That’s a lovely cheese…
May 1st, 2010
One of the major personal drivers of the TSH experience is to bring the produce from the farm back into the kitchen and turn it into glorious food. And this passion was recently reignited by an episode of the Gourmet Farmer in which Matthew Evans made cheese from his Jersey Cow.
This got me to thinking about Dalila, who is due to calve in August, and the possibility of doing the same at TSH. 
In order to test my ability to use the diary output that Dalila will produce (approx 5-8L per day if sharing with a calf) I spent this afternoon evening making cheese. Camembert to be precise… though I did consider a Wensleydale. 
It really is a delightful process and, like making bread, incredibly satisfying. From the 4L of unhomogenised organic milk I used I managed to produce 3 small camembert rounds (about 330g each), and an indeterminate quantity of fresh ricotta, from the whey left over from the cheese. The ricotta quantity is still indeterminate as it is hanging over the sink as we speak though I am sure that it’ll be GREAT with museli ‘n honey in the morning. 
I’ll post an update in 4-6 weeks when the cheese gets it’s taste test and let you know if I’ll be milking Dalila. In the meantime, if you are interested in making cheese yourself then check out Cheeselinks, and the book Home Cheese Making, for advice and supplies.
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Quick Update – I had the presence of mind, unusually, to weigh the ricotta prior to eating to much of it. The whey managed to produce 300 grams of ricotta, which isn’t much but still ain’t bad. Tastes great too!
I haven’t tried it yet but I’m told you can heat 2litres of milk to just on boiling.Remove from heat and add 4 tablespoons of white vinegar.Stir gently but well.Cool and strain. Voila! 500gm of Ricotta cheese.I’m trying it tomorrow.Hope your Camembert turns out well.
Hi Rosemary
Exactly the ‘whey’ it’s done! If you’ll excuse the pun.
Actually, you want to heat the milk to just over 93 degrees celcius, add your acid (vinegar or lemon juice) which will precipitate the curds, and the strain through cheesecloth. This is the process I followed with the left over whey, after I used the curds to make Camembert, and still precipitated 300g of ricotta. All gone now though…
Word of caution though, don’t let the milk boil or it may taste burnt. Oh! And it’s ADDICTIVE!!!!