Yearly Resolutions: Cheesemaking

2014 will be the year of cheesemaking.  I love the idea of making food.  Not just cooking food, but actually making it.  I have a few friends who brew beer, but I have zero interest in doing that.  So I thought about where my interests are.  Wine and cheese!  I'm not going to attempt to make wine... well I'm saying that now.  Check back in a few years.  So the answer is cheese!  
 

There are so many online recipes and advice for people wanting to make their own cheese.  I have bookmarked lots of these pages and have scheduled once type of cheese to make each month.  I'm starting off easy with soft cheese that don't need any extra ingredients that aren't already in your kitchen.  Then I'll move onto hard cheese and trying to make my own cheese press.  That will be interesting.  

My first cheese was creme fraiche.  I know that isn't really a cheese, but I read that it was a great place to start.  I unfortunately forgot to take pictures.  I was way too excited about it!
 

My February cheese was queso blanco.   I found the recipe over here on Urban Cheesecraft.
 

I have always found queso blanco that you buy in stores to be pretty bland.  It works well on Mexican dishes, but doesn't really add anything to the flavors.  The most fascinating part of the cheese ended up being the flavor!  

 

You use vinegar or lemon/lime juice in the recipe, and it imparts some of its flavors onto the cheese!  I used apple cider vinegar and my queso blanco has a slight apply flavor.  It isn't much, but I find it way more interesting than store bought queso.   

Next up, I think I'm going to make another batch of this using lime juice and maybe I'll toss in some jalepenos!

Stay tuned for my March cheese: Ricotta.