Category: Make Your Own

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This recipe for Mozzarella involves adding cream to Non Fat Dry
Milk Powder. We’ve had great success using “Carnation” brand
milk so if you’re having problems with other brands give this one
a try. We’ve used many other brands along the way that also
work well.
Yield: 2 Pounds

Ingredients
Non Fat Dry Milk Powder for 7 Pints of Milk
1 Pint of Cream
Salt (optional)
1.5 tsp Citric Acid
1/4 rennet tablet or 1/4 tsp Single Strength Liquid Rennet

Instructions
Selecting Powdered Milk and Cream
This recipe for Mozzarella involves adding cream to Non Fat Dry Milk Powder. We’ve
had great luck using “Carnation” brand milk here so if you’re having problems with other
brands give this one a try. We’ve used many other brands along the way that also work
well.
Note: UltraPasteurized cream is fine to use since the calcium and proteins for the
cheese are already in the milk. To make the milk, mix 1 pint of cream with 7 pints of Dry
Milk Powder for one gallon of milk.
Below are is a list of the final fat % in 1 gallon of milk for varying types of cream:
Cream Type (1 Pint) Cream % Fat % for 1 Gal Milk
Double (rich) Cream 48% 6%
Heavy Whipping Cream 36-40% 4.5-5%
Light Whipping Cream 30-36% 3.7-4.5%
Light or Coffee Cream 18-30% 2.2-3.7%
Single Cream 20% 2.5%
Half and Half 10.5% 1.3%
The higher the fat content, the more difficult it is to retain the fat in the final cheese but
the better the flavor. When using a higher fat % the whey will be somewhat milky
looking. You can minimize this by treating the curd very gently at all stages.
Since your mix for this cheese is 7 pints of milk to 1 pint of cream you can either follow
the package mix directions for 1 gallon and drink the 1 pint of Non Fat Milk you remove
to make room for the cream addition or simply multiply the total dry milk powder
needed by .875 (7/8ths of a gallon) to make just the 7 pints. This will leave room for your
pint of cream. The easiest thing for us is to add 2 quarts of cool water with the dry milk
powder in a clean container and stir until the powder dissolves, then add this to an
empty sanitized gallon jug. The 1-pint of cream can now be added and then the jug
topped up to 1 gallon with cool water. Refrigerate this overnight and you have one
gallon of great milk to make your mozzarella.
1 Prepare Ingredients
Collect and sanitize all of your equipment and gather the ingredients.
A 2 gallon pot for the milk, a long knife, a colander, a couple of bowls, measuring cup,
and slotted spoon plus the ingredients and thermometer that came in your 30 minute
mozzarella kit are what should be in front of you now.
Next add 1/4 rennet tablet or measure 1/4 tsp. of liquid rennet into 1/4 cup of cool water
and set aside. Try to cut the tablet as carefully as possible into quarters but it does not
always work out that way. No worries- just do the best you can. You may notice that this
does not dissolve totally but it is OK. Simply add the entire mix when adding rennet.
Then measure out 1.5 tsp. of citric acid into a 1 cup measure of cool water. Make sure
that this is stirred until it all dissolves.
2 Acidify & Heat Milk
Your next step will be to add the citric acid to the milk. This will increase the acid and is
responsible for the final stretch of the mozzarella. It will also assist the rennet in forming
the curd.
Pour the citric acid solution you prepared above into the cold pot and then quickly pour
the milk on top of this. It is very important to stir well as you do this to prevent any
localized coagulation which will appear as curds floating to the surface. There should
be little to no curds forming at this stage.
Next, begin to heat the milk slowly at medium heat to 90-92°F. Stir well enough to keep
the milk from sticking/scorching. We usually turn the burner off a degree or two before
we reach our final temp to keep from overheating. The milk always seems to coast up
that last few degrees.
3 Coagulate with Rennet
At 90-92°F add the 1/4 tsp rennet or 1/4 rennet tablet dissolved in 1/4 cup water and stir
for 20-30 seconds. Then allow the milk to rest at this temp totally still for coagulation.
Initial firming of the milk will take place at about 2-2.5 minutes but allow the milk to firm
a full 7-10 min. before cutting.
4 Cut Curds to Release Whey
Once the curds form cut them into a checkerboard pattern of 3/4 -1 squares (larger for
moister mozzarella). Wait 1-2 min. then very gently (curd is very soft at this point still) cut
horizontal layers with ladle or spoon. Result should be as equal in size as you can
manage.
NOTE: The longer the curd is stirred at this point and the higher the temp (95-105°F),
the drier the final cheese will be because the heat causes more whey to be released.
The curd at this stage will hold a good shape but these are very fragile (see what
happens if you drop one on the floor). Stirring should be very gentle until they have
been cooked for a while.
5 Remove Whey
Once the curd forms well and seems to be releasing whey it is time to separate the
curds from whey. Allowing the curds to settle and consolidate for a minute or two will
initially separate the whey.
Then the excess whey that rises can be poured off while holding the curds back with
your hand. The curds should now be carefully transferred to a bowl with a spoon or
perforated ladle (best). Further whey separation can now be done by pulling the curd
back to the center of the bowl. You will see more whey running off at this point and this
should be removed. Once the curd begins to consolidate well it is time to heat the
curds to develop the stretching character of mozzarella.
6 Heat the Curd
Choose one of the following methods to heat the curds:
A) Our 30 minute system is quicker because we simply use 3 cycles in the microwave to
heat the curds to the point of stretching.
1. The first stage of 60 seconds on High will cause more whey to be released as the
curds heat. The cheese is removed and folded back on itself several times releasing
more whey which is removed.
2. The next step is back into the microwave for 30 seconds on High. This will now
cause the curds to consolidate more and begin to stretch. Folding and removing
whey now have your cheese looking more like mozzarella. At this point the cheese
may simply stretch of its own weight.
3. The final cycle is again 30 seconds and your cheese should now be stretching well.
Following this cycle it may be too hot to handle so using gloves or a pair of sanitized
wooden spoons will help.
B) Traditional hot whey or water for stretching.
This is more in line with the traditional process but takes a bit more time. 2 quarts of
water or whey are heated to 175F. This will be too hot for your hands so use heavy
rubber gloves or a couple of sanitized wooden spoons to manipulate the curds. The
curd you have made is now placed in the water and folded back and forth on itself to
distribute the heat. This may take 3-5 minutes and you should note that the curd is
ready to stretch on its own when it is ready.
Click HERE for a detailed description of this process without using a microwave.
As the curds are heated note the whey that has been released as the curds are heated.
Quickly as in the previous step, press/knead the curds while pouring off the whey. Do
this several times.
NOTE: the more you press the curds during this phase the more whey will be removed
and the drier the cheese will become. This is a matter of personal preference and with
experience you will be making the perfect cheese to your own taste.
7 Stretch the Curd
The Mozzarella should now be ready to stretch. Begin by allowing the cheese to stretch
under its own weight as in the photo to the left. Once your mozzarella begins to stretch
you can now give it the characteristic smooth texture of mozzarella by stretching and
folding the curds like taffy. If the cheese begins to stiffen up and resist the stretch,
reheat it in the microwave or in the hot water.
The more times you do this the smoother it will become. This is also the point where
you add the quantity of salt you like (1/4-1/2 tsp. should be good to start with) to the
cheese as you stretch it. In Italy this is the point where they become creative and shape
little pigs and cows from the fresh cheese.
Here is also where you need to exercise restraint to keep from playing with your food.
Once you are happy with your cheese you can form it into a nice round ball to chill and
store.
8 Chill & Salt
It is now time to cool the cheese to retain its shape. While warm the cheese will simply
slump into a flat disk. Once you have formed the cheese as you wish, it should be
dropped into a pan of ice-cold water. You can also drop it into a cheese form or small
plastic container to hold its shape. An hour or so here should cool it through. Then
move it to the fridge for further cooling. If it sits in the cold water too long the surface of
the cheese will soften too much and salt will be pulled from the cheese.

