Is it just me, or did Christmas feel weirder this year because it fell on the weekend? Christmas day was done & dusted and then we still had two more days off work. And coupled with the usual contrasts of an Australian Christmas (30 degree heat, blue skies, summer storms) it's been a funny few days.
Luckily I was able to distract myself with cooking. First off we cooked up our xmas turkey three ways - smoked breast
barbecued leg & wing, and then the other half roast in the oven.
On Christmas Day we also had some magnificent glazed ham - something very common in Australia, but not so elsewhere - along with a slap-up buffet & some fine whiskey at Liz's parents place.
Boxing Day felt like a normal day, and at 10am I was in the queue at the supermarket getting some fresh water to brew with for the first Saison of the summer - of course entitled ''Tis the Saison to be merry'. Which will be funny up to the point where I have to write it on 30odd bottle labels. No pictures of the brewing, and the only thing different to normal was the re-use of saison yeast that has been in the fridge for 10 months. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't re-animate but after plentiful sugars and yeast nutrient and many murmers of encouragement from me it seemed to pick itself up. As Charles Papazian (one of the gods of homebrewing) says when things don't seem to be working out - 'don't worry, have a homebrew'. He suggests the same when things go smoothly, and it was a merry boxing day in Villa St because of it. I also have circumstantial evidence that yeast responds to Christmas carols.
Today was cheese-making day, inspired by a cheese press I received as a present (thanks Jan & Laurie!). Instead of halloumi I decided to try a Christmas Fete(a), although the processes are much the same. Heat up milk to 30 odd degrees C, add culture, leave for an hour, add rennet, leave for an hour or until you get a clean break. What's a clean break you ask? Well, pretty much this
This happened exactly on cue, unlike my other cheese-making experiences where I've had to wait for hours. I think this was partly due to a stable temperature control - the recipe said 'hold the milk at 30 degrees' and since that was pretty much ambient temperature in the kitchen it wasn't hard to do!
After slicing the curds and giving them a stir I got to use my cheese press
This helps press the whey out of the curds and will give a nicely formed disc of cheese - it's also much more controllable than balancing plates and cups of water onto the curds in a colander. However there were too many curds so I also had to resort to a more rustic solution - hanging the curds in cheesecloth. Note the authentic use of rubber bands and shoelaces.
It does give a great shape to the cheese, although you can reduce this by turning the cheese in the cloth mid-hang.
This worked OK until the storm hit and re-soaked everything. More pics tomorrow when everything is drained, salted and ready to brine :).
Cheese making sounds time consuming but most of it is just waiting around for things to happen, so it helps to have other things to do. I also watched the cricket and overclocked my HP Touchpad tablet - just like the cheesemakers of yore I'm sure.
Luckily I was able to distract myself with cooking. First off we cooked up our xmas turkey three ways - smoked breast
Boxing Day felt like a normal day, and at 10am I was in the queue at the supermarket getting some fresh water to brew with for the first Saison of the summer - of course entitled ''Tis the Saison to be merry'. Which will be funny up to the point where I have to write it on 30odd bottle labels. No pictures of the brewing, and the only thing different to normal was the re-use of saison yeast that has been in the fridge for 10 months. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't re-animate but after plentiful sugars and yeast nutrient and many murmers of encouragement from me it seemed to pick itself up. As Charles Papazian (one of the gods of homebrewing) says when things don't seem to be working out - 'don't worry, have a homebrew'. He suggests the same when things go smoothly, and it was a merry boxing day in Villa St because of it. I also have circumstantial evidence that yeast responds to Christmas carols.
Today was cheese-making day, inspired by a cheese press I received as a present (thanks Jan & Laurie!). Instead of halloumi I decided to try a Christmas Fete(a), although the processes are much the same. Heat up milk to 30 odd degrees C, add culture, leave for an hour, add rennet, leave for an hour or until you get a clean break. What's a clean break you ask? Well, pretty much this
After slicing the curds and giving them a stir I got to use my cheese press
Cheese making sounds time consuming but most of it is just waiting around for things to happen, so it helps to have other things to do. I also watched the cricket and overclocked my HP Touchpad tablet - just like the cheesemakers of yore I'm sure.
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