Tuesday, September 7, 2010

This Cheese Stands Alone


In the hills of Hollywood, nothing says labor like a little Labor Day cheese-making. That's right, kids: Mr. Wonderful and I attempted to make cheese this weekend. It could have been the delicious buffalo mozzarella we shared with two of our favorite friends, Foodie and her sister Mrs. Preggerington, Saturday night. We joined these lovely ladies at their beach house and had a make-your-own-pizza night. Mr. W and Foodie exchanged some fighting words about which preparation methods were correct. And although Mr. W pulled the "I used to work in a pizzeria" card, I think Foodie may have turned out to be the better dough spreader.



But back to the cheese. So yes, likely in an effort to dazzle me, Mr. W purchased a cheese-making kit online. Its packaging sung an alluring story about how you could create everything from ricotta to cheddar to Parmesan, but we settled on mozzarella because it was one of the faster recipes. As you can see, Mr. W worked diligently, heating the milk to just the right temperature—first on the stove and then in a hot water bath.



I drank wine and watched carefully over his shoulder. There is only one domestic goddess in this relationship. And he really prefers to be called "Kitchen Boy." Or "Cookie McHotpants."



The whole process was WAY more complicated than either of us realized. And we didn't even have the citric acid or whatever sort of crazy curdling element you need whence making cheese—so we had to use lemon juice. And we sort of guessed on the amount to add... Nice curds, huh?



Because I was drinking wine (a delightful Caymus Cabernet, btw) the details of Mr. W's endeavors aren't totally crystal clear to me. I tried to document the process, but looking at the pictures now I'm not exactly sure what's happening. I think we put the curds back in the whey (above) and then like squished them together while also trying to stretch them out. Except they wouldn't really stretch...



So in the end we had mozzarella balls that you could pretty much bounce on the floor. They tasted okay...sort of like solidified whole milk. I don't know how real cheese-makers produce that cheesy flavor, but Mr. W and I certainly didn't do it. We may give this process another whirl to see if we can get it right with whatever that creepy acid ingredient is...or we may just keep hitting the refrigerator section of Trader Joe's.

11 comments:

LesleyG said...

Of all the things to attempt to make that people don't usually attempt to make, I am impressed you all chose cheese. Well done! It is my favorite food group, apart from wine.

Bretthead said...

Once the chef starts wearing yellow rubber gloves, it is time for Plan B.

Sizzle said...

As much as I love cheese and attempting to make things from scratch, I'm more likely to just hit TJs for cheese than make it. I admire your endeavor!

Melissa Maris said...

Lesley - We must have the EXACT same tastebuds. :) You should only be impressed by people who can actually make cheese - not just by those who attempt it!

WowTWA - He had to wear the gloves because he was dunking his hands into burning hot water. It was weird that he wasn't wearing pants, though... :P

Sizzle - Yeah I think we'll be doing that from here on out. Unless we have too much Cab again and decide it's a good idea to try our hands in the kitchen.

mom said...

Perhaps having a goat will help! That would be for
"goat cheese"!

Mandy_Fish said...

Cookie McHotPants.

*Snicker*

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

When Sweets and I went to Wisconsin a few years ago, we took a tour of a cheese-making facility. It was really cool, especially the part where THEY make the stuff and WE eat it. =) Mr. W sure is dedicated ...

Melissa Maris said...

Mom - Yes, we're planning to make goat cheese whenever we get the goat. And maybe eventually, we'll graduate to a cow.

Mandy - Isn't that what you call your hubby? :P

Nilsa - I'm so jealous! I went to the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont - but I'd like a cheese factory so much more!

Danielle said...

With enough wine, I bet that was some tastey cheese.

Anonymous said...

This post is really about showing off how awesome that kitchen is, isn't it? ;)

blakspring said...

that seems like a lot of work for some bouncy cheese. i am not mentioning this to ron russo - he LOVES cheese but i could see this ending in disaster in our kitchen.