Cheese making and fermentation - part 1

Oh dear.....it's been a while since I gave my poor blog any attention. I had intended doing this post the day after I attended a 'Cheese making and all things dairy' workshop, however time just got away from me. Here we are, more than a week has passed and I'm just finishing the post.

Now back to the workshop, it was fantastic! Loads of information and tips, great atmosphere and a terrific bunch of people. There were 25 of us there, all eager to learn about making cheese and other dairy products using raw milk....yes you read right, all made with raw milk. We learnt about the value of raw milk, how to make cheddar, brie, cottage cheese, ricotta, neufchattel, fermented cream, butter, ghee, sour cream, milk kefir, yoghurt and using different types of whey. Talk about brain overload. Whilst we didn't individually make cheeses, volunteers were asked to help in each part of the cheese making process. With a very funny mishap along the way!

For morning tea we had sourdough pikelets with kefired cream, cream cheese and jam.....yummo. Then at lunch we had a feast of fermented foods including sourdough bread, kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, fruit and nut kimchi, salad, fruit and an assortment of Elisabeth's homemade cheese and to finish off, some homemade lemon wine. For me the taste of fermented foods was a real shock to the taste buds, it really is an acquired taste. However the health benefits of fermented foods are well documented so it really is worth a try.

If you live in South East Qld and are interested in a good basic cheese making and dairy product course then I would thoroughly recommend this workshop. Elisabeth Fekonia from Permaculture-realfood is an accredited permaculture teacher. Her enthusiasm for home food production and preservation is infectious. One point that she stressed was for us to pass on our new skills and knowledge. Sounds familiar doesn't it. Elisabeth also runs sourdough and lactic acid fermentation workshops. I'll be booking in for one of those as well.

All in all it was a really enjoyable day. It was great to be amongst people who were all interested in knowing where there food came from and wanting more control of what they ate. By sheer luck I got to meet Holly (albeit very briefly), one of the members from the Down to Earth forum. I think there may have been another new member there as well.

On the subject of raw milk, I've been buying Cleopatra's bath milk for a while now. It's a great product but rather expensive if you intend using it for cheese making. Luckily for me a neighbour purchases milk in bulk from a local dairy. I got my first lot this week, it's not organic but it is raw and at a great price. Once I get all my cheese making equipment sorted there will be no stopping me!

I'll be back tomorrow with part two - milk kefir and the BEST tasting yoghurt ever.

Cheers Lisa

I seem to have made a bit of a mistake with this post i.e. when it was published. I've deleted the originl post and reposted today. Sorry Rose your comment got deleted as well.

There's been fowl play in the veggie patch

Yes, you guessed right someone got into my vegetable garden and did a bit of their own landscaping. Sorry no photos as my camera decided to kark it. Just picture lots of mulch thrown all over the place, thankfully nothing was damaged.

I believe Miss Lulu to be the culprit. Of the three chooks we currently have, Lulu is the most adventurous and by far the funniest chicken I've ever owned. She walks around the chook yard with you, pecks at your shoes, rings and buttons, then runs after you when you go to leave. Very cute, plus she likes a cuddle too.

Lulu.....you talkin to me!

Mitzy....our second new chook, she's a bit of a nervous nelly

Margot....older and bossier

Does this photo make my bum look big?

Sadly our little Queenie died a couple of months backs. She had been sick and despite lots of love and care she eventually passed away. Damn wild birds that leave their diseases and parasites around the place!

We've only had these two new girls for three weeks. I wanted a heritage breed or ex-battery chooks but we came home with hybrids. Apparently we are going to add two more to the flock soon, maybe I'll get my way then.

Cheers

Lisa

Feeling a bit crafty

This is what I've been up to in the last week or so.

I made a wheat pack for a friend

Actually it's for his cats

I'm growing my hair at the moment and it's become rather feral and unruly (the curly hair curse), so I thought a few headbands were in order. This is my first attempt made from vintage sheets. I like it but found it a bit on the wide side. If you're interested here is the tutorial I used for the headband.

Headband number two, is a much better fit

Lastly a new jumper for Tony. I'm using a 12 ply wool angora blend, which is super quick to knit with it. I've had a massive knitting disaster recently, that will be a post in its self. This new project should restore my knitting self esteem, I hope!

What creative things have you been up to lately?
Cheers Lisa

Happy Birthday Michele

Today is my big sister's birthday. Sadly we don't see each other very often or even talk much on the phone these days. It's something I keep promising myself to rectify but before you know it, days have turned into weeks, then months. I guess we both have busy lives, Michele has her family and work and I have my life too. Living two thousand kilometers apart doesn't help either. Part of my gift to Michele is to keep in regular contact and to visit her more frequently.

