a double layer of cheesecloth or muslin.

Pour the milk in to a pot, preferably with a heavy bottom.  Heat milk over medium (or higher), stirring frequently to avoid burning to the bottom of the pot.

When using dried herbs for seasoning, I like to add them during the heating process so they have time to soften in the milk.

Once the milk is boiling (190 degrees F), cut the heat and stir in the vinegar or enough lemon juice until you begin to see it curd.  Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

This can be a good time to stir in salt unless you're planning to use the whey for something else because it will make it very salty.

Drain curds in to the colander.  This is another good time to add salt and other flavoring while you can gently stir it in to the curds with a spatula.

Grab the corners of your cloth and bring them together to form a ball.  Twist or squeeze the cloth to remove excess moisture from the ball.  The more you squeeze, the more firm the cheese will be.  Let the ball sit in the colander to cool and drain for 1 to 2 hours.


Simple right?  Why not give it a try?  You could literally make this with milk, lemon juice, and salt.  Put it in a tea towel and squeeze enough water out to get fresh crumbly cheese for salad toppings if you want.