As we all know - our favourite Lancashire plasticine compatriots included - that the moon is made out of cheese, and the dairy-based goodness is one of the most delicious things on this earth. Or at least, I’m a little obsessed by it.
I think it’s best to prefix this by saying that I have some pretty awesome friends (I really do, not just saying it). The sort that like (and sometimes just tolerate) all my food-related chat, and then give me birthday presents which are likely to result in even more food-talk. It’s a pretty sweet deal (or in this case, savoury).
That’s what happened when I saw a couple of friends [who will remain nameless, because I totally forgot to ask them if I could – you know who you are] just after my birthday and I was presented with a home cheese making kit! Admittedly on the proviso that I made them some cheese; but still pretty amazing.
Now many people would treat this sort of present with the same fake appreciation as when you get socks or a home-knitted jumper (inevitably 3 sizes too big) for Christmas; I’m not one of those people. I happily devoured the ‘read before you try’ and the instructions – a bit of a change, I’m normally very guilty of ignoring any sort of instruction – went out to get some milk and then stood poring over the pan, watching it boil (turns out the proverb’s wrong), wondering how it would turn out.
Well, it turns out it’s ridiculously simple to make ricotta (the mozzarella looks a lot harder). The kit makes it even easier, but it’s something you could totally do yourself - assuming you had some citric acid crystals at home, as I’m sure we all do.
In the three or four days that came after my little fromage-themed adventure I lost count of the number of oatcakes smothered in ricotta I ate; but far from a bad thing it has enthused me to make even more. If you want to try, here’s how you do it.
Making Ricotta
I made my ricotta using a pre-bought kit, but it’s pretty simple and the recipe is so common I don’t think any citation is needed. It makes about 200g of ricotta, or approximately enough to fill a coffee mug. OK, so it involves ‘citric acid crystals, but I’m sure the internet can provide these, if you ask nicely.
Ingredients
1 tsp citric acid crystals
1.25 l /4 pint carton of whole (blue topped) milk
1 pinch of salt
50ml water
Directions
In a small bowl, dissolve your acid crystals in the water. Pour the milk into a large pan and set it on the hob. Stir your acid mix into the milk, add the salt and cover. Turn up the heat and let the mixture heat up until it is about 85-90ºC. When it reaches this temperature the curds and whey will separate.
Take the pan off the heat and leave it for about 30 minutes. Once it has cooled a little and looks fully separated, line a colander with a muslin cheese cloth (or similar) and pour the mixture into the cloth. Allow the liquid to drain out, and hey presto, you have some ricotta!
Edinburgh-dwelling, baking and food-obsessed, twenty-something adventure enthusiast. Runs on liberal amounts of coffee, cheese, cake and gin; bribable with same.
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May 9, 2014
So this looks amazing. I really want to try this!! (Actually, I’ve always wanted to try making cheese.) Though I’m not sure quite where I’ll find citric acid crystals in rural NZ… (I wonder if the hardware store would sell them). Mind you, I did manage to track down some cheese cloth the other day for jam-making (only took me two weeks), so there’s hope! Also there’s the internet. More effective than hope.
May 9, 2014
Cheers! It tasted pretty amazing too. Hmm, yeah I don’t know where you’re going to find them locally, but (as you said) the internet should do the trick!