I’m not sure when I first discovered that making
fresh, ricotta-like cheese at home was not only possible—but actually doable
for anyone with a stove, some milk, a coagulant (lemon juice, vinegar or
buttermilk) and a cheesecloth-lined sieve.
It was Michael Chiarello’s recipe in his aptly named Casual Cooking
that tipped me off to the fact that making a fresh cheese was a simple—even quick—process.
Once I discovered his recipe I
immediately began making—and teaching—fresh cheese.
Unfortunately my results weren’t always very
consistent. Sometimes my cheese was
light and spreadable. And then on other
occasions it was stiff and a bit sticky.
It always tasted good…but I was unhappy about the unevenness of the
results from a textural standpoint. As a
professional cook, consistency is something I always strive for. Whenever I
visited one of my favorite restaurants (for Kansas City Locals: Extra Virgin),
I nibbled their fresh ricotta and grilled bread platter with a mixture of
pleasure and envy. What were they doing
to get such a consistently light and spreadable result?
As I stated at the beginning, the basic method for
making fresh cheese is very straight forward and simple. Place the milk in a saucepan. If using buttermilk as your coagulant, add
that with the milk. Heat the milk. If using an acid (lemon juice or vinegar) for
your coagulant, add it to the heated milk.
Stir and watch the curds form.
Let the mixture sit (off the heat) for a few minutes to allow the curds
to firm up. Drain through a cheese
cloth. That’s it. But clearly I was missing something.
If you take the time to look around, you will discover
that the method truly doesn’t vary too much from site to site and cook to cook. Some cooks add a bit of cream to the milk
(for added richness and a slightly higher yield). The recipe from Chiarello that I had started
out with used buttermilk to set the curds.
I found that most recipes use lemon juice or distilled white
vinegar. Since I always have lemons on
hand…and rarely keep buttermilk around…I switched to lemon juice. My results were about the same.
There seems to be a bit of disagreement about the temperature
to which the milk should be heated before adding the acid. Most recipes take it to at least 180°. Many go a bit
higher than this. Some even tell you to
bring the milk to the boil. My
impression is that somewhere in the range of 180° to 190° is optimal.
The greatest amount of variation among the recipes
that I looked at centered around the draining process—how it was accomplished
and how long the curds should be allowed to drain. And in the end, this seems to have been the
source of my difficulty. I think I had
been allowing too much of the whey to drain away. No one tells you this, but the cheese when it
is at the correct, soft consistency for serving as a light and fluffy spread, will
still look like it is way too wet. But
if you can scoop some of the curd up with a fork or spoon and you are rewarded
with a substance that sits on your utensil in a soft, delicate, trembly mound,
you are done. Depending on how you transfer
the curd into the cheesecloth, the time it takes to reach this point could be
anywhere from 2 or 3 minutes to about 15 minutes.
Most recipes recommend 15 minutes as the minimum
draining time…and suggest draining anywhere from an hour and up to
overnight. The only reason to do allow
it to drain for this length of time is if your goal is super firm cheese (to be
used in gnocchi, for example). If this
is the case, you may let the cheese continue to drain for up to an hour. I have never found the need to drain it for
longer than this. No matter how long you
drain it, the cheese becomes much firmer as it sits…and even firmer still under
refrigeration. Cheese drained for an
hour will, after chilling, be as firm as cream cheese. (If you beat the chilled cheese with a wooden
spoon or rubber spatula, you will smooth out the curd to the point that you
really will have something that is very much like cream cheese.)
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| At 15 minutes. If you scrape a bit a the edge with a rubber spatula--or even just lift the cheesecloth around the edges--you can see that the cheese is holding a shape. |
There are several methods that I have seen for
draining the curd. Michael Chiarello
tells you to gently push the raft of curds aside and to ladle the whey (which
is underneath the curds) into your cheesecloth lined sieve, getting rid of as
much of the whey as possible before spooning the curds themselves into the
sieve along with any remaining whey. Patricia Wells in The Provence Cookbook
directs you to prepare two cheesecloth lined sieves…and to spoon the majority
of the curds into the first sieve—and then pour the whey and remaining solids
into the second. The few curds from the
second sieve can be moved to the first. Almost
every other method I have ever seen tells you to just ladle or pour everything
into the cheesecloth lined sieve and let it drain.
