Purists may cry foul because this ricotta is made with whole milk (and a little cream), but I say let them. This is the internet. They’re miles away. Classically ricotta is made from the whey left behind after provolone is made. However few if any of us can just nip down to the corner market and pick up a gallon of provolone whey, now can we? And anyway
READ ONOK, so maybe I’m going a little nutty putting up a homemade ricotta recipe, but a.) not everyone outside of a major city can get fresh ricotta; b.) it’s amazingly easy, but, most importantly; c.) I’m a fermented dairy and/or cheese freak. You’ll need:
2 quarts whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
The texture of clotted cream is really unlike any other dairy product I’m aware of. It’s smooth, incredibly thick, full of big, curd-like blobs and just a little gooey. “Mud-like” is the term I usually use, and it’s apt.
For a one-time Devon resident like myself, the realization that I had the resources available to make my own clotted cream caused waves of both nostalgia and lust — butterfat lust — to wash over me. I had to rush out immediately and try it. If you have small, local dairy cream available to you (un-homogenized and especially un-stabilized) this recipe will be a snap. If not you probably won’t get quite the same result, but to my way of seeing things that’s no reason not to try. The potential rewards are simply too great.
READ ONTime and temperature are the secrets to a successful batch of mascarpone. Other than that all you have to work with are cream, some acid, a thermometer and a pan. Simple, right? Right… The formula is one pint of heavy cream and one pint of half-and-half (all of it un-homogenized and un-stabilized if at all […]
READ ONI’ve always felt that “buttermilk” is a misleading term. It implies a richer form of ordinary milk, when in fact most buttermilk is about as rich as low-fat milk. That makes a lot of sense when you consider where buttermilk comes from, for it’s the liquid that’s leftover when fat (butter) is removed from cream. […]
READ ONSince I’m planning to gather all my home-dairying posts together and put them in their own section, I thought I’d be thorough and put up a separate post on sour cream. Yes, I know I did this yesterday when I posted on cultured butter, it’s just how my mind works. Sure it’s redundant, but it’s […]
READ ONCultured butter is now synonymous with European-style butter, however it was once common in the States, at least until the rise of “sweet cream” butter, which is the American standard now. The spread of sweet cream butter was based on a technological innovation: refrigeration. For it was refrigeration that made it possible to get milk […]
READ ONWhat an anticlimax this is going to be after all this talk — just a lot of shots of white things. But that’s the reality of fermentation: all the really sexy stuff is happening on scale that’s far too small to see. Hmm…maybe I should buy a microscope and become a lactic acid bacteria voyeur. […]
READ ONThis is essentially the yogurt making process I saw Alton Brown do on one of his shows. The thing I love about it is that it dispenses with those silly and expensive yogurt making devices you see in kitchen gadget shops. Everything you need for this you probably have between your kitchen cabinets and your […]
READ ONBy popular demand, an easy and clear recipe for this very handy pastry component. As you can see, the home-made stuff has a very nice, thick consistency, especially after it’s been well chilled (as this has). A home made version of sour cream is what it is. Begin by pouring about 2/3 cup of cream […]
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