If there was one everyday item which I used to waste a lot, it was milk. I know this isn't a problem for most people but in a household of one person who doesn't eat breakfast cereal and drinks her coffee black, it can be difficult.
I buy UHT milk to use for tea/coffee when guests call unexpectedly. If I know guests are coming I buy pasteurised milk. The UHT stuff comes in one litre containers but I can buy just a pint of pasteurised and sometimes even less. I can manage to use up the remains of a pint but a litre is a lot of milk!
So I make cottage cheese. Heat the milk to just below boiling point, add a generous squeeze of lemon juice and stir. The milk will curdle. (IT IS NOT THE SAME AS LEAVING MILK TO GO OFF!) Leave it to cool a little then strain it. I use muslin inside my sieve. Leave it until all the whey (a colourless liquid) has drained off then put the cheese to chill in a dish in the fridge. The whey can be used in baking.
It does not have the same texture as a commercially produced cottage cheese but it has more flavour. You may want to add salt.
I never have milk that needs to be used, but I might just try this for fun.
ReplyDeleteI rarely have milk that needs to be used up (two teens at home), but... I do love cottage cheese. Maybe I'll make this.
ReplyDeleteWe struggle to finish 1/2 gallon with two people even with me drinking milk in coffee. We're better if he eats cereal rather than bagels, or if I make creamy soups. I might give this a try next time we are close to wasting. I can always use in a pasta dish.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you don't just let the milk waste, you've found such a great solution to use it up. There's two of us at home and we don't use much milk either.
ReplyDeleteWow .. you just took me back to watching Mom make cottage cheese on our woodstove back on the farm. There was very much milk and she would often make up cottage cheese. As a child, I did not love the flavour but perhaps I would now.
ReplyDeleteWow, I never thought of doing that. I usually sour it and use it in baking. Not that I ever have much left.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I shall try this. We used to keep a bottle of 'gone-off' milk in the fridge for making scones; back then I made up a big bowl of rubbed in fat and flour, and we had fresh scones every day instead of bread. My husband said that growing up on a hill farm in Northern Ireland they almost never had 'baker's bread'.
ReplyDeletePlease don't use "gone off milk" for this! You can use the whey from this for baking: it makes lovely scones.
DeleteI have never tried to make cottage cheese although we do make yogurt about twice a week. I might have to give it a go!
ReplyDelete