Yield 1lb

This is an easy cheese to make, so much so that it is usually
made fresh daily in India. Paneer is the most common cheese
used in south Asian cooking and can appear in several formats,
from crumbly and open textured, to a firm, well consolidated
cheese for cutting. It is a perfect cheese for vegetarians to use in
cooking because it has no rennet used in the production. Paneer
can be diced and pan-fried, then added to veggie dishes. Buffalo milk was most traditionally used for this with its butterfat content of about 6%,
but whole milk in the 3 – 4.5% range is commonly used today and much more readily
available.
A low fat version using skim milk has been produced but has developed a reputation
for being chewy and rubbery.
The milk used should be as fresh as possible; even cold stored milk has enzymes
working at the cold temperatures to break down the proteins and compromise the milks
flavor and ability to form a good cheese.

Ingredients

1 Gallon of Milk (not ultra-pasteurized)
Salt (optional)
1 tsp Citric Acid

Instructions

1 Heat Milk
Begin by heating 1 gallon of fresh milk to 185-194F (85-90C). You can best do this by placing the pot with milk into a sink of very warm water. If you do this in a pot on the
stove make sure you heat the milk slowly and stir it well as it heats.
Once the milk has reached the correct temperature, continue to hold the milk at this
temperature for about 20-30 minutes. This will prepare the milk proteins to respond
well to the acid addition in the next step.

