I want the recipe for a product called Basket Cheese that I used to get at Italian Deli’s up north?
beerman asked:
We called it ricotta cheese and it was wet and sold in a wheel and down south you can only get on certain holidays. It is not the cheese they sell in the grocer that is packaged in a cottage cheese like container, but it comes in plastic baskets covered with a cellophane bag. I was told it was very easy to make and I would like to try it.
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We called it ricotta cheese and it was wet and sold in a wheel and down south you can only get on certain holidays. It is not the cheese they sell in the grocer that is packaged in a cottage cheese like container, but it comes in plastic baskets covered with a cellophane bag. I was told it was very easy to make and I would like to try it.
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Tags: Grocer, Italian Deli, Wheel
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:09 am
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Basket Cheese is a white, soft cheese that is formed in a basket. The traditional cheese has a circular shape, weighs about 12-18 oz., and has a salty taste. Because of the cheese’s distinctive appearance it is difficult to mass produce and the genuine product is easily recognizable. Basket cheese is among the top three Middle Eastern cheese products sold in the U.S.
Basket Cheese
Ingredients
1 gallon milk
1 tsp rennet
2 pinches salt
Heat the milk to luke warm (86-90F)and add the rennet. Turn off heat
and let set for about 40 minutes.
After the milk has set turn the heat back on to low and heat again
for about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon pull the curds to the
side of the pot. Keep moving the curds for about 10 minutes with
the slotted spoon. (This breaks up the curd and keeps them drain in.)
Remove the curds from the pot with your slotted spoon and place into
a basket. Return the basket with the curds in it back into the whey
and cover the curds with the whey pressing the curds into the basket
with your hands.
Remove the basket from the whey and set another mold inside of the
first one and put an 6-8oz. glass of water on top of it. (this is
used as a weight for pressing the cheese. Press this way for 2 hours.
Take out the cheese and turn over, salt to taste, return to the basket
and continue pressing for 1 and a half hours longer. Remove the cheese
from the press and refrigerate.
This cheese will have a 3 day shelf life. I hope this was helpful to you
March 4th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
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I like cheese