Ohiofarmgirl'sAdventuresinTheGoodLand-where ya been? whatcha been doin

[savingdogs]

Your ricotta never worked before? Huh. Mine worked the first time. I used the recipe for Feta on the junket package and then followed it with the recipe for ricotta on there and it was easy.

But maybe my definition of "successful" ricotta is in inexperienced. What about it was "failed" in the past? Not cheesey?

Mine looked and smelled much like that stuff from the grocery but had an earthier smell and perhaps a little more plain (but I am cutting sodium in recipes).

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

my cheese fail was a cheddar that didnt work.... so i used the whey to make ricotta. so the cheddar was the fail and the ricotta was the yay!

in the past my ricotta was just warm whey that had vinegar in it with maybe 2 flakes of curd. and i've tried it like 10 times!!!!!

so i dunno. F- for me for sure.

but now that i'm sold on it i'm gonna make it work if it kills me. ha!



and

i just watched that Rick Bayless guy make fresh cheese with.... citric acid. can you imagine? thats cheaper than anything! i think he used 1 tsp.. wait here it is....

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=214

i figure that i can bring fresh milk in at "goat temperature" and let it set, then add the citric acid.

how great is that!?! more fun things to try!

 

[savingdogs]

Yea, I need some citric acid I realized too. I'd really like to tackle motzarella because there is a strong preference for pizza in this house over just about any other meal.

In the farmer cheese recipe it said if the whey was still milky, then you add more lemon juice. I wonder if you were just getting almost everything out of the milk so there wasn't much left. I noticed the whey from that feta recipe looked a lot more like milk still.

See, perhaps you were just getting more CHEESE out of your milk is why your ricotta failed. Because I'm pretty sure I could not make ricotta from that farmer cheese recipe, there is no white stuff left.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep i think you are just right - it wasnt milky or anything.

here is the best part about the citric acid - i need it for canning anyway! so i'm so excited.



did you see this over on fiasco farms? she said she uses it instead of mozz.... it might work for your pizza eaters.

http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/quesofresco.htm

 

[savingdogs]

Where do you get your cheesecloth? I am having more problem with that, so expensive. I've been boiling pieces of plain white sheeting but I've run out of sheet now. The last time I just used the colander itself and I didn't really lose too much through the holes, have you ever made cheese without cloth?

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

nope i have not tried that - but i have a very fine sieve that i bet would work.

i buy and reuse cheesecloth. i dont think i've thrown any out yet. anytime i order something from the cheese folks i just order a pack. i think its about $5. sometimes you can find food grade cheesecloth in restaurant supply places - might be somewhere to look. of course the grocery store kind doenst work at all. or you might find 'butter muslin' in some places - its about the same.

so.. SD - you're famous! i published your laundry soap recipe on my blog (finally):
http://adventuresinthegoodland.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-save-million-dollars-make-your.html

i hope i did it right!




today = not raining and not hot. yay!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

we've got the rain today

was hoping to go set up at Rogers, but I'm not sittin' out in the rain.

 

[Javamama]

OFG - your past ricotta-from-whey fails aren't your fault, if you are using the whey from a vinegar set cheese. I read somewhere that the whey from that is pretty much spent. There's nothing left in it.
Anywho...looks like it might finally be onward and upward with the forecast in Ohio. I have my lemonade supplies ready.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

thanks Java! hopefully you can save your seeds. the ricotta i've tried are from hard cheeses - i think SD is right.. there just isnt anything left. OR maybe i didnt have the right temperature.

i finished off my "ricotta cheesecake" - man.. i'm gonna have to make it for real now. or maybe use the cheese for the base of that strawberry pie deluxe thing we both saw!
http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/2011/05/strawberry-sheet-pie.html

my berries arent ready yet and we are watching the local upick places for when they are open. whee!

hey Q - have fun at rogers if you go but stay dry!

 

[Javamama]

Then maybe it was your fault! Just kidding.

I neeeeed strawberry sheet pie!