In the meantime, before blogging about Greece, here's a mini-adventure of sorts. For my 25th birthday (yes, an entire year ago), Mom sent me a cheese-making kit from beloved Zingerman's in Ann Arbor. Unfortunately for cheese-making, I was traveling a lot that summer and fall and never had time to make mozzarella during fresh tomato season. And this year, the tomatoes weren't ripe until just about the time I left for Greece. Mozzarella-making therefore waited until my first day of age 26, but it was oh-so worth the wait.
Step 1: Mix together a gallon of milk, water, and citric acid. Stir "vigorously" while heating to 90 degrees. Remove from heat and slowly add a rennet tablet and water.
The instructions make a huge deal out of how you can only use pasteurized milk, not ultra-pasteurized, which they think is fairly common, so I was afraid my milk would be all wrong. (I didn't see any ultra-pasteurized in the store, but who knows? Maybe there was fine print I was missing and I would buy the wrong kind after all.) After all that worrying about milk, I was super duper excited to see the beginnings of curds and whey.
Step 2: Let mixture sit for about five minutes, then slice the curd into small pieces with a knife. Heat to 105 degrees while stirring, then remove from heat and continue stirring.
At the "slice your curd into small pieces" point, I began to get a little nervous about my success. My curd looked pretty much like the photo above--that is, plenty of small pieces were already broken off and floating around, and the curd was pretty small and lumpy. Not at all like the smooth, custard-like curd in the illustrated instruction manual. But I swished around the pot with my knife and hoped for the best.
Step 3: Pour off whey and spoon curds into microwaveable bowl. (There is an alternative water-bath method that doesn't use the microwave, but it seemed more complicated, and the instructions assured me that the end result was the same.) Microwave for one minute and pour off remaining whey. Add salt, fold into one piece, and continue microwaving in short intervals until curds are 135 degrees and stretchy.
After microwaving for one minute, I had something that sort of looked like mozzarella! What the instructions failed to mention, though, is that the cheese will be HOT. The manual did mention optional rubber gloves, but I assumed those were to keep your hands clean, not cool. My fingertips were fairly burning as I folded the cheese into one piece. Next time, I'll just buy rubber gloves.
Step 4 : Stretch the cheese like taffy.
If not wearing rubber gloves, this stage is enhanced by dancing around the room, blowing on your fingers between tentative pulls. At this stage, the instructions also recommend tasting the cheese. Yummmmmmm.
Step 5: Form into balls, braids, logs, or whatever sculpture you wish. Submerge in cool water for five minutes, then ice water for 15 to keep the cheese silky.
Because my hands hurt, I opted for two simple balls. Next time maybe I'll get all play-dough on my mozzarella.
Notably, it's so hot in Boston that my ice cubes didn't last the whole 15 minutes. Whoops. If my cheese isn't silky enough, I'll blame it on the weather and my lack of air conditioning.
Step 6: Buon appetito!
The tomatoes here are nowhere as good and ripe as the ones I had in Greece, but they're not mealy and pink anymore. This was my first tomato and fresh mozzarella salad of the season, and it tasted so much better because it used my homemade cheese (and homegrown basil!). The best part: the Zingerman's kit came with materials for 30-40 batches. Since the rennet tablets will keep for years in the freezer and everything else can be stored indefinitely, I plan to eat fresh homemade mozzarella for years to come.
Come on over and I'll share.
Step 1: Mix together a gallon of milk, water, and citric acid. Stir "vigorously" while heating to 90 degrees. Remove from heat and slowly add a rennet tablet and water.
The instructions make a huge deal out of how you can only use pasteurized milk, not ultra-pasteurized, which they think is fairly common, so I was afraid my milk would be all wrong. (I didn't see any ultra-pasteurized in the store, but who knows? Maybe there was fine print I was missing and I would buy the wrong kind after all.) After all that worrying about milk, I was super duper excited to see the beginnings of curds and whey.
Step 2: Let mixture sit for about five minutes, then slice the curd into small pieces with a knife. Heat to 105 degrees while stirring, then remove from heat and continue stirring.
At the "slice your curd into small pieces" point, I began to get a little nervous about my success. My curd looked pretty much like the photo above--that is, plenty of small pieces were already broken off and floating around, and the curd was pretty small and lumpy. Not at all like the smooth, custard-like curd in the illustrated instruction manual. But I swished around the pot with my knife and hoped for the best.
Step 3: Pour off whey and spoon curds into microwaveable bowl. (There is an alternative water-bath method that doesn't use the microwave, but it seemed more complicated, and the instructions assured me that the end result was the same.) Microwave for one minute and pour off remaining whey. Add salt, fold into one piece, and continue microwaving in short intervals until curds are 135 degrees and stretchy.
After microwaving for one minute, I had something that sort of looked like mozzarella! What the instructions failed to mention, though, is that the cheese will be HOT. The manual did mention optional rubber gloves, but I assumed those were to keep your hands clean, not cool. My fingertips were fairly burning as I folded the cheese into one piece. Next time, I'll just buy rubber gloves.
Step 4 : Stretch the cheese like taffy.
If not wearing rubber gloves, this stage is enhanced by dancing around the room, blowing on your fingers between tentative pulls. At this stage, the instructions also recommend tasting the cheese. Yummmmmmm.
Step 5: Form into balls, braids, logs, or whatever sculpture you wish. Submerge in cool water for five minutes, then ice water for 15 to keep the cheese silky.
Because my hands hurt, I opted for two simple balls. Next time maybe I'll get all play-dough on my mozzarella.
Notably, it's so hot in Boston that my ice cubes didn't last the whole 15 minutes. Whoops. If my cheese isn't silky enough, I'll blame it on the weather and my lack of air conditioning.
Step 6: Buon appetito!
The tomatoes here are nowhere as good and ripe as the ones I had in Greece, but they're not mealy and pink anymore. This was my first tomato and fresh mozzarella salad of the season, and it tasted so much better because it used my homemade cheese (and homegrown basil!). The best part: the Zingerman's kit came with materials for 30-40 batches. Since the rennet tablets will keep for years in the freezer and everything else can be stored indefinitely, I plan to eat fresh homemade mozzarella for years to come.
Come on over and I'll share.
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