Say cheese

This past week I took a day off to learn how to make cheese. No, I'm not thinking of switching careers, but I did think the class would be interesting. And I was right.

 

The course was at Glengarry Fine Cheese, about an hour and a half southeast of Ottawa, just past a little town called Alexandria. (Lots of hilariously-named shops in Alexandria, including The Book Nook and Bite Me, a sandwich shop located next to the funeral home, which is, presumably, where one goes after you Bite It.) But I digress...

 

The drive was quite nice through farm country. I passed lots of corn fields.

 

This is what the workroom looked like. This is the cheddar station, obviously. Not pictured were the gouda and mozzarella station, and the camembert and feta station.

 

First task was to warm the milk (cow, whole and homogenized from a local dairy) to the appropriate temperature. Different cheeses require different temperatures, but most ranged between about 29-32C. The milk was inside a water bath to help keep the temperature regulated.

 

 

 

Then we added the starter, which got the whole process going, leaving us with curds that looked a bit like cottage cheese.

 

 

These curds got poured into moulds to become camembert.

 

 

Look at all that whey draining out.

 

 

And here are the mozzarella moulds draining.

 

  

Let's check on the cheddar. The milk solidified and turned jelly-like until we could cut it into cubes with a knife.

 

 

Next we continued to break down the curds with a whisk. I was in charge of this pot, which I turned into curds deemed unsatisfactory compared to the other pot. Curd making fail!

 

 

Here's the cheddar as actual curds. We pushed them through a Starfrit french fry cutter to get the shape. Once the salt is added, the curds twist up into that familiar shape. Squeaky goodness!

 

 

Break time. Lots of cheese varieties to sample.

 

 

Back to work. These are the mozzarella curds, waiting to be cut into smaller pieces, then dunked into hot water to be stretched. 

 

Stretch that cheese! The water was so so hot. This is also how cheese strings are made.

 

Pressing the gouda into a mould. I learned it's pronounced gow-da, not goo-da, so now you know too.

 

Getting rid of the whey. This whey goes to pigs on two nearby pig farms.

 

Last lesson of the day: waxing blocks of gouda to protect and prevent mould growth.

 

 

All in all, a fun and informative day. We divvied up all the cheese we make among the 12 students. I brought home a bag of curd, some feta cheese (currently brining in my fridge) and some camembert, which is now "ageing" in my basement. I need to babysit it for the next six weeks, checking for mould and then turning it every two days. So basically it'll be like having a kid, right? You all should take bets now on whether I'll forget about it altogether, only to discover a mouldy, smelly mess sometime next spring.

Happy cheese eating!

 

Spinach and feta filo pie

I was lucky enough to get Jamie Oliver's new 30 Minute Meals book for Christmas, and at first, I wasn't too sure about the content. For one thing, the book is crowded and not particularly easy to navigate. All the recipes are presented in complete meals, with the idea that you set about to make everything all at once in a short period of time. Therefore, the instructions for all the receipes are combined together on one page, and he provides details on how to juggle back and forth between all dishes in order to get everything done on time.

Layout problems aside, when I actually sat down and started to read the book, I was intrigued by most of the recipes. As noted in this blog previously, I'm a big fan of Jamie's cooking and usually his food turns out very well.

I made this spinach and feta filo pie for the first time several weeks ago, and I've made it again since. It's pretty easy to put together, and really, really yummy. It's good the first night, right out of the oven, and just as good re-heated for leftovers on subsequent nights.

One minor quibble is that I only made this meal, and not the suggested side salads or dessert for this Greek-inspired meal, and it took me much longer than 30 minutes. Granted, I did not have the ingredients assembled beforehand, but cooking the spinach alone (in batches) takes 20 minutes. Perhaps 55 minute (plus) meals wouldn't be as catchy a title.

Speaking of spinach...
Here it is. The recipe calls for a whopping 400g, which is almost an entire giant spinach container you can buy from the grocery store. You have to cook it down in several batches, which is a bit tedious. But perservere with the knowledge that your iron levels will be off the charts because of your efforts.

While the spinach is wilting away, combine the eggs and cheese in a separate bowl.

Next up, prepare your filo dough and sprinkle with some cayenne for a bit of a kick.

Then add the filling to the filo.

Wrap everything up for its nap in the oven.

'Til it comes out looking like this!

Cut yourself a gooey piece and imagine you're in Mykonos by the sea.

