HaarFager's photos with the keyword: Cheese

The cheese section of a local grocery store. i personally love cheese, but processed stuff like this is what I avoid. give me real blocks of cheese. Taken on November 5th, 2013, with my Sony Alpha SLT-a77V DSLR.

My late father used to really like this sharp kind of cheese. Taken on July 3rd, 2006, with my Konica Minolta Maxxum 5D DSLR.

I was going through some of my food pictures from last year and they made me hungry. So, at 2 a.m. this morning I made these Cheese Garlic Biscuits. They have shredded cheddar cheese inside and are brushed with butter that has garlic, parsley and Italian seasoning when they first come out of the oven. They're actually a copycat recipe that replicates the biscuits that Red Lobster restaurants serve with their dinners. They are very tasty hot and right out of the oven. And I can attest that the copycat recipe is tasty, too!

Some delicious cheese sticks I had back on February 2nd, 2013, when I visited a Logan's Roadhouse steak restaurant. Taken with my Sony Alpha a230 DSLR.

Taken at the St. Louis Zoo on March 28th, 2013.

Of course I had to get some cheese while I was in Wisconsin! It's what they're known for.

I've been making another batch of cheddar cheese the last few days and whenever I do, you can take the leftover whey you get from the process and make Ricotta cheese with it. So, last night, I made another batch of it. Here's the big 3-gallon pot I use to hold all the whey while you boil it on the stove. First you have to let it sit for a day at room temperature so that it acidifies. (Which I did.) Then when it's ready, you bring it to a temperature of 175 degrees while stirring it constantly so it doesn't stick or boil over. When it starts getting foamy at the top like in this picture, let it get to 200 degrees then turn it off to cool. The Ricotta cheese will sink to the bottom. You then just strain off the liquid and you get nice creamy Ricotta cheese.

This is the latest batch of cheddar cheese I've been making. This time I remembered to use the cheese coloring tablets I have. They were some of the cheese-making supplies that late Father had bought. Plus, I amended the recipe in part so that it was't as hard of a cheese as my first batch. I like a nice softer cheddar cheese myself. So I pressed it at slightly under 40 pounds for two days instead of 40 pounds for 12 hours and then 50 pounds for 24 hours. This is what the texture looked like and it turned out to be the best batch so far, I think.

I cut the whole 2 lb. block of cheese I just made into approximately 3/4 inch slices. Then I quartered them like this. The reason why is because I'm going to include a piece of cheese like this in my Christmas gift baskets this year. These have to sit out for two days and get dried on the outside, what is considered a rind, then they will be waxed and put in my 55 degree icebox to age until Christmas. They'll end up being like those little cheeses in Swiss Colony gift packs or collections like that. You know, the ones that have little cheeses and sausages and crackers in them.

When I made my first batch of cheddar cheese on June 29th and started it aging, the recipe said it had to age for two and a half months. Well, I broke that one out to taste test last night and it turned out great! I sliced it up and had cheese and crackers and it tasted like cheese is supposed to taste like. It turned out lighter-colored than cheddar cheese is supposed to be, I think, but I've got some tablets to color cheese and I'm going to use those for the next batch.

For The Sunday Challenge group, who's theme this week was to create your own advertising poster. Whether contemporary or vintage; a made up product or service.

Here's a picture showing the process of making my second batch of cheddar cheese. In this image, the cheese is being pressed and I'm using the cheese press that my late Father made. I happened to find it wrapped up in the basement and knew immediately what it was. I'll bet Dad would be glad to know that his press actually works and is being used to finally make some cheese. The clear jug of water on top weighs exactly 10 pounds. The recipe I use calls for 10 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes, followed by 40 pounds of pressure for 12 hours. And then finishes off with 50 pounds of pressure for 24 hours. By Wednesday, this batch will be pressed and ready to start drying. You can see a white liquid coming out on the right - that's the whey and all liquid has to be removed from the cheese so it can age properly. If it was wet, it would not last during the aging process.

Here's my cheddar cheese, all waxed and ready to age for 3 or 4 months. The waxing process went smoothly, (if you'll pardon the pun), and now it looks like cheese is supposed to look like!

Here it is before I cut the cheese. I'm making it to put in my Christmas gift baskets, so when I cut it in half, it ended up being about the size of a waxed Gouda cheese. Perfect size for a gift basket. The whole block weighed 1 pound and 10 ounces, so cut in half, each piece weighs close to a pound. Big enough from which to get a good taste!

Here's the Ricotta cheese I made tonight with the leftover whey I had from making the cheddar cheese. All it needs to do is finishing draining off the excess whey and it will be ready to refrigerate. I plan on using it to make lasagna.

My first-ever batch of cheese finished pressing today and I unveiled it for a look. It was started on Monday and between cooking it and then letting it press, it finally was pressed enough to take out of the cheese mold. I cut it in half because I wanted two pieces to wax about the size of a typical Gouda cheese. Now it has to dry and get a rind on it, then I'll wax it and let it age properly. I hope it turns out good, and since it's cheddar cheese, it should be flavorful.

This is the label from some AOC cheese I purchased recently imported from Switzerland. It's a hard cheese and has a great flavor. Also, it melts well in the oven and doesn't run everywhere.