Sunday 19 May 2013
artisan cheese and more: artisan cheese and more
artisan cheese and more: artisan cheese and more: Artisan food is unique; it's defined by the fact that nothing else on earth exists that is exactly the same. Artisan food is created wi...
Giant purple thistle.jpg)
. All species of thistles have milk-curdling magic. It's best in giant, thorny kinds. Regular purple thistle will work. . Cardoon is another option.
To harvest thistle for rennet, gather when they have turned purple. If you see thistledown, the plant is over-mature. Get it right after the end of bloom and before the stage where down blows away. Air dry the flowers. You can store them in jars to wait until needed for cheese-making.
To use your veggie rennet, a quick way is just to tie a bundle of thistle flowers together with string and leave it in the milk until it clabbers. But the more professional way is to pound and extract. You take out enough - 5 heaping t. of pounded dry herb will be needed per 1 gal. milk to be curdled. Pound in a mortar with your pestle until quite crushed. Then pour just a little warm water or whey over, just enough to cover. Let soak 5 minutes. Pound 5 minutes more. Repeat the soaking, and repeat pounding until you've pounded at least 4 times total. You should be seeing a dark (brown) fluid. Strain. Add the fluid to your milk. Be careful not to add too much of any veggie rennet herb because excess can, at best, be unpleasant-tasting for the cheese-eater at the end of the line, and at worst, actually cause indigestion.
To harvest thistle for rennet, gather when they have turned purple. If you see thistledown, the plant is over-mature. Get it right after the end of bloom and before the stage where down blows away. Air dry the flowers. You can store them in jars to wait until needed for cheese-making.
To use your veggie rennet, a quick way is just to tie a bundle of thistle flowers together with string and leave it in the milk until it clabbers. But the more professional way is to pound and extract. You take out enough - 5 heaping t. of pounded dry herb will be needed per 1 gal. milk to be curdled. Pound in a mortar with your pestle until quite crushed. Then pour just a little warm water or whey over, just enough to cover. Let soak 5 minutes. Pound 5 minutes more. Repeat the soaking, and repeat pounding until you've pounded at least 4 times total. You should be seeing a dark (brown) fluid. Strain. Add the fluid to your milk. Be careful not to add too much of any veggie rennet herb because excess can, at best, be unpleasant-tasting for the cheese-eater at the end of the line, and at worst, actually cause indigestion.
Saturday 18 May 2013
artisan cheese and more
Artisan food is unique; it's defined by the fact that nothing else on earth exists that is exactly the same. Artisan food is created with love, with attention to detail, not mass produced on factory lines with only quantity in mind rather than quality
 |
| Traditional Spanish method of molding goats cheese |
 |
| Mature goat cheese, |
 |
| At a cheese workshop showing the clear cut |
 |
| curds |
 |
| cheese made using thistle rennet |
 |
| Natural outer covering, olive oil and paprika |
 |
| mature 45 days with a light wax covering. |
 |
| fresh goat cheese |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)