Sunday, February 20, 2011

Cocktails and Crafts - Mozzarella and Moxibustion

Last Friday we made mozzarella! It was so easy I am not sure why anyone would buy it in a store after they learn the process. Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is one of my favorite books. She offers a free 30-minute recipe here.

There are many different recipes out there for mozzarella and you can also make ricotta out of the leftover whey but we stuck to this simple recipe to keep the time manageable for a group.

Since most of the group is pregnant I was the only one drinking. I kept it simple with some good ole fashion Colorado Coors - conveniently already located in my fridge.

Okay - on to the mozzarella...

Heat up the milk to 55 degrees which takes about 30 seconds.

Add citric acid and watch it curdle. Science is awesome.

Add the rennet and once the curds have separated from the whey you strain out the curds.
Knead the curds to remove access water.

Pop it in the microwave for about a minute and start to stretch it. Holy crap - that looks like mozzarella!
 I forget (then and now while typing) that you add the salt before kneading the cheese. I also read that you can store it in a salt brine. We added some the whey back to a container for storage.

Not really related to cocktails and crafts - but we also had a moxibustion session to try and turn a breech baby.  You light the cones and then hold them to the outside of the pinky toe until it is warm and red. We did have a licensed acupuncturist administering the moxibustion.

The baby didn't turn at my house (damn). It does smell like an illegal substance (unless medically necessary) so I am sure anyone walking by my front door would rightly assume that this is the party house on the block - just not for the reason they are thinking.

Now go make some mozzarella. You can get all the supplies at Whole Foods, probably Wegmans, Trader Joes or Amazon.com.

1 comments:

Jeanette said... Reply to comment

I am so jealous! You do so many things that I wish I could find time to do myself! Wish I lived closer.

Making mozarella might be on the list for this weekend.

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