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Ingredients
- Fresh Cheese in Roasted Tomatillo Salsa:
- 1 gallon whole or 2% milk—preferably from a small local dairy with grassfed cows; the richer the flavor, the better the cheese
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon citric acid (aka sour salt)* OR 1 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt (pure fine-ground sea salt works best here)
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1/2 pound (about 4 medium) tomatillos, husked, rinsed and cut in half around the equator
- hot green chiles to taste (roughly 1 serrano or 1 small jalapeno), stems broken off, roughly chopped
- Salt
- 8 ounces panela cheese, cut into 3/4 inch cubes—you’ll have 2 loosely packed cups
- 1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped
- 1/4 about 1/4 cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh cilantro
Details
Adapted from rickbayless.com
Preparation
Step 1
1. Culture the milk. Pour the milk into a large (at least 8-quart) pot—I typically use an 8-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven or a stainless steel 12-quart stock pot. Stir in the buttermilk, attach an accurate thermometer that registers temperatures as low as 75 degrees and set the pot over medium heat. When the temperature reaches 75 degrees, turn off the heat, cover the pot and let stand 3 or 4 hours.
2. Set the curd. If using citric acid, stir it into 1/4 cup cool water, continuing to stir until dissolved. Uncover the pot, set over medium heat and stir in the dissolved citric acid or the fresh lime juice. You will immediately see small curds start to form. Every couple of minutes, stir slowly, gently and thoroughly over the entire bottom of the pot until the milk reaches 195˚F—it’ll take just over 20 minutes. At this point the curds will very obviously be floating in the milky-transparent whey. Remove from the heat and let stand 5 minutes without stirring.
3. Drain the curd from the whey. Wet a large piece of cheesecloth and drape it into a large colander. Set the colander in the sink. Using a large slotted spoon or a fine-mesh skimmer, carefully ladle all of the curd into the colander. Gather the cheesecloth up around the curd and gently press with the back of a large spoon to expel a bit more whey. Unwrap the curd onto a plate, break it up and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Work in the salt with a spoon or your fingers.
4. Finish the cheese. Gather the cheese curds into a 1-inch-thick disk, transfer to a plate, cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. The cheese should last about 1 week in the refrigerator.
Fresh Cheese with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa:
Set a small non-stick skillet over medium-high heat (if no non-stick skillet is available, lay in a piece of foil). Lay in the garlic and tomatillos (cut side down). When the tomatillos are well browned, 3 or 4 minutes, turn everything over and brown the other side (The tomatillos should be completely soft.)
Scoop the tomatillos and garlic into a blender or food processor, and let cool to room temperature, about 3 minutes. Add the chile and 1/2 cup water. Blend to a smooth puree. Taste and season with salt, usually a generous 1⁄2 teaspoon.
Pour the salsa into a medium (3-quart) saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the cheese. When the cheese is heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes, pour the mixture into a warm serving dish—in Mexico, they often use a super-charged stone mortar (molcajete) that’s been heated for about 45 minutes to an hour in a 400-degreen oven.
Scoop the chopped onion into a strainer and rinse under cold water. Sprinkle over the dish, along with the chopped cilantro. Serve right away.
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