p.384 The Clear Cut Future
A little bit revived, a little less bored. Still annoyed with the weather but that will change.
The first attempt at cheese making was a success. As was the first homemade bagel attempt. Both projects took 2 days from start to finish but were completely worth the trouble.
I have to say I was a bit skeptical about the cheese. Actually a little more than a bit. The whole process goes against all of my food safety training from working in restaurants. Adding bacteria to warm milk and letting it sit at room temperature for 12 hours, then putting it in muslin to drain at room temperature for another 12..
I had to kind of talk myself into trying the first little bite. I was pleasantly surprised. It’s awesome. I added a chopped green onion, chopped carrot, salt and herbs to it once it was ready.
And the bagels, well I’ve been meaning to make them for a few months but just couldn’t find the time. I was intimidated by the fact the recipe says it take 2 days. They weren’t very labor intensive though. Not really any more than bread. They just have to hang out in the fridge overnight before you cook them.
The only glitch I hit was some of them stuck to the pan after baking. The book said to use parchment paper lined pans. I didn’t have any so I just used cornmeal and hoped for the best. Next time I’ll use the paper or get some Silpats.
Here are the photos of the process…
Day One: After the dough is ready, kneaded and shaped these puppies get ready to hang out in the fridge for 12 hours. I need to work on my bagel shaping skills but not too bad for the first time out.
Day Two: Boil a big pot of water and put the bagels in a few at a time. One minute each side.
Then you transfer then to a sheet pan and top them with seeds, salt, onion flakes etc. I used poppy seeds, caraway and kosher salt.
Bake them in a 500 degree oven for 10 minutes and voila, bagels.
For the cheese:
Heat a gallon of milk to 86 degrees. Add the starter and let it hang out at room temperature for 12 hours.
Then you ladle the curd into a butter muslin lined colander and hang it to drain for 12 hours.
This is how much liquid drained out overnight.
Once it’s the desired consistency transfer the cheese to a container add seasonings if you want and refrigerate.
The cheese I made was Fromage Blanc. I got the starter from New England Cheesemaking Supply . This was one of the recommended cheeses for beginners and it was really easy to make. The actual time spent doing things like heating milk and putting the curd into the muslin was maybe 15-20 minutes tops. (It took us a while to fashion a way to hang the cheese to drain.) The cheese stays good for 2 weeks in the fridge and the book I have said it can be used like a cream cheese or in place of ricotta for lasagna or stuffed pastas.
So that’s what I did the past few days. The hubby is worried I’m going to turn Amish on him. I’m a little worried about that myself…