Bread and cheese recipes are staple recipes for the self-reliant. Bread made with soya flour, wheat germ and powder milk developed at Cornell University known as “Cornell bread” has extra nutrients for a more substantial bread. Making soft cheese uses up surplus milk and increases the range of food on hand. The cheese starter culture is made the day before and can be frozen in a sterilized ice cube tray.
Recipe for Cornell Bread
- 3 cups warm water (105° to 115° Fahrenheit)
- 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar
- 3 teaspoons sea salt
- 2 tablespoons salad oil
- 6 cups unbleached flour
- 3 tablespoons wheat germ
- ½ cup full-fat soy flour
- ¾ cup non-fat dry milk
Mix first five ingredients in a large mixing bowl and let stand. Then add while stirring ½ to ¾ flour mixture. Beat vigorously about seventy-five strokes by hand. Add remaining flour and work by hand five minutes. Turn dough onto floured board and knead using enough additional flour to make the dough smooth. Place in an oiled bowl, grease top and cover. Let rise one hour. Punch down, turn upside down to raise another 20 minutes. Turn onto board and divide into three smooth tight balls. Cover and let stand ten minutes. Shape into 3 loaves and let rise in pans until double. Bake in a moderate oven 350° Fahrenheit for fifty to sixty minutes. Bread is done if it sounds hollow when tapped. Put on a rack to cool.
Soft Cheese Recipes
Soft cheese making kits include a stainless steel strainer for the curds, a thermometer, cheese mats, and cheese moulds with holes to let the whey drain, cheese starter culture and rennet.
Basic Recipe
- 2 ½ Litres milk
- 1 dessertspoon made up cheese starter (made up 24 hours before, can be frozen in sterilized ice cube tray)
- 2 drops rennet
- flavouring
- salt
Gently heat the milk to 32° Celsius. Pour the milk into a clean sterilised bowl, add cheese starter culture to the milk, stir well . In a clean cup put two tablespoons of previously boiled water and add two drops of rennet, add to milk and starter mixture. Top stir until it starts to coagulate. Cover and leave for about one to one and a half hours. Ladle off whey without disturbing the curd. Using a skimmer carefully slice thin layers of curd into a scalded cheese mould stood on a scalded cheese mat on a cake cooling tray with a tray underneath for whey. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Leave for twelve to fourteen hours for the whey to drain. Turn the cheese over two to three times during this time. Coat cheese with nuts, chopped parsley or cracked paper. Freeze or store in the refrigerator up to two weeks.
Bread and Cheese Making Resources:
Clive M. McCay & Jeanette B. McCay, The Cornell Bread Book, 1980
Pointon, Sue, Country Kitchen Cheese & Dairy, 1999
Further Resources:
Ricki Carroll & Robert Carroll, Cheesemaking Made Easy, 1996
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