Last weekend I made the first hard cheeses I have made for months. I make feta regularly but to make a hard cheese involves quite a process which needs a whole day free. Even though the process itself is not that difficult, there are lots of little steps which leaves little time to do much else in between.
I had tasted some Wensleydale with cranberry in Carstairs near Calgary when I was recently in Canada, sitting around the dinner table with my daughter Jennie's Workaway host who kindly hosted me as well on my first night in the country. It was so delicious, I had to have a go a producing it myself.
By the next morning, both rounds were pressed nicely and just needed a couple of days drying before being waxed. The cranberry version needs to be eaten in a month or so as I read on someone else's blog that they might ferment if left longer. The mustard one I will age for much longer. We have recently been eating one I made in March 2012 and it has a fantastic bite to it, like a vintage Cheddar.
Add some nice new red wax and voila, there you have it.
Since I was going to make one cheese I though, why not make two? I should have answered that by saying, because you don't have the equipment to do two at once. Once I realised that I would need 2 cheese moulds and a press that pressed twice the weight I have needed before, it was too late, the milk was heating up in the 2 pots!
So in between all the little steps, I was busy making a new mould out of pipe and getting Max to invent a way of adding additional weight to the press which involved safety ropes and bars suspended from the laundry ceiling.
Meanwhile back in the kitchen the cheeses were progressing to curd stage.
One curd had mustard seed mixed into it before pressing and the other dried cranberries.
1 comment:
Well done - look yummy
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