Sunday, October 25, 2009

A Very Nice Shabbos

This shabbos was just especially, especially, especially nice. Shabbos food always has a special ta'am, a special taste, but this shabbos the food just seemed especially yummy, especially the brisket. I cooked it in a slower oven for longer this time (2-1/4-pound briset, 275-degree oven, 3-1/2 hours), and maybe that was it. Whatever did it, it was just really delicious. A very quiet day today. Lots of reading, and a nice walk. A nap on the couch. Very leisurely.

After shabbos was over (just before 7 pm), we had an experiment - homemade mozzarella! Two gallons of milk ($4 total) made 1-3/4 pounds of cheese. The other ingredients couldn't have cost more than $0.15. That brings the cost of the cheese to $2.37/pound, or about half the price of regular mozzarella. And this cheese was delicious! It only took 90 minutes start to finish, so at 8:30, we were eating our own cheese. It might not be such a frugal option, since we'll probably eat twice as much cheese now! Maybe we can stretch it out to last a week (ha ha). It was very fun to make - coagulating the milk, letting it ripen, cutting the curds, heating the curds, stretching the cheese, kneading the cheese like bread, and actually slicing it. Oh, yum. We really need a cow. Or at least a goat. Non-homogenized milk makes better cheese.

I'd love to make cream cheese too. I've made ricotta cheese before, which you make from leftover whey. You only get about 3/4 cup of cheese from a gallon of whey, so I'm saving all the whey in the fridge to be used at the end of the week. After a few more cheese experiments, it would be really fun to try cheddar cheese (need a cheese press) and some of the moldy cheeses. And parmesan cheese. Fun stuff. I told DH tonight that when we retire he should write his cartoon and we'll make cheese (DH's microbiology degree would be very handy here...). Sounds good to me.

Shavua tov!

4 comments:

Ella said...

Oooh, home made cheese... Has been a dream of mine for sooo long. Once the cost of CY milk comes down (right now $14 for 2G) and CY rennet is freely available, we can put a press in my garage :)

alpidarkomama said...

Rennet is meat, halachically pareve. :) It comes from an animal that is schechted properly, etc. Or it's microbial and very pareve. :) CY does not present a frugal option for home cheesemaking, or drinking, for that matter! :) Next I have to find out about molds. I'd love to make bleu cheese. :) Now I'm getting hungry; better go to bed.

Ella said...

Do you need to have a hecsher on rennet though? All I have seen on kosher rennet was OUD..

alpidarkomama said...

Gevalt. As far as I know, it needs a hechscher. Both of the rennets I've used have all been pareve, so it's possible if you ever decide to do it!