cheese – Harmonious Belly

October 2, 2015October 2, 2015

Learning About Natural Cheesemaking With David Asher in Brooklyn

Yogurt cheese, perfect for a beginner like me.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending a day of cheesemaking workshops with David Asher, a cheesemaker who runs the Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking, a “traveling cheese school” with origins in the Gulf Islands region of British Columbia. The folks from Slow Food organized these workshops and a reception the Friday evening before. After having had a look at Asher’s remarkable book, The Art of Natural Cheesemaking, they were so impressed with the knowledge within, they felt compelled to invite David Asher to come to NYC and teach classes on his unique style of cheesemaking.

A big part of this book asserts that you do not need to buy freeze dried cultures to make cheese, and that it can all be done with kefir, which contains most bacteria needed to culture milk for cheese; using raw milk is encouraged for the most part, too. Rennet is also employed in making many of the cheeses, while a simple acid—lemon juice, vinegar, or kefir—is used in a small number of cheeses to separate out curds and whey. Bottom line—industrial practices and ingredients are unnecessary to make delicious, flavorful cheeses.

The building that houses Crown Finish Caves. The light was beautiful that evening.

I chose to attend the reception and take the first day of workshops. The reception was quite nice, and took place in one of the tunnels at Crown Finish Caves, a cheese aging facility located three stories below street level; originally the space was a brewery. Because it is so far below ground and the walls are so thick, it keeps a relatively constant temperature, perfect for affinage, or, aging cheese. A number of farms create their cheeses and age them here.

The tunnel in which we attended the reception and heard David Asher talk about kefir and cheese.

At the reception, which took place in one of the tunnels, David talked a lot about kefir, his love for it, and its usefulness in making cheese. Before the talk there was traditional music played by a small band, a little local food and drink, and lots of cheese afterwards. David even passed out kefir grains to anyone who wanted one (they were quite large). I put mine in dead (UHT) milk and it fermented it! The magic of kefir.

The next morning I returned to Brooklyn for a day of making simple cheeses—yogurt cheese (and yogurt), paneer, and chevre. Each of these is created differently—to make yogurt cheese, you hang full fat yogurt in butter muslin (or a du-rag) until the whey drips away; for paneer, you boil milk and add acid, which creates curds and whey; and with chevre, you add kefir and rennet, and hang the cheese like yogurt cheese, or you can ladle it into forms. Continue reading “Learning About Natural Cheesemaking With David Asher in Brooklyn”

February 6, 2012February 6, 2012

What I’ve Learned While Making Cheese

As you would know from my Harmonious Belly Facebook page, I’ve embarked on a cheese making project. It’s one of those things I promised myself I’d explore in the new year, and I’m really glad I kept that promise. It, among all my recent projects, has been the most humbling.

I’ve made what can only be described as beginner’s mistakes. But I have developed a certain appreciation for the trips and falls I’ve made, and forgiven myself for them – it’s been a big learning experience.

Now, I’ve only attempted to make cheese twice now – a batch of ricotta and a ball of fresh mozzarella. Both are fresh cow’s milk cheeses, and both are what I originally considered to be beginner cheese making projects – in my mind, that meant “easy.” Perhaps for some people it is easy, but for me it wasn’t – in that I did not attain the desired result. The cheeses were certainly edible, but they didn’t take the form or texture that I desired.

So, here are some of the things I’ve learned so far during cheese making.

Continue reading “What I’ve Learned While Making Cheese”

September 21, 2011September 27, 2011

Three Sisters Cheese

In a recent CSA order I received a small wheel of cheese from Nettle Meadow Farm called Three Sisters. I am a big fan of Nettle Meadow’s Kunik, so I thought I’d give another one of their cheeses a try. While I don’t think it’s on the level of the Kunik – which is, granted, stratospherically good – it’s very good.

I’ve enjoyed a quarter of a wheel as part of a light lunch or dinner. The cheese is fairly firm, though mostly I’ve eaten it after it’s sat out for 5-10 minutes; it would likely soften a bit if left out a little longer. It’s a mild cheese and is good all by itself – no bread or crackers are needed. I eat the rind, too.

