This is going to be a super cheesy post! You'll see ;) But totally amazing puns aside, I often question everything I buy at the store. Can I make this at home? Maybe I can just grow my own wheat or this or that! The thought of growing and cooking my own food is becoming quite a dangerous pastime for me. You might just see me owning a farm one day.
But for now—let's make cheese. Ummm yeaya!
I can't get enough of that Cheese in that shot above! Looks so good!
Every culture has their own version of cheese. It's aged, smoked, processed differently, but it's all CHEESE! And it's all good (well, mostly—I've tossed some yuuuuck stuff in my mouth), but mostly all good.
Growing up my mom used to make the Indian version at home — the Paneer and it is a non-aged and non-melting cheese. The taste of fresh cheese simmered in curry or just tossed in fresh salad, is amazing, and it soaks up anything you give it. In my opinion—it's the simplest form of cheese. But I decided to change it up a bit, and infuse it with herbs.
This can only get better!
Get ready to CHEEEESE things up! Here's how to make CHEEEESE!!
Fresh Home Made Herbed CHEEEESE!!
Ingredients
3/4 Gallon fresh whole milk
Juice of 2 Limes
1/2tsb salt
1 cup fresh chopped cilantro
Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy-bottom pan on gentle heat. It should take around 15 or 20 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally to make sure the milk doesn't stick to the bottom.
This watched pot did boil. Herbed CHEEEESE in the making.
Next, when the milk boils reduce the heat to very low and add the chopped Cilantro. Cook for 2 minutes to extract the flavors of cilantro. Then add the salt and stir to incorporate.
{That half lime is living dangerously!}
Milk, Cilantro and salt.
Finally add the juice of limes. In a matter of minutes the curds and the whey (the green-ish liquid) should separate. If not add more lime. Be careful though, to not add too much lime, as the CHEEEESE might pick up those flavors a bit too much.
Add the lime to the Milk.
Keep stirring, and soon after a few minutes, the Milk will break! Essentially, you have CHEEEESE!!
The Whey and the Curds separate and give way to Cheese! or Paneer.
Let this mix cool down a bit. Once cool line a big sieve/strainer/colander with some cheese cloth or layers of thick paper towel and drain the whey. You have CHEEEESE! Now let this setup sit for an hour or so to make sure the water drips out. Some people go overnight!
Fresh Cheese with Cilantro!
But then I found my cheese cloth! And I transferred this mix into the cloth and hung for half an hour, and intermittently kept squeezing with all my might to get all the water out. It worked! My mom wouldn't let me touch it, but she wasn't here to slap my hand. Yaasss!
Up top! Cheese hanging to dry out.
Finally, once this is done, take the CHEEEESE and let it set in any container for the desired shape, or cool a bit and layer it on top of Crostinis with some CHEEEESE and diced tomatoes and Olive oil, or some Olives and Cucumbers. It is heavenly!
Cilantro infused Home Made Cheese.
The flavors of this home made CHEEEESE are amazing. Soft and crumbly and infused with fresh Cilantro all the way. It's refreshing, versatile and a total crowd-pleaser. Just bring it, and totally be the hero of that party.
Fresh Cilantro Paneer
Well, there we have it! CHEEEEESE! We made some Cheese guys! How cool is that?! It's healthy, fresh and delicious, and it gets done in no time! You've got to try it! Say CHEEEESE!