CHEESE!

First of all.  Just to be honest, I am lactose intolerant.  Which means, I can't digest milk.  However, the harder the cheese, the more lactose has been squeezed out of it as the whey is siphoned off from the curds.  Cheese making is basically the way water, lactose, and all those other minerals in milk are removed form said milk to produce a concentrate of protein and fat. 

Here is an elementary description of the chemistry of cheese.  I hope you appreciate it dear Watsons.  

1. The milk is heated, and the rennet and the bacteria sort of curdle the milk, separating the curd and whey
2. The whey is drained, and the curds are stretched and pressed.
3. The more the whey is let go--the less lactose there is in the milk 
4. Ta Da!

Whey.  

So I'm telling you that I don't eat milk, because this cheese was good enough that even I ate it.  Granted, it was mozzarella so I did have quite the stomach ache after, but I won't bore you with the details.  

Stretching the mozzarella! 

I had one of my best friends over to help me with this process, I wasn't about to attempt this alone.  Heaven knows that the first time something is tried in the kitchen, it's good to have backup.  I don't even want to tell the story of the exploding potatoes!  Who knew you had to fork them first?  That was a stressful night.  And I couldn't even drink!  

But I digress.  It's a bad habit.  I'm trying to quit.  Anyway, my friend came over and we went to Mom's Organic to buy local, non-pasteurized milk.  We couldn't find any.  Apparently that's not allowed.  So we got only so-so pasteurized.  It worked fine!  I've never seen milk that has the fat separated.  It wasn't completely emulsified.  Needless to say, we didn't drink it.    

The whole process was very cool!  We used a big pot!  The curds were squeezy and the final flavor was slightly salty and creamy.  The stretching was my favorite part though.  We got it about half the length of our kitchen!  

The cheese keeps really nicely, and though the flavor is supposed to ripen with age... We didn't get that far!  The best part was, besides the stretching of course, that the milk was local.  We proved in an afternoon that easy thirty-minute mozzarella is completely within the grasp of the local suburbian kid.  Seriously folks, it's doable!  Heck, it's even fun!   

Mozzarella in 30 Minutes 

courtesy of the New England Cheesemaking Company 

The Milk:Make sure the milk you use for this cheese is NOT ULTRA- PASTEURIZED --Homogenized milk will work fine. --Fresh farm milk will also work well but we encourage you to try with1 gallon of store bought whole milk first. --Low fat milk will work but the cheese will be drier and less flavorfulYou will need: --A 6 to 8 quart stainless steel pot. Aluminum or cast iron will not work. --A stainless steel or strong plastic slotted spoon. --A two quart microwave safe mixing bowl --measuring spoons --A thermometer which will clearly read between 80 - 120 degrees F. Prepare your work area:Do not prepare any other food while you are making cheese. Put all food products away. Move all sponges, cloths and dirty towels away from your work surface, wipe your sink and stove with soap and water. Finally use your antibacterial cleaner to wipe down all surfaces. Process: Crush 1/4 tablet of rennet and dissolve in 1/4 cup of cool,  unchlorinated water and set aside to use later. Add 1.5 tsp. of citric acid, diluted in 1 cup cool water, to  1 gallon of cold milk and stir well. (Add the citric acid solution to the empty cold pot - the photos show adding this dry but do mix with water).

Now, pour cold milk into your potquite quickly to mix well with the citric acid . This will bring the milk to the proper acidity to stretch well later. Next, heat this milk to 90F. As you approach 90F, you may notice your milk beginning to curdle slightly due to acidity and temp.NOTE: If having problems with milk forming a proper curd, you may need to increase this temp to 95 or even 100F At 90F,  remove the pot from the burner and slowly add your rennet(which you prepared in previous step) to the milk. Stir in a top to bottom motion for approx. 30 seconds, then stop.  Cover the pot and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes. Check the curd, it will look like custard, with a clear separation between the curds and whey. If too soft or the whey is milky, let set for a few more minutes. Cut the curds into a 1" checkerboard pattern (as in photos above) and, if a drier  cheese is desired, carefully cut and stir this curd to release more whey. Place the pot back on the stove and heat to 105F, while slowly stirring the curds with your ladle.  (If you will be stretching the curds in a hot water bath heat to 110F in this step.)Take off the burner and continue slowly stirring for 2-5 minutes.(More time will make a firmer cheese) With a slotted spoon, scoop curdsinto a microwave safe bowl. (If the curd is too soft at this point let sit for another minute or so.)You will now press this curd gently with your hand, pouring off as much whey as possible. Reserve this whey to use in cooking.

Next, microwave the curd on HI for 1 minute. You will notice more whey has run out of the curd. Drain off all whey as you did before.Quickly work the cheese with a spoon or your hands until it is cool enough to touch (rubber gloves will help since the cheese is almost too hot to touch at this point.) Microwave 2 more times for 35 seconds each, and repeat the kneading as in the last step. Drain off all of the whey as you go. Knead quickly now as you would bread dough until it is smooth and shiny. Add salt near the finish. At this point the cheese should be soft and pliable enough to stretch like taffy. It is ready to eat when it cools. Form it into a ball and drop into ice water to cool and refrigerate. When cold you can wrap in plastic wrap and it will last for several days, but is best when eaten fresh. Option: --A substitution of reconstituted dry milk powder and cream is a great option if you can not find the right type of milk --Lipase may be added to the milk to provide a typical italian cheese flavor --If you want a softer texture, do not let the curd set as firm and work less when draining and kneading, this will make a moister cheese.

