Making your own fresh cheese is surprisingly easy and quick. This one is lovely and light in texture and flavour. Served with crispbread it makes a lovely starter. It is also delicious served as part of a smörgåsbord with crayfish and dill.
You will need:
For the cheese:
2 litres full fat milk
1 tbsp salt
2-3 tbsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
Muslin, jelly bag or plain kitchen paper
To serve:
3 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp caraway seeds, toasted
Method:
- Place the milk in a large saucepan with the salt. Slowly bring to the boil and then immediately remove from the heat.
- Add the vinegar or lemon juice and stir until you can see the mixture splitting into curds and whey. If this doesn’t happen, add a little more vinegar or lemon.
- Strain the mixture through a sieve lined with muslin. If you have a jelly bag for making jelly or a nut bag for making nut milks, you can also use this. If you don’t have either of these you can use plain kitchen paper in a sieve but omit the next step of the squeezing of the curds as the paper may split.
- Squeeze the muslin or bag well and discard the strained liquid.
- Tip the contents into a bowl, place a plate or saucer directly on top of the curds and weigh down with a couple of heavy tins. Leave for at least 2 hours.
- The cheese is now ready to eat and will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
- To serve, season with salt and pepper and stir through a little creme fraiche to lighten the mixture. Sprinkle with toasted caraway seeds and serve spread on crispbreads. It can also be lightened further with more creme fraiche or a little greek yoghurt and used as a delicious dip. Try it with our sourdough flatbreads.
