You can find it here.

About three weeks ago I was watching The Food Network and some fella was making fresh mozzarella.  It look simple and delicious and one of my all time favorite things to eat is a caprese salad.  So, being the foodie that I am, I starting looking into the science behind fresh pulled motz.

Here’s a recipe if you’re interested.

I actually made three batches and settled on the hot water cooking method over the microwave process. It made for a smoother, more uniform cheese. But try it and get the kids involved. My family devoured the end product within a few hours each time and my oldest took a pound home and used it for a Pizza Margareta – which I heard was “awesome.”

I’ve made a few pounds of neufchetel which disappears in about a day (a gallon of milk makes about 2 lbs.)  I’ve mixed it with roasted garlic and chives, topped it with jalapeno jelly and mixed it with fresh berries.  It’s so damn easy to make that I have a new batch brewing as we speak.  But to make aged cheeses much more equipment and supplies are needed.

Anyhow, one thing led to another and I have been making more complicated cheeses and gathering equipment. The first thing I had to do was build a cheese press. Obviously I could have bought one but they start at about $100 and go way up from there. So I searched around and finally built  this one mostly out of things I had around the house:

As you can see, I have cheese being pressed there. It was my first attempt at Farmhouse Cheddar.

Here’s the final product:

Now all there is to do is flip once or twice a week and it should be ready in about a month. Since then I found another recipe for the same style cheese and it’s drying and waiting to be waxed tonight.

I’m going to try my hand at making a Spanish Manchego infused with saffron tonight. It’s a brine cured and rubbed cheese so it’s a different aging process than waxing. It’s more complicated too insofar as I have to control both the temperature and the humidity through that aging process.

My son-in-law had an old refrigerator in his garage that, much to my wife’s chagrin, I’ve modified into a “cheese cave.”  In order to control the temperature I had to get an external thermostat which, as luck would have it, a home beer making friend happened to have an extra.

Anyhow, I’ve go about $100 into the whole project to date (not including ingredients) and I’ve almost gotten everything I need. I made cheese molds out of things I found at the Goodwill store and I already have most of the cooking utensils (after all, I am a foodie.) I can make a pound of cheese for about $5.00 which, if you haven’t been paying attention, is about 30% less than what one pays for commercial crapola.

Anyhow, I’m planning on starting another blog just for cheese making. I find it a fascinating process and rather a mystical mix of science and alchemy. Too, the patience needed is quit Zen.

I also hope to find other local cheese makers and see if I can get a cheese club going here in town. If one already exists I can’t find it.

BTW, if you live in Missoula and you want to try your hand you can get supplies at Chapman Home Brew. The owner used to run the now defunct Lolo Peak Winery. Her supplies are limited but she has enough on hand to get started. I’m hopeful she can build the trade here so we have ready access to good ingredients locally as opposed to buying over the internet.

Anyhow, if you’re interested in making cheese – either as a beginner of an expert – drop me a line or leave me a note. I’d love to talk to you.

• 1 Tbl Olive Oil
• 1 small onion
• 3 cloves garlic – minced
• 4 cups veg or chicken stock
• 1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 15oz can white kidney beans – rinsed
• 4 cups chopped escarole

Method:

In a soup pot saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent.  Add broth,  tomatoes, crushed red pepper, orzo, black pepper and bring to a simmer until pasta is cooked (aprox. 5 minutes.) Add beans and escarole.  Simmer additional five minutes until beans are warm.  Serve.

Makes four servings.

Shavuot (Lev. 21:15-16, 21) occurs each year 7 weeks from the second Seder of the Jewish Biblical Festival of Passover. This explains the name “Shavuot” — which is Hebrew for weeks. If you count from one day earlier, from the first Seder of the Festival of Passover, there are 50 days, or as it’s known in Greek — Pentecost, meaning the fiftieth day. (Pentecost is what Christians call their celebration 50 days after Easter Sunday that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the followers of Jesus of Nazareth on that day. Pentecost is also called “Whitsun” or “WhitSunday” in the UK and other English-speaking areas.)

The Shavuot synagogue service includes the reading of the Book of Ruth and the “Akadamot”. The Book of Ruth is the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman, who voluntarily chose Judaism and because of her kindness, became the great-grandmother of King David (and for Christians, the ancestor of Jesus of Nazareth), and who is said to have been born on and died on Shavuot. The other book that is read is the “Akdamot”, written in Aramaic by Rabbi Meir ben Isaac of Worms, Germany in the eleventh century C.E., which describes what it will be like during the days of the “Moshiach” (Messiah).

The custom is to eat dairy foods on Shavuot because once the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) was given at Sinai, all methods of killing the animal, other than by “shechitah”, ritually-approved slaughter, were prohibited. Since animals could not be ritually slaughtered on Shabbat (Sabbath), and the Torah was given on Shabbat, on that day the Jews at Sinai had to eat dairy.

