I'm counting the days separating me from yet another visit to "The Farm". I'm leaving for a couple of weeks during which I hope we'll be able to look into a few details, get a few quotes and discuss things with Whizzie.
People who know me also know very well that I hate this time of the year. It is always a difficult time for me. I can't really concentrate on things and everything looks dull, blurred and pointless. In fact my latest attempt at cheese last night was a disaster. I forgot the heat on and what was supposed to be a Romano-like will become a Fuck-knows-what. I don't even know if it will become anything, in fact I think I killed all the flora.
So this recipe goes a little bit like this:
- Inoculate with thermophilic starter and bring 4 litres of milk to 36°C
- Add rennet
- Keep to 36°C but then forget about turning off the heat
- Suddenly remember about it and run for it
- Turn it off, break curd finely, swear a lot.
- Put in mould with a cheese cloth and press for a couple of hours, keep swearing
- Brine overnight
- Hope it will turn into something edible.
Given the madness that is this time of year, accidents aka "fuck ups" are bound to happen. The way you look at it depends on if A) you're anal about everything [that's the type A personality] or B) you know that we all come from apes so sometimes that's the way the jungle vines swing.
ReplyDeleteI think you're a bad mofo anyway for experimenting with cheese-making. ^-^ Buon natale and have a great time at The Farm.
Murderer!
ReplyDelete:-)
You never know... it might just be even better than the ones I did sticking to recipes!
ReplyDeleteI don't have much time now, but I found this series which is free to view. Not sure you can outside of Scandinavia, though.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.voddler.com/en/tv/info/2724623241414263070/-/beyond-river-cottage-ep01/
It's a family who decided to start a farm adventure. It seems fun!