Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Mozzarella Cheesemaking Workshop #2

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On Saturday I taught another mozzarella cheesemaking workshop in the lovely little town of Gisborne, Victoria.  It was for a group of ladies who have formed a gardening group, and tracked me down via this blog.

We had a great time, and here are a few photos of the workshop.

Seven large pots of milk all in a row, all ready for the students.

The commercial kitchen was wonderful to work in.  The stove had 12 burners, and plenty of room for the seven budding cheesemakers.

Expelling whey after the first time in the microwave.

Chief Microwave Technician!

Here comes the stretch!  Everybody’s mozzarella turned out perfect.  For a two students account of the workshop, pop on over to Christine’s blog, Slow Living Essentials, and to Kirsty’ blog, Bowerbird Blue, including what Kirsty made with the mozzarella.  A big thank you goes out to Christine who organised the entire event and venue.  It would not have been held without her hard work.

I have another Mozzarella workshop in two weeks time at the Spotswood Community house on Saturday, 29th October from 10am to 1pm.  There may be spaces left, with a maximum of 8 students.  Here is some contact info in case you are interested.

Spotswood Community House
598 Melbourne Rd, Spotswood 3015
Phone: 9391 2613
Fax: 9391 1898
Email: coordinator@spotswood.com.au

Blue Cheese Update #3

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Time for a blue cheese update.

I could wax lyrical about all the cheese that I have made that went according to plan, but I don’t think I have ever mentioned one that has gone terribly wrong!  This is one of those times.

If you have been reading my adventures  about a Blue cheese that I have been chronicalling, this is the final post in the Blue cheese adventure.

It started out looking kind of nice and something like this.  There was enough curds for two small and one rather large cheeses.

Over the course of the last few weeks, I totally neglected these cheeses.  They required turning every 4 days and humid conditions.  At the 30 day mark I was to scrape off the mould and it would have looked nice.

Anyway, because of the neglect, this is what they looked like on Monday night!

blue cheese rescue

The large one had mostly had a melt down, but was salvageable of sorts, but the two small ones had totally lost their form and were runny inside.  A bit like blue cheese Camembert I suppose.  As for the taste, well they were fantastic.  A great creamy blue cheese flavour.

This is what I managed to do with them.

Blue cheese rescue

I scraped all of the mould off of the large cheese, then wrapped it in cheese wrap and put it into the normal refrigerator to see what happens.  I could use it now, but it would be just good for spreading on crackers like a blue cream cheese.

blue cheese rescue

As for the two small ones, we stored them for a day in the fridge and turned them into a wonderful blue cheese sauce.

Kim cooked up some Penne pasta and lots of cauliflower, broccoli, carrot and corn, mixed it all together with the some rue which she added the cheese to make a blue cheese sauce and baked it in the oven.  The flavour was amazing and the meal was delicious.  Ben went back for seconds as did I!

If this is what is known as a disaster in the cheese world, then I am happy with it!  I love it when we learn from mistakes that can be turned around to something edible and yummy.  It just goes to show that cheese making is not all about recipes and following rules, it can be about serendipitous mistakes as well!

I will leave you with this cheesy quote of the day:

“People who know nothing about cheeses reel away from Camembert, Roquefort, and Stilton because the plebeian proboscis is not equipped to differentiate between the sordid and the sublime.” – Harvey Day

Cheese Loves Herbs and Spices

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I’ve been making cheese flavoured with herbs and spices since way back in 2009.  I find that a good cheese becomes a great one with the addition of a few simple herbs and spices.  Here are a few examples.

Here is a Wensleydale with Sage that I recently made.

All I do is pick some Sage from the garden, dry it on a tray in the oven at 120°C (230°F) for 5 minutes.  They shrivel a little, but you only spread a single layer once you put in half the milled curds into your mould.  The flavour that it imparts to the cheese is amazing.  Here is the finished product.

Another of my favourites is Pyrenees with green peppercorns.  All you have to do is add 1 tablespoon of green peppercorns to half a cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes.  Strain the water, cool it down, and add it to the milk before the culture.  Add the peppercorns during milling or before putting the curds in the mould.

The cheese has a sharp flavour enhanced by the soft green peppercorns.

If you like chilli, then Pepper Jack is another spicy cheese you could try.  Same method as Monterey Jack, but add 1 teaspoon of dry chilli flakes to half a cup of water and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add water before culture and chilli flakes at milling.

This cheese goes great with crackers and an ice-cold Cerveza!

Lastly my all time favourite, Farmhouse Cheddar with red peppercorns.  I used the Farmhouse Cheddar recipe from Ricki Carroll’s Home cheese making book and added red peppercorns as per my normal method.

The combination was simply fantastic and is a great match with a glass of red wine.

This Friday, I will be attempting a variation on the Farmhouse Cheddar, this time with cumin seeds.  Same method of preparation, same Farmhouse Cheddar recipe.  I have tasted Edam with cumin before and was very impressed.  I think I will only add a teaspoon of seeds to the water, as I don’t want the flavour to be too overbearing.  I will report back after the taste test in a few months!

So, in conclusion, the addition of extra ingredients can literally spice up your cheese and add that certain something that you may have been craving for.  I highly recommend giving herbs and spices a try in your cheese. You will thank yourself for it!

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