Ashkenazic (central and eastern European Jewry) fare includes a variety of dairy dishes including blintzes (fried, filled crepes), noodle or rice kugels (puddings), knishes (filled pastries), kreplach (filled pasta), priogen (filled pastry turnovers), vegetable salads with sour cream, kaesekuchen (cheesecake), strudel, schnecken (yeast pastries), rugelach (cream cheese cookies), kuchen (coffee cakes) and fluden (layered pastry).

Sephardim (Spanish, Portuguese, North African, Balkan, Greek and Turkish Jewry) serve such dishes as borekas (pastry turnovers), ojaldres (phyllo turnovers), calsones (filled pasta), esfongus (spinach-cheese nests), mengedarrah (lentils with rice) topped with yogurt, yogurt salads, sutlach (rice flour pudding), ruz ib assal (honey and milk rice pudding) and biscochos Har Sinai (mounded cookies representing Mt. Sinai).

A fairly newer custom begun in the U.S. by Reform Jewry, and adopted by Conservative Judaism as well, is to hold religious school graduation exercises on Shavuot. More traditional Orthodox communities begin a child’s formal Jewish education on Shavuot.

Chag Sameach (KHAG sah-MEHY-ahkh = A Joyous Holiday)!

For a Cheese Blintz & Montana Blintz recipe, click more

Cheese Blintz Recipe

The following recipe for Cheese Blintzes is derived from a recipe by Natalie Fisher, a one-time resident of Shelby, Montana, and is from “The MAJCO COOKBOOK, VOLUME II”, published by the Montana Association of Jewish Communities (1999):

Here’s what you will need:

Crepe:
1 cup milk
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
butter or vegetable oil for frying

Filling:
1 lb. cottage cheese
1/4 lb. farmers cheese (dry cottage cheese)
1/2 lb. cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg

Topping:
sour cream
applesauce
fruit toppings

You will also need:
bowl
whisk or fork
large utility spoon
crepe, or small frying, pan
large plate
wax paper
2nd bowl (or, a cleaned first bowl)
plate
tablespoon
frying pan
spatula

Here’s what you need to do:

1. In a bowl, beat eggs. Add milk. Beat in flour until smooth.

2. Pour in a utility spoon of mixture into a greased crepe or small round pan.

3. Cook on one side until lightly browned.

4. Flip onto a plate lined with wax paper. Stack crepes with wax paper in between.

5. In a bowl, mix filling ingredients together.

6. TO SHAPE BLINTZES: Place about 1 heaping tablespoons filling on the cooked side of the crepe. Fold in sides and roll up like an egg roll or burrito.

7. TO COOK BLINTZES: Lightly brown (on both sides) using butter in a frying pan.

8. Serve with sour cream, applesauce or fruit topping.

For a Montana blintz, replace the sweetened cheese filling with huckleberry preserves.

Gourmet Apsaalooke Chili by Awé

4 Tbs canola oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 yellow onions, diced
2 Serrano chiles (diced with seeds removed)
1 lb. coarse ground elk
1 lb. coarse ground antelope
½ tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbs mild red New Mexican chile powder
2 Tbs dark Pasilla chile powder (or Ancho)
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
½ cup tomato paste
1 1/2  cups Beef Stock
1 Bottle Rainer Ale (warm)
2 Tbs cheap port wine
1 Tbs Tabasco Sauce
4 tsp ground cumin
4 tsp minced Mexican oregano
¼ cup minced parsley
4 oz crumbled goat cheese, for garnish

To prepare the chili, heat the canola oil in a large
saucepan. Add the garlic, serrano chiles, and
onions and sauté over medium-high heat for 5
minutes. Add the meat and sauté for 7 or 8
minutes longer, while stirring frequently, or
until the meat is well browned on all sides.

Season with salt and pepper, stir in the chile
powder, and cook for 2 minutes more.  Add the
tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, beer, port,
Tabasco, cumin, oregano, and parsley, and stir
well to combine. Bring to a simmer, turn
down the heat to low, and cook, uncovered,
for 55 minutes (add water if needed).

Put the mess into serving bowls and sprinkle
the goat cheese over (or any cheese you like).

Pour the Chili over macaroni (Lodge Grass
style), pinto beans (Crow Agency style), or
spaghetti (Pryor/Arrow Creek style).

Servings: 4-6

As commanded by the Almighty at Sinai (Ex. 12:14-20, 13:1-10 and Lev. 23:4-8), the 8-day Festival of Pesach begins on the 15th day of Nissan and ends on the 22nd day of Nissan (that’s the Babylonian ‘Nissan’, not the Japanese ‘Nissan’), which this year, this will be from sundown, Saturday, April 19 to sundown, Sunday, April 27 on the civil calendar.