2 Add Citric Acid
Spoon or ladle to Stir Curds
Add 1tsp of citric acid to 16oz of 170F water. This is a very diluted acid of about 2%. This
will be about the same temperature that we will be cooling the milk to.
Before adding the diluted citric acid, allow the milk to cool to 170F. This is a more
protein friendly temperature and allows the acid to easily mix into the milk before the
proteins begin to coagulate. The result will be a more even curd development.

Once cooled to 170F, slowly add the diluted citric acid to the milk while gently stirring.
This will begin separating the milk solids from liquid. Continue the slow stir until you see
a separation of white curd and a yellow green whey, milk with a high fat content may have a cloudy whey.

When you see a nice separation stop stirring. The pot can now sit quiet for 20 minutes.

While waiting, line a sterilized colander with butter muslin in preparation for draining
the curds.
Note: You can place the colander inside a large bowl to collect the whey for other uses, even if it’s just for the garden or compost pile.

3 Drain Curds

The curds can now be transferred to the colander lined with butter muslin. Begin by
ladling the whey from the surface into the lined colander. Once the whey has been
partially removed, the remaining curd can be poured into the drain cloth.
The curd should be allowed to drain for 30 minutes, a gentle stir half way through will
help the to whey drain.

4 Press Curds

Once the curd has drained for 30 minutes, the cloth can be pulled up and tied into a
ball. Make sure the cloth is pulled tightly around the curd mass. Then place a plate or lid
over the curd. Place about 1-2 gallons of warm water into a pot and set it on top of the
plate, this is a quick and easy “cheese press.” Press the curd for 10 to 15 minutes. The amount of weight and time for pressing will depend on how dry and compact you want your final Paneer to be.
If you saved the whey, it contains a lot of flavor and nutrients and is great to use in
stocks and soups, some folks have found it to be very tasty when cooled for just
drinking. Taste it and see. If nothing else take it to the garden or compost pile.

5 Finished Cheese

Fresh Paneer won’t last long in the fridge and should be used within a few days. Many
people think that because the milk has been heated to such a high temperature, that it’s
stable for long term storage, this is not true.
The problems with storing this cheese are two fold:
It contains a high level of lactose that will fuel any bacteria that it is exposed to
during the post process.
Tests have found that the ambient bacteria that it is exposed to (not traditional dairy
bacteria, so not good) will multiply several thousand times within a week.
It can be stored at fridge temperature for 4-7 days with no salting and for 10 days to 2
weeks if lightly salted (2%) and packed in an air tight container.
When pressed the cheese will be firm and compact and once chilled it can be easily cut
and cooked or fried. Traditionally, Paneer is made fresh and used within a day.

In making your own Paneer, you have control over how you want to use the cheese.
The curd can be drained for a soft, crumbly cheese or lightly pressed for a firm slicing
and grilling cheese.

By changing the cream content of the milk, the type of acid and the draining method,
you can make a wide variety of cheeses.

Fresh Paneer that hasn’t been pressed very long tends to be more crumbly and is best
for sauces.

Firm Paneer can be sautéed, seared, or grilled, and still retain both it’s shape and

texture.

Easy Fermented Sweet Sauerkraut
Author: Emillie minutes Yield: 1.5-quart jar

Ingredients
1 medium-sized head of cabbage (approx. 2 lbs.)
1–2 tablespoon pickling salt (to taste – I like 4 tsp)
Sweet: Add 1 cup of grated apple, fennel, beets, or carrots to the kraut and only let it ferment for 3 to 5 days.
Instructions
Grate or finely chop the cabbage and any other vegetables or fruit additions. Mix the prepared cabbage with the salt and any additional flavors.
Leave the cabbage to rest for about 5 minutes while you prepare your jars. The salt will start softening it and drawing the moisture out. This will make it easier to pack the kraut into the jars.
Pack the cabbage into a 1.5-quart container for fermenting. (Two quart-size mason jars work well. Leave at least 1 inch of headroom at the top because the cabbage will bubble up during the first week of fermenting. Use the back of a spoon to pound all the cabbage into the jar. Pack it down firmly enough for the liquid to be pressed out of the cabbage. You want enough liquid to fully submerge the cabbage. It’s also important to pack the cabbage into the jar because air bubbles increase the risk of contamination. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough liquid right away, it should produce enough within 24 hours. So you can leave your cabbage to sweat a bit then pack it down again. Alternatively, feel free to add a bit of filtered water (2 to 4 Tbsp).
Top the kraut with a weight (a small jam jar or the cabbage core will both work as well). For the first three days, the cabbage will bubble a lot. The weight helps to keep the cabbage under the liquid (brine) while it bubbles.
Cap the jar with a lid that will allow gas to escape as it bubbles. A Fido jar is my favorite option because it prevents any chance of contamination and doesn’t require burping. But you can also use a loosely-tightened lid or a tea towel held in place with a rubber band. Place the jar in a dark location to ferment. A closet or a kitchen cupboard is perfect.
The sauerkraut is ready when you decide it is done! After 3 days you will have sweet-tasting kraut that is packed with probiotics. However, sauerkraut will continue to ferment and sour for up to 7 weeks. I often permanently leave my kraut in my pantry since I’m short on space in my fridge.
Store the jar in the fridge after opening it.
Notes
There’s a whole science around how the bacterial culture in sauerkraut changes with the fermentation process. However, it should never be moldy, yeasty, or smelly. Keeping everything clean is necessary for a good ferment.
Wondering how to serve a batch of sauerkraut? It’s not just a hot dog topping! Here are 15 different ways to serve sauerkraut.
Nutrition
Serving Size: ¼ cup Calories: 5Sugar: 0.3gSodium: 90mgFat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gCarbohydrates: 0.8gFiber: 0.3gProtein: 0.3gCholesterol: 0mg

