Author: looper

Prep the cucumber. In a food processor, grate the cucumbers. Toss with 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Transfer to a fine mesh strainer over a deep bowl to drain. Spoon the grated cucumber into a cheese cloth or a double thickness napkin and squeeze dry. Set aside briefly.

In one large mixing bowl, place the garlic with remaining 1/2 tsp salt, white vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine. Add the grated cucumber to the large bowl with the garlic mixture. Stir in the yogurt and white pepper. Combine thoroughly. Cover tightly and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

When ready to serve, stir the tzatziki sauce to refresh and transfer to serving bowl, drizzle with more extra virgin olive oil, if you like. Add a side of warm pita bread and your favorite vegetables.

Heat 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil until shimmering but not smoking. Add onions, carrots and garlic. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring regularly. Add spices and bay leaves. Cook for a few seconds till fragrant, keep stirring so spices don’t burn.

Add crushed tomatoes, broth, lentils. Season with kosher salt. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until lentils are fully cooked.

Remove from heat. If you have the time, let soup cool a bit before using an immersion blender to puree. Pulse a few times till you reach the creamy consistency you are looking for.

Return soup to heat, and stir to warm through. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and fresh parsley.

Transfer soup to serving bowls and top with extra virgin olive oil. If you like, top each bowl with a generous sprinkle of feta cheese. Serve with your favorite crusty bread!

Place ingredients in bottom of crock with cucumbers.

Pour mixture (water, vinegar, salt) over cucumbers.

Throw in a few more pieces of dill.

Submerge pickles under water by placing a plate on top weighed down by a jar of water.

When a film appears, just skim it off.

Try tasting smaller pickles after 5 days.

Place the peeled garlic cloves into a wide-mouth pint sized mason jar. Add enough honey to completely cover the garlic cloves. Make sure they are coated with honey.

Place the lid on the jar loosely, then tuck into a dark place.

Every day or so, tighten the lid on the jar and flip it upside down to coat the garlic cloves with honey. Loosen the lid again when you return it to the upright position.

Within a few days to a week, you should see small bubbles start to form on the surface of the honey.

The honey garlic will ferment for about a month, but you can eat it at any time. The flavor will continue to develop over time, the garlic will mellow, and the honey will become much runnier.

Store in a cool place for many months or even a year, if not longer.

Place radishes in a hot, sterilised 1-pint jar. Bring vinegar, sugar, water, salt, spices and bay leaf to a boil in an enameled saucepan

Ladle hot pickling liquid over radishes. Wipe jar rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band, and adjust to fingertip-tight. Let cool on a wire rack ( about 1 hour). Chill 6 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator up to 4 months.

Heat Milk Pour milk and Cream into pot and heat to 86°F (30°C) on a stove top or in a sink surrounded by very warm water. If using a stove, stir the milk while it heats slowly.

Calcium Chloride As milk heats add 1⁄4 tsp Calcium Chloride to 1⁄4 cup water. Mix it into the milk.

Culture When milk is 86°F (30°C), sprinkle 1 packet C21 of buttermilk culture onto the milk surface. Let it sit 2 minutes to re–hydrate, then mix it in.

Rennet Remove the pot from the stove-top or sink and place it in a location where it won’t be disturbed. Add 4 drops of single-strength liquid rennet to 1⁄4 cup non-chlorinated water. Mix it into the milk with an up-and-down motion for 1 minute. Note for Rennet: If the curd is really weak, you can double the amount of rennet next time.

Ripening Place a lid or clean towel over the pot. Let the milk sit quietly for 12–24 hours. It’s ok if the temperature drops to 68–72°F (20-22°C). The ripening will be done when you notice a small pooling of whey (liquid) 2–3 inches in size. You may also see the curd mass (solids) pull slightly away from the sides of the pot.

Draining: Part One Using a slotted spoon, gently transfer the curds into a colander lined with two layers of butter muslin. Let it drain for 1–2 hours in the colander to release the whey.

Draining: Part Two Gather all four corners of the butter muslin, tie them off with a string, and hang above a bowl, pot, or sink for an additional 10–20 hours. The room temperature should be around 68–74°F (20-23°C) while the curds are draining.

Optional: To encourage drainage, occasionally (every 3–4 hours) untie and open the muslin, scrape the curds away from sides and mix together. Add 1 tsp. of salt at the last mixing to encourage the final whey to release.

Note for Draining: The final time will depend on your preference for texture. The longer it drains, the drier and stiffer (less spreadable) the final cheese. If you find your cream cheese has too much moisture, simply drain it a bit longer. A warmer room temperature will drain moisture more quickly. Also, cheese with a higher fat content will drain more slowly.

Finishing the Cream Cheese When the cheese has reached the desired consistency, transfer it into a bowl and blend well with a spoon for a nicely uniform cheese. This is also the time to add in herbs, chopped vegetables, olives, fruit, and nuts—the options are endless.

Storing Fresh Cream Cheese can be stored in a refrigerator for 8–10 days, if not longer, although it tends to be gobbled up well before then.

Heat Milk Pour milk into the pot and heat it to 86°F (30°C) on a stove top or in a sink surrounded by warm water. If using a stove, be sure to stir the milk while it heats slowly.