As the only major Jewish celebration completely centered on the home and not in the synagogue, Passover is marked by special dietary restrictions, mainly the prohibition against using any grain or leavened product, other than matzoh (unleavened bread made from flour and water and baked for 18 minutes), and ritualized meals (Seders) that follow a specified order as written down in the Haggadah (huh-GAH-duh, the guide book for the Seder service that contains blessings, questions and answers, the story of the Exodus, and songs) on the first two evenings.

A favorite Passover breakfast treat is matzoh brei, French toast made with matzoh:

For Walter’s Pesach matzoh brei recipe, click more

Walter’s Pesach matzoh brei recipe

Here’s what you will need:

2 matzohs
3 cups water
2 eggs
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
sugar

You will also need:
large bowl
medium bowl
fork or whisk
large skillet
spatula

Here’s what you need to do:

Break the matzohs into small pieces and soak them in the water in a large bowl until soft, but not soggy. Drain well.

In a separate medium bowl, beat the eggs with the salt and pepper.

Add the beaten eggs to the drained matzohs. Blend together.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add the egg mixture. Cook over medium heat. Cook the egg-matzoh mixture as a large omelet, browning on both sides. It’s usually only necessary to turn over once.

Top with either sugar or salt and pepper.

Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern European) Jews eat hamantaschen (HAH-men-TAH-shen), tri-cornered fruit-filled cookies in reminiscence that the Persian Prime Minister, the evil Haman, was supposed to have worn a tri-cornered hat.

Photo by Ariela at Baking & Books

For a Blue Ribbon hamantaschen recipe, click more

This hamantaschen recipe won the 2000 Minnesota State Fair Blue Ribbon!

Here’s what you will need:

Cookie dough:
3 eggs
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup oil
1/3 cup orange juice

Filling:
3 tablespoons orange juice filling (canned prune and apricot fillings were used for the State Fair entries).

Traditional fillings are poppy seed and prune. Apricot, apple butter, pineapple preserves, and cherry pie filling all work quite well.

For a special HONEY-NUT FILLING:

1 lb. of honey
1 lb. ground or chopped walnuts

Heat honey to boil, then stir in walnuts.

Oil a platter or board, pour walnut-honey mixture on platter or board and let cool.

When cool, cut into triangles (approximately 1″ per side).

Here’s what you need to do:

1. With an electric beater, beat eggs, adding sugar gradually.

2. Add oil and beat well.

3. Combine flour and baking powder; add to egg mixture alternatively with the orange juice. Mix well. You may need to add a drop more juice if you think it is too dry or a little more flour if you feel it is too loose.

4. Divide dough and wrap in waxed paper.

5. Chill dough for several hours.

6. Remove dough from refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/8th inch thickness and cut into 2-1/2 inch circles.

7. Place a rounded teaspoon of filling or honey-nut triangles in each center.

8. Pinch edges together firmly to form a closed triangle over the filling.

9. Place on a non-stick sprayed cookie sheet.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden. Cool on a rack.

Source:

http://www.bnaiemet.org/Womens_League/recipes/Purim/blue_ribbon_hamentaschen.htm

While in Vaduz my cousin Thersea cooked what she called a “traditional” dish that has no fancy name other than that found in her cooking notes…Fleischbällchen, so without further ado…Liechtensteiner Meatballs.

Meat Patties:

1.5 lbs ground pork
1.5 lbs ground beef
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons potato starch
2 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons chopped capers
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cooked beets
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste

Cauliflower Cheese Mashed Potatoes:

1 pound redskin potatoes, quartered and boiled or steamed
1/2 pound cauliflower florets, cooked
3 tablespoons heavy cream
dash allspice
4 ounces Gruyere, Emmentaler, or Jarlesburg Cheese, coarsely shredded
Salt and pepper to taste

* In a medium sized mixing bowl, add the ground meats and all the ingredients from the potato starch to the chopped beets. Combine well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Form the meat mixture into small patties or meatballs, approximately 1-inch circumference.

* Heat in a large non-stick saute pan over medium high heat. Saute the patties until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer the patties to a plate lined with paper towels or a rack.

* In the same pan, over low heat, stir the flour into the drippings and gradually add the beef broth. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the liquid is slightly reduced. Stir in the cream and taste for seasoning. Return th cooked patties to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

* In the meantime, prepare the Cauliflower Cheese Mashed Potatoes. Coarsely crush the warm potatoes and cauliflower with a fork and season with the cream and allspice. Add the cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.

* Serve the patties with the potatoes as an accompaniment.

Möge dir dein Weg leicht werden!

Mike