FETA CHEESE ~ PLEASE!

Yes, it's time to make Feta - one of my favs because it's salty and salt has been a good friend of mine since i can remember when I was a little girl. I would pour the salt right from the shaker into my palm and i would lick it off.  I know, but that's me: a salt hound.  And don't worry my blood pressure is a perfect 110/60.

FETA CHEESE

Nummy!

First I start with a recipe i got from the Yahoo Group - Goat Cheese Plus about 5 years ago.

Heat 1/2 gallon of good goat's milk (the only kind my goat Ezzy produces) to 86 Degrees.

Add 1/4 cup of Feta Mother Culture or 1/2 tsp of direct set culture.

Let set to ripen for 45 minutes.

Dilute 1/8 tsp lipase in 1/8 cup of water.

Pour lipase into ripened milk and then pour diluted rennet into milk as well (that is 1/4 tsp rennet diluted in 1/4 cup water)

Once milk has solidified, cut curds into 1 inch cubes and let set for 5 minutes.

Now comes the fun part:
one must constantly stir the curds for 15-20 minutes.  Depending on how dry you like your Feta, the longer the stirring time the drier the cheese.

So place yourself in a position to stir and be able to do something at the same time, because if I am not doing something else and staring at the clock, i will go slowly insane.  So i choose to check my emails.

Once that is complete - pour the curds into a cheese mold over a rack to catch the whey and flip the mold every half hour for a couple hours.  Then leave set overnight.

In the morning - cut the curds into small squares and place in a container.

Sprinkle all the curds with a generous serving of kosher or sea salt and stir, I shake it. Let it sit it out for a few days to let the salt work its magic and remove the liquid from the cheese. Drain.

And walah!

Beautiful Feta Cheese to enjoy with some good Greek Food, Greek Salad, Kalamata olives, things like that.