The Dairy Chronicles: Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

Manang's Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

I have this book by Ashley English, Homemade Living: Home Dairy with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Cheese, Yogurt, Butter & More , which I have had since last year when my family started using raw milk from cows raised by my BIL/SIL. It took a while for me to look at the recipes and decide that I could at least do some of them, mostly the soft cheeses and fermented milk (like yogurt, kefir, and buttermilk).

I now understand that a lot of people make HOMEMADE stuff that can easily be bought from store. One reason is like mine: we are getting plenty of milk for free, and very fresh at that. Just like canning produce while they abound, why not turn extra milk (after setting aside milk that we can consume as is) into something else? And the learning process is also exciting! 

RECIPE:
1 gal raw whole milk
2 tsp Citric Acid (I got from a brewing store)
1/4 Vegetarian Rennet tablet, crushed (I got from amazon)
1/4 cup sterile cold water (I boiled then let cool)
1 tsp kosher or sea salt

Equipment:

Stainless steel stockpot

Thermometer (I useWireless Talking BBQ Oven Thermometer ) 

Slotted spoon

Big microwaveable bowl

Gloves

METHOD:

The rennet tablets and citric acid

The rennet table is scored into 4

Crushed rennet

Rennet dissolved in cold sterile water

 Stir the citric acid into the milk. Heat on medium stirring occasionally until temp reaches 88 ºF. Meanwhile, whisk in the crushed rennet table in the sterile water.

Once temp reaches 88, add the rennet mixture and continuously stir while heating to reach 104-106 ºF. At this point, whey separates from curd.

Remove from heat and cover. Leave alone for 15-20 minutes.

Using slotted spoon, remove curds from whey and transfer to a big microwavable bowl. Squeeze out excess whey using the slotted spoon and remove. 

Removing curds

Curd transferred to microwavable bowl

Whey expressed out

Microwave on high one minute. Use spoon to express more whey out. Add salt.  Then either use same spoon or your gloved hand to stretch and fold (like kneading a dough) to express more whey. When shiny and elastic like taffy, microwave again on high for one minute. Stretch and fold repeatedly again until it becomes like chewing gum in elasticity, while still removing whey if there's any left. If it breaks easily, microwave another 30 minutes and repeat the process until smooth and elastic.

Microwaving the curds

Expressing out more whey

I could not take photos while I was doing this part so here is a snapshot of the page in the book

I came up with this round mozzarella that fits on my palm.

Store in a lidded container. Preferably consumed within a week.

Ready for the fridge

;

Pinoy Cheese Cupcake

Pinoy Cheese Cupcake

This is what the typical neighborhood type of Filipino bakeshops would tout as their "special"kababayan in the sense that it uses cheese. A closer look at the ingredients would indicate that this is basically a muffin topped with grated cheese. Contrary to how the Western cheesecake is, this does not have any form of cream cheese (or anything cheese) in its batter.

This was my favorite muffin in my Tatay's bakery, especially when fresh out of the oven with its crunchy top. Once cooled, I would wrap them individually in small clear plastic bags and seal using the candle (I got proficient at making the seal without actually touching the flame; just the heat, so that the plastic would not have any dark marking as it does when it touches the yellow flame).

Husband had a taste of the batter and thought it tasted like butter cookies. (Hmmmm....maybe I should try making some into drop cookies.) When it was done, I had hubby taste it. His reaction was..."Hmmm, that's good!" Kids' reaction? Same. (gaya-gaya, puto-maya...)

This recipe was adapted from Mrs. Daisy Alonzo's recipe.

Ingredients:
1 bar (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 cans (14 oz each) sweetened condensed milk
3-2/3 cups all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
cheddar cheese, finely grated, for topping

Instructions:
Line 2 muffin pans with paper cups.
Preheat oven to 350 ° F
Mix flour and baking powder well in a bowl.
Using a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed. Turn speed to slow and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually increase speed to medium and beat well.
Turn speed to slow and slowly add the condensed milk. Beat well on medium speed for about a minute.
Turn to slow again and add the dry ingredients. Increase speed to medium and add oil. Beat well for about another minute. Add vanilla and beat to blend.
Transfer batter to a piping bag and pipe into the muffin cups, leaving about 1/4 inch space at the top.
Top with grated cheese (preferably the orange-colored cheddar cheese).
Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the pans for even baking. (If you want, you may add some more cheese at this point).Bake for another 10 minutes. Enjoy with maple syrup or condensed milk if desired.
Transfer to cooling rack and completely cool before storing in ziploc bags those that you will not be able to consume right away.

UPDATE: This was tried by My Expat Mommy who lives in Qatar and has now included this item in her baked goods that she sells. Her fb page is here.

The original recipe that I got from asiarecipe.com forum was as follows:
Pinoy Cheese Cupcake-Kababayan
(Pinoy Cheese Muffin)
Recipe courtesy of Mrs. Daisy Alonzo
Ingredients:
1 bar butter
4 eggs
100 grams sugar
2 can of condensed milk
15 grams cooking oil
5 grams baking powder
500 grams. all-purpose flour
you will need:
cheese grater
2 ounce paper baking cups
cake mixer, mixing bowl and spatula
Paraan ng pagluluto:
Hiwa-hiwain muna ang butter para madali itong lummbot.
Ilagay ang butter sa isang mixing bowl, ihalo ang asukal at apat na itlog.
Haluin ang mga sangkap na ito sa cake mixer. Gamitin ang pinakamahinang
speed upang hindi tumapon ang butter mixture.
Idagdag na din sa mixture ang dalawang lata ng condensed milk.
Ihinto muna ang mixer.
Pagsamahin naman ang harina at baking powder at saka ihalo sa butter mixture.
Paandarin muli ang mixer sa pinakamahinang speed. Haluing mabuti hanggang sa
maging basa ang mga sangkap.
Ihalo ang 15 grm ng mantika.
Pabilisin ang mixer hanggang maging pino ang sangkap.
Patayin ang mixer, ito na ngayon ang cupcake mixture.
Ihanay ang paper baking cups. Magbuhos ng cupcake mixture sa bawat baking cups
Punuin hanggang ikatlong bahagi ng bawat cups
Lagyan ng grated cheese ang cupcake mixture.
Ipasok sa mainit na oven, ihurno ng mga 30 minuto.
Luto na ang cheese cupcake. Palamigin

