How to Make Homemade Ricotta Style Cheese

"A dinner which ends without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye." Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Good morning, my fun loving followers! Doesn't today's quote make you laugh?! I find it so funny!
So, today we are talking about cheese. Homemade cheese, to be more exact! Yesterday I had quite the culinary adventure and made fresh cheese right here in our tiny apartment. Yum! I'd been wanting to make cheese for a long time and an article in Bon Appetit last fall showed how simple it could be. What I made was a ricotta style cheese. It was so easy to make and turned out so delicious that I don't think I'll ever buy store bought again! Let's get started!

(please don't mind the state of our Le Creuset or stove, they are both old and well used!)

Simple and Tasty Recipe:

Homemade Ricotta Style Cheese
(makes about 2 cups)

3 cups whole milk (3.25%)
1 cup whipping cream (35%)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp sea salt

Pour the milk and cream into a pot and bring up to a boil on medium heat (the milk will steam and become frothy, once you see any bubbling, you are done). Remove immediately from the heat, if you leave your pot on the hot burner it could easily boil over! Add in the lemon juice and salt and gently stir a few times. Allow to sit for about 5 mins, you will notices how the soft curds and whey have separated. Pour the contents of the pot through a cheesecloth lined strainer and allow to drain. After one hour your cheese will have the consistency of ricotta, after two hours it will be more like deli style cream cheese. Put into an airtight container, refrigerated and keep for about 5 days. Enjoy!

How easy is that?! I decided to experiment and I left my cheese to drain overnight in the fridge. The consistency is now even thicker. It has a rich creamy texture with a mild lemony flavour. It is extremely pleasant! Use it any way you would use a ricotta cheese or cream cheese. I added some fresh chopped chives and dill from the herb garden to it this morning and had it on an English muffin for my breakfast. Superb! Please try this recipe out, you will not be disappointed! Till next week followers, when the culinary adventure continues!