Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

Yes, I've been delinquent in posting new things. I've been busy with my recent marriage and all that comes with that, and it is hard to keep up with posting new articles.

HOWEVER....I learned something new, and it is really exciting. I learned how to make mozzarella cheese. There is a quick way, and a longer but better way. For now I will tell you about the quick way, since I have not ventured into the longer method.

There are a few things you will need that are usually not easily found in local stores.



One is rennet, this is what forms milk into curds. Another thing is Citric Acid. You can find this sometimes in the canning section of many stores; it is used also in canning tomatoes to keep their color and flavor.


The site that I buy my cheesemaking supplies is http://www.cheesemaking.com/ Ricki Carroll is an old hand at this, and has a good inventory of cheesemaking supplies. None of these ingredients are expensive.

Pour a gallon of whole milk into a large pot, from what I have read skim milk is NOT good for mozzarella. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Calcium Chloride (CaCl) into a quarter to a half cup of water, and mix THOROUGHLY. Then mix the water/CaCl solution into the pot. I was advised to use non-chlorinated water for mixing the ingredients, so I keep a gallon of bottled water handy just for cheese making. You can also let tap water sit for 24 hours to dechlorinate it. I don't really know at this point whether non-chlorinated water is that important or not. Since I am fairly new to this, I do what I am told.

Turn the heat to a low setting. My electric stove goes from 1 to 9 and I warm the milk at about 2 to 2.2. I could probably go higher but I'm a rookie and I'm scared!.



When the milk reaches 55 degrees F, add 1.5 teaspoons of Citric Acid, again mixing it into a quarter cup or so of water before adding to the milk. Stir it gently but well, and continue slowly heating.

It will start to look like Ricotta cheese.



When the milk reaches 88 degrees F, it's time to add 1/4 teaspoon of liquid rennet. Again, it is mixed with 1/4 cup water before adding.



Stir the milk with an up and down motion for one minute after adding the rennet. Continue heating the milk until it reaches 100 to 105 degrees. After adding the rennet you want to avoid bumping or moving the pot. Disturbing the pot can prevent a good curd from forming.



Turn off the heat but let it sit for about 20 minutes. The curd should start to separate from the side of the pot.



Using a large spoon (I found my pasta spoon worked wll) scoop out the curd from the pot and place into a large microwaveable bowl. I've heard the leftover whey (the liquid remaining) is great feed for chickens, hogs, etc, but I don't have any critters like that.

Press the curd down with your hand to remove excess liquid. Now place the bowl in your microwave oven on high for one minute. My microwave is fairly strong so you might want to add a little time to yours, depending on your microwave.



Since the cheese gets fairly hot, I put heavy duty kitchen gloves on at this point, and press the cheese with my hand to drain even more liquid from it. Wash your gloves before using, just like you do with your hands!



Drain off all of the excess whey that you can. Fold the cheese over and over in your hand to distribute the heat throughout the cheese.

Microwave 2 more times for 35 seconds each time. Each time you heat it knead the cheese again to distribute the heat. Knead it quickly until it is smooth and elastic like taffy.



When it feels like taffy, it is done! If the cheese breaks instead of stretching the cheese is too cold and needs reheated.

Mozzarella is best eaten fresh; roll it into small balls for fresh eating. However, it's not always practical to eat it right away. If you are making it for eating at a later time, you can form it into a loaf, a ball, or once I made 3 ropes out of the cheese and braided it (it looks really cool that way.) Then you want to place the cheese into a bowl of ice water for about a half hour to cool it rapidly. Now you can store it covered in the refrigerator.

Here's a idea I came up with, and it REALLY tastes good. When the finished cheese is still warm, shiny, smooth and like taffy, roll it out onto your counter with a rolling pin. Roll it into a rectangular shape about 12-16 inches long and 8-10 inches wide.



Now place just about anything you would like on it. In this batch I used fresh basil that I broke up into small pieces, and chopped black olives. A good prosciutto would be nice, I am going to try that sometime.





Now roll it up like a jelly roll



Place the cheese in plastic, wax paper or in a closed container until it cools and stiffens somewhat. Then slice across the roll to make small slices about a half inch thick, and eat.