I like it enough to order it again, for sure. If you’d like to try it, here is where you can find it. And if you are reading this and are a member of the Hellgate CSA, you can order it through our meat & dairy program.

September 5, 2011September 5, 2011

Saxelby Cheesemongers Donate Profits to Hurricane Relief Efforts

As you know, Hurricane Irene has been devastating to residents in upstate New York and Vermont – the flooding has been astonishing, and it has really caused a lot of pain and suffering among those who live and work up there. That includes farms – some farmland has been destroyed, and that put many small farmers and their families in financial peril.

A number of organizations are helping with relief efforts, but the one that is on my mind presently arrived in my inbox this morning, from Saxelby Cheese, a wonderful little shop among many other wonderful little shops in the Essex Street Market, a destination for those who love delicious artisanal products.

Here is Saxelby’s offer:

In New York City, Hurricane Irene was billed to be a potentially catastrophic storm. In the end, for us it came and went without much fanfare. However, there are countless farms across New England that suffered tremendous losses, and are continuing to suffer as power is slowly restored, roads are slowly rebuilt, and stock is taken of the widespread damage that the storm left in its wake.

Saxelby Cheesemongers depends on the vitality and hard work of our regional farmers to provide our shop with some of the country’s finest cheeses. Though many of our cheesemakers were spared from Irene’s destructive path, some were hard hit. This week from Monday through Sunday, we invite you to help us give back to our upstate and Vermont neighbors by buying their cheese! Being a do-gooder has never been so delicious!!

This week only, from Monday, September 5th through Sunday, September 11th, Saxelby Cheesemongers will donate 50% of the profits from the sale of New York and Vermont Cheeses at our Essex Market shop to Hurricane Irene relief efforts spearheaded by the New York and Vermont Chapters of the Red Cross.

Sounds like an excellent deal to me and a great way to support the Red Cross’ efforts in the area. I am planning on stopping there on Friday before I pick up my salmon share in Brooklyn. I’ll likely pick up a cheddar and some kind of goat cheese.

And if you can, please pass on this message to those local to the NYC metro area.

September 1, 2011September 2, 2011

Burrata Twice

burrata with melon and prosciutto — Burrata with melon and prosciutto at Ornella in Astoria, Queens

burrata, prosciutto, and figs — Burrata with prosciutto and figs at Il Punto in Manhattan

Last week I had the chance to eat burrata not once but twice! I am consistently mesmerized by burrata, that magical, delicious, amazing cheese. I try to eat it whenever I’m presented with the opportunity.

I first encountered burrata – which translates as “butter” – at Peasant, a restaurant in the NoLita neighborhood in Manhattan. We went there for my birthday a couple of years ago, and it was a wonderful evening, in part because we started with their burrata dish. I was served with roasted tomatoes and the whole thing was just heavenly. I was in food love.

Burrata is basically a fresh mozzarella pouch stuffed with a mixture of warm, loose mozzarella and cream. When you cut into it, it’s very soft and when you taste it, it does live up to its buttery association. It’s a traditional cow’s milk cheese, and a speciality of the Puglia region in Italy.

I would love to learn to make it, too, truth be told.

Last week, I had burrata at two different Italian restaurants – one in Queens and one in Manhattan. Monday night, during our bi-monthly We Heart Astoria Blogger Social, it was available as an appetizer at Ornella Trattoria, a lovely Italian restaurant in Astoria, Queens. It was served with slices of melon and prosciutto, which was seasonal and all delicious.

The following day for lunch at Il Punto, I had a taste of my dining companion’s appetizer, which was burrata served with figs and prosciutto. It was a beautiful seasonal dish, too. I love seeing more burrata on menus around the city.

I’ve also heard that my local Italian Deli, Rosario’s, sometimes carries burrata. Hmm… must inquire about this!

