You Gotta Make Ricotta!

In a large pot, add citric acid solution to 1 gallon milk, mix thoroughly, and heat until 185-195 degrees F.

As soon as the curds and whey separate, turn off the heat. Allow to set undistrubed, for 10 minutes. Drain.

Enjoy! I made chocolate ricotta mousse with it. YUM!

Eddy and I still had about half a gallon of milk in our fridge when we picked up our CSA basket this past weekend. Guess what it came with? Another gallon of milk.

Eddy and I don’t drink a lot of milk, so when we find ourselves with excess milk, we turn it into cheese! This time, I used half a gallon of old milk and half a gallon of new milk to make whole milk ricotta.

Making ricotta is easy when using a recipe from Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. If you’re a longtime reader of my blog, you know how much I love that book. It is my cheesemaking bible.

Here’s what you do:

1. Dissolve 1 teaspoon citric acid in 1/4 cup cool water.
2. In a large pot, add citric acid solution to 1 gallon whole milk. Mix thoroughly.
3. Heat the milk to 185 to 195 degrees F. Do not boil. Stir often to prevent scorching.
4. As soon as the curds and whey separate, turn off the heat. Allow to set undistrubed, for 10 minutes.
5. Line a colander with butter muslin. Ladle the curds into the colander. Tie the corners of the muslin into a knot and hang the bag to drain for 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese has reached the desired consistency.
6. Enjoy! If enjoying later, store in a covered container in the refrigerator. Cheese should last 1-2 weeks.

Pretty easy, huh? Don’t have citric acid or butter muslin? If you live in central Arkansas, head to The Fermentables. If you live in northwest Arkansas, go to The Home Brewery.

Next time you find yourself with excess milk, don’t throw it away. Make cheese with it!

Make Your Own Feta!

I’ve been turning local goat milk into cheese for some time. So, imagine my grief when my goat milk lady told me that she plans to get rid of her girls. Fortunately, I soon found a different goat milk lady, so cheesemaking is back on!

I usually make chèvre with goat milk, but from time to time, I make feta. Making feta is easy with Ricki Carroll’s Feta recipe. I uploaded the recipe to the Recipes section, so check it out!

I believe making feta at home helps reduce my environmental footprint. First, I use local farm-fresh goat milk to make my feta, thus no energy to ship cheese from afar. Second, my feta comes with no packaging. Lastly, I make my own cheese, so I know what’s in it. My new goat milk lady, just like the previous one, uses no antibiotics or growth hormones. I refuse to use any preservative or artificial flavoring. My cheese is just cheese – the way it’s supposed to be.

And, I save lots of money by making my own feta. I pay $9 for a gallon of goat milk, and I get about a pound of feta from it. In comparison, most grocery stores charge anywhere between $3.99 to $4.99 for about 4 ounces of feta.

So, eat locally and save money by making your own cheese!

Green Your Party: Make Your Own Cheese!

My chèvre made with local raw goat milk.

What goes well with homemade bread? Homemade chèvre, of course! Two years ago, I started to buy raw goat milk from a lady who raises goats right here in the city. Eddy and I don’t drink goat milk, but boy, we can chow down some feta and chèvre. I’ve been turning goat milk into cheese for the last two years, and it’s been AMAZING. I pay $8 for a gallon of milk and get about 1-1.5 pounds of cheese. Compare that to $4.99 for 4 ounces at Kroger.

Cheesemaking helps me save money and reduce packaging. An added bonues: you get woos and ahhs every time you serve homemade cheese.

So, green your party by serving homemade cheese!

Sign Up for the ROOT Cafe Summer Food Preservation Workshops!

The ROOT Cafe presents Summer Food Preservation Workshops!

