Tag: cheese

Tartiflette

      I’ve been trying to find a good recipe for this savoyard region – and this is a bit of a mix of a few. I’ve seen a few recipes with cream, but am pretty sure this is wrong. I’m going with the bacon, spuds, onion and cheese version.
      • 5 medium potatoes (waxyish, or something that won’t fall apart)
      • pancetta (cubed smokey bacon. 1 big handfull/ 2 supermarket packs.)
      • an onion, sliced 
      • 1clove garlic
      • 1 petit reblochon cheese (bottom crust cut off
  1. Boil the potatoes and slice.
  2. fry the lardons, add the onions and finally garlic. (don’t overcook the garlic, it’ll taste nasty)
  3. In a dish, layer the potatoes with bacon/onion mix,  potato = top layer.
  4. Place the cheese on top (crust up). it’ll melt around the dish.
  5. Bake in a moderately hot oven until the cheese melts and bubbles.

Job done. You’re now a french peasant.

Membrillo (Quince jelly)

4 medium quinces (about 2 pounds total)
1/4 to 1/2 cup water
2 to 3 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly oil a 1-quart terrine.

Wash quinces and place in a small roasting pan. Cover and bake until fork tender, about 1 hour.

When cool enough to handle, peel, core, and chop quince and place into a food processor.

Puree pulp with 1/4 cup water until smooth (if mixture is too thick, add remaining 1/4 cup water a little at a time, as needed).

Measure the amount of puree, then transfer to a heavy saucepan and add the equivalent amount of sugar.

Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and begins to pull away from side of pan, about 25 minutes.

Pour into terrine or Pyrex loaf pan.

Smooth the top and once cooled, cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 4 hours until set.

Run a thin knife around sides of terrine and invert onto a platter. (Quince paste keeps, wrapped well in wax paper and then plastic wrap and chilled, 3 months.)

Serve with crackers and Manchego cheese.

Fresh Mozzarella

Ingredients

The Cheese

3/4 cup (6 fluid ounces) whipping cream
1 3/4 gallon + 1 cup nonfat milk (29 cups or 6.63 litres total)
1/4 rennet tablet or 1 teaspoon liquid rennet2
1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces) cool water
1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces) freshly opened buttermilk
The Brine

Ratio of 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) salt to 1 quart water. Mix in corrosive-resistant bowl.
Making the Curd

Note: All instruments used during this step need to be sterilized before each use either by immersing or pouring boiling water over them. This includes each time a thermometer or spoon is used. If you don’t, bacteria will make the cheese taste funky.
Combine cream and milk in a four gallon pot. Mix these together using only a metal spoon on low heat. The milk has to reach a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.22 Celsius). Regularly check on this with a thermometer. This could take an hour, so go pick up that book you’ve been trying to finish. In the meantime add the rennet to a bowl containing the cool water. Let stand until the rennet is dissolved. When the milk hits 90 degrees add the buttermilk, spooning out any butter clumps. Mix thoroughly. Slowly add rennet mixture and stir until it is completely and evenly distributed throughout the milk. The milk will begin to clot. Check the thermometer often, making sure the the temperature stays at 90 degrees. After 30-45 minutes it will be completely clotted. It’s time to release the whey. Cut a crosshatch pattern into the curds using a sharp knife and stir slowly.

Removing the Whey

Note: From here on out, it’s not necessary to sterilize your equipment.
You’re now about to seperate the curds and whey. Wouldn’t Little Miss Muffet be jealous? In your kitchen sink line a big colander with a few layers of clean cheesecloth. Dump the curds into it. The whey should drain away. Then place the colander, cheese and all, in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Every day, remove it, drain the whey, and change the cheesecloth. This should be done for three to four days. Then it will be ready for molding. How can you tell?

Cut off a small piece of the mozzarella. Let it sit in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. If it stretches under it’s own weight when you pull it out by one end, it’s ready. If it tears, let it continue chilling in the refrigerator for a few more days. Make sure you repeat the daily draining and cleaning process. If it still continues to tear, you’ve got cottage cheese. It’s not a loss, go get yourself some sliced peaches or salt, pepper, and scallions.
Molding the Cheese

Divide cheese into four workable sections. Remove any dried portions and cut one section into 1/4 inch slices. Put these slices in a bowl and cover them with very hot water. Push the slices together with a spoon and begin to lift the mass out of the bowl by one end. The cheese should stretch and start to form a rope. Keep pulling and don’t let this rope fold back on itself. Now grab one end of the cheese rope and begin to create a ball in your hands by rolling it under itself. You can make several mozzarella balls out of each section by pinching off the cheese as you go. Place each completed ball in the brine solution. This will give the mozzarella balls some flavor. The longer you leave them in, the saltier they will be. The four sections of cheese will make 2 1/2 to 3 pounds of mozzarella.

Final Note: Any curds or cheese you don’t use can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to five days. But beware, the cheese will not taste as fresh.
Copy from Sunset Magazine, June 1989.

Gratin Dauphinois

Potatoes, cream and cheese- what’s not to like.  Whenever I make this I make more than I need, because it’s just sooo more-ish. It’s a cheesey potato side dish that goes really well with rich food or a steak. It takes a little time to prepare and cook up, but worth the wait.

Once cooked, the cheesey browned topping just looks great. Deird usually eats the toppng off any leftovers before it gets a chance to make it to the fridge. Dang.

Sometimes restaurants make this with a lot of cream and not a lot of potato- so there’s potato swimming in cream. I make it drier, so that you slice out a portion from a big dish, and it just about holds it’s shape.  Mmmmm. 

The best advice for making this is to cut the potato slices as thinly as you can. Use a mandolin if you have one, buy one if you haven’t.

1kg floury potatoes
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
Pinch nutmeg
75g gruyere, grated
300ml double cream
100ml milk

Slice potatoes thinly on a mandolin,
Butter a “lasagne” dish and layer in potatoes, with some garlic, nutmeg and cheese between layers.
Pour cream and milk over, so that it fills in the gaps, ans just covers the potatoes.
Sprinkle on remaining cheese.

Bake, for about 45 minutes- although it depends on how big a dish, and how deep it all is.