Cooking with Cave Tools (Sponsored).

i've been a bit obsessed with baking bread this winter. It was one of my goals for the year, to learn to bake homemade bread. i'd like to eventually start making sourdough, but so far i've just been making tradition bread and spicing the recipes up a bit by adding different things.

One thing about bread making that i've learned is important is knowing when the bake is done.  i'm not really experience enough to know just by sight. You can tap the bottom and the bread should sound hollow but i've found by experience that isn't always a sure sign that it's done.  If uncooked the bread with be dense and doughy inside, if over baked it may burn and will be too dry.  i have read that being slightly over baked is better than being unbaked, but i'd still like to learn the perfect bake.  Most breads are done at around 190 f, but this one is a whole wheat  sprouted seed loaf. The moisture from the sprouted seeds required a little cooking time. 

Having a digital thermometer to check the internal temp is really helpful. This one is by Cave Tools, a company that creates high quality barbecue and cooking tools that lasted for years.  The instant read digital thermometer is perfect for cooking food on the grill or in the kitchen. The 100% stainless steel design is waterproof, shatterproof and even re-calibratable for best accuracy. This digital thermometer can be used on meats, casseroles, liquids, deep fryers, candy etc.  Since i was testing out this thermometer, i tried it out on several different things.

i have a non-digital candy thermometer that usually use when making my cheese.  i tried calibrating a few weeks ago, because i suspected that it was off.  This time i used the digital thermometer, and i was right about the candy one being off!  This one is so much easier to use. It doesn't have to sit in the pot to register them the temperature. It's instant read. So it only take a second to get the temp, which can be crucial with cheese making and candy making. If your off by a few degrees it can be the difference between perfection and a failed batch. 

My mozzarella turned out perfect.  Being able to check the temperature and get an instant read is really important during the cheese making process.  

One more test for the Digital thermometer is candy making. i love to make candy, but every time i think i have it mastered i get a failed batch. i'm now realizing this is because my candy thermometer was so off.  i made a batch of honey taffy (i'll spot the recipe in a different post) and it came out so good!!  It's really easy to make and having a good instant read digital thermometer makes all the difference! 

i really love the way the honey taffy came out, and am looking forward to experimenting with some other honey candy recipes once we pull honey this spring and have lots to work with. i'm eager to make some homemade lemon honey cough drops, and elderberry honey lozenges.

If you do a lot of grilling outside or just love cooking, Cave tools has something for you! They specialize in high quality, stainless steel tools, but also have salad spinners, instant read thermometers, silicone grilling mitts and much more. 

You can check out their full line of products at Cavetools.com or on Amazon! 

i'll post the recipes for all of these later this week!

disclaimer. i did not receive compensation for this post, however i did receive a free product to review in exchange for my opinion. My opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way. This post may contain affiliate links.

Snow Days in March.

Snow days in March really are not unusual.  It was the 60+ degree weather in February that was concerning.  All of the flowers and trees began waking up prematurely, so when the temperatures dropped back down to normal march temps all the plants that had woken up were affected.  

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These are the peach tree flower buds covered in ice. The blueberries look very similar.  i do not yet know if we'll be getting any fruit this year.  My daffodils froze solid. We had lows of 12 degrees, maybe colder and then freezing rain on top of it.  

Although ever year i get a picture of snow on my daffodils, this year they did not recover. The flowers got too cold and froze.  My daylily plants also froze and turned into piles of soft dead foliage, so i'm not sure whether they will recover or not. i've never had a year without daylilies. 

i brought all my seed trays that were in the greenhouse inside, as i knew they would not survive if i left them out.  

This was the scene inside. We all stayed warm around the fire, and enjoyed the quiet of winter that we seemed to have missed during January and February when the temps were so mild.  Thought i've never been a winter person, i still need a week or two of hibernating and slowing down and embracing the season.  i feel like i missed that this year.

i usually spend the winter cooking and baking, but this year i spent more time in the glass shop than i did in the kitchen. The glass shop is not heated though, and with the temperatures as cold as they have been it was just too cold for me to work. So i took the time to use up an extra gallon of milk we had.  i made a batch of mozzarella, fresh butter and buttermilk, used the whey to make ricotta and had a full cup of fresh cream left over which i used to make creamy feta and roasted red pepper fettuccine.

