Home Made Halloumi Cheese

My cheese workshops are rapidly becoming the most popular out of all the classes, last weekend we made Halloumi and Ricotta cheese. I think everyone is so amazed how easy it is to actually make soft cheeses and fascinated by the process of turning milk into curds and whey. We always have a lot of whey left after these events, as you can imagine from a class of 6 making their own produce. Luckily living rurally there are a few people who take it for their chickens and the rest I dilute and put it on my herb garden, which in these dry months it has been a blessing since we are on tank water not mains.

I make a salad with mine using the ingredients you can see in the photo and adding the dressing from the previous post on cauliflower salad.

Ingredients for making halloumi _ approx 300g

• 2 ltr pasturised full cream milk (A2, Meadowfresh)
• ½ tsp rennet (Renco), mixed with ½ tsp water
• Salt

Method

1. In a large stainless steel saucepan heat the milk to 32C, using a thermometer.
2. Add the rennet when milk has reached 32C
3. Allow the milk to sit, covered with a cloth in a warm place for 20 minutes or until a firm curd has formed.
4. When the the curds are formed cut into 1 inch squares. If the pot is deep also cut across with a slotted spoon.
5. Rest for 5 minutes, then heat the pan to 35-38C and stir gently with your hand or spoon for 20 minutes, keeping the temperature constant.
6. The squares should look smooth and lightly elastic.
7. Lift the curd out of the pan with a slotted spoon and place into a colander lined with cheese cloth or gauze
8. Cover with more cloth and place a weight on top.
9. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
10. Now cut the Halloumi cheese into pieces.
11. Reheat the whey to 85-90C, then turn heat off and add the halloumi pieces to the whey.
12. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time. The cheese will rise to the surface.
13. Take the cheese slices out, add a pinch of salt on each side.
14. Make a brine with 50% leftover whey, 50% boiling water and 10% salt.
15. The halloumi will keep up to two weeks in the brine, in the fridge.