GERMAN CARAWAY CHEESE AND FRESH HOMEMADE CHEESE: (Appetizer)

This homemade cheese tastes good on homemade bread or Knackebrod or on crackers.

Serves 12

8 cups Fresh Farmhouse Cheese (recipe below) or pot cheese, or dry-curd cottage cheese
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups sour cream
2 Tablespoons caraway seeds

Make sure the farmhouse cheese is DRAINED WELL in cheesecloth. (Do not add any cream to the cheese after draining) Place the butter, baking soda, and salt in the top of a DOUBLE BOILER over SIMMERING water. When the butter is melted, add the cheese, and continue cooking, whisking occasionally, until the cheese has melted, about 1 hour. The butter and cheese will be separated.

Beat in the sour cream and caraway seeds until the mixture is blended well together. Pour into a large loaf pan or a crock. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, until the cheese is firm. Turn out onto a serving dish, if you like, bring to room temperature, and serve.

FRESH FARMHOUSE CHEESE:

Making farmhouse cheese takes about 24 hours, it is not labor-intensive and it yields a superior product. You will end up with a creamy white cheese with a tender curd and a fresh, tangy flavor. Mix it with cream for a creamed fine-curd cottage cheese or eat fresh, perhaps flavored with snipped fresh chives or lemon
balm. You can find rennet tablets in the baking section of the grocery store.

Makes 8 cups cheese.

1 1/2 gallons homogenized WHOLE milk
1 cup buttermilk
1 rennet tablet
Cream, sour cream, or milk, optional

Warm the whole milk and buttermilk over low heat in a large saucepan or stockpot until they reach 90 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Pour 1/4 cup of this mixture into a glass measuring cup and heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds on high, or until it is 115 degrees; alternatively, heat the 1/4 cup milk in a small saucepan until it reaches the same temperature. Crumble the rennet tablet into the warm milk in the measuring cup and stir to blend. Pour this mixture back into the large saucepan and stir well. Remove from the heat, cover the pan, and let the mixture sit overnight, for at least 14 hours.

In the morning, return the pan to the heat and remove its cover. For a larger curd cheese, bring the mixture to 130 or 140 degrees over medium heat; for a smaller curd cheese, bring the mixture to about 115 degrees over low heat.
Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, at the desired temperature for 1 to 1
1/2 hours, or until the curds have separated from the whey.

Meanwhile, line two colanders with a double thickness of cheesecloth. Tie or clip the cheesecloths to the perimeters of the colanders to keep them from slipping in. Gently pure half of the mixture through 1 colander and half through the other. Let the whey drain off the cottage cheese for about 1 hour.

Spoon the drained cheese into two 1-pint containers. Stir in some fresh cream, sour cream, or whole milk, if you like, for a softer consistency and flavor. The cheese will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Home Cooking

Olga