How To Make Yogurt Cheese II

The most amazing thing is making cheese. I never thought I would ever try it. When I had goats, the thought of goat milk anything was too disgusting to comprehend. Now, I regret not having a goat. I am also looking for a source of milk, which will be hard, since it's winter and people are drying up their does. Anyway, here are some pictures of the cheesecake I made using mostly yogurt I made and surprisingly it turned out pretty good, I'll post the recipe when I'm done.
Last night I had to make a mad dash to Walmart to get cheesecloth, the cheesecloth I found would not hold a butterfly in place, much less cheese, so I improvised and found some flower sack dish towels, 6 for $5. This is what the yogurt looks like after putting it in the strainer with the cloth.

I doubled them up and poured the yogurt into the strainer, this time I trebled the cloth. I also bought a new strainer, because my jelly colander did not have it's legs any more, I wish I knew what happened to them, another thing you wish you had after throwing it out.

You can see after about ten hours the cheese is starting to form. It has a pull on the cloth and has sunk about an inch. It's not done yet, but it's well on it's way. I can't wait to try flavoring it and using it on bagels. A few more hours and it should be ready to refrigerate and serve. There is quite a bit of loss of cheese, but that can't be helped. So far there have been about two cups of whey drain off.

The whey looks a bit watery, but you can see the fat globules still in the liquid. this can be pulled with lemon juice, but I think I'll give it to the cats again. I know I must have one cat which isn't a freak. I figured out that my cats are not finicky, but are royalty waiting for the food tester to tell them it's safe to eat. Handful will not eat anything that hasn't been on someones plate unless it comes from a can. She would live happily as an inside cat if I'd let her. She was named Handful because she fit in the palm of my hand for over 8 months. I had to bottle feed her, because she was so small. She sure has spunk, for one so little, even at almost two, she is the size of a six month old kitten.

The cheesecake turned out pretty good, it cooked well and very few cracks. I was surprised at how well it did. The last two cheesecakes I made flopped, because I misread the recipe and added 8 oz more cream cheese than the recipe and did not compromise with the cooking temp or time. Both times the cake slid off the plate, the cats really love cheesecake, that's for sure. After an hour in the oven and three in the fridge, this is what my cheesecake looks like, I added a bit of whipped cream around the edges to make it more aesthetically pleasing.


Here it is all cut up, it was lovely and cut really well. It did not break or anything. With as runny as the batter was, I was surprised when it held up as well as it did. Now to the recipe. I used the "Creamy Citrus Cheesecake" recipe and pretty much doubled the recipe for a 10 in spring form pan.

I made yogurt cheese from a half gallon of home made yogurt. It took 24 hours to get cream cheese consistency.

Modified Creamy Citrus Cheesecake
Ingredients:

2 packages of cinnamon graham crackers crushed (not sure how many that is, but two of those little wrapped plastic packages from the box)
4 T margarine, melted
6 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
6 teaspoon vanilla, divided
1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese softened
yogurt cheese from half gallon of yogurt, dripped for 24 hours (estimation of 3 cups)
1 cup plain, lemon, or vanilla yogurt, divided
4 T powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325* F.


2. In a bowl combine graham cracker crumbs and margarine, press into bottom of 10 in spring form pan, bake 6 minutes, chill.


3. In blender, combine eggs, granulated sugar, 4 tsp vanilla, and juice, cut cream cheese into chunks, add to mixture and process until smooth, slightly pulse in yogurt cheese. (you don't want to chop up the cheese too fine)


4. Pour into crust.


5. Bake at 325* for 70-80 minutes or until set.


6. Combine remaining yogurt, vanilla, and powdered sugar, spread over hot cheesecake,


7. Loosen side of pan, cool on wire rack, chill before serving.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Roasted Rosemary Pears

A lovely pear cheesecake with a hint of goat cheese.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake with Roasted Rosemary Pears

Serves 12

Ingredients:

For the graham cracker crust:
32 each honey graham sticks
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into pieces
3 (4-ounce) packages fresh goat cheese, crumbled
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs

For the roasted pears:
6 ripe but firm pears
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons maple syrup
1 cup pear juice, divided
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, crushed
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Make the crust:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Process graham sticks in a food processor until almost ground to a powder.
3. Add almonds and sugar and process until almonds are chopped finely.
4. Transfer crumb mixture to a medium-sized mixing bowl and pour in butter.
5. Stir until crumbs are thoroughly moistened.
6. Press crumb mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.
7. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake until crust is golden brown and firm, about 10 minutes.
   

Make the cheesecake:

1. Reduce oven heat to 325°F.
2. Place cream cheese, goat cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
3. With an electric hand mixer, beat until just smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed.
4. In two or three additions, beat in sugar until mixture is creamy.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating and scraping down sides of the bowl after each addition.
6. Continue to beat until mixture is very smooth.
7. Pour batter into prepared crust.
8. Bake until edges of cheesecake look set and the center is still soft and slightly jiggly, 50 to 60 minutes.
9. Place pan on a rack to cool completely in the pan.
10. Then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

For Pears:

1. Increase oven temperature to 400°F.
2. Halve pears.
3. Scoop out core with a spoon or melon baller.
4. Put butter, lemon juice, a tablespoon of maple syrup and 1/4 cup of pear juice in a medium baking dish.
5. Bake for a minute or two, just until butter melts.
6. Swirl to mix ingredients, then place pears, cut side down, in dish along with rosemary sprigs.
7. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn pears and baste with cooking liquid.
8. Continue to bake another 5 minutes until pears are tender.
9. Transfer pears to a plate to cool.
10. Place remaining pear juice and maple syrup in a small saucepan.
11. Strain juices from baking dish into saucepan.
12. Bring mixture to a boil.
13. Stir in cornstarch-water mixture and cook, stirring, until mixture thickens slightly, about a minute.
14. Transfer pear sauce to a small bowl to cool.
15. When cheesecake has thoroughly chilled, unmold from pan.
16. Carefully cut into slices with a warm knife (dip knife in hot water and wipe dry).
17. Stir cooled sauce with a whisk and serve sauce on the side with a pear half.