A big part of eating local year-round is preserving the summer’s harvest.  Join the ROOT Cafe for any or all of the following dates:

• August 4th – Cheese-Making & Herbs 101
• August 11th – Canning 101: Dilly Beans
• August 18th – Raw Food 101 with certified raw food chef Lorna Schmuckle
• August 25th – Canning 101: Delicious Jams
• September 1st – Perfecting Pesto & Freezing 101
• September 8th – Canning 201: Totally Tomatoes

Classes will be held at Christ Episcopal Church (6th and Scott) in downtown Little Rock from 6-8 p.m. on the above Tuesday nights.  Each class is $20, or you can sign up for all six for $100.  Prices include all materials and finished goodies to take home.  Checks can be sent to: The ROOT Cafe, P.O.   Box 2814, Little Rock, AR 72203, or brought to the first class.

Class sizes are limited, so register early! To register or for more information, contact (501) 944-8500 or therootcafe@yahoo.com.

Meet Local Producer: Honeysuckle Lane Cheese

Located in Rose Bud, Arkansas, Honeysuckle Lane Cheese is the only commercial cheesemaker in the state right now and the first ever raw milk cheesemaker in Arkansas.

Honeysuckle Lane Cheese is named after, what else, honeysuckles that line the Daleys' driveway.

Cheese curds await the Daley magic.

Ray Sr. and Ray Jr. flip the curds to drain excess whey.

The father and son cut the curds.

Ray Sr. mixes salt into the cut curds.

Look at the beautiful curds!

Ray Sr. mixes jalapenos into the curds.

Ray Sr. and Ray Jr. built the machine that mixes the curds.

Ray Sr. scoops curds into a cheese press as Ray Jr. places a lid on the press.

The father and son press the cheese.

Honeysuckle Lane Cheese ages its cheese for 60 days at 45 degree Fahrenheit.

Cindy, Ray Jr.'s wife cuts and...

...packs the cheese.

Voila! Cheese is born.

Ray Sr., Cindy, and Ray Daley, Jr. - the people behind Honeysuckle Lane Cheese.

The cows behind Honeysuckle Lane Cheese. The Daleys mostly raise Jersey cows whose milk contain higher butterfat, thus resulting in better cheese.

I love cheese. I especially love white cheddar from Honeysuckle Lane Cheese. Located in Rose Bud, Arkansas, Honeysuckle Lane Cheese has been making raw milk cheese since 2005. Recently Eddy and I visited the people behind the cheese.

Ray Daley, Sr., cites fluctuating milk prices for the reason why he and his son, Ray Jr., decided to start Honeysuckle Lane Cheese. The Daley family still engages in dairy farming, but unlike milk, cheese has a longer shelf life, and its prices do not fluctuate as much as milk prices. The family now diverts 1/4 of its milk to their cheese operation.

The father and son learned all about cheesemaking from a couple of experienced commercial cheesemakers in Missouri and Oklahoma, and they launched Honeysuckle Lane Cheese in 2005. “The name comes from our driveway,” says Ray Jr. “It is lined with honeysuckles.”

Honeysuckle Lane Cheese is truly a family business. Cindy, Ray Jr.’s wife, milks 38 milking cows that the Daleys own. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the father and son make cheese. On the day that Eddy and I visited, they were making jalapeno cheddar cheese. The Daleys grow and chop jalapenos that they use in their cheese. “If I don’t wash my hands thoroughly after making jalapeno cheese, my hands would be burning all the way home,” said Ray Sr. They mix chopped jalapenos into the cheese curds made using their raw milk. They then scoop the mixture into several cheese presses and press for 24 hours. They cure the cheese for 60 days at 45 degree Fahrenheit in their walk-in freezer. After 60 days, Cindy cuts the cheese, Ray Sr. vacuum seals the cut cheeses, and Cindy labels and ships them to their destinations.

“‘Locally grown’ websites really helped us expand our market,” said Ray Jr. “At the beginning, we sold our cheeses at a handful of local stores around Rose Bud. Now we sell them in Little Rock, Hot Springs, Conway, Hot Springs Village, and Searcy, online, at stores, and to restaurants.” The business has been so successful that the Daleys are thinking about adding another type of cheese to their lineup – gouda. They let us try their experimental batch. Let me tell you, it was GOOD.

