Some of last year's garlic crop, dried and hanging in my pantry.
Like last year, most of it is growing in pots again, with a small amount in the only patch of garden I could scrounge up. Unlike last year though, I won't be growing it in foam boxes, due to my concerns about chemicals leaching out of the foam. I managed to scrounge one large plastic pot (after I turfed the unfortunate plant that was in it into the compost!) and two terracotta pots that had previously had aloe vera plants in them, that died after all the humid weather last year. They took two large bulbs of Australian white garlic from my collection in the pantry, and I will definitely plant more if I can scrounge more pots in the next week or so! Garlic needs a long growing season so I can't wait too much longer before it all needs to be in the dirt.
Also over the weekend I made some more mozzarella, using Ricki Carroll's 30-Minute Mozzarella recipe. Mmmmmmm. It goes on our home made pizza, and it is gooood :-).
As you can see from the pic below, the 30-minute mozzarella is quite soft, and doesn't hold it's shape in a nice ball like you buy at the stupidmarket, it tends to ooze a bit, LOL! You couldn't grate it, for example. I just slice it thinly and spread it around the pizza topping. Yum.
30-minute mozzarella. Four litres of milk made about 650g of mozzarella. I then make ricotta from the whey, and freeze the leftover whey for use in cooking. Easy-peasy.
6 comments:
Woah! I just tried out the very same recipe a couple of weeks ago. I think I kneaded out too much whey, though, and my cheese got pretty dry. I also attempted to make ricotta the next day, but I foolishly decided that I should get rid of the white sediment at the bottom of the pot (the instructions weren't very clear). Yeah, way to go, me.
(I found your blog via a friend who recommended it to me...not sure how she found it, though. I love it!)
Our garlic went in over the weekend, too. It's also the Australian white. We had it for the first time last year and we like it. I put in the largest cloves from 4 heads - 50 cloves in all. We're looking forward to using the leaves for the next six months until the bulbs are ready.
Regards, Gary
That garlic looks great! As does the mozzarella. Off to check out that website.
The cheese looks great. Where do you get your rennet from? Can it be bought at the supermarket?
Kate
Hi A. thanks :-) LOL about your ricotta, that sounds like something I would do! The instructions I have now, are to use *fresh* whey to make the ricotta, and it really does make a difference. The first time I did it I used whey that had been sitting overnight - as per the instructions I had - and I had a very small yield (about a tablespoon!). The second time I used the whey straight after making the ricotta, and it worked a treat. Have another go - it's fun!
Hi Gary, Yeah we really liked the Australian white too of the varities I planted last year, so I decided to just plant that this year. I wish I had room for 50 cloves, we'd definitely eat it all! Must find some more pots.
Hi Kez, Mmmmmm, garlic is goood ;-)
Hi Kate, I haven't been able to find any rennet locally. They used to sell junket tablets at the supermarket - which is rennet - but nobody seems to stock it any more? Most rennet is animal-based too, but I bought a plant-based liquid rennet from Cheeselinks. You only use about 1/4 teaspoon at a time so it lasts for ages. It's so easy to make once you've got the rennet, and quite fun kneading it!
Cheers, Julie
I made that recipe not long ago as well. I have made ricotta many times but that was my first try at Mozzerella. I am looking forward to trying it again but this time I plan on using goats milk as that is what I have a lot of right now.
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