Cheesemaking x2 - Yesterday

Well here it is a lovely warm Memorial Day Sunday in the Puget Sound and with a fresh baked baguette and a long walk with the pooch behind me I can sit for a spell and get a little writing in. Friends Scott and Mackenzie here yesterday and we got talking about making cheese so I showed 'em how.

This time I did the same recipe as before; 1 gallon of whole milk & 1 quart of buttermilk heated to about 180F but added a couple big pinches or what I figure about 1.5 tablespoons kosher salt in just after loading it into the muslin lined colander. This was what made it this time, just enough salt to kill the flatness of the whole milk without adding any real "saltiness". I think it might be worth experimenting with other salts as well to give different mineral nuances. I'm also wondering if I could press this in a cheese press with some other flavorings such as chive flowers? I know I could make a lovely boursin style loaf with a pinch of garlic and roll in fresh cracked black pepper. I'm also thinking of rolling it in herb d' Provence, marigold petals, etc just for the ever slightest nuance type flavors so the creaminess of the cheese comes through. This is really a blank slate and it will take a bit of experimentation to see what all I can do with it. It is just so easy and so lovely.

I found that it lasted about 2 weeks in the fridge last time so it gives me a long time to work with each batch. I would have eaten it all well before the 2 weeks was up but I kept checking a small bit just to know the shelf life and it was still good at 14 days so I ate the last and it still tasted yummy and look, still alive so it must have been still safe.

I bought a new product from a local fellow at the farmer's market yesterday that I am going to try this evening. I'm quite excited about this lovely raspberry vinegar with some good olive oil on my home grown greens...photos and musings to follow...