Homemade cheeses are popular with many housewives. Anyone can prepare a tasty and nutritious product, and for this it is not necessary to have a special starter on hand. A small amount of cottage cheese and milk is enough to get real hard or processed cheese. At the same time, it will have many advantages. How to make cheese from cottage cheese at home?
Is it worth the trouble?
It is quite obvious that store-bought cheese is significantly inferior in properties to homemade cheese. Finding natural dairy products without preservatives on the shelves today is not easy, it is very rare. Using cottage cheese or homemade cottage cheese, the housewife has the opportunity to give her family a delicacy that is absolutely safe for health and incomparable in taste.
Of course, homemade cheese is very different from the hard yellow varieties of cheese that can be found in supermarkets. Most of all, it tastes like feta cheese or a product called “Health”. Processed cheese resembles “Amber” - viscous, white, with a pleasant creamy flavor.
Natural village products should be taken as a basis. If you want to enrich the flavor of the finished product, add chopped ham, herbs or mushrooms during the cooking process.
Making classic cheese from cottage cheese involves several stages.
Ingredients:
- cottage cheese - 0.5 kg;
- milk - 0.5 l;
- egg - 1 pc.;
- soda and salt - 0.5 tsp each;
- butter - 50 g.
Preparation:
Processed cottage cheese is delicious!
The previous recipe featured high-fat cheese prepared with milk. However, this is far from the only product that can be obtained from cottage cheese. It can also be used to make an excellent processed cheese that goes well on pizza. It won't take much time to prepare.
Ingredients:
- cottage cheese - 0.5 kg;
- butter - 0.1 kg;
- egg - 1 pc.;
- soda - 0.5 tsp;
- salt - 1 dessert spoon.
Preparation:
- Mash the cottage cheese with a fork until smooth.
- Add salt, soda and butter to the mixture.
- Then beat in the egg.
- Grind the resulting mass in a blender.
- Place the cottage cheese in a saucepan and place it in a large container of boiling water.
- Simmer in a water bath for 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly.
- When the mass becomes more viscous, you can put it in a molding dish and press it well with a spoon. Any plastic bowl greased with fat will do for this purpose.
- Place the resulting product in a cooler place for 12 hours.
- To enhance the taste, you can add herbs, garlic, ham or other additives.
It is convenient to make processed cheese overnight. In the morning you can safely eat it with sandwiches or take it to work as a “brake.”
How to cook low-fat cheese?
For those who are on a diet, a low-fat version of the cheese recipe is suitable. The resulting product will resemble “Adyghe” in its qualities. You can cook either on the stove or in a slow cooker. If you want to make the cheese more salty, just add more salt.
Ingredients:
- milk - 2 l;
- juice from 1 small lemon;
- a pinch of granulated sugar;
- salt - 0.5 tsp.
Preparation:
- Heat milk in an iron container to 80 degrees. Do not bring it to a boil.
- Cool the liquid slightly and add salt and sugar.
- Mix well and pour in lemon juice.
- If whitish flakes form in the milk, it means everything was done correctly. Cover the dish with a lid and leave to cool to 30 degrees.
- Line a colander with gauze and pour the curd mixture onto it. Leave it for half an hour.
- When all the liquid has drained, wrap the cheese in cheesecloth and place a weight on top. A three-liter jar full of water or a weight can act as oppression.
- Place in a cool place for 12 hours.
- When the cheese is ready, put it in the mold. The shelf life of the product should not be more than a week.
To make low-fat cheese, use the first recipe, but use store-bought cottage cheese with a fat content of 1 or 0% as a base.
During the cooking process, follow a few simple rules.
- Take only fresh milk and other products.
- All components must be prepared in advance.
- The load that you place on the cheese mass should be as heavy as possible.
- Homemade cheese is not too hard. It can be cut into slices and served, but it will look better in salads, pizza, and main courses. It is good to make hot sandwiches with the addition of spices and herbs.
