Cosmo Clone

Chevre is a fresh soft cheese usually made from goat milk, but apparantly it can be made from cow or sheep milk also, as I recently learned in my cheese making class at Three Shepherds in Warren, Vt. It is easy to make and you can either use plastic cheese moulds (I’m using heart shaped molds that I picked up online)or nylon cloth or cheesecloth. Or make a cheese mould out of a plastic container, like Tupperware, just remember to sanitize, sanitize, sanitize and if you are cutting, clean cuts only as rough edges harbor bacteria. Below is a recipe using one ½ gallon of milk. I initially made this a one gallon recipe, but we ran out of milk in the house and you DO NOT WANT TO RUN OUT OF MILK WITH A 16 MONTH OLD who can now see the bottles of cheese making milk in the fridge! Again, before making this cheese, sanitize anything that will be in contact with the milk and cheese.

Ingredients: 1/2 gallon of milk (fresh raw milk will also work), preferably non homogenized milk. Or use a ½ gallon of skim milk and 1/2 pint of heavy cream. 1/8 tsp of Mesophilic Series MM Starter Culture and 1/8 teaspoon single strength calf rennet or you can use any type of rennet. (One drop per quart of milk-single strength)

1. Heat the milk to 72 degrees Fahrenheit . (I overshot the runway here and hit 81 degrees super fast, but no turning back, you can't leave warm milk laying around.
2. Sprinkle the Mesophilic starter over the milk, let sit 5 minutes before stirring in. Raise the temp of the milk to about 76-82 degrees.(no need here..lol..already there) Let sit for 2 hours. Add the rennet diluted in about 20x the equivalent amount of bottled water.
3. Cover the milk and let sit for 18-24 hours at room temperature (about 75-77F).
4. After this period you will see some whey on the top of the curd mass. Place your plastic moulds on a plate or something to allow the whey to drain and gently scoop the curds into the moulds. As the moulds drain down a bit, scoop more curds into them.
5. Let the curds drain covered for about two days at room temperature (about 68-72F). Keep the curds in the moulds covered. During this room temperature period acidity is being developed which gives this type of cheese its tangy flavor. This acidification also helps preserve the cheese.
6. After the cheese have ceased weeping or draining whey, take the cheese carefully out of the moulds, salting all sides (using course non-iodized salt, kosher is good) and wrap in plastic wrap. After salting you can sprinkle dry herbs or paprika onto the little cheeses. Use only herbs that are sold for cheese making. These herbs have been cultivated and treated so their mold count is safe for cheese production. Using herbs from your garden can harbor organisms that may make the cheese unsafe for consumption. I am using a smoked paprika and a bit of crushed red pepper flakes.

This type of cheese will last about 10-14 days in your refrigerator and is super versatile, a spread, a stuffing, a flavored accomaniement.