I finished up the cottage cheese which is very easy to do. I cut the curd into 1/2 inch or so pieces with a long spatula, brought the whey and curds up to about 120° stirring gently now and then to keep the bottom from sticking. Then I let the curds set in the warm whey until it was the consistency I like; lifted the curds out of whey with my favorite kitchen tool, a spider, into a large sifter and let them drain. Pour into glass bowl; salt; add some cream if you like (and I do);
Salt. I have already had a dish. I do love it.
Yesterday I cooked a couple of butternut squashes that were getting some bad spots on the bottom. I chopped off all the bad, scooped out seeds, cut off the tops and baked the remaining squash in the oven until tender. I scooped out the flesh and let it drain for a while. I got about 1/2 cup of juice from it. I have the squash in the fridge now. I will probably just freeze it.
I cooked the bad pieces to soften for the chickens and added the rinds of the baked ones and they had a feast last night.
This morning I made buttermilk pancakes and added the 1/2 cup squash liquid to the buttermilk. Didn't hurt a thing that I could see.
Now what on earth to do with all this whey? I refuse to attempt ricotta cheese again. It has never worked for me. I wish I knew why.
Farm Report: Three new Black Angus babies on the farm.....very early spring calving season has begun.
Glenda, this is too funny that we both did our winter squash at about the same time!
ReplyDeleteI love the way your cottage cheese looks! Yummmmm. Mom used to put her cottage cheese in the center of a big tea towel, gather up the corners and clothespin them onto the clothesline. The ball of cottage cheese would hang there kind of suspended and drip out onto the ground. The ducks would stand under that and go crazy. I bet the chickens would like it.
Or freeze it and use it instead of the liquid called for in muffins and breads and such.