Kitchen Curds: Farmers Cheese

Let's start off with a warning. If I hear about any of you stealing cheese from a farmer, you will be expelled from all KItchen Curd activity. Unless, that is, the farmer has a daughter who appreciates that sort of thing. Then you have my blessings.

With this in mind, the next Kitchen Curd assignment is ..... Farmer's Cheese.

Like Mozzarella, this is a fresh, unripened cheese, made in vast quantities on farms (and, according to the internet, by many sweet Polish grandmothers). Why is it called Farmer's Cheese? Because this fresh cheese requires little attention, is easy to make and is something farmers often make at home when wanting to put their fresh goat, cow or sheep's milk to good use without having to worry about aging or storing the cheesy results for long periods of time. They can just eat it.

Although the type of Famer's Cheese whose recipe many of us will be following in the Home Creamery book is simply listed as "Farmer's Cheese," both chevre (like the Poitou Chevre pictured above) and Neufchatel fit into this genre too.

Like in most Kitchen Curd events, I’m using recipes from the  Home Creamery book by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley, but you can use any recipes you’d like. The Farmer's Cheese recipe can be found on page 66.

Kitchen Curds Guidelines:

1. If you’re interested in making the pre-selected dairy good (always open to suggestion) at home, and can do so by the selected due date, then….
2. Make the choosen dairy product at home (your home). Warning: Check your recipe at least 2-3 weeks prior to beginning your cheese. Few (like Farmer's Cheese) require products, such as rennet, that generally need to be special ordered.
3. If you have a blog, send me the link to the post where you talk about your Kitchen Curd experience - good, interesting, funny, delicious or just plain bad. I’ll post your link on the assigned “Its Not You, it’s Brie”  cheesemaking post. If you don’t have a blog, share your experiences in the comment section of the the post where I list the links to the Curd blogging adventures (this post won’t emerge until about a wk. after the links due date).
4. Send me your links by the last day in September.
5. Have fun!