Spinach and feta filo pie

From Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals

100g (3½oz) pinenuts *I used walnuts, because I didn't want to re-mortgage my house to buy pinenuts
5 free range or organic eggs
300g (10½oz) feta cheese
50g (1¾oz)
Cheddar cheese
Dried oregano
1 lemon
A knob of butter
400g (14oz) prewashed baby spinach

1 x 270g pack of filo pastry

Cayenne pepper
1 whole nutmeg

TO START: Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Turn the oven on to 200C/ gas 6. Put a medium (approx 26cm/10½in diameter) ovenproof frying pan on a medium heat. Put the standard blade attachment in the food processor.

SPINACH & FETA PIE: Put the pinenuts into the dry ovenproof frying pan to toast, tossing occasionally. Keep an eye on them. Crack 5 eggs into a mixing bowl and crumble in 300g (10½oz) feta. Grate in the Cheddar.

Add a pinch of pepper, a couple of pinches of dried oregano, zest of 1 lemon and a glug of olive oil. Once the nuts are light golden, add them to the egg mixture and mix well.

Put the empty frying pan back on the heat, add a little olive oil and a knob of butter and pile in half of the spinach. Gently push and move it around and add more as it wilts down. Make sure it doesn't catch on the bottom and, when there's room, start adding the rest, stirring frequently.
Meanwhile, take the pastry out of the fridge.

Lay a large sheet of greaseproof paper, approx 50cm (20in) long, on the worktop, rub a little olive oil all over it, then scrunch it up and lay it out flat again. Arrange 4 filo pastry sheets in a large rectangle, overlapping at the edges, so they almost cover the paper. Rub some olive oil over them. Sprinkle over a good pinch of salt and pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Repeat until you have 3 layers. Don't worry about any cracked bits. Remember to keep stirring the spinach.

Once the spinach is really nice and dense, take the pan off the heat. Add the wilted spinach to the egg mixture and grate in ½ a nutmeg. Mix well. Carefully move the greaseproof paper and filo into the empty frying pan so the edges spill over. Push it down into the sides of the pan, then pour in the egg mixture and spread it out. Fold the filo sheets over the top and let them fall where they will (for more help go to www. jamieoliver.com/how-to-filo-pie).

Put the pan back on a medium heat for a couple of minutes to get the bottom cooking, then put the pan into the oven on the top shelf to cook for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

Shaved asparagus pizza

I've cooked asparagus in many ways. Steamed, grilled, roasted -- I pretty much like it all. But this is the first time I've made it the main ingredient on a pizza. And let me tell you, it was a great discovery!

First, start off by shaving the asparagus. No need to break off the woody stems as they'll just serve as your handles. I'd recommend a Y-shaped peeler for this job (which I don't have), otherwise your peeler will likely get a gummed up, as mine did, and then you might be inclined to swear a little bit as you pick bits of asparagus greens out of it.

Once that job's done, and the air in your kitchen is no longer blue, you get busy with the cheese. The original recipe called for mozzarella, but I didn't have any. So I sprinkled some feta on the crust, and added about a quarter cup of parmesan on top. Then, on went the asparagus, and a handful of thinly-sliced green onion. The whole thing was then topped off with some black pepper and a few drizzles of olive oil. (I added a handful of fresh peas too after I snapped this photo. What could more green hurt, right?)

And after about 15 minutes in hot oven, you've got this bubbly, browned masterpiece. This is a really great pizza -- very grassy and light in flavour. Plus, you can feel somewhat virtuous eating it, given the high green quotient (even more so if you substitute some whole wheat flour in your crust).

Shaved Asparagus Pizza (as seen on SmittenKitchen

Makes 1 thin crust 12-inch pizza

1 recipe Really Simple Pizza Dough or your favorite ourchased pizza dough
1/2 pound asparagus
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 pound mozzarella, shredded or cut into small cubes (*I used feta)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Several grinds black pepper
1 green onion, thinly sliced

Preheat your oven to the hottest temperature it goes, or about 500 in most cases. If you use a pizza stone, have it in there.

Prepare asparagus: Holding a single asparagus spear by its tough end, lay it flat on a cutting board and using a vegetable peeler create long shavings of asparagus by drawing the peeler from the base to the top of the stalk. Repeat with remaining stalks and don’t fret some pieces are unevenly thick (such as the end of the stalk, which might be too thin to peel); the mixed textures give a great character to the pizza. Discard tough ends. Toss peelings with olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and be sure to try one -- I bet you can hardly believe how good raw asparagus can taste.

Assemble and bake pizza: Roll or stretch out your pizza dough to a 12-inch round. Either transfer to a floured or cornmeal-dusted pizza peel (if using a pizza stone in the oven) or to a floured or cornmeal-dusted tray to bake it on. Sprinkle pizza dough with Parmesan, then mozzarella. Pile asparagus on top. Bake pizza for 10 to 15 minutes, or until edges are browned, the cheese is bubbly and the asparagus might be lightly charred. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with scallions, then slice and eat.