And it went CRUNCH!

Crunch was the sound the kale went.  Normally kale doesn't crunch, and any true Greeny could tell you that.  The leaves are almost feathery on the stalk, floating lightly up and down in the breeze like kelp.  Maybe there's some etymological shared ancestry... 

Digression over!  The point is that these lovely floaty greens went through quite a transformation.  From the garden to the plate, I might add.  We also got these lovely stalks from our CSA at Bull Run Mountain.  And let me tell you, they were quite delicious.  

There are only so many things one can do with greens.  Especially when leaves of all sorts are pouring in from all over; the backyard, the farmer's market, and the CSA of course.  When it grows it grows!  What can you do?  That was rhetorical by the way, I don't want to see any of you going to the grocery store and getting kale in December.  

I stumbled across this recipe last spring when we were sick of eating sautéed greens.  My lovely auntie came up with this idea.  She's all about roasting and for a good reason! It's delicious!  We started out using much to much olive oil, it really doesn't take that much!  Just enough to give each leaf a slight coating.  Sprinkle with some salt and pepper-and the deep flavor of the kale does the rest.  They're healthy, easy, and a good way to get rid of bulk greens, these kale chips! 

The deliciousness stems (no pun intended) from the earth.  Literally.  Kale, just like grapes and wine, absorbs the nutrients and minerals from its growth place, and creates a flavor that is all at once nutty and juicy.  It's almost wrong for a vegetable (which are good for you by the way, it's true kids) to taste so good.  And when it's made crunchy and salty?  Watch out Lays, do I have a contender for you!  Fresh out of the garden with about a zillion fewer calories! 

Kale Chips

adapted from Debbi Pierce

However much kale you want, I usually use about a pound

However much olive oil you want on your kale--2-3 tablespoons 

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Tear the leaves off the stalks, and place in a bowl. 

Mix the oil and salt and pepper into the chips, rubbing it on the leaves

Place on tray and stick it in the oven for 15 minutes

Garlic Scape Pesto

It was like snakes in the kitchen.  My mother and I had just gone to our CSA (community supported agriculture, not confederate states of america) and brought home the normal late-spring fare.  That is to say, various leafy greens, some herbs, and garlic scapes.  You heard me.  Garlic scapes.  The word scape doesn't even register in word, it's underlined with a red dotted line, which was pretty much how it registered in my mind too.  Scape?  What is this nonsense?  How am I supposed to cook a meal with a scape? It did lead to some amusing puns, but I'll spare your brain cells.

So, what exactly is a scape?  Tis this.  

A long smooth snakelike piece of vegetation that starts with a dense, straight side and ends with a lighter curved side culminating in a small white bulb.  It was actually quite pretty, the first one I pulled out, and if they didn't smell quite so garlicky, I might have used them for decoration.  Alas, one whiff and the vampires wouldn't come over for tea.  Nor would the neighbors.  So I was once again stuck with the task of imagination.  It's really not as easy as Walt Disney makes it look.  

So it was, not without pleasure, that I took to the cookbooks.  And eventually the inter-web.  Sigh.  I don't like being failed by cookbooks, but apparently scapes are foreign to many cooks.  Oh well.  I do like a chase.  

I didn't have to look for long though, there were several delectable recipes for scapes that arose at my googling.  One of these outstripped the rest of its kind by a mile.  Garlic Scape Pesto.  

Look, I can spell! In more ways than one!

I love pesto.  It's been a staple in our house since, well, before I can remember, as my parents did have a life before I was born.  I know, I was shocked to discover that too.  We've always grown basil, enough that when you take a leaf and wrap it in a cherry tomato in the garden, no one cares if it doesn't make it to the table.  

Our basil looks really good this year.  

The stuff from our CSA s delightful as well, but there is something magical about plucking the leaves growing out of one's own backyard for consumption.  We like to grow a lot, and I mean a lot, of basil, then we purchase some more from our CSA or the farmer's market, to make batches of pesto in the summer to freeze for the winter.  Trust me, there is nothing better than the hearty, bitter-sweet flavor of a ripe basil in the winter when everything north of the Mason-Dixon line is covered in snow.  Pesto, fortunately, freezes really well.  Just don't eat it before it makes it to the freezer, and remember to label it!  

Garlic Scape Pesto

adapted from the garlic farm

First, cut off and discard the knobby seed-pod from each scape.

Then cut the scapes into 1/2-inch pieces.

 Rinse the scapes in cold water; drain in a colander.

Place chopped greens and a half-cup of slivered almonds into the bowl of your food processor. 

 Process for 30 seconds or so, or until a fairly smooth texture is achieved.

Scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

With the machine running, slowly add three-quarters cup of extra virgin olive oil. Process for about 15 seconds.

 Then add a quarter- cup grated Parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt, a few grinds of black pepper, and process for another 5 seconds or so. Taste carefully — you might want to add more salt and/or pepper. And that’s it — you’re done!

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