In which our kitchen becomes a dairy

[jethrien]

Today, we have made both cheese and ice cream from scratch.

(Goat's milk paneer and late harvest Riesling ice cream, to be precise. Although it's still too early to tell if the ice cream's going to turn out.)

Comments

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

We'll also see how the goat cheese came out. I suspect rennet many be necessary for our next batch of cheese adventures. Also, butter muslin.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Okay, the ice cream sounds phenomenal. One of my standbys is a honey-moscato frozen yoghurt, so...yeah. NOM.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it made a delicious dessert sauce. I think I just have to accept that my freezer/ice cream maker cannot get cold enough to handle alcohol-based ice creams.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

What's the ratio of alcohol you're using? Most ice creams and frozen deserts do BETTER with a few tablespoons of alcohol for reduced crystal formation and increased creaminess

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

This recipe called for a cup of wine to 2 cups cream and one cup milk. But I've tried other ratios and had similar failures. (My freezer is kind of awful. We don't trust meat in it for very long.)

[firynze.livejournal.com]

Eeep, okay, yeah, that'd be a problem. That's still a pretty high alcohol ratio to be making ice cream, particularly without a custard base, but the freezer sounds like it's the real problem. Boo.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Oh, the freezer's a problem. Sometimes, the bowl doesn't even freeze solid.

[firynze.livejournal.com]

EEEP. I used to have a freezer like that. I...gave up on it.

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

Learned to make mozzarella - and paneer, and queso fresco - this past weekend (at Penguicon, no less).

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Isn't it fun?

[lithoglyphic.livejournal.com]

It's so easy. The method we used took advantage of the microwave to keep the curds hot while kneading and stretching, which is so much easier than some of the methods I've read about.