Bear With Me My Friends...Working on My Pie Competition

I haven't posted since last week. Work and personal life is crazy right now. By the time I usually get ready to blog I'm to tired. Not to mention keeping up with all of you. This week I have a Grand Opening at work, will be casually entertaining a fellow blogger on Sunday, working on some house stuff, seeing Certain Someone off to yet another business trip, and submitting two apple pies to the Buck Town Apple Pie Contest next Sunday. I've spent this morning on a practice pie. Cant tell you my secrets yet, but its looking good. I'm incorporating some unusual spices and techniques.Its amazing what I have learned in year from all of you and the Daring Bakers. So wish me luck folks, and I will try to visit you this week if time permits.

I'm So Perfect I Even Make My Own Chevre Cheese...I'm Joking About The Perfect Part.

My interest in making my own cheese was not motivated by anything more than pure curiosity. I love DIY stuff. In England I had purchased some rennet in the baking aisle that was supposed to be used for a dessert called Junket. In exploring that I found this brand wasn't suitable to take it further and make cheese because it was diluted. So I searched the net and found this company that had all sorts of cheese making supplies and kits.

I was just going to order some strains, butter muslin, and rennent , and figure it out. The salesperson at the other end though I was one of many Martha Stewart watchers( seemed she just made some cheese) and advised me there was to more to cheese making than adding milk and rennet. So I purchased his easiest kit for soft cheese. This kit provided the strains to make Fromage Blanc, Chevre, Mascarpone, Creme Fraiche, and Neufchatel along with other necessary ingredients.

I just needed to supply either goats or cows milk and a few kitchen supplies.

It was really simple from this point. Heat the goats milk to 86 degrees,add Chevre culture, mix 1 teaspoon of Calcium Chloride with 2 tabelspoons Distilled water and put in the milk, cover overnight in a cast iron pot. Next morning separate the whey from the curds gently.

Tie up in the butter muslin and let drian for 6-8 hours( all done while I was at work).

Look at these beautiful curds!

Next add some flaked salt .

Put in the cheese molds that came with the kit.Let those set for 1-2 days and drain some more.

I was left with a cup of ready to eat cheese that I used up like this for Certain Someone and myself.

Baked Chevre with tomato sauce, olive oil, and basil. Delicious!

The next day I untapped my molds. I rolled one in herbs( provided in the kit) and the other set aside plain.

I cant tell you how excited I am. The finished product was excellent. Check it out for yourself.