Monterey Jack From Scratch #1
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INGREDIENTS
- STARTER CULTURE
- 2 cups Whole Milk
- 1/2 cup Buttermilk
- FOR THE CHEESE
- 6 quarts Whole milk (or 4 qt whole
- Cheese rennet (from health
- NECESSARY EQUIPMENT
- A thermometer which will
- A large stainless steel or
- A larger pan in which the
- A long metal spoon
- A long-bladed knife
- A colander
- Freshly washed cheesecloth
- A piece of string
- table salt
- A flat pan, such as a pie
- A brick (for use as a
- Optional: plain paraffin
INSTRUCTIONS
(24 hours before cheesemaking:) Make the culture. -- In a 3- to 4-cup jar with a lid, both just rinsed with boiling water, combine 2 cups whole milk and 1/2 cup buttermilk, both freshly opened. Cover: hold at 70-75 degrees F for 24 hours. (The day of cheesemaking:) Pour the whole milk for the cheese into an enameled or stainless steel pan (not under any circumstances cast iron). Set the pan on a rack, or on top of jar lids, inside the larger pan, making sure theres at least an inch of space between the inner and outer pans. Warm the milk slowly to 86 degrees F. Add 1/4 cup of the starter. Maintain the temperature at 86 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours. Prepare the rennet: If youre using rennet tablets, crush the recommended number of tablets in 1 cup of cold water, and add to the milk. If youre using liquid rennet, mix it in 1/4 cup of water (or the amount directed) and add to the milk. In each case, use the amount of rennet recommended for 4 quarts of milk. (I know, youd think it would be six, but thats what the directions say.) Add the rennet to the milk. Stir carefully for 1 minute: then maintain temperature of 86 degrees for another hour, leaving the pans undisturbed as the curd sets. At the end of this additional hour, use the long-bladed knife to cut the curd, straight down from the top to the bottom of the pan, then the same again but crosswise: then the same again, diagonally. Begin increasing the temperature of the curd, taking 30 minutes to bring the temperature up to 98-100 degrees F. As curds firm, "circulate" them with spoon every 5-10 minutes. DO NOT STIR -- just push gently. When ready, a curd dropped 12 inches holds its shape and doesnt spatter. When curds are properly firmed, line a colander with 3-4 layers washed cheesecloth and set the colander in the sink. Pour the curds and whey (the pale, separated-out liquid) into the colander. Let drain briefly, then rinse curd gently with a stream of tepid water. Mix salt to taste into the curd (add salt, work it in, check the taste, add more if neccessary). 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 tsp. salt seems to be plenty for this kind of cheese. Note that the flavor will be *very* bland if no salt is added. Pull up the corners of the cheesecloth to make a bag: twist to make a tight ball, and squeeze to force out additional liquid. Tie the top of the bag shut with the string. Set the ball, with the loose fabric spread out on the bottom, in a wide pan. Set another flat dish on top of the cheese, with your brick of weight in it. Let stand overnight in the refrigerator to press and extract liquid. After being pressed for 24 hours, the cheese is ready to eat. It can also be stored longer (though most of the time it seems to get eaten immediately...). To store, dry it unwrapped in the refrigerator: after 8-10 days it will develop a dry rind of a darkish cream color. Or you can wax it -- in this case, as soon as you unwrap the cheese, wipe it with acidulated water (1 cup water, 1 tablespoon vinegar) and pat dry: then chill cheese, and dip into melted paraffin wax until 1/8 inch thick shell builds up. Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V4 #151 by Peter Morwood & Diane Duane ~~ltowlsprng~~at;iol.ie> on Oct 07, 1997
Notes on the above: (a) For those of you wholl be adding chiles: they should be added after salting the curd. If using fresh chiles, you should probably parboil them (5 minutes or so) to make some kind of attempt at sterilizing them. Pickled ones seem not to produce any problems, and neither do dried or powdered chiles. Additionally, the chile flavors seem to intensify the longer the cheese is kept. The problem is *keeping* the stuff: the flavor of fresh homemade Jack cheese is far superior to that of the store-bought kind, and youll find it wont last long. NB: cheese which has been aged 8-10 days in the fridge seems to melt better. (b) The trickiest part of all of this is keeping the temperature of the milk from jumping too quickly, and keeping it steady for prolonged periods. You may want to experiment a little with your double-boiler apparatus, with water in the inner pan instead of milk, to see how quickly the temperature goes up when you change burner settings on your stove. Some of the trickiness involves the way temperatures will continue to "float" upward even after youve turned the burner down or off. It is important not to let it get out of control: otherwise the extra heat will kill the organisms in the starter. Residual heat "float" can be slowed up by slipping ice cubes into the milk one at a time until the heat stabilizes. Dont overdo this, obviously. (c) Equally obviously, vegetarians can substitute vegetarian rennet for the non-vegetarian kind. I usually make mine with vegetarian rennet, just for conveniences sake. (d) Cleanliness in the utensils is very important in this process: everything should be freshly scalded out with near-boiling water before you start, to keep alien "bugs" from making lie difficult for the friendly ones in the starter. (e) For those of you with livestock: chickens and pigs like the leftover whey mixed with meal or feed. (f) The quantities given in the recipe make a wheel of cheese weighing between 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 pounds. Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST V4 #151 by Peter Morwood & Diane Duane
NOTES
Nutrition
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| Serving Size: 1 Serving (61g) | ||
| Recipe Makes: 4 Servings | ||
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| Calories: 31 | ||
| Calories from Fat: 11 (35%) | ||
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| Amt Per Serving | % DV | |
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| Total Fat 1.3g | 2 % | |
| Saturated Fat 0.7g | 4 % | |
| Monounsaturated Fat 0.3g | ||
| Polyunsanturated Fat 0.1g | ||
| Cholesterol 4.3mg | 1 % | |
| Sodium 83.1mg | 3 % | |
| Potassium 89.9mg | 2 % | |
| Total Carbohydrate 2.8g | 1 % | |
| Dietary Fiber 0g | 0 % | |
| Sugars, other 2.8g | ||
| Protein 2g | 3 % | |
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Powered by: USDA Nutrition Database Disclaimer: Nutrition facts are derived from linked ingredients (shown at left in colored bullets) and may or may not be complete. Always consult a licensed nutritionist or doctor if you have a nutrition-related medical condition. |
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Calories per serving: 31
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