I love this stuff and I have found a better recipe than the one, Linda gave us a few months ago and again it's so easy. Using buttermilk gives the cheese such a wonderful flavor!
Fresh Ricotta - makes approx. 2 cups
2 qts. whole milk
2 cups buttermilk
Line a wide sieve or colander with cheesecloth, folded so that it is at least 4 layers thick. Place in sink.
Pour milk and buttermilk into a heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over high heaat, stirring frequently; scrape bottom of pot occasionally to prevent scorching. As milk heats, curds will begin to rise and clump on surface. Once mixture is steaming hot, stop stirring.
When mixture reaches 170 to 180 degrees on a candy thermometer, curds and whey will separate. (Whey will look like cloudy gray water underneath a mass of thick white curds.) Immediately turn off heat and gently ladle curds into sieve.
When all curds are in sieve and dripping has slowed (about 5 minutes - mine took longer) gently gather edges of cloth and twist to bring curds together; do not squeeze. let drain 15 minutes more. Discard whey - I didn't discard the whey, I'm playing with it in breads, etc.
Untie cloth (I added 1/4+ tsp. of kosher salt at this point) and pack ricotta into airtight containers. Refrigerate and use within one week. (I'm going to try freezing some and see how that works)
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Yesterday, I made up some ricotta and fresh herb spread for garlic-rubbed focaccia rounds and a ricotta Mexican chocolate mousse-like and piped into chocolate cups and took both to Harbinger winery to match them with wines. Oh boy, the blackberry bliss is just wonderful with the chocolate cups.
And their Dynamo Red was really good with the savory spread.
We also picked up a gallon of goats milk and today or tomorrow I'm going to play with goat's milk ricotta and see how that turns out. This is so fun.
Fresh Ricotta - makes approx. 2 cups
2 qts. whole milk
2 cups buttermilk
Line a wide sieve or colander with cheesecloth, folded so that it is at least 4 layers thick. Place in sink.
Pour milk and buttermilk into a heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over high heaat, stirring frequently; scrape bottom of pot occasionally to prevent scorching. As milk heats, curds will begin to rise and clump on surface. Once mixture is steaming hot, stop stirring.
When mixture reaches 170 to 180 degrees on a candy thermometer, curds and whey will separate. (Whey will look like cloudy gray water underneath a mass of thick white curds.) Immediately turn off heat and gently ladle curds into sieve.
When all curds are in sieve and dripping has slowed (about 5 minutes - mine took longer) gently gather edges of cloth and twist to bring curds together; do not squeeze. let drain 15 minutes more. Discard whey - I didn't discard the whey, I'm playing with it in breads, etc.
Untie cloth (I added 1/4+ tsp. of kosher salt at this point) and pack ricotta into airtight containers. Refrigerate and use within one week. (I'm going to try freezing some and see how that works)
-----
Yesterday, I made up some ricotta and fresh herb spread for garlic-rubbed focaccia rounds and a ricotta Mexican chocolate mousse-like and piped into chocolate cups and took both to Harbinger winery to match them with wines. Oh boy, the blackberry bliss is just wonderful with the chocolate cups.
And their Dynamo Red was really good with the savory spread.
We also picked up a gallon of goats milk and today or tomorrow I'm going to play with goat's milk ricotta and see how that turns out. This is so fun.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
www.achefsjourney.com