The buttermilk was turned into pancakes, i used the ricotta and about half of the mozzarella to make stuffed shell and then used the rest to make home made pizza and quiche. i've been making a lot of quiche these days, as my hens are really starting to lay. 

i'm getting some really gorgeous egg colors too. Despite my attempts at breeding for colors (which failed) nature did an excellent job all on her own. These colors are the result of barnyard mix, and  not any intended breeding. The pink comes from a heavy 'bloom' over a brown egg.  

My new chicks are growing fast. They are 3 week old now and are getting lots of feathers. We moved them into a larger pen, and added a roost and they really seem to love it.  

So far our march has been rather uneventful. We are all eagerly awaiting spring, and hoping that the weird weather settles down and hasn't already caused irreversible damage to all the fruit blossoms that were just beginning to open.  i have seedling started in the greenhouse and am trying to get sweet potatoes to grow their starts. Trying not to get ahead of myself, and embrace the cold days the best that i can. 

I am grateful for the silence of winter mornings, for the beauty and wonder of the glint of sunlight in frost melting to dew, for the early-riser's peaceful solitude that sets a mood of thankfulness, hope, and calm for the dawning day. ~Terri Guillemets

Cow Shares, homemade butter and cheese making.

Several months ago we purchased a cow share from The Sweet Land Farms .
What is a cow share?  A cow share allows you all the benefits of owning your own dairy cow, but none of the work! Virginia Department of Agriculture wants all milk sold to be heavily processed. It is not legal to sell raw milk. So to receive fresh, unprocessed milk, you need to own your own cow so you can drink it how ever you like it.
When you purchase a cow share, you purchase a portion of a cow and then pay a monthly boarding fee for them to board/feed your cow for you. Since we own a share of the cow, we get a part of her milk production. 

 In 2013 after we lost our home in a fire we rented a house that was right next to The Sweet Land farm. These lovely Jersey cows hung out right behind the house munching on the fresh green grass.  We saw first hand how they were treated, met the folks that run the farm and watched the cows lazily hang out in the grassy fields and line up when it was time to milk.   It was definitely a local business we were happy to support. The cow share provides us with one gallon of fresh raw milk each week.

Jersey milk is high in natural butter fat content.  See all that lovely cream at the top of the jars? Each week we skim that off to make fresh butter. Sometimes, i'll make butter with the cream from one half gallon and use the cream from the other to make Red Pepper fettuccine.  It's so good!!   We really don't drink a lot of milk, so the one gallon per week is the perfect amount. Sometimes we only make it through 1 half gallon by the time we are picking up milk again, so i use the extra milk to make Mozzarella cheese.  This is something i have always wanted to do and i was quite surprised how easy it is. 

i followed the directions from The Cheese making website. First i separated some of the cream from the milk. Then i put the milk in a non-reactive pot and added 1 1/2 tsp citric acid. i heated the milk to about 90 degrees F. i do not have a digital thermometer, so i used a candy making thermometer.  Once the milk reached the correct temperature i added vegetable rennet and let it sit for about 5 min. Then you cut the curds, and heat them up again to about 105 F. remove from heat and stir for a few minutes. Then drain the curds, reserving the whey for ricotta. Press out any remaining whey and microwave about 30 sec.  knead and reheat another 30 sec or until the cheese reaches 135 F. It will be very hot.  

Knead the cheese as you would bread dough, and it should begin to stretch.  Continue stretching it, and stretching it and then form it into a smooth shiny ball. That's it!! Then i use the left over whey to make Ricotta. 

This is what you can get out of one gallon of  raw milk. i made about 12 ounces of fresh mozzarella . A ball of fresh butter, around 1 cup of buttermilk, around 1 1/2 cups of fresh cream and 1 cup ricotta cheese. i also had over a quart of whey, which can be added to soups and smoothies etc.

Although my goal has always been to milk my own dairy goats, it just hasn't work out for me yet and i admit i am really enjoying the cow share. If you are interested in learning more about raw milk and cow shares check out http://www.realmilk.com/real-milk-finder/  to find a farm near you.  i highly recommend that you visit the farm, meet the farmers, meet the cows and see their milking practice. 

How to make goat cheese (chevre)

i recently made my first successful batch of goat cheese and thought i'd post a quick tutorial. Honestly, making Chevre is so easy you really don't need a tutorial.
There are a few things you do need however, and it's best to make sure you have them before starting your cheese.
You need 1 gallon of raw goats milk.
1 pkg of Chevre starter
a large stock pot big enough to hold a gallon of goats milk. Mine is a 12 quart.
a basic cooking thermometer
Cheesecloth
Colander

Place 1 gallon of goats milk in your pot and heat slowly to 86 degrees. This is just slightly warmer than room temperature. Once it reaches 86 degrees, remove from heat.

Sprinkle your starter mixture on top and let it rehydrate for 2 minutes. Now stir it in, and let it cool to 72 degrees (room temperature). Mix well and let culture at room temperature for 12-20 hours. i started my cheese in the evening and then put the lid on the pot and placed the entire thing inside my cold oven. This worked well, and helped it maintain it's heat even though it cooled down to around 50 degrees outside that night.

In the morning, after it had set for 12 hours it looked like this! The cheese is at the bottom on the pan, and has the consistency of yogurt.
i didn't take a picture of the next step, but you just need to line a colandier with cheese cloth and place it over another large bowl/pot. Pour the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander and let them drain a bit.

Then tie up the ends of the cheese cloth and hang the bag and let drain 6-8 hours.

After 6-8 hours you have cheese!

i pressed mine into homemade cheese molds. These are just clean recycled yogurt containers with a few holes poked through them to let any remaining whey drain out.

Here's the finished product. i intended to get a prettier picture, with some crackers next to it or on a bed of fresh picked greens...but it didn't happen. Every time i got it set up on a plate we ate it. :) The chevre' should be stored wrapped tightly in plastic. It's good around 10 days and can be frozen for several months.
It's good spread on crackers, in spinach pies, topping pizzas, salads and bruchetta. It's very similar to feta and can be used in a similar way.
The leftover whey (all the stuff left after you drain your cheese) makes a nice treat for pets, although if you give them too much be prepared to clean up a mess. lol. You can also use it in bread recipes in place of water, or as a soup base. It is full of nutrients, can be added to smoothies, used to water plants etc.
i have always wanted to try making cheese, and the cheese is absolutely delicious!!

Wordless Wednesday- Raw goats milk

i've been practicing my milking. Guess who is making cheese this weekend? i have starter and am going to attempt Chevre. Fingers crossed that all goes well.

First Time Milking.

This past week i had the opportunity to milk my friend's dairy goat. i was so excited!! i have never milked before, and being that we now have goats we intend to eventually milk, i thought it was a good idea to learn milking.

Honestly, i'm a bit surprised how easily i took to it. This is an Alpine ( i forgot her name) and she was an extremely good milker. She was very cooperative and she has large teets that make milking easy. i can already tell that milking Delilah, my Dwarf Nigerian, is not going to be this easy. She has very small teets, and is still a bit skittish. It will be interesting to see how she does.
Makes me really wish we had a slightly larger goat shed, so that i could get a full sized dairy goat. Sigh....maybe one day.


So this is the finished product, raw goats milk. :)
i've tasted goats milk in the past, but it had a strong 'musky' smell that i could not handle. i was told it was because the buck was kept with the female, and goat milk normally does not taste so....eh...goaty.
We each sampled it, it had no smell. The flavor was very similar to cows milk with a slight 'tangy' aftertaste. The kids didn't like it, and Kenan couldn't taste the aftertaste at all. i'm not a fan of milk to start, but found the flavor different but not unpleasant. Definitely something i could get used to.

So this is the part of the blog, where i give a brief tutorial on making goat cheese. i made homemade Paneer cheese last summer, when i had raw cows milk. It is extremely easy to make and pretty much no fail...or so i thought. :)

Start by heating your goats milk to 185 degrees. Then turn off the heat. Let it cool down to about 100 degrees, and slowly add 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. At this point, you should see the milk separate from the whey, and form small curds. You strain it through cheese cloth...and what you are left with is a soft cheese. Easy enough, right?

So this was the process i followed, but when i added my vinegar...nothing happened. So i added a bit more...and still nothing. So i looked online to see what could cause milk to not separate. i found very little info, but did find a cheese making thread where someone mentioned that if the milk is too colostrum-y it would not separate. So that does make sense, as the goat had only given birth the week before.
So my first time milking was a success, however my first time making goat cheese a definite fail!

Ah well, live and learn.