The Daleys make great cheese because their cows eat grass. “Our cows eat grass all year long except for in winter,” says Ray Sr. “We feed them hay in winter, and hay changes the color of their milk from usual cream to white. That’s why we sell truly white cheddar in winter, whereas the rest of the year, we sell cream-colored white cheddar.” The Daleys do not add any artificial coloring or flavoring, and they use no antibiotics or growth hormones in the raising of their cows (unless a cow gets sick and needs medicine). They also do not use pesticide or herbicide on their grass. “The change in the color of our cheese only occurs due to nature,” says Ray Sr.

When Eddy and I decided to visit Honeysuckle Lane Cheese, I knew I had to meet the cows. The Daleys raise mostly Jersey cows. Jersey cows produce milk with higher butterfat content,thus resulting i better cheese. The Daleys cannot remember the last time they bought a cow. Most of their cows are daughters and granddaughters of their original Jersey cows. At Honeysuckle Lane, even milk production is truly a “family” business.

Honeysuckle Lane Cheese products can be purchased at The Station Grocery & Deli in Little Rock as well as various natural food stores throughout the state. You can also purchase their cheese through Little Rock Local Food Club, Spa City Co-op Market, Village Community Market, and Conway Locally Grown. Check them out and send yourself to heaven with cheese from Honeysuckle Lane Cheese!

Weekly Meal Roundup

Cold spell is back, and so are the hot pots. Eddy and I love to make kimchee hot pots when the weather gets cold. They are easy to make, you can eat LOTS of veggies, and you start sweating in no time.

This week we made a hot pot using kimchee made right here in Little Rock. The ladies at the Sam’s Oriental Store make them every week, and they are FANTASTIC!!! An added bonus – they reuse the glass jars that kimchee come in. Simply wash and return to the store after you finish eating. Isn’t it great?

We also thew in pork from the Petit Jean Farm, Napa cabbage and green onions from the Armstead Mountain Farm, and shiitake mushrooms from the Arkansas Natural Produce. YUM, YUM!!! The next day we used the leftover soup to make kimchee udon. Mmm…. we were in heaven!

Friday Eddy and I hosted the Arkansas Earth Institute Discussion Course After Party. Recently we finished taking the Voluntary Simplicity course, and we decided to celebrate the great time that we had by throwing a party. Thanks, everyone, for coming! Since we still have TONS of Arkansas strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, we decided to make mixed berry ice cream using the stored berries as well as our chickens’ eggs. It turned out great! We also made orange pecans using Arkansas pecans that we stored last fall. They were yummy as well!

What have you been eating lately? Share by leaving a comment! And now, here is the roundup for this past week.

Sunday

Breakfast – homemade whole wheat & rye pancakes made with homegrown eggs & AR pecans, topped with AR honey, homegrown eggs, AR sausage, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic bow-tie pasta with homemade pesto made with AR basil & garlic

Dinner – homemade minestrone with Swiss chard & beans made with AR tomatoes & Swiss chard, pecan mashed sweet potatoes made with AR sweet potatoes & pecans, sauteed asparagus

Monday

Breakfast – organic War Eagle Mill (WEM) oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic udon with AR kale, homemade miso soup

Dinner – homemade stir-fried Asian vegetables made with AR cabbage, shiitake mushrooms & Napa cabbage, organic AR rice, homemade miso soup, home brewed beer

Tuesday

Breakfast – organic WEM oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic bow-tie pasta with homemade pesto made with AR basil & garlic

Dinner – dinner at Bosco’s (Thanks, Leah & Jason!)

