Eckert’s Deli Cheese

Cheese comes in all shapes and sizes and can be made with all types of milk.

Cheese is categorized by texture: soft (fresh & soft ripened), semisoft, semihard and hard. The amount of moisture in the cheese determines the texture.

Do you find yourself asking, “what do I use this cheese for?” Here are some suggestions to help you along the way:

Fresh Cheese (ricotta, cottage, cream, mascarpone): These naturally bleneded cheese can be mixed with all kinds of ingredients for filling pastries and pastas. Also a great topping of fruit!
Soft-ripened cheese (Brie or Camembert): These are ideal table cheese and makes delicious sandwiches or perfect for the filling of an omelet!
Semisoft Cheeses (blue, Colby, Fontina, Havarti, Monterey Jack): Use as a table cheese, in hot and cold sandwiches and folded into omelets. The blues are great crumbled over salads or whisked into salad dressings.
Semihard and hard cheeses (Gouda, most Cheddars, dry Jack, Gruyere, Parmesan): Just about anything goes here, from quiche and mac and cheese to omelets and pastas.

Homemade Ricotta Recipe

I have fond memories of my grandmother making homemade ricotta with me right alongside ready to give a helping hand. I can’t seem to locate that recipe that my grandmother used many years ago, but I did recently run across this recipe for homemade ricotta cheese and believe it is just as good!

Ingredients

1 gallon organic whole milk
2 cups organic heavy cream
large, heavy-bottomed nonreactive pot
silicone spatula
instant-read thermometer
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons organic distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
colander
cheesecloth
large bowl
slotted spoon
storage container

Directions

1. Heat the milk. Pour the milk and cream into the pot, place over medium-high heat, and heat to just below boiling. Stir with the spatula to keep the liquid from scorching. Just before the milk boils, the surface will start to foam and release steam. Check the temperature and pull the pot off the heat just shy of 185 degree F.

2. Make some curds. Add the vinegar and stir for 30 seconds. The curds will form almost immediately. Add the salt and stir for another 30 seconds. Cover the pot with a dish towel and let the curds stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

3. Drain the cheese. Line the colander with a large square cheesecloth, and place the colander over the bowl to catch the draining liquid. Using the slotted spoon, gently transfer the curds from the pot to the colander. Let the ricotta drain for about 30 minutes.

4. Tie it up. Gather the cheesecloth by its corners and twist together to force out the liquid. When the liquid turns from clear to milk and the cheese starts to push through the cheese cloth, it has drained enough.

5. Store it for later. Remove the ricotta from the cheesecloth and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It’s best when it is super fresh, but it can be saved for up to 1 week.

Recipe from Family Meals Cookbook by Maria Helm Sinskey.