I’m sure Brajana will post about this on her blog, but I wanted to make a post dedicated to my entry with all the bells and whistles (images and links) that I wanted. I’m very clumbsy around code and as I can save drafts here and feel more comfortable using the WordPress editor than the editor for our forums well, I’m posting the full ‘fancy’ thing here.
Basically, We’re running a cooking contest right now with some really awesome prizes. So, without further ado, here is my entry.
Dwarven Mild
Ingredients
The cat is optional
1 Stack of Ice Cold Milk (1 Gallon Whole Milk)
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1 Pungent Seal Whey (1/2 Pint Cultured Buttermilk)
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Juice from 3 unripe Savory Snowplums (Juice from 3 lemons)
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2 Salt (2 teaspoons of salt)
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1 Linen Cloth (Simple CLEAN dish towel. NOT terrycloth, it should be smooth and without fuzz. Paper towels will do in a pinch. Mine had a picture of a chicken on it.)
Directions
In a Large, thick-bottomed Cooking Pot heat your Ice Cold Milk over a very small Basic Campfire (Medium-Low heat) until the milk is warm (not boiling, not even scalding, just lukewarm is perfect). This can take anywhere between 30-60 minutes. Stir often, you don’t want to scorch it.
Once the Ice Cold Milk is warm, remove the Cooking Pot from the Basic Campfire. Stir in the Pungent Seal Whey (cultured buttermilk). Cover the Cooking Pot and let sit in a warm place for one hour. If you are a tailor you can even wrap the Cooking Pot in a Bolt of Linen Cloth (A Bath Towel is fine) to keep it warm.
After one hour put the Cooking Pot back on a medium-sized Basic Campfire (Medium heat) and slowly warm until tiny bubbles form at the sides of the pot. Stir often. Don’t boil. You want it on the hot side of warm. Yes, you can test with your finger. (make sure it’s clean!)
While you’re waiting, squeeze out the juice from the 3 unripe Savory Snowplums (Lemons).
When the milk is scalded (little bubbles on the sides) Remove it from the heat again and pour in the Savory Snowplum juice.
Curds and whey. Yes, it will look nasty. Don't worry, it's natural.
Stir continuously for 1-2 minutes. As you stir the milk will begin to separate into curds and whey. Cover, and let sit for 15 minutes then pour the liquid through your piece of Linen Cloth.
Lots more Whey than curd, make sure your Linen Cloth is big enough!
Hang the cloth for a couple of hours, overnight in a cold place is even better, so that more of the whey drips out. (make sure there’s a bowl underneath to catch the whey, you don’t want a mess)
After the whey has dripped out, transfer your new Dwarven Mild into a container and add about 2 salt (2 teaspoons).
Delicious, creamy, tangy, mild... PERFECT!
Serve as a spread on Freshly Baked Bread, Bladespire Bagels, or even use it in your favorite recipe of Bowels ‘n’ Brains (Sausage Lasagna)
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A non-WoW note on whey.
The liquid left from when you poured your cheese through the cloth is called whey. You could just pour it down the drain, but it is amazing if you use it for soup stock, home-made bread or even pancakes. Even if you don’t like to cook much, water your houseplants with it and they will love you forever.
If you had to use paper towels to strain your cheese through then I recommend giving the whey to the plants as it will taste like… well… paper towels. (yes, I know from experience. Don’t worry, the taste won’t be transferred to the cheese.)
The cheese itself will be soft and creamy with a faint lemony flavor. Add a little honey for a sweet, creamy topping.
