Cheese

Ingredients

• Put four gallons of new milk
• skim your night's milk, and put two gallons of it over the fire
• put a piece of rennet three inches square
• if you want it very rich put in a quarter of a pound of butter
• salt it to your taste

Method

1. 1

   Put four gallons of new milk in a clean tub.

2. 2

   Skim two gallons of night's milk and heat it.

3. 3

   Mix with the new milk.

4. 4

   Add rennet and let it stand in a warm place.

5. 5

   When curd forms, cut it and drain whey.

6. 6

   Press curd and salt to taste.

7. 7

   Store and turn cheese daily for two days.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Virginia Cookery-book (1884) by Mary Stuart Smith, page 135. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

cheese of such consistency as you like. Most persons simply turn it out into a dish and send to table with a pot of cream in addition ; but it may be shaped in small moulds, or made up into rolls or cakes. BONNT-CLABBER.* Where the dairy is good, this plain but, to many tastes^ * Spelled in dictionaries Baugh-naugh Claugh-baugh. A gentle- man from America calling to pay his respects to Fredrika Bremer was asked to sup with her on this homely dish. VIRGINIA COOKSBT-BOOK, 289 delightful dish may be enjoyed daily in hot weather. It is simply milk that through heat has '* turned " or thick- ened until it is of the consistence of baked custard. It should then be set upon ice, or in the coolest part of the spring-house, and sent to table not a moment before it is to be helped out. Individuals eat it with relish just as it is ; but for most persons sugar, cream, and grated nutmeg are required to make it one of the choicest of Arcadian dishes. The milk may be poured into a glass bowl before it turns, and then be more presentable than in one of the dairy milk-pans. Slip. Slip is bonny-clabber without its acidity, and so delicate is its flavor that many persons like it just as well as ice- cream. It is prepared thus : Make a quart of milk mod- erately warm ; then stir into it one large spoonful of the preparation called rennet ; set it by, and when cool again it will be as stiff as jelly. It should be made only a few hours before it is to be used, or it will be tough and wa- tery; in summer set the dish on ice after it has jellied. It must be served with powdered sugar, nutmeg, and cream. Artichoke blossoms were made to take the place of rennet by Virginia matrons in times past, and it may be convenient to know that they possess the same virtue as rennet; but nowadays druggists sell a nice preparation of rennet quite reasonably, that renders the making of slip one of the simplest of processes. A nice dessert is thus fur- nished with hardly any trouble, and at very short notice. CUBDS AND CbBAH, No. 1. Turn one quart of milk as for slip ; let it stand until just before it is to be served; then take it up with a skimming-ladle, and lay it on a sieve ; when the whey 13 290 VIRGINIA COOKERY-BOOK. has drained off, put the curds in a dish, and surround them with cream ; use sugar and nutmeg with them. Curds and Cream, No. 2. One gallon of milk will make a moderate dish. Put one spoonful of prepared rennet to each quart of milk, and when you find that it has become curd, tie it loosely in a thin cloth and hang it to drain ; do not wring or press the cloth ; when drained, put the curd into a mUg and set in cool wat%r, which must be frequently changed [A refrigerator saves this trouble.] When you dish it, if there is whey in the mug, ladle it gently out without pressing the curd ; lay it on a deep dish, and pour fresh cream over it ; have powdered loaf-sugar to eat with it ; also hand the nutmeg-grater. Chbbsb. Persons living in the country sometimes have more milk than they can use, of which cheese may be made. Indeed a really energetic house-keeper loves to be inde- pendent, and know how to make everything that may conduce to the comfort of her family under any circum- stances. A cheese of one's own make must taste better than another ; and for a young house-keeper of such mind we give the following tried recipe, mainly as from Mrs. E. Lea's directions : Put four gallons of new milk in a clean tub that is kept for the purpose ; skim your night's milk, and put two gallons of it over the fire ; when it is near boiling put it in the tub with the new milk and the rest of the night's milk. It should be rather more than milk- warm. If it is too warm, the cheese will have a strong taste. The day before you make cheese, put a piece of rennet three inches square in a teacup of water, and stir it into the milk; cover the tub, and let it stand in a warm YIKQINIA aOOKMMY-JSOOK. 391 place; when the curd begins to form cut it in squares with a long wooden knife, and spread a thin towel over it ; when the whey comes through the cloth you can dip it off with a aaucer ; then put a thin towel in the cheese- vat, put in the curd, spread the cloth over the top, put on the lid, and press it moderately about half an hour ; then put it back in the tub and salt it to your taste ; mix it well, and if you want it very rich put in a quarter of a pound of butter

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.