Monday, March 02, 2009

making cheese

All right, so I didn't go see Tyvek!  So I fell asleep at 10! So what! Get up off my nutts, as the famous dumpster says.  I did see the Ancient Sons at a stoney house party on saturday.  How about a party that not only has free flowing weed, but trays of sandwiches and ribs?  

I also made cheese at a friend's house, which I've never done before.  Did you know cheese just starts as plain old milk? 
You add rennet and citric acid and then voila! Curds and whey.  And faintly gross milky smell on everything.
Guess why they call it cheesecloth, folks.  That's right.  In the case of  mozzarella you have to knead it for a trillion years.
How was it?   Just ok. The farmer's cheese was better than the mozz.  Making cheese is hard to do right.

11 comments:

michele h said...

I have to give a shout out to the new bakery stand at the farmer's market. It's a germanish bay area bakery called OctoberFeast, and these days they're under the freeway every Sunday. I started off with their croissants which are delicious, and far superior to anything else in Sac -- not parisian style, but more similar to spanish croissants sans the sugar coating. $2, and sometimes $1/piece at the end of the day. They also have wonderful (if a bit expensive) breads. So far I've had the pretzel loaf and the Jewish Rye, both were DELICIOUS!! Right now I'm eating the rye with Heckasac's lemon marmalade...so good. They have many other loaves, including Schotbrot-style!

Anyway, since Sac doesn't have any good bakeries of its own, OctoberFeast provides a respite from Acme.

-mh

Anonymous said...

MH,

This is such good news! Have you tried Backer Back at Town & Country? I've enjoyed their pastries a lot, and they make a nice dark rye. A little far out of the way for some folks, but a nice shop.

Dani

beckler said...

did you guys see my thing on chocolate fish coffee in the news and review? you need to try it for sure. the coffee is so good! i swear that the rush of pure happiness i get every day with my first sip of coffee lasts longer when the coffee is from chocolate fish. and it's not just caffeine levels! it's mystical.

Cody said...

I'm stoked you reviewed chocolate fish. The folks there are super nice and I was a little worried about them losing 10% of their business a month because of the furloughs. I'm not sure if they are even open on those fridays, but if they are I should make it a point to go in there on those days.

Also, I don't remember who was talking in a previous post about the Pied Piper on El Camino, but we were in the area this weekend, and after eating the bloodiest french dip sandwich ever (blood soaked bread!) at the Hof Brau, we stopped in. It is really great! The folks there were all really nice, and it happened to be karaoke night. I tell you, no less than 4 Kris Kristofferson songs were sung, as well as some Willie, some Eagles, and of course, Sinatra. Cheap, strong drinks too!

beckler said...

smiller has a secret bike route out to that area, so maybe i'll get to try the pied piper.

michele h said...

Not only is Chocolate Fish open on those Fridays, but they are open on weekends now! The coffee is great indeed.

-mh

HK said...

Hey, I fell asleep at 10pm on Friday too! I'm glad it wasn't just me....

Anonymous said...

Beckler- have you bought any Burrata Mozzarella and put it on a pizza?

It's like a giant buffalo mozzarella ball, but I have been buying an American one that is made with cow's milk (cheaper!) made locally down here. It is great on pizza cause it kinda melds with your dough. In a good way.

Ella

beckler said...

no, i'll have to try that.

hey guys-if the blog disappears like it's been doing lately, just click on the archives link to bring it back.

emjay said...

Yum!

I once helped a friend make cheese, and ours didn't turn out so good... I am happy to see your Mozz really looked like mozz, even if it wasn't too special. that might be a good thing. Ours was 'special', like a gym sock.

MJ

Anonymous said...

Weak hanz

thorbig