OR

You’ll laugh when you hear how easy it is to roast garlic. The result is smooth, spreadable garlic that has mellowed in flavor. It’s tasty as a spread, but you can toss the roasted cloves into sandwiches or mashed potatoes to add a zippy flavor.

You don’t even have to peel the cloves.

Just chop off the top of the head of garlic. I used two and crammed them into a small lidded baking dish I have. You can use any small dish. I had to separate a few cloves from the mother just to fit them, but it works fine.

Drizzle over the oil and season to taste with freshly ground pepper and kosher salt.

Cover and bake for an hour at 350°.

Farmer Cheese

Servings:16 servings
Ingredients:
1 gallon whole milk
1/2 cup vinegar or lemon
2 teaspoons kosher salt
6 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, chives or ground herbs of your choice

Directions:
1 gallon milk in large pan and slowly heat until 190 degrees. The top will be a fine foam of bubbles. Stir occasionally while heating. Remove from heat

Slowly add 1/2 Cup vinegar or lemon juice, and stir the milk. Curds will immediately begin to form.

Let the milk sit for 15 minutes without stirring.

After 15 minutes, add the herbs, if using.
6tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, chives or ground herbs of your choice
Optional:
1 -1/2 teaspoon Citric acid can replace vinegar or lemon

Place a colander over a large bowl or pot. Drape either a dampened cheesecloth or thin dampened clean dish towel over the colander. Pour the curds into the cheesecloth. The whey, all the liquid in the mixture, will drain and be collected in the bowl below, while the solid curds will be caught in the cheesecloth.

Lift the cheesecloth and wrap it around the curds, twisting and squeezing to remove as much moisture as possible.

After squeezing out the moisture, the curds for farmer cheese will be dry and crumbly. If you want a creamier texture, mix a little of the reserved whey back into the curds.

Add 2 teaspoon kosher salt and stir it together.

To shape the cheese, keep it wrapped in cheesecloth and form it into a mound on a plate. Set another plate on top and press the curds into a flat disc that is 1 to 2 inches tall. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or so before removing the cheesecloth.

To make a ball, tie the cheesecloth with a length of butcher’s twine, attach it to a shelf in the refrigerator or a wooden spoon, and suspend it over a bowl. Gravity will help shape the cheese into a ball and remove any excess moisture.

How to Store
Farmer cheese will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator when stored in an airtight container.
You can freeze farmer cheese; wrap in plastic wrap and place in a zip-top freezer bag. Upon thawing it, however, the texture will be a bit crumblier.
If saving the whey, store it in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one week.

YELD:24 servings
Ingredients
6 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
2 cups thinly sliced onions
1-1/2 cups sugar
1-1/2 cups cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions
1. Place cucumbers and onions in a large bowl; set aside. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook and stir just until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over cucumber mixture; cool. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. Yield: 6 cups.
Nutritional Facts
1/4 cup equals 58 calories, trace fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 50 mg sodium, 15 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, trace protein.
© 2016 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC

Tahini: I like to make sure to buy toasted tahini. Regular, untoasted tahini can be pretty bitter, so definitely go with one that’s toasted for a more robust, smooth flavor.

This simple tahini sauce is something you can use with everything. It’s quick to make, it delicious and it’s oil-free and sugar-free too.

Course: CondimentCuisine: AmericanKeyword: sauce, tahini Servings: 8  Author: Alyssa

Ingredients

½ cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ teaspoon salt & pepper
¼ – ½ cup of water

Instructions

Add all the ingredients into a blender or bowl, starting with 1/4 cup of water. Stir or blend it together until smooth. If the sauce is too thick, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistency (I like mine the consistency of ranch dressing).

Pour into a sealed glass container and keep in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 80mg | Potassium: 69mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 47IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg