This first picture was taken about 5 days after the cheeses were born… I mean brined! It’s a little hard to see but there is fine white mould developing on the cheese.

Here are the cheesebabies another 2 days later. The mould has grown well and the cheeses are ready to be flipped over to ensure good mould growth all over. In fact I suspect they should have probably been flipped at about the day 5 mark but I was concerned that mould growth wasn’t quite good enough yet. Turns out the cheese got a little stuck to the grate in the bottom of the Decor microwave container because the mould had grown between the grates. You can see distinct lines where mould didn’t grow due to the grate. Next time I’ll flip sooner!

I let the cheese sit for another 2 days hoping that mould would grow over the grate marks and it has definitely started. Not wanting to repeat the ’sticking’ incident of last time I flipped the cheese again. Shown below one is flipped and the other is not.

And here they are both flipped – it’s starting to look like real camembert now isn’t it!

More updates to come including how ‘large scale’ production of the cheese goes at school!

Said, woman, take it slow

It’ll work itself out fine

All we need is just a little patience

Said, sugar, make it slow

And we come together fine

All we need is just a little patience

With lyrics like that it’s obvious the Gunners were hobbyist cheesemakers!

Patience… it’s a virtue, right? It shares a Latin root with the word ‘passion’ and no, not passion like we saw on Melrose Place in the 90s… the suffering kind.

I’m suffering at the moment. Today I spent several hours making the beginnings of what I hope will be a delicious camembert cheese. If I had made a cake today I would know by now whether or not my cake was a flop or a huge success and I’d know this because I’d have tried it. Maybe even eaten all of it. I haven’t eaten any of my cheese and I won’t for many, many weeks yet. It might be my finest culinary moment. It might be a biohazard. Literally. I’m suffering not knowing!

As I’ve mentioned previously I’m a Biology teacher so I have a special interest in the Science of cooking. Cheesemaking is an ancient biotechnology and the practice of making cheese predates recorded history. It probably started rather serendipitously around the time animals were domesticated, when farmers tried to store milk in a vessel made from the gut of an animal. The rennet from the gut would have caused the milk to set into curds and whey and the rest of course is history.

Hopefully soon my students will be attempting this ancient biotechnology and entering their cheeses (camembert) in a cheesemaking competition. They will be doing this in 6 stages:

• Making starter cultures
• Coagulating milk
• Cutting curd
• Hooping
• Maturing
• Wrapping

Using mostly household equipment:

In the last 24 hours I’ve completed steps 1-4 to trial the process before unleashing my students on it. The maturing of the cheese will take several weeks and during that time I will go out of my mind worrying about my cheese-babies I will document the progress of the cheese here.

I can’t share the exact recipe I followed because it’s been entrusted to me by a pro and I promised to keep it secret-squirrel but I will share the general process I followed. If you’re interested in making your own cheese there are plenty of books out there as well as several online resources where you can find recipes.

So without further ado… making camembert cheese!

Making Starter Cultures

The day before you plan on making cheese you need to make the starter culture. UHT milk is used for the starter and to 1L of UHT milk (pour out 100mL first) you add your lactic acid bacterial starter according to directions on the packet or in the recipe. Depending on the starter you may be required to just leave it overnight at room temperature or keep it in a warm water bath at a certain temperature. The bacterial starter I used was a thermophile (‘heat lover’) so I had to keep it at 38 degrees Celsius overnight. I used a water bath which I borrowed from school. Other people have used fish tank heaters, Bain maries, yoghurt makers etc for this same purpose (and throughout the process where gentle heat is required).

In the morning when you check on your starter you should be able to notice that the milk has thickened and smells sour, like natural yoghurt. This is because the bacteria convert the sugar in milk (lactose) to lactic acid. Lactic acid is responsible for the sour taste and characteristic texture of yoghurt.

Coagulating milk

A small amount of the starter cultures and a sprinkle of white mould spores are added to pasteurised but unhomogenised milk which has been gently warmed. Unhomogenised milk is available in most good supermarkets and delis e.g. Barambah organics make an unhomogenised milk as do Cooloola dairy which was recommended to me as an excellent milk for cheesemaking.

The milk is allowed to ‘ripen’ and near the end of the ripening period rennet is added. Rennet is a naturally occuring complex of enzymes produced in the stomachs of mammals to help them digest milk. The most important enzyme in rennet in terms of cheesemaking is a protease (breaks down proteins) which causes the coagulation of milk. This results in solids (curds) and liquid (whey) i.e. the stuff made popular by Little Miss Muppet!

Now if mammal stomach isn’t really your thing rest assured vegetarian rennet derived from either plants, fungi or genetically modified yeasts are available and this is what I used.

Coagulation starts occurring almost immediately after adding the rennet – the speed at which this occurred was quite a surprise!

The mixture is allowed to ’set’ for about half an hour after which the curds are cut.

Cutting the curd

Using a sharp knife the curds are cut into approximately 2cm cubes. This is done to facilitate the whey removal process by increasing the surface area of the curds (Surface Area:Volume ratio – another biological concept!). The curds are also rested, then stirred carefully a couple of times to allow sufficient whey removal.

Now this is where I think I might have gone a bit wrong… my gentle stirring was still a bit rough and my curds broke up. How adversely this will affect the taste of the final product won’t be known until it’s consumed I’m afraid… in 6 weeks or so… remember I said this was an exercise in patience? However given that  it’s the size of the curds that affects the firmness of the cheese (smaller curd cubes will produce a firmer cheese) I think it can be predicted that my cheese will be quite firm!

Hooping

The last step of the process was hooping the cheese. This involves separating the curds from the whey and placing them in a plastic ‘hoop’ which is inverted a number of times over several hours to remove the last of the whey from the curds. Even whey drainage will ensure an even shape.

The cheese is kept overnight in a humid environment and in the morning is floated in a brine (salt water + a little vinegar to acidify) solution, dried and finally kept in a plastic maturing container (a Decor brand microwave container is good) to grow a good covering of white mould which is the ‘rind’ of the camembert cheese.

So that’s where I’m up to on my cheesemaking journey. How am I feeling? Quite frankly, nervous. I’m going solo on this one having never been to a cheesemaking workshop before but I have been corresponding regularly with an industry expert which has given me some reassurance. And even if I don’t nail it this time I’m ready to give it another shot very soon. And I can because I’ve got enough microbes in my freezer to make about 30 kilos of the stuff!

One last but very important thing… hygiene and sanitation are absolutely paramount in cheesemaking. You want your cheese to be filled with the right kinds of microbes – not the bad food spoiling, food poisoning types! The recommended sanitiser for use in home cheesemaking is diluted household grade bleach (active ingredient hypochlorite). Bleach is the right stuff for the job because it doesn’t have an ongoing sanitising action i.e. it won’t kill off the good microbes in your cheese. All equipment needs to be sanitised in the bleach solution (6mL bleach per Litre) for a minimum of two minutes with the exception of anything that touches the rennet which will be boiled. This is because bleach will damage the rennet. Your hands should be sanitised before and during the cheesemaking process. Alcohol based sanitising gels are ideal.

Stay tuned for cheesemaking updates!

Want to know more or after specific recipes? These three online resources are bound to help:

• Cheeselinks – where you can purchase all your cheesemaking needs including kits for beginners and a cheesemaking recipe book. My kit came with a recipe for camembert and a heap of helpful hints!
• Home Cheesemaking – has a good step by step guide for camembert and a discussion forum attached
• Cheese Forum - several recipes listed and a  comprehensive forum for cheesemaking discussion

Making jam is a scientific process. If you’re thinking “Precision! Accuracy! Special equipment!” rest assured – it’s not that kind of scary science, it’s easy! Jam is the result of a chemical reaction between pectin (a carbohydrate), sugars and fruit acids.

Ingredients

• ½ 9L bucket of rosellas
• 3-4 cups of sugar (have more on hand because you need to have equivalent amounts of fruit pulp and sugar)
• 1 apple (peeled, cored, chopped)
• Juice of 1 lemon

Method

1. Soak the fruit in a sink full of cold water for 10 minutes and then drain. Separate the red calyx from the seedpod. Some recipes suggest you use an apple corer to do this but I think it’s just as easy to peel the calyx away by hand. Reserve the red calyx
2. Place the seedpods into a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the seedpods are soft and translucent. This extracts the pectin from the seed pods. Remove the seed pods (use a slotted spoon or strain, reserving the liquid in a large saucepan)
3. Add the red calyx, juice of one lemon and an apple (peeled, cored and chopped). Simmer gently until very soft
4. Measure the quantity of fruit pulp and add cup for cup sugar to fruit (or for larger amounts 1L pulp = 1kg sugar). Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved
5. Bring to the boil. The jam will froth high in the saucepan so it needs to be no more than half full before you start boiling! Test for setting by putting a saucer in the freezer to chill, then put a teaspoon of jam on the saucer. Wait for it to cool and then push the top with your finger – if it wrinkles it’s cooked correctly

The jam should also stop frothing as it gets close to its setting point so watch for this. Using too high of a temperature or cooking for too long can destroy the pectin resulting in a poor gel (you end up making more like a thick syrup)

6.  Bottle the jam into hot, clean jars and seal immediately.

Simmering…

Boiling…

Tip: For any kind of Jam making, make sure your fruit isn’t overripe – overripe fruit does not have as much pectin as an under-ripe fruit so you might have trouble getting the jam to set.

And now for the Science… HOW it all works!

Pectin

The pectin in fruit (or commercial pectin if you’re using jam-making sugar) precipitates out when sugar is added making insoluble fibres. The sponge-like insoluble fibres trap fruit juice and the result is a gel.

Rosellas, apples, blackberries, cranberries, plums and quinces (to name just a few) have lots of natural pectin and thus are good for making jams. Strawberries and apriocots on the other hand are low in natural pectin and so they need to be combined with another fruit, or a commercial pectin product needs to be used to make them gel. So rosellas are a good place to start for a beginner!

Before pectin extraction…

After pectin extraction…

Sugar

Sugar is necessary for the gel to form so I’m afraid you can’t skimp on sugar for the sake of your waistline! Sugar is also a preserving agent. The Biology teacher in me wants me to go into all the technical details of sugar and osmosis but I said this wouldn’t be scary Science so here’s a brief summary from Moment of Science:

Sugar works not by poisoning the food-spoiling microbes, but by causing them to literally die of thirst. This is because sugar attracts water very well; the more sugar there is in any solution, the more water it tries to draw from its surroundings. This is bad news for any microbe that happens to be inside a jar of jam. High concentrations of sugar will suck the microbe’s vital water right through its cell wall, causing it to dehydrate. This process is called “osmosis” and it can be deadly for bacteria and mold.

Acid

Acidity is important for the gel to set. It won’t set if there is too little acid. In this recipe lemon juice is added to increase the acidity so that it gels well.

WHOAH. That was a lot of information! Well done you if you got to the end! Can you tell I’m a Biology teacher? I hope you learned something new and interesting about something we often take for granted – Jam!

I’ve attempted crème caramels a few of times before trying a couple of different recipes. On one occasion I had trouble unmoulding them, on another I burned the caramel and in yet another failed attempt my custard didn’t set. I’m pleased to report that these crème caramels were delicious and from now on this will be my go-to recipe!

This recipe is from the book “Mexican Cantina Cooking” by Jean-Pierre Vincken.

Ingredients

• 10 tbsp granulated sugar
• 5 tbsp water
• 750mL milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split open lengthways
• 2 whole eggs
• 6 egg yolks
• 200g caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180^oC (I had to adjust this down to 160^OC in a fan forced oven because the tops started to brown)
2. For the caramel, gently heat the sugar with the water in a heavy-based pain. As soon as the sugar gets a bit of colour, pour it into the prepared moulds. Tip the moulds to spread the caramel around the sides too
3. Pour the milk into a separate pan, add the vanilla pod and heat gently for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for a little while
4. Whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously. Strain the mixture through a sieve and pour it into the caramel moulds
5. Put the moulds into a deep oven-proof dish. Fill the dish with boiling water up to two-thirds of the height of the moulds*
6. Check whether the flans are ready after 50 minutes. Prick the centre of a flan with a skewer: the skewer should be clean when it comes out. Remove the flans from the oven and leave to cool
7. To serve, turn the flans out onto small serving plates. It will help with unmoulding to run a knife around the edge of the moulds first. The moulds can also be dipped into hot water briefly to loosen them

*An interesting tip this book gave was to add a couple of egg shells to the baking dish filled with water to stop the water splashing into the crème caramels when it boiled. Just like adding marble chips to a school Science experiment!

Tessa Kiros’ vermicelli soup with tomato and basil from her “Apples for Jam” book is made from four simple ingredients: stock, passata, basil leaves and vermicelli pasta. Served with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of parmesan it’s the perfect pick-me-up if you’re in need of some comfort!

I take liberties with this recipe and usually add significantly more passata and basil leaves for a more intense flavour.

Ingredients

• 1.75 litres water or broth (I use Vegeta stock)
• 1 tablespoon tomato passata (pureed tomatoes)
• 4 basil leaves
• 120g vermicelli or angel hair pasta, broken up
• olive oil and grated parmesan cheese to serve

Method

1. Put the water (or broth), passata and basil leaves in a pan
2. Bring to the boil, then simmer over low heat for 6-7 minutes before adding the pasta
3. Cook the pasta and then remove the pan from the heat
4. Ladle into bowls and drizzle a little olive oil over each bowl and add a good sprinkling of parmesan. Serve immediately, preferably in your most cheerful looking bowl!

After tales of the dramatic week were shared, events dissected and reassurances issued I was still in a bit of a sulky ‘poor me’ mood. And then the cooking began…

There is a power to group cooking with friends, I believe. Logistically it can be frustrating – personal space is compromised, equipment needs to be rationed and gas burner ‘real estate’ becomes a precious commodity. But it is oh so worth it!

Today I had two people there to reassure me that my caramel wouldn’t burn this time, to luxuriate in at the aroma of a vanilla bean simmering in milk and celebrate in the success of a dessert cooked well. And IF it had all gone horribly wrong I have no doubt that I would have had two people cursing the recipe in chorus with me!

I felt so much better.

There’s a reason group cooking has been going on since the dawn of human kind. It’s such a rich social experience. Today I cried, I laughed, I cooked, I shared and I learned. And, what I am most grateful for, I was comforted by two amazing friends and the food that we shared.

Image from Broken Nose Vanilla whose beautiful vanilla beans were used on the day!

This recipe for Date and Walnut bread is from Saad Fayed and makes a delicious dense loaf that’s sure to please. I ate this warm from the oven with a cup of tea but it could be also be enjoyed toasted and spread with butter – which you can enjoy guilt-free since butter isn’t an ingredient in the recipe! Don’t be tricked into thinking this is dry because it’s a bread. The dates give the bread moisture in the centre whilst the outside is more firm with a slight crunch.

This was another easy recipe which could be made with ingredients that I already had on hand in my pantry. A great one to quickly prepare and put in the oven before guests arrive so that they’re greeted with the delicious caramel aroma of the cooking dates.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 2 cups of dates, finely chopped
• 1 cup of walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 cup boiling water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175^oC
2. Grease a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or a little butter
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine dates and walnuts. Pour 1 cup of boiling water over the date and nut mixture. Set aside while you prepare the dry ingredients
4. In another mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. With a wooden spoon mix in egg and vanilla extract
5. Add the dry ingredients to the date and nut mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon
6. Spoon into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour

Now tea is lovely but where can I get some sparkling date juice to wash this down!?