Wednesday

Breakfast – organic WEM oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – homemade mustard green gratin, pecan mashed sweet potatoes made with AR sweet potatoes & pecans, arugula & radish salad made with AR arugula

Dinner – Mexican at El Dorado

Thursday

Breakfast – organic WEM oatmeal with WEM flax and AR pecans, honey & honeybee pollen, banana, home roasted coffee

Lunch – at Master Gardener’s class

Dinner – homemade Korean kimchee hot pot made with locally-made kimchee and AR pork, Napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms & green onions, homemade miso soup, organic AR rice, mixed green salad made with AR greens, topped with homemade miso vinaigrette, home brewed beer

Friday

Breakfast – homemade whole wheat & rye pancakes made with homegrown eggs & AR pecans, topped with AR honey, banana, AR sausage, home roasted coffee

Lunch – organic udon with leftover Korean kimchee soup, veggie dumplings

Dinner – homemade hummus, mixed berry ice cream made with homegrown eggs and AR milk, strawberries, blueberries & blackberries, orange pecans made with AR pecans, homemade goat cheese made with AR goat milk, homemade bread, Boulevard 8-grain bread, crackers, tofu spread from The Station, olives, Blueberry Hill cheese, taro chips, cookies, home brewed beer, wine, home roasted coffee, tea (Thanks, everyone, for coming and bringing stuff!)

Saturday

Breakfast – homemade French toast made with homemade bread, homegrown eggs, topped with AR honey, home roasted coffee

Lunch – pork ribs at the Storm on the Water Barbecue Contest at the Clinton Library (Thanks, Adam, for treating us!)

Dinner – too full from the barbecue contest to eat 🙂

My New Year’s Resolutions

• Continue to reduce my environmental footprint and become more self-sufficient
• Lose more stuff
• Reduce food waste
• Become a better knitter
• Learn to sew
• Learn to make soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and toothpaste
• Start keeping bees
• Take better care of chickens and ducks
• Finish installing a drip irrigation system
• Install an outdoor solar shower
• Build a cob oven
• Learn to cure bacon
• Bike more
• Hike more
• Forage more
• Learn more about mushrooms
• Learn to make hard cheeses other than cheddar
• Go back to yoga and kickboxing
• Start running
• Become a better composter
• Become a better gardener
• Become a Master Naturalist
• Say Itadakimasu before the meal and Gochisou sama deshita after the meal – Many Japanese say Itadakimasu before the meal and Gochisou sama deshita after the meal to express gratitude to all who had a part in producing and preparing the food. I used to say those words, but somehow I stopped saying them. Last year I learned how difficult it is to produce and prepare food from scratch. I battled our chickens who kept feasting on my vegetable garden, cried over unsuccessful batches of cheeses, and fought ticks and chiggers to forage mushrooms and edible plants. Never again will I take food for granted. I want to reinstitute this Japanese custom in my everyday life so that I can remind myself that no man or woman is an island, and that I am sustained by many people and, most importantly, the Mother Nature. 

Go Green & Opt Out of the System!

One of the reasons why I like to cook from scratch is so that I don’t support companies that I disagree with unknowingly. Did you know that Phillip Morris owns Kraft Foods? I don’t care what other people do. If you choose to smoke, fine with me. Just don’t smoke around me. If you buy Kraft Foods products, go for it. But I choose not to support Kraft Foods because I don’t like smoking. I have no need for its products anyway. I make almost everything from scratch. 

Recently I added Barnes & Noble to the list of companies I refuse to support. Why? Because Barnes & Noble sponsors The Rush Limbaugh Show. The same show that has been broadcasting “Barack the Magic Negro” song since this past June. I find the song and any talk radio show that finds humor in airing the song to be racist. And I refuse to support any business that sponsors such shows. Barnes & Noble has responded to the public outcry, defending its sponsorship by saying it makes no political judgment about the books it carries, and it extends the same stance to the radio programs that it sponsors. “As we carry both conservative and liberal authors, we are on programs that reach both audience,” says Suzanne Peterson, Barnes & Noble’s Customer Relations Advocate. Now since when did all conservatives become racists? I dated a Republican for 4 years, and he and I were in an interracial relationship. Maybe I was asleep during the relationship. Besides, is racism a political issue? I thought it was an ethical issue. Perhaps I didn’t get the memo that conservatives have officially incorporated racism as part of their political platform. 

