Homemade Cream Cheese

One of my favorite homemade food transformations is making cheese. I make yogurt regularly, but cheeses are an infrequent kitchen project. Most of the cheeses I have attempted are fairly simple soft cheeses but even these are an opportunity to see and be part of the way that cultures can completely change milk.

My latest cheese interest has been cream cheese. I've made creme fraiche and ricotta, tried mascarpone, and strained yogurt until it becomes as thick as cream cheese. But only recently have I tried to make cream cheese from scratch. Although it is possible to find many varieties of good quality cheeses, making some of them yourself means you know exactly what goes into the cheese and you can have more control over the way they turn out.

Even if its not something you regularly keep on hand (I don't), making cream cheese is not overly complicated and is a versatile ingredient. At its simplest it is perfect for spreading on a bagel, a muffin, or a quick bread. It can be flavored with herbs into a chevre like spread for crackers or paired with tomato jam. Cream cheese can always go the sweet route, too, in frostings, brownies, or fruit desserts (like these pop-tarts). With all the options for using it, making cream cheese is a great way to try your hand at home dairy.

Unlike yogurt or creme fraiche, cream cheese does require some special ingredients. I discovered recently that my local co-op sells rennet and we have an urban farm store in the area that carries a lot of cheesemaking supplies. If you don't have these resources where you live, I would definitely recommend New England Cheesemaking Supply as a place to order anything you might need to have your own cheesemaking adventure.



Homemade Cream Cheese
I tried a couple of recipes, including this one which suggested that you could use buttermilk instead of the mesophilic starter and since my local cheese supply source was out, I did use buttermilk. I also looked closely at the recipe in Homemade Dairy by Ashley English which includes the option of using calcium chloride, an ingredient that helps pasteurized and homogenized milk to coagulate the way that raw milk does. As with all homemade dairy projects I suggest using the best milk and cream you can find, with the least added ingredients (many heavy creams have gums or stabilizers added).

2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 ounce buttermilk OR 1/8 teaspoon mesophilic starter
1/8 teaspoon calcium chloride mixed with 2 tablespoons water (optional)
1 drop liquid vegetable rennet dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Pour the milk and cream into a pot with a lid. Heat to 75 degrees F (Removing the pot from the heat when it gets to 70 helped me to ensure that it would not get hotter than 75 degrees with the residual heat of the pot). Add the buttermilk or mesophilic starter and stir to fully incorporate. Add the calcium chloride, if using, and stir gently for about a minute. Add the rennet and stir to combine. Cover the pot and place in a draft free spot at room temperature (cover with a tea towel or two if your room is cooler than about 70 degrees). Leave it for at least 14 or up to 24 hours until it has reached the consistency of yogurt.

Line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth or a clean tea towel. Gently pour the cultured milk into the lined strainer. Allow to drain in the strainer for an hour. Then, tie the corners of the cloth together, making sure none of the cheese can slip out the sides. Hang above the sink so the rest of the whey can drain for about 10 hours or until it reaches your desired consistency.

When they have finished draining place the curds in a bowl or other container with a lid. Stir the curds until they are smooth. You can flavor the cream cheese with salt or herbs or use as is. It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or two.

Makes about 2 cups

Homemade Greek Style Yogurt

Yogurt is one of my staple foods. It can be breakfast, lunch or snack and occasionally dinner. Sometimes I use it for baking and I usually put it in smoothies. I've written about making yogurt a couple of times before. It is a fairly simple practice and one that I have kept up regularly for the past few years. Even when other made from scratch foods are neglected, I keep making yogurt. Often I fit it in while I am doing other things since most of the process doesn't require my attention. Other times, while the milk heats and cools I use the time to work on making more kitchen staples or washing the ever present pile of dishes.



Recently I have turned to Greek style yogurt as an even better yogurt option. Traditional Greek yogurt is made very thick by straining out the whey so it has more protein than regular yogurt (since I'm pregnant I've been trying to get as much vegetarian protein as I can). We have been buying Greek yogurt for a while but our kitchen is filling up with plastic containers and the cost of a quart of this yogurt is about the same as a gallon of organic milk. One gallon of milk makes four quarts of regular yogurt. When I strain this yogurt, with cheese cloth and a colander, I end up with about half as much thickened yogurt. I've been experimenting with the left over whey adding it to smoothies instead of water or juice and, because it is acidic, I think it might make a good substitute for buttermilk.

When I write or think about homemade food rituals and projects I have to return to my motivation for these practices. Sometimes it seems silly to spend this time making something that I don't have to but I appreciate the kitchen rituals, being actively involved in my food, and facilitating a magical transformation.

If you want to make your own Greek style yogurt, follow these instructions for making yogurt at home. Once the yogurt has fully cooled in the refrigerator, pour it into a colander or strainer lined with two layers of cheese cloth or a clean tea towel. Let the yogurt drain for about two hours or until it reaches your desired thickness, stirring every so often to make sure it strains evenly. You can also make yogurt cheese by straining it until it is as thick as cream cheese and use it accordingly.

If you are interested in trying more kitchen staples from scratch, I have updated my list which you can find on the side bar under Homemade Kitchen.

Homemade Yogurt with Fruit in Jars

In my adventures with making food from scratch, I am always trying to find the things that I can make that Ray and I will both enjoy. I might have mentioned it before, but our tastes and eating habits don't always intersect. On a recent trip to the grocery store together I was inspired to try a variation on my weekly batch of yogurt that would be an easy way for him to grab something healthy on the way to work.

I usually make plain, whole milk yogurt and eat it for breakfast and snacks often, with maple syrup, fruit, or jam added for flavor and sweetness. This homemade yogurt can be spooned into a jar for eating away from our kitchen, but I wanted to try making fruit on the bottom yogurt cups that would be as convenient as the store bought version seems.

If you haven't tried it before, homemade yogurt is a way of accomplishing transformation with relatively little work. I've written about making yogurt before and it is one of my favorite homemade ritual processes. Making the yogurt into half pint jars primed with jam isn't much different than scooping yogurt into a jar, but once they are made you can easily grab a jar for breakfast, lunch or a snack.

I love the process, the connection, and the tastes that come from making instead of buying, but I am  especially happy when other people can appreciate the results, too.

 

Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt Jars
I usually start with a half-gallon of milk from a local farm. If you're using more milk, add more yogurt starter. If you don't want to put all of your yogurt into small jars, divide it accordingly among the jars you wish to use (I used half-pints, but maybe pint jars would be a better portion for you). For the fruit, jam works best because it is thick and won't make the yogurt watery. You could also use fresh or frozen fruit simmered with a little bit of sugar but unless it is very thick it will make the yogurt thinner when stirred. More yogurt info here. 

1 half gallon milk
Jam or fruit 
1/4 cup plain yogurt

Pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Heat the milk to 180' F, stirring occasionally to keep from scalding. If you do not have a thermometer, when the milk reaches 180' it will be very steamy, hot, and bubbly but not boiling (if it does boil, don't worry). When the milk is hot enough, remove from heat. Let it cool until it reaches 120' F (very warm, but not hot).

While the milk is cooling, wash 8 half-pint jars and lids. Spoon a layer of jam into each jar. About 1/8 of a cup is a good start, but add as much or as little as you like to flavor your yogurt. When the milk has cooled to 120' F, whisk in the yogurt until it is smooth and evenly distributed. Ladle the milk into each jar, taking care not to disturb the jam/fruit too much. Cover each jar with a lid and place them next to each other in a warm spot. Cover the jars with 5-8 tea towels to keep them warm for about 6 hours. After 6 hours, the yogurt should be mostly solidified. Move into the refrigerator and use within a week.