Baked Bacon & Cheese Open Sandwich

Open-Faced Bacon  Cheese Sandwich

After 6 years of marriage, only now did I learn of hubby asking for this type of open sandwich that he used to make for himself when he was still living alone.

He said just set the oven on low broil (or high; just keep looking), lay the bread slices on the pan, place sliced cheeses then top with bacon. He said the cheese would be toasted or burnt and that was inevitable. (Actually I like toasted cheese on pan de sal reheated in oven toaster.) I experimented by adding egg on mine near the end of broiling the second batch (which was not too successful as it slid down right away; I had to scoop the cooked egg from the pan).

Truly a food trip for a hot summer day!
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Chicken Broccoli Cheese Casserole

My husband mentioned one time about liking

From Chicken-Brocolli Cheese Casserole

this type of dish which his ex used to cook, and told me (He had the nerve to tell me!) he should ask her for the recipe. Of course he (the typical man that he is) forgot about it, but I went ahead and groped my way through making my own recipe. Very simple and easy, we all love it. He basically spoon-fed to me the ingredients: chicken, broccoli florets, Velveeta cheese. I just added what I felt I had to, and cooked it the way I imagined it. This is one of my favorite dish to prepare if I am going to work. I am posting while having a slow time at work, so I am guessing at the proportions as I try to recall how much I use. Make sure you use a baking dish deep enough for this.

From Chicken-Brocolli Cheese Casserole

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1-1/2 lb chicken breasts (or 1 lb, depending on how many are eating; this is for 5 people) cut into bite-size
1 lb frozen broccoli florets
(Please take a look at the photo for the sizes of the cans)
1 can Cream of Chicken
1 can Broccoli Cheese condensed soup
1 package of stuffing prepared as directed on label
Sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese
1/4 oz (?- kindly check the lines on the foil wrap, just one small block/line) Velveeta cheese, cut into small pieces
Sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 deg F. Heat oil and brown chicken then place in the baking dish. Add broccoli florets, cream of chicken, and broccoli cheese condensed soup; mix well. Scatter the Velveeta pieces; top with stuffing and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Double Cheese Wheat Bread

When you are not experienced with yeast bread, yet you love the aroma of fresh-from-the-oven bread, it can be quite hard when you are in a an environment where a bakery is at least 15 minutes drive away.



Good thing here is that there is this "wonder" machine called Bread Machine, which was a wedding gift from my Mom. The first time I used it, and smelled the yeast working on the dough, my mind was flooded with memories of my childhood, the days I spent helping (panggulo at times) around at my Tatay's bakery. It took awhile for me to get used to it, initially just being limited to the recipes that came with the manual. Then I tried visiting www.breadworld.com as advertised in the label of the bread machine yeast I was using. Yeast breads then became a common item on the table.



So for Filipinos like me who are in foreign countries missing fresh-from-the-oven yeast breads, this is a good investment. One can easily train his/her fingertips in recognizing the right consistency of the dough prior to shaping by using the dough cycle. Once trained, baking yeast bread via the conventional oven becomes easier.



The good thing about bread machine breads is the small size of the dough, just enough for family consumption.



Fleischmann's website has a lot of recipes that are suited for beginners as well as for the more skilled, and also has recipes for dough setting only. My friend's mom, who lived in a different state and was here briefly to support her daughter when she gave birth, felt the need to buy a bread machine when I demonstrated to her how to bake pan de sal using it.



In my experience with basic bread recipes, I have also tried to use the dough cycle instead of the basic cycle so that I can shape them into rolls, or wrap them around sausages or hotdogs.



The recipe page only wishes to show the readers how a bread machine works (conveniently!) so they can consider having one, too. It is really a good buy.



Among our favorites are: Basic Egg Bread, Basic White Bread, Mustard-Dill Bread, Herb Focaccia, Buttery Sweet Bread, Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Bread, and Fragrant Cloverleaf Rolls, all from Fleischmann's bakery (see the link at my side bar).

Cheesy Mushroom Sauce

I have always used this sauce for burger in my attempt to come up with something like Jolibee's burger steak, which my children loved. But the Piquant Meatloaf recipe that I found on the net and which I recently featured (under the post "Two Meatloaf Recipes") included a mushroom sauce recipe to go with it (however, this is my own recipe). Though my (boring) husband would still prefer using ketchup on his meatloaf, I and my kids like this sauce. It is just so rich and yummy! And I am a big fan of mushrooms.

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 sm can sliced mushrooms
1 can condensed cream of mushroom (Campbell)
1 cup beef broth
dash of paprika
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese (or according to taste) or 4-5 sliced white cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Heat oil in medium heat. Sautee garlic and mushroom.
Add condensed cream of mushroom and beef broth. Stir.
Add the cheese and a dash of paprika. If necessary, add salt and pepper.
Pour on top of meatloaf slices or burger or meatballs.