I don’t care how others feel about Barnes & Noble, but I sure won’t be supporting it anymore. I rarely go there anyway. I borrow books from the library, and if I can’t find a copy of the book I want at the library, I buy it used or request it from PaperBackSwap. By going green, I’ve opted out of the system that includes companies like Barnes & Noble and Phillip Morris. Oh, I’ve also opted out of Wal-Mart, Tyson, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and The Gap. Quite frankly, I don’t miss a thing!

Every dollar you spend affects the world you live in, so spend it wisely. Go green and opt out of the system!

Green Gift Idea: How about Homemade Feta for Christmas?

This Christmas how about giving your special someone homemade feta? Making feta is easy with Ricki Carroll’s Feta recipe. I uploaded the recipe to the Recipes section, so check it out!

I believe making feta at home helps reduce my environmental footprint. First, I use local farm-fresh goat milk to make my feta, thus no energy to ship cheese from afar. Second, my feta comes with no packaging. I even reuse the plastic milk jugs used to transport my goat milk to drip irrigate my garden. Lastly, I make my own cheese, so I know what’s in it. My local goat milk supplier uses no antibiotics or growth hormones. I refuse to use any preservative or artificial flavoring. My cheese is just cheese – the way it’s supposed to be.

And I save lots of money by making my own feta. I pay $8 for a gallon of goat milk, and I get about a pound of feta from it. In comparison, most grocery stores charge anywhere between $3.99 to $4.99 for about 4 ounces of feta. And most people love getting cheese as a present. It’s a low cost green gift that’s appreciated by nearly everyone. 

So this Christmas give homemade cheese to your special someone! The Recipes section has the recipes for 30-Minute Mozzarella and Ricotta, so check them out as well!

Say Cheese!

Eddy kneading mozzarella.

This Thanksgiving how about reducing packaging and making cheese at home? Making mozzarella is easy with Ricki Carroll’s 30-Minute Mozzarella recipe. I uploaded the recipe to the Recipes section, so check it out!

I believe home cheesemaking helps reduce my environmental footprint. First, I use local farm-fresh milk to make my cheese, thus no energy to ship cheese from afar. Second, my local milk supplier reuses milk containers, so I have no packaging to throw away. Lastly, I make my own cheese, so I know what’s in it. My local milk supplier uses no antibiotics or growth hormones. I refuse to color my cheese, and I don’t use any preservative or artificial flavoring. My cheese is just cheese – the way it’s supposed to be.

And, the best part about making cheese is that you get to turn whey left over from cheesemaking into something else. After I make mozzarella, I use leftover whey to make ricotta. So, you get two kinds of cheese from one gallon of milk. Isn’t that great? And, you save money when you make cheese at home. I pay $6 for a gallon of milk, and I get 1 pound of mozzarella and 1-2 cups of ricotta. How much do you pay for a pound of organic mozzarella at the store? Do you get free organic ricotta for free when you purchase mozzarella? I didn’t think so.

So, this Thanksgiving make cheese at home, save money, and reduce your environmental footprint. I uploaded Ricki’s Why Ricotta recipe to the Recipes section, so check it out along with her mozzarella recipe.

Book Review: Home Cheese Making

I’ve had so many people ask how I make my cheese. Well, this book is the answer. Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll taught me how to make mozzarella, ricotta, pannir, chèvre, and cheddar. As I become a better cheesemaker, I hope to advance to other hard cheeses such as Parmesan and Romano as well as mold-ripened cheese such as Brie and Camembert. Of course, with the help of RIcki and her wonderful book which I call my bible when it comes to cheesemaking.

