I discovered a new delicious treat - Fresh ricotta on homemade white bread.
I made ricotta. That's right, I finally made cheese. My first cheese!!
Ricotta is traditionally made from whey, the byproduct of cheese making. It literally means "recooked", as you recook the leftovers from your previous cheese and it makes ricotta. Most recipes you find for homemade ricotta, however, are milk based and don't call for whey. The whole reason I wanted to try ricotta was because I end up with a good bit of whey every time I make yogurt and I never know what to do with it. I've seen suggestions to use whey instead of milk in bread recipes or to water plants with it, but I wanted to try and make ricotta the traditional way.
The whey ricotta recipe I had called for 2 gallons of whey to start and results in a yield of about 2 cups ricotta. The leftover whey from my yogurt making and a little extra milk and cream for volume added up about a quart of liquid. In the end I had about 2 tbsp of ricotta. Not the most triumphant entry into the cheese making field, but an entry none the less. I didn't know what to do with 2 tbsp of ricotta until I put two and two together as my weekend bread came out of the oven. It was amazingly delicious. Warm, fluffy, slightly sweet white bread with a cold, soft, tangy cheese spread. Mmmm...
That's one more check off my list of things to learn this year: Make a soft cheese, DONE.
I made ricotta. That's right, I finally made cheese. My first cheese!!
Ricotta is traditionally made from whey, the byproduct of cheese making. It literally means "recooked", as you recook the leftovers from your previous cheese and it makes ricotta. Most recipes you find for homemade ricotta, however, are milk based and don't call for whey. The whole reason I wanted to try ricotta was because I end up with a good bit of whey every time I make yogurt and I never know what to do with it. I've seen suggestions to use whey instead of milk in bread recipes or to water plants with it, but I wanted to try and make ricotta the traditional way.
The whey ricotta recipe I had called for 2 gallons of whey to start and results in a yield of about 2 cups ricotta. The leftover whey from my yogurt making and a little extra milk and cream for volume added up about a quart of liquid. In the end I had about 2 tbsp of ricotta. Not the most triumphant entry into the cheese making field, but an entry none the less. I didn't know what to do with 2 tbsp of ricotta until I put two and two together as my weekend bread came out of the oven. It was amazingly delicious. Warm, fluffy, slightly sweet white bread with a cold, soft, tangy cheese spread. Mmmm...
That's one more check off my list of things to learn this year: Make a soft cheese, DONE.
I'm intrigued: why do you end up with whey when you make yogurt?
ReplyDeleteI strain my yogurt when it is done. If I let it sit overnight it will sometimes actually become yogurt cheese because so much of the whey has drained. I'll just add a few spoonfuls back in though to get a creamier consistency. I suppose you could leave it in, but it seems like an awful lot to me.
ReplyDelete