Diary of a Turophile

Pink basil and olive flavored cottage cheese

\High protein and low fat makes cottage cheese a great choice for weight watchers 

Turophile is someone who loves cheese, and I am one, and my recent passion is making Cottage Cheese at home. Following a website step by step recipe, I have created a range of  herbed and spiced cottage cheese using cow and buffalo milk both. The results were totally amazing and given the fact it it is a high protein and low fat food makes it a great choice for weight watchers

Cottage cheese is low in carbohydrates and full of healthy vitamins and minerals. A half cup serving of plain cottage cheese contains about 120 calories, 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of carbohydrates, and 14 grams of protein.

The history of Cottage Cheese goes way back to early Greeks and Egyptians and of course in the villages of Indian subcontinent where it is used in a range of curries, kebabs and stir fries.  It was named "Cottage Cheese" because traditionally they made in cottages, which are small country and village houses.

Recipe:

The basic processing instruction will remain same, with the variation of different herbs and spices for creating flavors.

Ingredients

1 Litre Cow or Buffalo milk preferably organic

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

Herbs and spices combination of your choice

Cooking Instructions

   

-       Boil the milk in a pan 

-       Just when it starts boiling add the lemon juice/vinegar, salt and spices/herb

    Slow the flame, and let the milk simmer and curdle, add a bit of more acid (lemon juice and or vinegar) if it is not curdling

-When you see that all curd is separated from the whey, the curdled milk should be floating above the yellowish almost transparent water like whey. Take off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes

 Line a strainer with cheesecloth or plain white muslin, and set it inside a large bowl. Pour the mixture into the cloth and stir it gently to drain off the whey. 

 Let all the whey drain and the soft cheese remains on the cloth

- I sprinkle a bit of salt on the curd at this stage since I like my cheese salty

-       Fold the ends of the cheesecloth over in a form of a little bag, then put a weight over it. I use a huge clean and washed pebble or sometime my marble pestel and mortan. Let it drain and stand like this for about 1 hour.

-   Slowly open the cheese cloth and lift the slab of your beautiful cottage cheese.

Flavouring with Herb and Spice:

Use any one of the following to flavour, dont be shy experimenting with your 

1-   ½ tsp Minced fresh red chillies and toasted garlic flakes

2-   1 tsp fine chopped coriander  and red chillies flakes

3-   freshly cracked black peppers

4-  1 tsp finely chopped fresh oregano and 2 tbsp finely chopped walnuts

5-  1 tsp finely chopped basil/mint

6-  1-1/2 tsp chopped olives/capers or both

7- Toasted zeera

8- Chopped dry fruits like raisins/apricots these taste great on its own or with sweet muffins or crackers, not for curries or savoury dishes. 

Serving Ideas:

Malai Kofta

Palak Paneer

Paneer Kebabs

Sandwitches

Omelettes

Salads

Olive and basil cheese sandwich on rocket and sundried tomatoes garnished with capers

Chillie garlic flavoured cottage cheese and rocket sandwich

Basil Flavoured Cottage Cheese with Crackers

 

Spinach and cottage cheese filled omelette