Cheesepalooza: Ricotta Salata

Oh, ricotta salata... this is a cheese within a cheese. First, you need to make yourself some ricotta. You could opt for the whole milk ricotta or, as I did, you can build on flavour by utilizing whey ricotta. Then you salt and cure the ricotta to create a whole new cheese experience.

I made my whey ricotta using goat's whey and cow's milk, which made for a more complex yet still mild flavour profile. Since most commented that the ricotta salata was a fairly mild and innocuous cheese, I thought I would give it a bit more umph by using my combo whey ricotta.

So, once you've made your ricotta (in whatever form), you need to press it into a cheese mould, then salt it over the course of a week, then age it until it has reached whatever your ideal texture or density is, then eat it!

Cheesepalooza: Whey Ricotta

In making all of these cheeses, I have been left with an exorbitant amount of whey. Charlie the puppy absolutely loves this, as a bit of this on his kibble like cereal is enough to have him doing flips. The plants have loved it... though that season is coming to a close. I'm using it in bread. I can't quite get around to drinking it... just a mental block, I think. Maybe if I blend it into a smoothie?

One thing that I had to try in using up this whey was to make a whey ricotta. I thought I'd mix it up a little bit and make a whey ricotta using goat's milk whey and whole cow's milk.

I couldn't quite get the double-boiler bit coordinated... it's tough to find a pot big enough to fit a pot that fits two gallons of liquid! Instead, I opted for the single pot but warmed it extra slowly to compensate (it was more than 45 minutes to get to temperature).

The whole process was quite simple - heat, curdle, drain, cheese!

(It probably could have drained a weeeeee bit longer based on this photo...

but it was still soooooo good.)

Homemade Ricotta: Two Tastes

This whole escapade into homemade cheese has made me dream and concoct different combinations of flavours to create the perfect cheesy bite. When you put all of this effort into making your own cheese, you certainly don't want to see an iota of it go to waste. That said, there is only so much fresh plain ricotta that one can consume. I don't mean that to sound blasphemous, if you think it does! The 4.25 litres of milk and cream that I used to make my homemade ricotta yielded approximately 1.25 litres of cheese... and that's a lot of cheese!

So, I sat down with my new dedicated cheese journal and started jotting down potential flavour combinations. Then I grabbed my trusty Flavor Bible (if you aren't familiar with this reference book, I would highly recommend it) and went into flavour combination overdrive. What did I have in the house? What herbs were ample in the garden? Since it is such a subtle and mellow cheese, what would complement the ricotta without overpowering it?

These are the two bites that I landed on...

Fresh tarragon and lemon zest.

Cracked black pepper, fresh strawberry, and honey.

Cheesepalooza: Homemade Whole Milk Ricotta

I set some foodie goals back at the beginning of this year. It was a great way to focus my culinary efforts, learn some new things, and explore more of the food that I love. Well... one of those goals was to bake more bread and to learn to make cheese. 

Could the invitation to participate in Cheesepalooza have come at a better time!?!?

Well, Valerie of A Canadian Foodie, Deb the Locavore, Ian of Much Ado About Cheese, and Addie of The Big Cheese Project concepted and launched Cheesepalooza, a cheesy journey into the world of homemade cheese making. They invited and put an open call out to food bloggers from anywhere and everywhere to embark upon this cheesy journey together. With monthly challenges, optional extra creations and -of course- encouraged camaraderie and community learning, many signed up for Cheesepalooza. 

Our "curriculum" would follow through our guide book, Artisan Cheesemaking at Home by Mary Karlin - a beautiful book that seems to make the world of cheese-making infinitely more accessible than it was before I found this sort of structure for learning. Our first challenge for Cheesepalooza was issued at the beginning of August - to make a whole milk ricotta (check out the other challenges here). 

Easy Peasy Turnovers

Our plan was to make one of our old favourites, front stoop mussels, while drinking copious amounts of wine and eating nearly (if not completely) a loaf of bread while sopping up every last drop of the Cambozola infused wine sauce. It would have been awesome. Unfortunately, for Dean and I, the timing didn’t work out so well and front stoop mussels will have to have their shining moment another day.

So, instead of mussels, we opted for a simple and quick turnover. Something just slightly sweet but not too heavy. After all, Dean only comes to Edmonton once a year and needed his moment on the blog. :)

We’re not martyrs and did not make our own puff pastry, which I don’t feel is the end of the world. One day, I may attempt to make it… but at 9:00pm on a Friday night, it was not the time to try.