Tonight I went to a dinner party where I made bruschetta and it turned out GREAT! I used this recipe for the bread. I cut the bread into about 1/2 inch slices. Then I made a batch of mozzarella and formed it into a loaf/roll about 2 inches in diameter.

When the cheese cooled I cut slices that were about 1/4 inch thick. I baked the plain bread for just a few minutes in a 350 degree oven (not broiler) to make it more crisp, then placed 2 slices of the mozzarella on each slice of the bread. I topped all that with a mixture of finely chopped tomatoes, smashed and chopped garlic, chopped fresh basil, grated Parmesan cheese and a quick splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I then baked it for a couple more minutes until the cheese was starting to melt and the edges of the bread just started to brown a little bit. Be sure to watch the bruschetta in the oven closely while it is baking. It doesn't take long and it would be easy to set off smoke detectors instead of eating a good bruschetta.

It was SO good, it disappeared quickly! I will have to make another batch for us to eat at home.

Mmmm....lotsa mozza!

Smoked Beef Tenderloin

This is another idea sparked by a meat sale at a local grocery. I found some whole beef tenderloins marked down 40%. I wanted to buy all 7 of them, but that would have been about $300.00, so I settled for one. I've been using my new smoker a lot lately and figured 'why not smoke it?'.

It was about 5.5 lbs, so I cut it in half (there are only 2 of us here now.) The seasoning that I placed on the outside of it was only freshly-cracked pepper and salt. Then into a low-heat, heavy smoke for a few hours.





Just for kicks and giggles I smoked some jalapeno peppers while I had the smoker going. I smoked those for a lot longer time, then finished drying those in the oven on a very low setting. Then I ran them through my food processor for smoked jalapeno powder.

After the tenderloin smoked for about 3 hours, I placed it on a very hot grill and charred it for about 5 minutes or so on each side



It came out a perfect medium-rare. It looked so good it seemed like a crime to eat it!



I risked imprisonment and ate it anyway. Oh my goodness gracious, it was one of the best pieces of meat I had ever eaten! It was so tender I could have cut it with a dull butter knife. The outside was charred perfectly and gave it a fantastic flavor.

I had some left over, so after it cooled in the fridge overnight I ran it through my meat slicer. I have plans to flash fry it quickly with some portabellas that I just bought, unless I come up with a better idea.

I am going to keep my eyes peeled for another whole beef tenderloin!

Canadian bacon

I've made Canadian bacon a couple of times and it has really turned out well. It tastes good with a lot of things, but my son's favorite is homemade "Egg McMuffins"; a muffin, egg, a good cheese and a slice or two of this Canadian bacon. Use a pork loin, not a pork tenderloin. Mine was 5-6 lbs. In a nutshell the loin is cured in the refrigerator for 5 or 6 days, then it is smoked for a few hours.

My brine is usually something like the following. It varies a little, depending on what I feel like adding to it at the time.

Water to cover the meat, usually about a gallon, depending on the container you are curing it in.
For every gallon of water use:

- 2 Tablespoon of Instacure #1 (Prague Powder) for every half gallon of water.  Some recipes call for more Instacure, I tend to go lighter on it.  - OR use the appropriate amount of Morton's Tender Quick. I don't know the conversion factor, since Tender Quick has the salt and the curing salt combined.
- 4 Tablespoons of canning salt.
- 5 to 10 (depending on your taste, I use 10) smashed garlic cloves. Take a wide-bladed knife turned sideways or something similar and smash the garlic on your counter, but not so hard that it flies into pieces. This releases the garlic oils and taste.
- About a Tablespoon or so of onion flakes.
- 1/4 cup or so of sugar, preferably brown sugar.

Some optionals; be creative, there are a lot more options than these:
- 2 or 3 FRESH bay leaves. If you don't have a bay tree growing in a container, get one! Once you've had fresh bay you will never go back.
- a teaspoon of fresh-cracked pepper.
- a Tablespoon, or more, or less, depending on you, of a hot-pepper powder. If I add pepper I use dried jalapeno powder because I dry my own jalapenos.

