Home made fresh cheese

We just found out how to make fresh cheese at home. It only takes a few minutes and it's soooo good!




All you need is:

• 1 liter of pasteurized milk (a little more than 4 cups). You want the milk to be a little fat.
• 5 to 10 centiliters of white wine vinegar or lemon juice (about 2 oz.)
• 1 table spoon of rock salt
• Optionally: finely chopped fresh herbs (e.g. chives) and/or garlic (about 1 table spoon total).

The process is amazingly easy:

1. Slowly bring the milk to a boil, wait a few seconds then turn off the heat.
2. Add the vinegar (or lemon) and salt and stir well. You'll see the milk turning almost instantly into a white, grainy paste (the curd) and a pale yellow, limpid liquid (the whey).
3. Add the fresh herbs and garlic and stir some more.
4. Let the coagulation be complete (let stand for 5 minutes).
5. Filter the curd through a colander lined with a cheese cloth. Let it drain for about 5 minutes. You can keep the whey if you have a use for it... which we don't at the moment although we're sure there's one ;-)
6. Press the curd in the cheese cloth and shape it into a ball.
7. It's ready to eat! Or you can keep it a few more days... As you wish.

The good thing is, since it's pasteurized milk AND you boil it AND you eat the cheese fresh, it's like eating cereals: no risk of nasty bacterias :-)
This recipe works with all kinds of milks (for example goat milk) and all kinds of herbs.