I'm sure Michele won't appreciate having her picture plastered all over the net, so I'll share one of my favourites from when we were very young, 1968 I think. Mum made our dresses from Enid Gilchrist patterns. The dress Michele is wearing was made for my cousin's baptism, I had a matching one as well.

Michele and Lisa

Happy Birthday Shelly, I hope you've had a wonderful day......love Lisa

Almost forgot, I'd better let her know about my blog so she can see this for herself.

Anzac biscuits - a healthy twist on a Aussie classic

A healthy alternative to an family favourite

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup wholemeal spelt (you could use half plain flour), 2/3 cup dessicated coconut, 2 tablespoons virgin coconut oil, 2 tablespoons oilve oil (you could use sunflower or a similar oil), 1/3 cup rapadura sugar or raw sugar, 1 tablespoon molasses, 1 teaspoon bi-carb soda, 3 tablespoons boiling water.

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 150C, prepare baking trays, either grease or use baking parchment.
In a large bowl combine, oats, flour, coconut and sugar, mix well. Place oils and molasses in a saucepan and heat till warm. Oil and molasses does not combine in the same way as butter and golden syrup does when heated. Meanwhile boil your jug, mix the bi-carb and boiling water in a small bowl. Take the molasses and oil mix off the heat, add the bi-carb and water, mix well, watch out it dosen't bubble up and overflow the pan. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix well. Take heaped teaspoons of mix, roll into a ball, place on baking tray and flatten with your fingers. Don't place the biscuits too close together as the will spread a little. Bake in a slow oven for approximately 15 minutes or till golden. Allow to cool on trays for 10 minutes then cool completly on a cake rack. Makes about 32 biscuits.

Enjoy
Lisa

Eco Stationary

How good is this!

A refillable fountain pen made from sustainable timber

I found this lovely little stall 'Gumnut Hill' in amongst the organic fruit and vegetable stalls at the Northey Street City Farm a few weeks ago. As a bit of a stationary lover I couldn't help but admire the beautiful products especially the fountain pens. I mumbled something to Tony about wanting one for my birthday (that's not until the end of the year). Last weekend we did our usual jaunt to the markets and Tony bought me the pen as an early Mother's Day gift from the fur kids.

I love writing with a fountain pen, something I picked up from my Mum and Dad I think. A while back Rose put the idea in my head of using a fountain pen as a sustainable instrument for writing. Why hadn't I thought of that! (Sorry guys I can't find Rose's post about fountain pens)

This is the link to Gumnut Hill Eco Stationary. If your ever in Brisbane and enjoy a bit of permaculture gardening you must drop into the Northey Street farm for a look see and a cuppa.

Have a lovely weekend

Lisa

Speculass

Dutch Windmill Biscuits

Do you remember eating these delectable biscuits? They were a favourite in our house when I was young. I also remember a piped shortbread being another favourite as well.

In February of last year, Carla, a lovely lady I met via the DTE forum gave me her recipe for Speculass. I've been wanting to try the recipe since then and finally made it on the weekend. Oh my goodness the taste and smell of the biscuits is divine, I don't know why I waited so long!

I'm sure Carla won't mind me sharing her recipe

Speculass

250g softened butter, 250g brown sugar, 50g water, 2g salt, 15g Speculass powder (see below), 5g, baking powder, 500g plain flour, slivered or flaked almonds (optional)

Speculass Powder

10g cinnamon, 5g of each of the following spices - ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cardamon, ground white pepper, ground coriander seed, ground ginger, ground aniseed (I used star anise), ground mace.
Mix well, place in a jar with a screw top lid.

Method

In a food processor combine all ingredients till it gathers into a ball. Knead until smooth with no tears in it. Wrap in cling film or foil and rest overnight in the fridge. This allows for the flavours to develop. The next day roll the dough out thinly, between two sheets of baking parchment till about 3mm thick, cut into shapes and place on a well greased or baking parchment lined trays. Lightly press a few slivers of almond on top of each biscuit. Bake for 18 minutes in a 180C oven. Leave on trays to cool.

The above is Carla's original directions, plus a few suggestions by me. As I am without a food processor at the moment, I mixed the dough by hand. This works well as long as your butter is soft.

Instead of rolling the dough out, I divided the dough in two and shaped them into logs, wrapped them in baking parchment or greaseproof and popped one in the freezer (I also wrapped it in foil) and the other in the fridge to use the next day.

I took the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up for about half and hour before cutting it into 3-4mm slices.

Once in the oven, turn your trays around and swap shelves if necessary part way through the cooking process. I did over cook one tray slightly. I'd say bake for 15 - 18 minutes.

The aromas in the kitchen while they bake is amazing. Not sure if they will appeal to young children with all the spices. You could leave out some of the stronger spices and just include the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.

Try stopping at one!