Put the meat into a bowl/pot large enough to hold it, covered with the brine. It looks awful in this picture but that is because the water has spices and such in it. The piece of meat in the middle is the pork loin, the other smaller pieces were something else I was working on at the same time:


Place something on top of the meat to hold it under the surface of the brine. I usually use a small plate with a mug full of water to weigh it down. Keep it in the refrigerator for 5 or 6 days.
When the loin is done curing, pour out the liquid and replace with clean water. Let the meat soak in the water for about an hour, and change the water 2-3 times. This will remove some of the saltiness. You can get creative with your rub at this point, but I covered this one only in fresh-cracked pepper. I ran out of pepper, and usually cover the meat a lot more than this:


Next I place it on my smoker.


I have a small smoker and it is hard to regulate a good cooking temperature, so first I smoke it at a low to medium smoker heat for about 3 hours. I like to get it to a safe heat of 160 degrees, and I don't want to dry it out, so I finish it up in the kitchen oven. I wrap the loin in heavy duty aluminum foil and pour in a small amount of water.
At 350 degrees I think it took an hour or two to get it to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, checked with a meat thermometer.

After the loin has reached 160 degrees, I remove it and let it rest for about 30 minutes.


Next simply slice it up. I usually slice it about 1/8th to 1/4th of an inch, but the thickness is up to you.


I usually store half of it vacuum-packed in the freezer, it seems to stand up to freezing well. However, there is nothing like a fresh piece!

Homemade Yogurt

Growing great bacteria in the kitchen, or, How to make your own yogurt at home.

This was easy, and it turned out good. You can buy a fancy yogurt incubator but I just used my crockpot to incubate it. I started with a half gallon of store-bought, whole milk. So you will need:

1. Milk, low fat or whole (not nonfat)
2. About 1/4 cup of yogurt that has active cultures (I used Dannon Plain Yogurt) for every quart of milk used.
3. (Optional, for thick yogurt) Unflavored gelatin, about 1/4 oz package per quart of milk.
4. A food thermometer that can measure between 100 and 180F.
5. A stainless steel stockpot, and a crockpot.
6. Two or three large, thick towels
7. Fruit and/or flavorings of your choice


Using a stainless steel, thick-bottomed pot, I heated the milk to 180 degrees and held it at that temperature for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. This kills the unwanted bacteria in the milk. Then I removed it from the heat to cool.
I turned on my empty crockpot for about 5 minutes on LOW. When the milk cooled to about 100 to 115 degrees (no higher than 115, this will kill the good bacteria in the yogurt.) I poured the milk into the crockpot.
This is when you add your yogurt starter. For every quart of milk, add a 1/4 cup of active-culture yogurt. Mix the yogurt with an equal size amount of the warm milk and stir it together before stirring in to the crockpot.
At this point (after the high heat) you can flavor with fruit, sweetener, anything you want. For my half gallon of milk I used a couple teaspoons of vanilla and a half cup of sugar dissolved in a small amount of hot tap water.
Also at this point is where you want to add your gelatin. I experimented and added a 1/4 oz package of unflavored gelatin for every quart of milk. I dissolved the gelatin in a small amount of hot tap water before stirring it into the milk. (Late note: after this sat for 24 hours I noticed it was very thick, so I might cut down to one packet the next time and see how that does.)
Then I put the lid on the crockpot and covered around the base and lid with the towels to try to maintain a good working temp of 100-115.
I left it overnight (because I started too late in the evening) and awoke to a crockpot full of yogurt!

Notes: I am experimenting now with the temperatures my crockpot heats liquid to, on the high and low settings. I hope to make my next batch in the crockpot only, and not use a separate stockpot to heat the milk.
I let this sit overnight without the crockpot on because of time. I read where, if you do this during the day, that you can turn your crockpot on LOW for about 5 minutes every hour to maintain a good heat of between 100-115. I’m sure more experimentation will help with this.



Coming soon: Mother of all vinegars!

Calzones and Pizza

(This is a little long to read, but is much easier to make. I guess I get a little too 'wordy' sometimes)

I made calzones tonight, and they were a hit with the boys and one of their friends. This is the same recipe I follow for pizza dough.

