Fresh Buttermilk Cheese

I know, I know...we've been a little slow at updating.  Busy times around the Blair household, but we've settled in for a quiet evening and decided we need to do this now, or it might not get done.  We made this cheese last week and it was such a fun experiment.  The recipe is courtesy of marthastewart.com .  I was skeptical and thought this would be a long drawn out process, but much to my surprise - it was quick and painless.   Very versatile as well, we are gonna try again next week, but add some fresh herbs to it.  Was great with Ritz Crackers.

Fresh Buttermilk Cheese

Makes 1  six ounce round that serves 4 with crackers. 

1 quart of whole milk
1 1/2 cups whole or low fat buttermilk
2 teaspoons coarse salt

Line a colander with three layers of cheesecloth.  Combine Milk, buttermilk and salt in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over meduim heat until mixture has separated into white curds and translucent whey, about 8 minutes.  If using lowfat buttermilk, it separates at about 180 degrees and the curds will clump together readily.  If  using whole buttermilk, separation occurs closer to the boiling point, about 212 degrees and the curds are finer grained.  When using whole buttermilk, let the curds and whey stand off the heat for 3 minutes after separation, so the curds will cling together and facilitate the straining step.

Ladle the contents of the saucepan in the prepared colander over the sink.  Let the whey drain, 1 -2 minutes.  Lift the corners of the cheesecloth and gather them together. Gently twist the gathered cloth over the cheese and squeeze out any excess whey.

Cheese can be unwrapped immediately and served warm or let stand until cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes more.  To serve a firmer cheese (this is how we liked it ) transfer cheese to a small flat bottomed dish or pie plate and refrigerate till cool. Tent cheese with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated up to 2 days. 

Jamie's reaction to the cheese:  mmmmm...but we tried it warm and it was definetely better cold.   It was kinda like a cream cheese.  Today was a CBA test.  Yesterday was Regan's birthday and there was a left over roll and I took it to school and ate it for snack and everyone laughed at me!    I wish it was summer so I could go fishing.  Because it is warm and the fish will come up and bite. BYEBYE!