Sunday, February 24, 2013

homemade chedar

Hi, friends!  Just tried the first block of homemade chedar, made November of 2012. We enjoyed the taste of this first effort. It was a nice dry well aged chedar with a bit of a bite. Looking forward to trying the next blocks.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Yummy Beef Jerkey!


Making homemade beef jerkey is a favorite of my family, I choose any roast that happens to be on sale, the bigger the better.

Slice the beef in thin strips, about an eight of an inch thick, place the meat in a container or ziplock and cover with the following marinade. Refrigerate overnight.
  • 2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 2/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoons ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  •  
     
    Spread your meat in a single layer on each tray of your dehydrator, and dry overnight, you will wake up to the smell of beef jerky and if your family is anthing like mine you will probably find several peices missing from the top layer. I have also dried the meat in the oven using the lowest setting, it can be a bit messy in the oven so be sure to use a drip pan.
     
     
    Make sure to hide a bag for yourself. don't be afraid to try Venison, or turkey.
     
    Good Stuff!  



    I Made Cheese

    I have learned to make cheese, and it is yummy! You can do it too!

    A few months ago, I went to Switzerland to visit my Kids. while there we went on a tour of a cheese factory and enjoyed some fabulous dishes at the factory restaurant. There was much discussion regarding the process and the fact that many cheese products you buy retail now-a-days have ingredients such as celuose in them. Well a few weeks later my kids sent me a cheese makeing kit from a place called the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company, I am including a link for them here in case you want to check them out. www.cheesemaking.com.

    My first thought was that I needed farm fresh milk, not so you can make this with store bought pasturized milk. I also thought it would take a long time but the recipe is a quick recipe taking only 30 minutes.

    30 Minute Mozzerella
    Ingredients:
    1 gallon of cold milk
    1 & 1/2 tsp. Citric Acid diluted in 1 cup cool water
    1/4 tab or 1/4 tsp of rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool water
    1- 1 1/2 tsp. Cheese salt (Optional)

    Make sure the milk you use for this cheese is NOT ULTRA- PASTEURIZED
    --Homogenized milk will work fine.
    --Fresh farm milk will also work well but we encourage you to try with 1 gallon of store bought whole milk first.
    --Low fat milk will work but the cheese will be drier and less flavorful
    Equipment you will need:
    --A 6 to 8 quart stainless steel pot. Aluminum or cast iron will not work.
    --A stainless steel or strong plastic slotted spoon.
    --A two quart microwave safe mixing bowl
    --A thermometer which will read between 80 - 120 degrees F.

    Prepare your work area:
    Do not prepare any other food while you are making cheese.
    Put all food products away. Move all sponges, cloths and dirty towels away from your work surface, wipe your sink and stove with soap and water. Finally use your antibacterial cleaner to wipe down all surfaces.

    Process:
    Crush 1/4 tablet of rennet and dissolve in 1/4 cup of cool, unchlorinated water and set aside to use later.
    Add 1.5 tsp. of citric acid, diluted in 1 cup cool water, to 1 gallon of cold milk and stir well.
    (Add the citric acid solution to the empty cold pot - the photos show adding this dry but do mix with water).
    Now, pour cold milk into your pot quite quickly to mix well with the citric acid . This will bring the milk to the proper acidity to stretch well later. Next, heat this milk to 90F. As you approach 90F, you may notice your milk beginning to curdle slightly due to acidity and temp.
    NOTE: If having problems with milk forming a proper curd, you may need to increase this temp to 95 or even 100F
    At 90F, remove the pot from the burner and slowly add your rennet (which you prepared in previous step) to the milk. Stir in a top to bottom motion for approx. 30 seconds, then stop. Cover the pot and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes.
    Check the curd, it will look like custard, with a clear separation between the curds and whey. If too soft or the whey is milky, let set for a few more minutes.
    Cut the curds into a 1" checkerboard pattern (as in photos above) and, if a drier cheese is desired, carefully cut and stir this curd to release more whey.
    Place the pot back on the stove and heat to 105F, while slowly stirring the curds with your ladle. (If you will be stretching the curds in a hot water bath heat to 110F in this step.)
    Take off the burner and continue slowly stirring for 2-5 minutes. (More time will make a firmer cheese)

    With a slotted spoon, scoop curds into a microwave safe bowl. (If the curd is too soft at this point let sit for another minute or so.)
    You will now press this curd gently with your hand, pouring off as much whey as possible. Reserve this whey to use in cooking.
    Next, microwave the curd on high for 1 minute. You will notice more whey has run out of the curd. Drain off all whey as you did before. Quickly work the cheese with a spoon or your hands until it is cool enough to touch (rubber gloves will help since the cheese is almost too hot to touch at this point.)
    Microwave 2 more times for 35 seconds each, and repeat the kneading as in the last step. Drain off all of the whey as you go.

    Knead quickly now as you would bread dough until it is smooth and shiny. Add salt near the finish.
    At this point the cheese should be soft and pliable enough to stretch like taffy.
    It is ready to eat when it cools.
    Form it into a ball and drop into ice water to cool and refrigerate.
    When cold you can wrap in plastic wrap and it will last for several days, but is best when eaten fresh.

    For additional recipes or to order supplies Irecommend visiting www.cheesemaking.com.

    I have also made several batches of cheddar but they need several months to age and I have not tested them yet. I will let you know....

    Introduction

    Dear friends,

    From the time I was a little, I was the "I can do it myself" girl. So here I am a little bit older and still trying to do everything myself. Whenever I think of a new task to learn, or come across an obstacle that others would consider out of their realm of expertise, I simple roll up my sleeves and get started.

    There are many reasons for learning a new task, and I am sure each and every one of you has done it at least once in your life. It may have been just learning to make a pie or how to fix a leaky bathroom faucet. Learning to do something new may take a bit of research, it may require purchasing equipment or supplies, and it may even take several attempts to get it just right. In the end you can boast to your friends that you made it or you did it yourself and they will be in awe and admire your efforts.

    My intention for creating this blog is to have an open forum to share my knowledge of tasks with you, learn from you new ideas or techniques, and work together to learn new skills.

    Terry