Dough, Ingredients
1 1/2 Cups - Warm Water (110° -115° F)
2 Tbsp. - Sugar
1 - 1/4 oz. Packet or 2 1/4 tsp. - Active Dry Yeast, (Fresh, not out-dated)
1 1/2 Tsp. - Salt
2 Tbsp. - Olive Oil
4 Cups - White, All Purpose Flour

Calzone Directions
Pour the warm water in a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar and package of yeast. Stir the mixture slowly until yeast and sugar are dissolved. Let sit to allow the mixture to "mature" for about ten minutes or so (this is important.) The mixture will begin to react; clouding and forming a foamy "head" on the surface of the mixture. Add the salt and olive oil and stir again to combine and dissolve the ingredients. Add 1 cup of flour and whisk in until dissolved, I use a KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook.) Add the second cup of flour and whisk it in. Add the 3rd cup of flour and combine. By now the dough mixture should be fairly thick. Add the last cup of flour, and if necessary, with your hands, begin to combine and knead the dough.
Remove the dough ball to a tabletop to knead it. You may need to add a dusting of flour from time to time to reduce the stickiness of the dough. Be patient, folding the dough ball in half and then quarters, over and over again for about 8 to 10 minutes, (or about 100 "cycles".) Kneading by hand is laborious, but very important. Better to over-knead than under-knead. You'll know you've done well when the ball no longer sticks to your hands. It will become a smoothly-textured ball slightly larger than a large grapefruit.
Coat the dough ball with a thin layer of olive oil, and place it in the bottom of a large mixing bowl which has also been coated on the inside with olive oil. Stretch a piece of kitchen film over the top of the bowl and set it in a warm place such an as unlit oven, (ambient temperature of 70°F to 80°F). Allow the dough to rise, undisturbed, for 60 to 75 minutes. The dough will have grown to at least twice its original size. Take the dough out of the bowl and cut in half with a knife. You now have two pizza dough balls, enough to make two (2) 12" deluxe pizzas. Take each raw dough portion and hand-mold them into balls. Press each dough ball flat to squeeze and release any air trapped inside. Form the portions back into balls, smoothing the outer surface and tucking each ball "into itself" from underneath, (like folding a sock into itself), before storing or going on with the next step.
If you wish to store the dough, by either freezing or refrigeration, you can place the dough balls in zip-lock bags. Squirt a little olive oil into each of the bags to keep the balls moist and pliable and to ease removal when ready for use. If you choose to freeze or refrigerate: the dough balls may continue to rise until they are substantially cooled down or frozen, which is OK as long as they don't break out of their bags. If they do, mold them back down into balls and re-bag them.

For calzones I use all of the dough, and cut the entire batch into eight equal pieces. Using a rolling pin, I roll out each piece into an oval about 8-10 inches long. Spread the filling longways into the middle of the oval-shaped dough, leaving a space on all sides, this space will be used to attach one side to the other when folding over.
For filling, use whatever you would like, whatever you like on pizza. Tonight I placed a line of pepperoni slices, small ham pieces, mozzarella cheese and pizza sauce (probably a couple of tablespoons.) Don't fill it too much or it will be hard to fold over and seal.
Lengthwise fold one side over the filling and to the other side of the dough. Press the rim of both pieces of dough together and slightly crimp it by rolling the edge over itself.
Place the calzones in a preheated 450 degree oven and bake for about 10 minutes, until nicely browned. I use a pizza stone for this type of baking. When using a stone, allow it to heat up in the oven for at least 15 minutes after the oven has heated up to 450 degrees. The stone is very hot, so be careful and use a spatula or other tool to avoid touching the stone.

Pizza hints
If you have a very large stone, at least 16" diameter, use the entire batch of dough. Otherwise use the dough to make 2 pizzas.
Spread the dough out in a circle but do not put any toppings on it yet. Place on pizza stone for about 6 or 7 minutes in the oven at 450 degrees. It's tricky to get pizza dough onto a hot stone, but here is a trick. I spread the dough out on a separate pizza pan that has been oiled well, then sprinkled with corn meal. The dough slides off easier this way.
After pre-baking the dough, then I add toppings. Top any way that you like, be imaginative!