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| The above cheese after lifting the cheesecloth all the way around. It is still very soft. |
Obviously getting rid of most of the whey (using
either Chiarello’s or Wells’s methods) will shorten the amount of time the
curds need to drain. But even if you
unceremoniously dump the whole mixture into the sieve, you should still not
have to drain the curds for longer than about 15 minutes (unless—as already
mentioned—you are specifically going for a dryer, firmer cheese). Because I learned how to make fresh cheese
with Chiarello’s recipe, I am in the habit of a sort of hybrid method: I ladle
off as much of the whey as I have the patience for before I pour the curds and
whey that remains into the sieve. You
should use whatever method works best for you.
I should mention that not everyone adds salt to the
milk along with the acid. I suspect that
adding the salt at this point has an effect of some kind on the formation of
the curds. I don’t know if adding it at
this point is detrimental or not. What I
do know is that adding salt to taste to the finished cheese requires some
stirring of the curd—which I think can
have a detrimental effect. I have
noticed that stirring the finished curds can give them a sticky quality that I
find unpleasant.
When the cheese has drained to your liking, you may eat
it right away. And frankly, I dare you
not to. It is at this point that it is at its most sublime…mounded onto a toast
and topped with something tasty (marinated roasted peppers…balsamic roasted
fresh figs…). Or all by itself with
nothing but a drizzle of good olive oil, some flaky salt and freshly ground
pepper. It also makes a fantastic
addition to a meze platter. Anything
that might be left can be placed in the fridge and should last for about a week.
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| With crusty bread and melon for lunch.... |
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| With Zaalouk and olives as part of a Meze spread.... |
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| On bruschetta and topped with Marinated Roasted Sweet Peppers.... |
Homemade Fresh Cheese—"Ricotta"
This cheese is similar to—and can be
used as you would—ricotta. Most recipes
that you will find for "Homemade Ricotta" look pretty much like this
recipe—the type and amount of acid will vary from recipe to recipe...and
methods will vary slightly...but the process (and end product) is pretty much
the same. But none of these are really
ricotta. Ricotta is traditionally not
made from milk. It is made instead with
whey and is therefore a byproduct of the cheese making process (most often the
Pecorino making process). If I
understand the process correctly, you could make fresh ricotta at home. You just have to have access to a large
quantity of whey.
1 quart whole milk
1/2 c. heavy cream
A scant teaspoon of kosher
salt
3 to 4 T. fresh lemon juice
Pour the milk and cream (if
using) into a non-reactive saucepan.
Place over high heat and bring to just under a simmer (180° to 190°F),
stirring the mixture frequently with a rubber spatula and making sure to scrape
the whole pan bottom to prevent scorching.
Remove from the heat. Add the salt and 3 T. of lemon juice and stir—you
should almost immediately observe curds forming and separating from the
translucent whey. If this isn't
happening, gradually add more lemon juice until it does. Let the mixture sit undisturbed in a warm
place for 10 to 20 minutes.
While the mixture sits, line a wide sieve or colander with several layers of cheesecloth and place over a deep bowl, or directly over the sink.
Working from the side of the pan, push aside some of the curd and gently ladle the whey into the prepared cheesecloth. Try not to break up the curds too much as you work. When you have removed as much of the whey as you can without pulverizing the curd, pour the remaining contents of the pan into the sieve. Lift the sides of the cloth once or twice to help the liquid drain. Don’t press on the curds. Let the curds drain for 15 to 60 minutes, depending on how dry you want your cheese to be. (I like to drain for 15 minutes and serve the cheese right away while it is still soft and warm. Draining it longer will produced something with a texture like cream cheese. No matter how long you drain it, it will firm up considerably upon chilling. For this reason, I always save some of the whey to add back in if the chilled cheese is too firm.) Taste and correct the salt. The cheese will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Makes 1 1/2 cups. Less if it drains longer than 15 minutes.
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| On crostini and topped with Slow-Cooked Zucchini.... |
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