Mozarella Cheese

In my quest to learn new things, I have become obsessed with making things myself instead of buying it at the store.  One of the things I wanted to try was to make cheese.  I bought a cheese making kit to make my first time a bit easier!

This kit made it very easy!  It had everything I needed to make mozzarella cheese.  To begin, I bought some fresh cows milk.  You can use pasteurized milk, but not ultra-pasteurized milk.  However, I wanted to see what it was like, making cheese, straight from the source!

The cheese making kit contained the following ingredients:  citric acid, salt, and rennet tablets.  I dissolved 1 1/2 teaspoons citric acid in 1 cup water.  In 1/4 cup water, dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet.

In a non-aluminum, non-cast iron pot, add the citric acid water and 1 gallon of milk.  Stir and heat to 90 degrees.  Remove the pot from the burner and add in the rennet water.  Stir for 20 seconds and then put a lid on the pot and let that set for 10 minutes.

The curd will be separating from the whey.  The curd will resemble custard.

After that has set, take a long knife and cut into the curd.  Make long slits in the curd.  Put it back on the stove and cook to 105 degrees.  Slowly stir as your curds heat back up.

Take off the burner and stir for another 2-5 minutes.  Drain the whey from the curd - save the whey!  This can be used for a variety of things!  Do some research before discarding the whey.  It can be used for shakes, pet food, baking bread, making cakes, making ricotta cheese, etc.

In another sauce pan, heat water to 185 degrees.  Put the curds in a strainer and dip into the hot water.

This will allow you to stretch the cheese.  Dip it in the hot water a few times and then put some rubber gloves on.  Take the cheese and stretch the cheese.  It should pull like taffy.  If it doesn't put it back in the hot water.


Add 1 teaspoon of salt and work it into the cheese.  Form the cheese into a log, braid, ball - whatever shape you want.

Put the cheese in cool water for 5 minutes and then in ice water for 15 minutes.

Caution!  1 gallon of cheese does not make a lot of mozzarella!  It makes 2 small logs................Some people may think it isn't worth it, but I got a lot of satisfaction from making this product all by myself!   I don't like to think about all of the chemicals that are put into the things that I buy at the store.  If I can keep food in an organic state,  the healthier my family will be!

Mangia!

Chicken Modiga

One of my favorite Italian dishes is chicken modiga.  It is chicken smothered in a white, cheesy sauce with peas and mushrooms.  It is decadent and anyone can make it!

Here are the ingredients:

Chicken breast - pounded thin
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
Panko bread crumbs
Garlic clove, minced
Butter
1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
Dried mushrooms OR chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup Marsala wine
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup shredded provel cheese
Parsley - 2 tablespoons, minced

To begin, add dried porchini mushrooms in 2 cups water.  Boil for 30 minutes.  This reconstitutes the mushrooms and makes a fabulous mushroom broth.  If you do not want to make a mushroom broth, you can substitute chicken broth.

Take 1/2 cup olive oil and add the minced garlic.  When you need to add olive oil to the saute pan, take from this dish.  The garlic will infuse in the olive oil but will not be overbearing in the dish.

Pound your chicken breast to 1/2 inch thickness.  Place chicken breast in Ziploc bag.  Add 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.  Dredge in bread crumbs.

Heat a saute pan - add 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon butter.  Add the chicken and brown on both sides.  Remove from pan and keep warm in oven.

Clean out your sauce pan so that you remove the leftover bread crumbs.  Return the pan to the stove top.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon butter.  Saute the mushrooms until brown.  Throw the peas in there to heat them up.  Remove the mushrooms and peas - set aside.

Add 1/2 cup of the mushroom broth/chicken broth to the saute pan.  Add the flour - whisk until the lumps are gone.  This will make a roux - a thickener for the sauce.

Slowly add more broth, stirring constantly.  Slowly, add the Marsala wine and cream.  Add the sauteed mushrooms and peas.  If you used dried mushrooms, dice those up and add them too.  Add the provel cheese.

Top the chicken with the cheese sauce.  Serve with a side of buttered pasta.  The cheese sauce slathers into the pasta - YUMMY!

Mangia!

This recipe is featured on What's Cooking Wednesday!

Homemade Ricotta Cheese!

Italians love their ricotta cheese, but it wasn't until the last few years that it was abundant in grocery stores.  So, what did my Nonna do?  She made her own and I was excited to learn that it is SUPER easy!

Here are the ingredients:

4 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup lemon juice (you can also use 3 tablespoons of white vinegar)
1 teaspoon kosher salt

In a saucepan, heat the milk, cream and salt. 

Before it boils you will notice that it gets a little foamy on the top.  The temperature should be about 185 degrees-190 degrees.  At that point, remove from the heat and pour the lemon juice in.  Let that sit about 5 minutes and then pour the mixture in a small mesh colander lined with cheesecloth.

Let that drain a few hours, then gather the cheesecloth and squeeze any excess juice.

After a few hours you can see a huge difference!

 



The ricotta can be refrigerated 4-5 days before use.

My dad said that if Nonna didn't make her own ricotta, she would send my Nonnu to a store on The Hill (the Italian neighborhood in St. Louis, MO).  He would bring it home warm and they would spread it on bread, with a little sugar, for a sweet treat!

Mangia!