Homemade Salami

I started a batch of this homemade salami last night.
First, I will admit that this is not the same as deli-bought hard salami. However, it is still pretty good. I've made this with venison and had good results with that also.

Homemade salami

Ingredients: 2 cups water
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
5 pounds freshly ground chuck (ground beef is ok too)
5 tablespoons Morton's Tender Quick

Instructions:

Combine water, liquid smoke, spices, and Tender Quick. Add beef and knead with hands, mixing well.

Divide meat into 3 rolls. Wrap each roll separately in heavy-duty foil. Meat will be soft and moist, so be sure to use heavy-duty foil. Wrap foil tightly closed down center and seal ends.

Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Using a fork, make holes through the foil on the bottom of each roll, about one inch apart.

Place rolls on the rack of a broiler pan with the hole pierced part on the underneath. Place hot water in the shallow pan of the broiler, underneath the rack.

Bake in center of oven at 325 degrees for 2 hours. Remove foil and set rolls on rack to drain and cool. Slice as desired. Cover and store in refrigerator for up to ten days, or freeze.

Corned Beef

I discovered how to make corned beef and really enjoy it now without having to pay $10-15 per lb. This takes 2-3 weeks to make but most of the time the meat is just sitting in a brine in the fridge. It's fairly easy though.

Buy at least a 5-6 lb brisket though I have used cheap roasts that I have found on sale. They all seem to work well.
Cut the beef into about 1.5 lb chunks. A 6 lb piece of beef will cut into 4 pieces and can be put into 4 freezer bags with brine added
Place each chunk into a gallon-sized freezer bag.
For the brine, start with a gallon of water. Add one cup of either canning salt of kosher salt.
To the brine add 3 tablespoons of Instacure (also known as pink salt, Prague powder) pickling salt, 8 smashed garlic cloves, and 8 bay leaves.**
Add the brine to the each of the freezer bags, equally distributing bay leaves and garlic. Remove as much air as you can when sealing the bags.
I double-bag each piece of meat, just in case one of them leaks. Or you can place all 4 bags in a large bowl in the fridge.
Place the bags in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. I hear 3 weeks is better than 2, but I usually run out of patience at the 2-week mark. Each day, squeeze the bags slightly and shake spices around to help work brine into the meat.
When you reach the 2 or 3 week mark, take meat out of the bags and rinse the meat well.

Cooking:

Place the meat into a large pot. You can be creative here, cooking it in just about anything you want to cook it in. I usually stick to this basic idea though. Add a bottle or two of any beer. Add a couple of smashed garlic cloves, two bay leaves, and freshly ground pepper. Again, be creative.
Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours, covered.

This is good served in Reuben sandwiches, corned beef hash or with potaotes, onions and cabbage, and many other recipes.

** Fresh bay leaves are SO much better than store bought. Buy a bay tree at your local nursery and grow them yourselves. Here in growing zone 5 I put mine in a container and have to bring it in during the winter.

MJ

Introduction

I have started this blog where I can relate my gardening, cooking and canning that I do here at the Junker Ranch(all .2 acres of it.) to you.
I started gardening about 1985 after I moved to central Ohio from Cincinnati Ohio. After starting a garden, I wanted to preserve my harvest. At first I was just freezing things, but got curious about how to do home canning. I learn while doing, so I asked my friend Chris B. to show me in person. She showed me how to pressure can beans in her home and I was off to the races. I quickly bought canning equipment for both water bath canning and pressure canning. I learned how to make jams and jellies, vegetable canning and fruit canning.
I moved into this house in 1996 and it is now a lot easier to do vegetable gardening and canning. I used to have to travel to a friend's property and bring the produce home. I have a 25 by 40 foot garden, and of course wished I had a lot more. The thought of a 5-10 acre piece of property for growing fruits, berries and veggies appeals to me quite a bit. Oh well. True contentment is being happy with what you have.
I hope to keep current with my cooking, canning and gardening activities with this blog even though we are in the advent of fall/winter. Stay tuned for recipes, hints and the activities that I am up to around here.
MJ/10-22-08