Manchego Photo

Did a bit of blog housekeeping (blogkeeping?) today, and came across this pic I uploaded from my phone last December, but never actually published... not sure why.  Anyway, this is a Manchego I made last year (and then aged in an Olive Oil bath for two months).

Not sure I need to repeat the olive oil experiment, but I do like this picture.

Perfect Party Platter

Last Friday my friend Dana threw a little soirée, which ended up being a gathering of many of our friends. What better opportunity to share some cheese?

I put together a little cheese platter, with the Feta, Manchego, Horseradish Cheddar, and Jalapeno Cheddar. Dana also supplied some fig paste, which is a wonderful complement to the Manchego (Quince paste is also great). Overall: Great Success!

We've been enjoying the Manchego and Feta for a little while now, but this was the unveiling of the two cheddars. They had been aging for just over 2 months, and came out of the wax in excellent shape. Both had a faint trace of pink mold on the surface, which I simply scraped off.

The flavor was excellent--thankfully, we guessed right on the Horseradish and Jalapeno quantities. Spicy, flavorful, and intense. I still can't decide which I liked more.

The only other thing I still have to figure out is the texture... Both the cheddars were quite crumbly (almost like a Feta!), while the Feta is too soft and creamy. Darn it, I'll have to try again!

Manchego Tasting!

We couldn't contain ourselves any longer, and simply HAD to taste our Manchego! It's been aging for three weeks.

We sliced off the bottom inch or so of the wheel, and then cut it into little wedges. Dana and I couldn't remember exactly what store-bought Manchego tastes like, so we picked some up at Whole Foods. I was hoping to find a younger Manchego, for a more direct comparison, but apparently the foodies there only have the "good stuff." We "settled" for a 12-month Manchego, of course made from Sheep's milk.*

Doing a "blind" taste test (see above photo), we could definitely taste a difference--but they were still strikingly similar. The most notable differences were the age (ours, at three weeks, is much less mature, less robust) and the type of milk. When compared side-by-side, we could definitely taste the difference of the cow's milk vs. the sheep's milk, particularly in the aftertaste.

Overall, however, ours really did taste like Manchego! It had good texture, was somewhat creamy, and maybe a little drier than the one from Spain.

So, for this particular batch, we need to let the rest age for another 11 months, and taste it again! But I don't think we'll wait that long...

* We also "settled" on some Quince Paste to go with the Manchego. It was a tough call between the Quince Paste and the Fig Spread, but cooler heads prevailed. MMMmmmm!

Wikipedia Entry on Manchego

Manchego

Last week my friend Dana came over to join in the cheese-making festivities. I've been wanting to make Manchego for awhile, and I was excited to have some help in the kitchen for this somewhat more involved cheese.

Manchego is from Spain, originally made with sheep's milk--but for our purposes, we opted for cow's milk. I believe Manchego is now often made in Mexico with cow's milk as well. It can be aged for anywhere from 5 days (Manchego Fresco) to 12 months (Manchego Aciete), developing a stronger flavor as it ages.

The biggest difference in the process is that we had to stir the curds very slowly for 30 minutes with a wire wisk, cutting them up into small rice-sized bits. After a few minutes the curds seemed to be staying the same size, but we kept stirring anyway...

We then cooked the curds, slowly bringing the temperature up from 80 degrees (they had cooled off a bit from the 86 degrees at which we curdles the milk) to 104 degrees, no more than 2 degrees every 5 minutes. That took about 45 minutes... All the while stirring slowly to keep the curds from sticking together.

We then pressed the curds, flipping the block of curds several times (at 15 minutes and 15 lbs each time), and then again at 30 lbs for 6 hours.

After that, we it soaked the cheese in brine for 6 hours at 55 degrees. The last step was to dry it off and then coat it with olive oil to keep it from drying out while it ages.
I don't think I'll be able to wait the full twelve months... But maybe we'll see how it's doing after a couple of weeks.

2 gal Trader Joe's Organic Whole Milk

1 packet Direct Set Mesophilic Starter

1/4 tsp Direct Set Thermophilic Starter

1/4 tsp Lipase Powder (L3)

1/4 tsp Double-Strength Vegetarian Rennet

4 cups Brine (leftover from Haloumi recipe... Originally 2 lbs cheese salt dissolved in one gallon water and whey blend.)

Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to coat