Culture When the milk reaches 86°F (30°C) sprinkle 1 packet of C20 Fromage Blanc culture onto the milk surface. Let it sit for 2 minutes to re–hydrate, then mix it in.

Let Sit Let the milk sit undisturbed for 12–24 hours while the culture works to produce acid and the curds coagulate. During this time the temperature can be allowed to drop down to 68-72°F (20-22°C). The curd is done when a thin layer of whey appears on the surface and the curd pulls away from the sides.

Note: The actual amount of time is largely dependent on the milk you use and how firm you want your Quark to become. As in all good things, the best Quark for you is based on what tastes good to you.

Cut Curds Using a curd knife, cut lines through your curd to create a checker board pattern. These cuts allow the whey to be expelled more easily.

Draining: Part One Transfer the curds into a colander lined with butter muslin. Using a slotted spoon usually works best.

Draining: Part Two Grab the 4 corners of the muslin, bring them together, and tie them to form a draining bag. Open the bag at intervals to scrape curds from the cloth to the center for better draining. Then suspended the bag from a hook or even from your faucet to drain. Make sure you have a pot or bowl to capture the draining whey. Drain for 12–24 hours at 68–72°F (20-22°C). The longer it drains the dryer the cheese.

Chilling Your Quark is now ready for the table or to be refrigerated for up to a week to 10 days.

Optional: For a richer cheese, you can mix in a bit of cream to the finished Quark. Or you can whip the moister cheese to form a smooth texture.

Warm the milk up to 32°C or 90 degrees Fahrenheit

Add the bacterial cultures and stir thoroughly.

Cover the milk and leave it to ripen for about 45 minutes.

Add the diluted Rennet and leave it to set for an additional 45 minutes to 1 hour or until you have a clean break.

Afterward, carefully cut the curd into equal 3cm cubes and leave the curds to rest for 10 minutes.

Carefully stir the curds with a whisk to cut the curd once more.

Your curd should result in pieces that are slightly larger than grains of rice.

Slowly heat the curds until the temperature reaches 46°C or 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

This should take between 30 to 45 minutes to attain the temperature. Be careful to slowly raise the temperature. A longer scalding period results in a drier cheese while a shorter period should give you a more moist cheese.

Gently stir the curds regularly at about every 5 minutes during the scalding period.

Once the optimal temperature is reached, leave the curds to settle for 10 minutes.

Drain off the whey up to the level of the curds.

Scoop up the curds to one side of your pot or container and place approximately 5kg or 10lbs of weight directly onto the curds. I used a large plate and 1 x barbell weight to do this pre-press.

Leave them for 15 minutes then pour out all remaining whey.

Immediately move the curds onto a cloth-lined mold while being careful and gentle so as not to break them.

Press the curd at 10kgs or 25lbs for an hour. If you used different measurements work out your pressing pressure here.

Remove, flip then redress. Press again at 15kg or 35lbs for an additional 2 hours.

Remove, flip and redress then press again at 20kg or 50lbs for 8 hours. You can also leave them overnight.

Remove and unwrap the cheese.

Soak the cheese in saturated brine for 12 hours and make sure you turn over the cheese every 3 hours to ensure even coverage.

Remove and pat the cheese dry.

Air dry it at 10°C for 2 weeks or until you notice it is obviously dry on the surface.

Rub salt on the cheese and afterwards transfer it to your cheese cave.

Wash the cheese with brine about 3 to 4 times a week for the first 2 to 3 months to manage the growth of molds.

Heat the milk to 87°F. Add the thermophilic culture and lipase, and stir well. Cover and allow to ferment for 45 minutes.

Check temperature and make sure milk is no warmer than 90°F. Stir to homogenize the milk, and slowly incorporate the diluted rennet using an up-and-down motion with your spoon to ensure that the rennet works its way through all the milk, so you can get the highest possible yield.

Allow the cheese to set for 30 to 45 minutes at 90°F, or until the whey begins to separate from the curd. You should see a layer of mostly clear whey floating on top of the curd, and the curd should be pulling away from the sides of your pot. If you use lipase, this may take a little longer.

Using a long knife, cut the curds into 1/4-inch cubes.

Stir the curd with a whisk, slicing it into small pieces. The pieces should all be roughly the same size.

Over the next 25 minutes, slowly heat the curds to 100°F, stirring frequently with your wooden spoon. As you stir, the curds will shrink.

Slowly heat the curds to 125°F, stirring to prevent matting. The curds should be small, and if you bite one it should squeak in your teeth. When they have reached 125°F, turn off the heat and allow the curds to rest for 5 minutes.

Pour the curds into a press lined with cheesecloth, and press at 5 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes.

Using a fresh piece of cheesecloth, flip the cheese and press, again, at 10 pounds of pressure for 30 minutes.

Repeat this process again, at 15 pounds of pressure for 2 hours, rinsing your cheesecloth in clean, cool water each time and hanging to dry.

Finally, press at 20 pounds of pressure for 12 hours, or overnight.

Mix 2 Lbs.of sea salt with 1 gallon of cold water to make a brine. Place the cheese in the brine and let it soak for 24 hours.

Take the cheese out of the brine and age at 55° to 60°F for at least 8 months. (Click here for practical methods for aging cheese.) Coat the cheese daily with olive or coconut oil, and if mold appears wipe it off with a clean cloth dipped in salt water or vinegar.