I've had making cheese on my list of things 'to do' for quite some time now. After reading a recent post by Rhonda I decided enough was enough and it was time for me to give it a go.....
I decided to make some Quark, Quark is a German cheese which is low in fat with a delicious tangy flavour and semi-dry texture. I used this recipe and 1 litre of homemade yogurt from my fridge. I allowed my Quark to drain on my bench over night, than this morning once it was nice and thick I mixed it with some fresh chopped garlic chives and cracked pepper. To get a nice rounder shape for my cheese I wrapped it in muslin and then pressed it into a small bowl.... 
Covered in the fridge my Quark should last a good couple of days... With the drained off 750ml of Whey I'm going to have a go at making Ricotta today......
Covered in the fridge my Quark should last a good couple of days... With the drained off 750ml of Whey I'm going to have a go at making Ricotta today......After doing some research of late I've discovered that I can milk my sheep and then make cheese with this milk. I'm not going to milk all my sheep, that would take forever, we do have 1500 of them after all... LOL!!! I've hand rared 1/2 a dozen Damara sheep, you might remember some of them from back here... A couple had lambs about 8 weeks back and are lactating at the moment, perfect timing for me to give it a go..... With DH on the job of fencing the cottage off this weekend for them to live around I might be able to have my first milking expedition some time early next week.... Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and I'm producing homemade sheep milk cheese for my family before we know it...
Take Care :)
Wow you really are an all rounder with your handiwork Jodie. The cheese looks delicious and sounds wonderful. I hope all goes well with the ricotta cheese too. Next you'll be making your own wool!
ReplyDeleteGood Luck,
ReplyDeleteI will be very interested to hear of your sheep milking expedition.
I expect it to be a long while yet but milking sheep are something we probably could run a couple of up here.
Kind Regards
Belinda
That is so great that you are making cheese from your own sheep!
ReplyDeleteHey, that looks good! Look forward to seeing how your ricotta goes, thats one of my favourites!
ReplyDeleteYum -I love good quark! good luck with the sheep milking!
ReplyDeleteYour quark sounds delicious. You are amazing... is there anything you can't do??? I've made some rock cakes today (last time I made them was in high school) and I was pretty chuffed with myself until I saw your cheese making efforts! ha ha! They still taste good xx
ReplyDeleteWOW!!!!! I am so impressed!!!!!
ReplyDeleteit looks wonderful!!!
hows the spinning going??LOL
My mum used to make quark and some other cheeses too! Sounds like fun! :)
ReplyDeletelooks great jodie. perfect for the weekend. xo m.
ReplyDeleteI had a go at making quark also from Rhonda's instructions and it was wonderful and so easy to do. I really should have another go soon.
ReplyDeleteWow, you are amazing. I've just been reading about Damara sheep this week. I think we can get them in NZ, down in the south island. We could do wit some extra stock, spring has been very generous with rain, the grass is very high.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to take a cheesemaking course. That might be on next years list. Well done on your quark.
Good luck with the milking.
OMG.... I knew we should have came for a visit today... that cheese sounds amazing. I love that stool in the pix too ;)
ReplyDeleteMilking sheep! Wow! I've only ever milked cows before. Obviously sheep can be milked, duh - how else would we get sheep's cheese? I've never thought much about the process though!
ReplyDeleteYour quark sounds yummy.
Your cheese looks scrummy. I've never heard of Damara Sheep before. There are quite a few Dorpers around here though. I'll be interested in how you progress with your milking and cheesemaking.
ReplyDeleteYou're committed, I've never even thought of making cheese
ReplyDeletelol......trying to picture you milking the sheep.........lol..........goodluck........cheese looks great.......
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Sounds so wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI used to make Quark tart with my grandmother in the Netherlands, always very delicious.
ReplyDeleteI found a page of recipes which featured Quark:
http://www.openharvest.coop/events_quark.php
Thank you for your comments on my apron-
Have a great Holiday Season-
Annette aka Slow Sewing on flickr