Gazing into a cake cabinet one Sunday afternoon at Oliver and Co at South Brisbane I spied a cake flavour that intrigued me. It was called Middle Eastern orange cake. Weeks later I stumbled across Claudia Roden’s recipe for  Middle Eastern Orange cake just in time for I ate Brisbane’s featured flavour. I really enjoyed making this cake!

This was so elegant in its simplicity with just four main ingredients. I loved watching the oranges bob around in the boiling water and enjoyed the sensation of halving them – it literally felt like a hot knife through butter!

And the taste oh the sweet, light, moist, dense taste! You’ll just have to make it to experience that for yourself! This is the perfect afternoon tea cake.

Ingredients

• 2 large oranges, washed
• 6 eggs
• 250g ground almonds
• 250g sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Recipe

1. Boil oranges in a little water in a covered saucepan for 2 hours. I used enough water to just about cover the oranges
2. Allow oranges to cool then cut them in half and scoop out the flesh. Chop the flesh roughly
3. Preheat the oven to 190^oC and prepare a springform tin (either butter and flour the tin or line with baking paper which I opted for)
4. Blend oranges and remaining ingredients in a food processor. For this step I used a Tupperware Quick Chef to finely chop the oranges and then used my KitchenAid to mix the ingredients thoroughly instead of using a food processor
5. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 1 hour. If the cake is still wet, cook for a little longer
6. Allow to cool in tin before gently turning out

The preparation of these crispy little flavour bombs was actually much simpler than I’d originally anticipated. The chicken mince centre was quick and easy to prepare and the wonton wrappers were very easy to work with – much to my delight given I’ve had such a bad track record working with rice paper! In fact because the chicken is pre-cooked this would be a great dish to prepare earlier for a dinner party and quickly fry (or even steam) just before serving. 

Ingredients: Money Bags

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 small brown onion finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic crushed
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 100g chicken mince
• 1 tablespoon finely grated palm sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
• 3 spring onions
• 24x 8cm square wonton wrappers
• vegetable oil for deep frying 

Method

1. Heat oil in wok; stir-fry onion, garlic and ginger until onion softens. Add chicken and stir-fry until chicken changes colour. Add sugar and further stir-fry for 3 minutes (or until sugar dissolves). Stir in nuts and coriander.
2. Cut the upper green part of each spring onion into four long slices. Submerge these strips into hot water for a few seconds to make them more pliable.
3. Take a wrapper and place another wrapper over it on a diagonal (to make a star shape). Place a teaspoon of the filling mixture in the centre of each star. Gather the corners to make the pouch shape and pinch. Wrap a green onion slice around the neck of the pouch to hold it closed and secure with a toothpick. 
4. At this point, make the dipping sauce (recipe below).
5. Just before serving, heat oil in a wok and deep-fry the moneybags, in batches, until crisp and browned. Drain on some paper towel and serve with the peanut dipping sauce

Ingredients: Peanut dipping sauce

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 small brown onion chopped finely
• 2 fresh small red chillies, seeded, chopped finely
• 1 stick fresh lemon grass, chopped finely 
• 3/4 cup (180 mL) coconut milk 
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (140g) crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon lime juice 

Method

1. Heat oil in a small saucepan; cook garlic and onion until softened.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, stirring, for about 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

I must admit  I was originally quite sceptical about the peanut dipping sauce included in this recipe. The addition of crunchy peanut butter to the recipe seemed just a bit like cheating. However, this satay sauce did not disappoint. It was absolutely, undeniably delicious. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that the moneybags soon became a mere vehicle for the delivery of satay sauce to my mouth!

Makes 12 Money bags and 1 1/2 cups of dipping sauce.

Recipe from Women’s Weekly Beginners Thai.