Ricki Carroll owns New England Cheesemaking Supply in Ashfield, Massachusetts. Her company has been supplying home cheesemakers since 1978, with the goal of providing people with all the equipment and information needed to enjoy home cheesemaking. Ricki teaches cheesemaking workshops around the country for beginners and advanced hobbyists alike, leads cheesemaking tours to Europe, and is a member of the American Cheese Society. Her book has become a classic reference for many people, including Barbara Kingsolver, the author of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.

In the book Ricki presents the basics of cheesemaking in a concise manner. She even tells you all the equipment and materials you need to make certain types of cheese, taking guess work out of process. The book contains 75 recipes that are easy to follow, and she includes both cow and goat milk cheese recipes as well as whey cheese recipes. I have made countless cheeses with this book, and I’ve had only one cheese fail on me so far.

So, if you want to start making cheese at home, buy this book. I promise you won’t regret the investment.

Spot on Green: Fermentables

Located in North Little Rock, Fermentables has been supplying homebrewers and cheesemakers in central Arkansas since 1994.

Sage, bok choy, and tomatoes grow in Fermentables' hydroponics garden.

 

Mozzarella kit, cheese press, carboys, and wine kits.

I’ve had so many people ask where I buy supplies for homebrewing and cheesemaking. Well, I buy them from Fermentables. Located in North Little Rock, Fermentables has been selling supplies to homebrewers and cheesemakers in central Arkansas since 1994. New to homebrewing? Don’t worry. Fermentables caters to beginners and advanced hobbyists alike, selling beer kits for beginners and grains for more adventurous. Mike Byrum, who has owned the store for the past 7 years, says that up until about 5 years ago, it was difficult for beer enthusiasts to find craft beer in Arkansas. Now that we see New Belgium, Boulevard, and others in the state, the interest in craft beer has increased, and so has the interest in homebrewing. The economic downturn also contributes to the increased interest in homebrewing. According to Mike, as the economy goes down, many people try to become more self-sufficient, thus the interest in homebrewing goes up. Mike has seen the interest in cheesemaking go up as well for the same reasons.

Beer kits for beginners.

According to Mike, homebrewing has several green factors. First, homebrewing allows you to recycle bottles. Second, homebrewing involves no shipping, whereas craft beer from out of state requires energy to transport. Cheesemaking can help save the environment as well. When you make cheese at home, you reduce packaging and transportation costs. Best of all, you know what’s in your cheese, eliminating unwanted substances such as preservatives and artificial coloring and flavoring.

Fermentables sells supplies for hydroponics.

Fermentables also sells supplies for hydroponics. Hydroponics refers to a a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, without soil. I’ve met many organic gardeners who remain skeptical of hydroponics, and I asked Mike to address their concerns. He says that hydroponics uses less space and water than conventional gardening, allowing city dwellers and countries without much water to grow fresh produce. Hydroponics produces no fertilizer runoff and yields more crops for less, making it the choice method for many third-world countries to resolve food shortages. Several independent hydroponics merchants participate in an initiative called Hydro for Hunger. They donate certain percentage of their profits to this initiative that supports hunger relief organizations dedicated to reducing world hunger through hydroponics gardening. Since 2002, Hydro for Hunger has raised almost $70,000 to support the fight against world hunger. And, I believe it will continue to raise more funds as the popularity of hydroponics increases.

Fermetables sells organic gardening supplies for both hydroponics and conventional gardening.

I have been considering hydroponics as the way to enjoy certain fresh produce during winter. I grow winter vegetables outside but rely on Whole Foods for produce that I cannot grow during cold season such as tomatoes and cucumbers. I have been researching the environmental footprint of growing own produce hydroponically during winter versus buying produce from afar at Whole Foods. According to Mike, many produce at the store are grown hydroponically, therefore it may be less taxing on the environment if you do it yourself. When engaging in greenhouse hydroponics, you enjoy all the benefits of indoor hydroponics plus eliminate lighting needed when growing inside. Hmm…I’m starting to be convinced.

Whatever you are interested in, be it homebrewing, cheesemaking or hydroponics, go to Fermentables for all your fermenting needs.