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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Sunday, January 04, 2009 Non-stop food This has been one of those days when I did nothing but cook (and clean up after myself) all day long. The previous blog post was written in bits and pieces throughout the day, as I snatched a few moments away from food preparation. Clarence has mostly left me alone, thank God. He has an uncanny knack for calling me just exactly at the wrong moment, when one timer announces that I must take the bread out of the oven NOW, and another one says the cheese is ready for cutting the curd (not something you can put off very long if you want the cheese to turn out well), and the phone rings with some idiot wanting to sell me something.I was not going to buy any more $4.99 bread, and I was not going to buy supermarket bread. So this morning I hauled out the grain mill and the Bosch and made my own version of 7-grain bread. It came out very nice indeed, and I've been snacking on it ever since. Some months ago I had bought a sack of assorted whole grains (the label says seven), but for some reason I never used any of it. So this morning I ground it very coarse, threw about two cups into my four-loaf recipe and stuck the rest of it in the big freezer. It made a lovely texture, and I now have three loaves of bread in the freezer.While the bread was baking, I got out the big cheese pot and started heating milk for a batch of Farmhouse Cheddar (from Ricki Carroll's book). I haven't made this particular cheddar before, but I was in a hurry today and it seemed to need less fussing with than my regular recipe (the stirred-curd cheddar). Owing to various interruptions and problems, it's only just to the cook-the-curd stage now, but in a few minutes I'll dump it into a cheesecloth-lined colander, drain off the whey (which I'll make into ricotta), and hang it to drain for an hour.While the rennet was doing its thing to the pot of milk, I took down the bag of yoghurt cheese that had been hanging over a bowl since yesterday afternoon, and rolled it, a tablespoonful at a time, into balls, which are now chilling in the fridge. This is Labneh, a Middle Eastern cheese treat. As soon as I can get the cheese pot in its water bath off the stove, I'll use the big canning pot to sterilize a couple of quart jars, and then dump the cheese balls in and cover them with olive oil. I haven't made Labneh this way before, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I'm snacking on it now, so it will also be interesting to see how much of it makes it into the olive oil!Speaking of the yoghurt, I finally managed to kill my long-standing yoghurt culture, that had started out with a tub of Stonyfield Organic yoghurt from the grocery store. So when I was buying a new assortment of cheese cultures recently, I also purchased some frozen yoghurt culture and I really really like it. It is the least tart of any yoghurt I've ever made, and while I don't mind a tangy yoghurt, this more mild version tastes really good. It's the ABY2C culture from Dairy Connection, where I get all my cultures. They sell to both hobbyists and commercial cheesemakers, so if I should ever begin making cheese to sell, something I've thought about, I'd be able to buy the same cultures I'm using now from the same vendor.When all the rest of this is out of the way, I'll finally be able to do the ricotta, which is just whey and a coagulant. You don't actually even need the coagulant (vinegar, usually). You can just heat the whey until it almost boils, which is enough to precipitate out the protein. But when I'm short on time, I use vinegar to curdle it, and I'll definitely do that tonight. I'm not just tired and short of time, but I only have one large burner on the stove and it has the big canning pot on it sterilizing jars for the Labneh.With my limited stove and counter space, it's been a game of musical chairs all day long trying to juggle which preparation got to use which pot and which burner. Clarence is going to get canned corned beef hash for dinner, because I can't even contemplate the idea of cooking anything.Pictures tomorrow, maybe.Labels: cheese, yoghurt, yogurt posted by Liz @ 6:50 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
This has been one of those days when I did nothing but cook (and clean up after myself) all day long. The previous blog post was written in bits and pieces throughout the day, as I snatched a few moments away from food preparation. Clarence has mostly left me alone, thank God. He has an uncanny knack for calling me just exactly at the wrong moment, when one timer announces that I must take the bread out of the oven NOW, and another one says the cheese is ready for cutting the curd (not something you can put off very long if you want the cheese to turn out well), and the phone rings with some idiot wanting to sell me something.I was not going to buy any more $4.99 bread, and I was not going to buy supermarket bread. So this morning I hauled out the grain mill and the Bosch and made my own version of 7-grain bread. It came out very nice indeed, and I've been snacking on it ever since. Some months ago I had bought a sack of assorted whole grains (the label says seven), but for some reason I never used any of it. So this morning I ground it very coarse, threw about two cups into my four-loaf recipe and stuck the rest of it in the big freezer. It made a lovely texture, and I now have three loaves of bread in the freezer.While the bread was baking, I got out the big cheese pot and started heating milk for a batch of Farmhouse Cheddar (from Ricki Carroll's book). I haven't made this particular cheddar before, but I was in a hurry today and it seemed to need less fussing with than my regular recipe (the stirred-curd cheddar). Owing to various interruptions and problems, it's only just to the cook-the-curd stage now, but in a few minutes I'll dump it into a cheesecloth-lined colander, drain off the whey (which I'll make into ricotta), and hang it to drain for an hour.While the rennet was doing its thing to the pot of milk, I took down the bag of yoghurt cheese that had been hanging over a bowl since yesterday afternoon, and rolled it, a tablespoonful at a time, into balls, which are now chilling in the fridge. This is Labneh, a Middle Eastern cheese treat. As soon as I can get the cheese pot in its water bath off the stove, I'll use the big canning pot to sterilize a couple of quart jars, and then dump the cheese balls in and cover them with olive oil. I haven't made Labneh this way before, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I'm snacking on it now, so it will also be interesting to see how much of it makes it into the olive oil!Speaking of the yoghurt, I finally managed to kill my long-standing yoghurt culture, that had started out with a tub of Stonyfield Organic yoghurt from the grocery store. So when I was buying a new assortment of cheese cultures recently, I also purchased some frozen yoghurt culture and I really really like it. It is the least tart of any yoghurt I've ever made, and while I don't mind a tangy yoghurt, this more mild version tastes really good. It's the ABY2C culture from Dairy Connection, where I get all my cultures. They sell to both hobbyists and commercial cheesemakers, so if I should ever begin making cheese to sell, something I've thought about, I'd be able to buy the same cultures I'm using now from the same vendor.When all the rest of this is out of the way, I'll finally be able to do the ricotta, which is just whey and a coagulant. You don't actually even need the coagulant (vinegar, usually). You can just heat the whey until it almost boils, which is enough to precipitate out the protein. But when I'm short on time, I use vinegar to curdle it, and I'll definitely do that tonight. I'm not just tired and short of time, but I only have one large burner on the stove and it has the big canning pot on it sterilizing jars for the Labneh.With my limited stove and counter space, it's been a game of musical chairs all day long trying to juggle which preparation got to use which pot and which burner. Clarence is going to get canned corned beef hash for dinner, because I can't even contemplate the idea of cooking anything.Pictures tomorrow, maybe.Labels: cheese, yoghurt, yogurt
Labels: cheese, yoghurt, yogurt
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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