June 16, 2010September 2, 2011

CSA Bounty – Week Two

We had another week without radishes, but with plenty of lettuce. Last year we got a head each week for almost the entire season; I wonder if this year will be the same. I will eat a large salad tonight. This week we got:

The strawberries were better this week than last week, I think, which is kind of like saying we got 12 oz of gold this week over last week’s 11.5 oz. Both weeks have brought us amazing strawberries. We ate them for breakfast this morning with some cantaloupe I cut up last night.

strawberries week 2

This week’s lettuce head was a leaf lettuce in a very unusual color – kind of the color of manzanita wood.

red lettuce

We got cilantro this week! Also dried black beans. I’m thinking of making a black bean salad tonight with them both.

cilantro

bagging black beans

I have a share of beans and grains from Cayuga Organics, which grow the best beans I’ve ever had. Their grains are also amazing.

We also got asparagus – I think we are at the end of the season.

asparagus

Last night I had some of it and it was so good. Simply pan roasted with some salt. I ate it with a quesadilla I fried in coconut oil, made with raw pepperjack cheese (also from the CSA), some cilantro and Tortilleria Nixtamal tortillas. We had stopped in over the weekend and picked some up on our way home from touring the Louis Armstrong House in Corona (fabulous). They really are the best tortillas around.

In addition to the veg, berries, black beans and grains (farro!), my meat and dairy order came in – my freezer is now full of grass fed/finished beef, organic chicken breasts and turkey sausage, and I’ve got a nice goaty chevre to look forward to tonight, too.

May 5, 2010May 5, 2010

Omelet – a Quick and Delicious Dinner

omelette

I don’t remember how I came up with this dish, but it was probably inspired by having a bunch of leftovers combined with my love of eggs. Basically, “omelet”, as I call it, is vegetables and meat sauteed in a pan, topped with uncooked scrambled eggs and cheese, and steamed until the eggs are cooked through. It doesn’t sound exotic or fancy, and isn’t the prettiest thing around, but it is tasty, nourishing, and easy to prepare. It’s an excellent dish to cook when you have little time or are just plain tired and want something to eat fairly fast. It’s also a great canvas for improvisation.

I mentioned leftovers above – it’s a great dish for leftovers – greens work especially well, as do onions, potatoes, carrots, summer squash, and tomatoes. You can mix in some pesto with the eggs, add diced or ground meat, sausage, or cured meats. You can also make it very simple with just onions, potato, egg, and cheese. You can even add a sauce you like at the end. This dish is incredibly flexible, which is one of the things I like about it.

Last night, I used half a white onion, leftover garlic lemon greens, chopped cooked chicken, pesto ricotta, eggs, and grated Locatelli (a salty hard cheese). In this case, everything but the eggs and cheese were leftovers from last week. It was a very tasty combination.

So, what I did was:

Diced up the onions and sautéed them in olive oil (about 1 T) until they became translucent.
Added the chicken and cooked that a little bit.
Then came the greens, and I cooked everything together until it was heated through.
I also made sure that the pan was completely covered with this mixture, so that eggs would not leak through to the pan surface; it’s best if they sit atop the vegetables.
Scrambled the eggs and poured them on top (I used 5 eggs this time, which was perfect)
I then put small dollops of pesto ricotta across the top of the mixture, and sprinkled on the grated cheese.
I put a lid on it, turned the heat down to low and let it steam. I’d check on it from time to time to make sure the eggs were cooked through. It took about 10-15 minutes for the eggs to cook and the dish to come together.
I only salted the onions a little bit, as the leftovers had all be seasoned when I cooked them originally, so extra salt was not needed.

If I were skipping the pesto ricotta, I’d probably use a sharp cheddar in place of the Locatelli and eat it with hot sauce!

So, in general, the order of ingredients would go as follows:

aromatics (e.g. onion, garlic, bacon)
ground/chopped meat (if using)
hard veggies (e.g. carrots, potatoes)
soft veggies (e.g. greens, summer squash, tomatoes, sauce)
herbs
eggs (solo, or combined with sauce like pesto, tomato, or salsa)
cheese
The order of things can even be re-arranged if it works better for you.

Like I said, there is room for improvisation and the dish is extremely customizable.

It’s been a quick and delicious dinner staple in my household and has provided us with delicious and nutritious meals numerous times. I hope you find it a useful and enjoyable dish as well.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.