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I love to cook. Focusing on chopping carrots, caramelizing onions, stirring and tasting, etc. is a good antidote to hours spent worrying about abstractions of a

I love to cook. Focusing on chopping carrots, caramelizing onions, stirring and tasting, etc. is a good antidote to hours spent worrying about abstractions of abstractions. I'm also drawn to "project" cooking, stuff that involves aging and/or fermentation. Making cheese, various kinds of pickles, growing tempeh and yogurt, sourdough, etc. I also homebrew (beer and mead). If you like being a mad scientist in the kitchen, _Wild Fermentation_ (http://www.wildfermentation.com/ http://www.wildfermentation.com/) has a lot of recipes and techniques.

bmelton 16y ago
I love to cook, and I love cheese, but I just assume that I would need real milk (e.g., not 4% jug milk) to make a good cheese. I'm working my way through Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking", but I keep getting drawn back to the very early chapters on cheese and dairy, even though it isn't particularly specific. Any tips?
- silentbicycle 16y ago
  I've used farmer's market milk but not raw unpasteurized etc. milk. It's not a big issue for me, though I'm completely disinterested in milk on its own. Most cheese is probably made with relatively unremarkable milk, though. For cheese-making, I recommend starting with paneer / farmer's cheese, rather than aged cheeses. Gradually heat milk in a big pot, stir in a curdling agent (such as lemon juice), let it separate, then wrap the curds in cheesecloth and let them drip, maybe press them after. Real directions will be more specific (the book I linked has a great intro!), but that's the gist. Paneer is great fried with spinach and/or scrambled eggs. Also, try making bread with the whey. Homemade yogurt is also good, particularly if you strain it a bit to thicken it ("labneh", among many other names). Buttermilk is even easier, since it's less finicky about being kept warm, and it's fantastic for baking - soda bread with lots of rolled oats, pancakes, etc. Having a lot of large jars helps; I've accumulated a bunch of half-gallon (~2L) jars from honey used for meadmaking. They're incredibly versatile. I really like _On Food and Cooking_ as a reference, though it doesn't inspire me the way _Wild Fermentation_ does. I also wholeheartedly recommend John Thorne's books, particularly _Pot on the Fire_ and _Outlaw Cook_. The newsletter is good, too, if a bit sporadic these days.

bmelton 16y ago

I love to cook, and I love cheese, but I just assume that I would need real milk (e.g., not 4% jug milk) to make a good cheese. I'm working my way through Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking", but I keep getting drawn back to the very early chapters on cheese and dairy, even though it isn't particularly specific. Any tips?

silentbicycle 16y ago
I've used farmer's market milk but not raw unpasteurized etc. milk. It's not a big issue for me, though I'm completely disinterested in milk on its own. Most cheese is probably made with relatively unremarkable milk, though. For cheese-making, I recommend starting with paneer / farmer's cheese, rather than aged cheeses. Gradually heat milk in a big pot, stir in a curdling agent (such as lemon juice), let it separate, then wrap the curds in cheesecloth and let them drip, maybe press them after. Real directions will be more specific (the book I linked has a great intro!), but that's the gist. Paneer is great fried with spinach and/or scrambled eggs. Also, try making bread with the whey. Homemade yogurt is also good, particularly if you strain it a bit to thicken it ("labneh", among many other names). Buttermilk is even easier, since it's less finicky about being kept warm, and it's fantastic for baking - soda bread with lots of rolled oats, pancakes, etc. Having a lot of large jars helps; I've accumulated a bunch of half-gallon (~2L) jars from honey used for meadmaking. They're incredibly versatile. I really like _On Food and Cooking_ as a reference, though it doesn't inspire me the way _Wild Fermentation_ does. I also wholeheartedly recommend John Thorne's books, particularly _Pot on the Fire_ and _Outlaw Cook_. The newsletter is good, too, if a bit sporadic these days.