Another valuable thing we learned from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was how easy it is to make our own cheese. Who knew?
We haven’t gotten really extravagant in our cheese making, but we have made pounds of mozzarella and some ricotta. Using both of these homemade cheeses makes an out-of-this-world lasagna. (Especially when you make your own pasta.) I have also made fromage blanc. I had never had it before, and it is a new favorite.
In Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Kingsolver touts the wonders of “Ricki the Cheese Queen.” I urge you to go the her website and order the materials for cheese making. We ordered the mozzarella kit and are still making cheese from that single purchase. (And, if you have a beer or wine making supply store in your area, you might see if they carry Ricki’s products. It’ll obviously save you shipping costs.)
When we first got the kit, we went to our local dairy and purchased raw milk. Since it was raw, we needed to pasteurize it which added 25-30 minutes to the entire process. It is easier to find a local source for pasteurized milk.
I have some nieces and a nephew coming to visit this week and I really want to expose them to this process of homemade cheese.
Again, this is a really easy process and I encourage everyone to try it! (This kits make great gifts and I gave many out for Christmas this year.)
