Last week, I got a call from my friend Megan: "I made cheeeeeeese!" (I had to hold the phone away from my ear, her exclamation was so loud) "I used that cheese making kit and I made Mozzarella, and it's sooooo goooood!!! I ordered a kit for you – it's on it's way!"
Well, the cheese-making kit arrived, and I marveled at how such a small package could boast to produce 30 3/4 lb servings of mozzarella! Since I don't own a microwave (although there is a non-microwave method), I decided to bring the kit to my parents' house for our Thanksgiving visit so that my mom could get in on the cheese-making fun.
On Sunday morning, we assembled our supplies, laid out the directions and dived in.
It all went very smoothly until the heating to stretchability phase - for a few minutes we thought we'd have to settle for ricotta, but then magically, the cheese began to thicken, stretch and gain a taffy-like sheen.
We tasted a few bites of the warm cheese - whoa, so yummy! We split off a section of the batch to braid, and made the rest into small mozzarella balls, then chilled all of the cheese in an ice water bath. It's a very satisfying experience to make your own cheese. We began to brainstorm recipes... margarita pizzas, paninis, a Caprese salad. Delizioso!
I highly recommend purchasing this cheese-making kit for yourself or even better – as a unique gift for friends and family this holiday season - it's lots of fun and its an economical way to enjoy fresh, homemade cheese!