I have made my own yogurt for a number of years. Last year I made a kind of Farmers (like cottage) cheese and last week I made a wonderful ricotta because I wanted to make a lasagna (next post will have the lasagna recipe and pictures), using some of our garden offerings, my ricotta and my friend Kathy's mozzarella, and using vegetables in place of the noodles.
Being one of those people who likes to either use up, recycle or find additional uses for things the thing you wind up with even with homemade yogurt and certainly ricotta is a lot of whey. Whey is opaque liquid left from cheese making and has protein, minerals, sugars (lactose) and some calories. If you are or know someone, who uses protein drinks made with whey powder, then you may be familiar with its nutrient qualities. In the past I have used my whey in baking - always a good choice but there are more options, including a unique cheese recipe I tripped across while researching more uses for whey.
Below I give you the recipe for the ricotta, and also a number of ways to use the whey and a couple of helpful links
About Ricotta
Ricotta is the traditional cheese used in lasagna and other Italian dishes. Similar to cottage cheese. When I first starting make lasagna decades ago I could not find ricotta, so I used cottage cheese (purists stop cringing). First I have to tell you I have never been fond of either ricotta or cottage cheese unless it was disguised in something - like lasagna! I am changing my mind after making my farmers and now this wonderful ricotta from goats milk.
I adapted this recipe from Chef Michael Symon's -- his recipe calls for the addition of heavy cream - since goats milk is higher in fat than cow's I skipped the cream.
CATHERINE's GOATS MILK RICOTTA
1 quart of goats milk
1/3 cup of lemon juice and fine zest (not the strip zest) from the lemons used
1/2 teaspoon each sugar and kosher salt (I use organic sugar for my cooking)
Bring the milk to 180 degrees on the stove, stirring to prevent scorching.
Take off burner and add juice, zest, salt and sugar. Stir once or twice and let sit undisturbed for 20 minutes (or longer just as long as it is at least 20 minutes).
Pour into a colander lined with 4 single layers of cheese cloth (if you have true cheese making muslin use that instead - much of the curds were captured between the layers).
I let drain for about 15 minutes and then caught up the corners to make a bag, suspended it in a tall pyrex measuring cup and let continue to drain overnight in the refrigerator. I ended up with 1 cup of cheese and 3 cups of whey. The zest and sugar gave the cheese a really nice flavor. Since the curds are "dry" in this kind of cheese making style, you can add a bit cream to the cheese the next day to make is smoother and creamier.
So now had this wonderful ricotta which I used in the lasagna and 3 quarts of whey - what to do?
Gjetost! If you are of Scandinavian extraction you might recognize this cheese made from whey or it's cow's milk cousin Mysost, also called Prim-ost.
I would describe this best as a 'reduction' where the whey is boiled down to a thick or even hard cheese. Described as sweet, salty, caramel - that is exactly how it tasted to us.
If you want a unique treat trying making this from your leftover whey sometime. It is, however, not the most efficient use of the whey and energy, as the reducing aspect takes a long time, and you have to monitor it. The picture shows whey and the finished product. Some references refer to adding cream to the process and beating it at the end. I did neither as I wanted to see what the straight reduction would taste like.
GJETOST RECIPE
Equipment:
1 anodized aluminum sauce pan (even heat distribution)
bamboo flat edge spatula (so I could keep the bottom of the pan properly 'scrapped')
Colander
Cheese cloth (as mentioned above true cheese making muslin would work better)
Container and method to suspend the bag of curds for draining
Buttered container to receive the finished product
Recipe:
3 cups of whey from the ricotta (I chose to use only the ricotta whey without adding yogurt whey - you can combine wheys for this -- if I try the recipe again, I will try it next time with only yogurt whey)
Brought to boil then reduced to next level down on electric stove. You want to keep the whey at a vigorous boil, without boiling over.
It took 50 minutes to boil the whey down to a very thick sauce consistency. I removed it at that point as I could really smell the caramel scent and did not want to scorch it.
Immediately pour into a prepared buttered container. Cool and store in the refrigerator. Folks who love this cheese spread it on rye crisp. I tried it on ciabatta bread and the contrast was very nice. Any unflavored cracker should work nicely.
I wound up with about a quarter cup of cheese from 3 cups of whey.
When you check out the links I provide below, you will see a much denser and darker 'fudge' like consistency. Using a whole lot more whey by volume will give you more finished product and you can boil it longer. Be cautioned that boiling a gallon or more of liquid to reduction can take HOURS.
Some observations:
1) The Gjetost really had a unique sweet, salty, caramel flavor - intriguing.
2) Reminded me of the process I use to make caramel from sweetened condensed milk, where I use a double boiler to minimize monitoring of the process and prevent burning. A double boiler might not work for the Gjetost because it would require far more time, but less stirring. I think one of the diffusers for stove tops would help with minimizing the potential for burning/scorching.
3) I regularly ran my flat edge bamboo spatula through the whey during the 50 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot. It did not burn.
4) You must use a heavy bottom pot stainless steel, anodized aluminum, or other pot for even heat distribution. DO NOT USE teflon coated pots.
5) The efficiency of this recipe is very low. A scant 1/4 cup of product from 3 cups of whey with the monitoring care needed during the boiling process was an uneven energy/volume result. But again, if you want a unique treat try is some time.
How to make Gjetost:
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Gjetost/Gjetost.htm
Also check this site for a tiny bit of different recipe.
http://thepurloinedletter.blogspot.com/2007/06/making-mysost.html
Some history and help
http://cheesemakinghelp.blogspot.com/2010/02/prim-ost-anyone.html
USING WHEY--OTHER ECONOMICAL IDEAS
Some soup ideas using whey (discussion with recipes)
http://cheesemakinghelp.blogspot.com/2011/02/using-whey-in-soups.html
Simple soup stock using whey (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbhSwwdRTgk
Other soup ideas: Any soup which is a "cream" soup - add milk, cream or half and half to give it more richness.
Potato or Potato/Leek soup.
Mac 'n Cheese (homemade)
Cook potatoes in whey instead of water.
Other uses:
Feed whey to pets and poultry
Add to compost pile
Some folks feed plants with it - be careful of salt content in arid areas like the desert with adding to compost or plants.
Baking - use in place of all or some of any liquid for baked products.
Hope these give you some fun ideas in the kitchen.
Have a great day,
P.S. 17th Annual Herb Festival this Saturday at Boyce Thompson Arboretum - 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The weather looks a bit iffy, but come out as I'm sure we will set it up to be visitor friendly! Always great herb specialists there.
-- Catherine, The Herb Lady
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