Homemade Cheese from Milk and Kefir
An eye-catching presentation and a variety of flavors. Homemade cheese is a wide-open field for creativity — you can flavor it with any spices or fresh herbs: dill, basil, fresh garlic. Today we're making three versions: one with paprika, one with parsley, and one with a classic, plain flavor.
Cooking method
-
Step 1:
To make homemade cheese from milk and kefir, get the following ingredients ready: full-fat milk, kefir, salt, dried paprika, and fresh parsley.
-
Step 2:
Pour the milk into a saucepan. Over medium heat, bring it almost to a boil. If a skin forms on the surface, skim it off.
-
Step 3:
Slowly pour the kefir into the pan.
-
Step 4:
The whey should separate, with curds floating on the surface. Take the pan off the heat.
-
Step 5:
Add the salt and stir the mixture thoroughly.
-
Step 6:
Line a colander with two layers of sturdy cheesecloth. Pour the mixture into the colander and let the whey drain off. This recipe doesn't use the whey, but don't throw it out — you can use it to bake a great loaf of enriched bread, for example.
-
Step 7:
All that's left is to divide the cheese into three equal parts. Add finely chopped parsley to one, paprika to another, and leave the third plain. Mix each. Spoon the cheese mixtures into the center of small pieces of cheesecloth and shape them into balls. You can secure the ends of the cheesecloth with kitchen clips. Leave overnight in the refrigerator. Before serving, unwrap the cheese and garnish with fresh herbs.
- Homemade cheese made from natural ingredients is a wonderful nibble with a young white wine. I made three versions on purpose, to show that the only limit to the flavors is your imagination. My favorite was the dried-paprika one — the cheese came out simple yet very fragrant and tasty. The parsley, though, I should have chopped finer; the tough leaves stood out too much in the delicate cheese. There's no end to the flavorings you can add: coriander, fenugreek, sun-dried tomatoes — and that's not even counting the spices. You could even try making it with real chocolate. In short, the options are endless! Wishing you creative success and a good appetite! By the way, an egg is also often added when making cheese from milk and kefir — you can find that version here.
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Whole cow's milk - 68 kcal/100g
- Milk 3.5% fat content - 64 kcal/100g
- Milk 3.2% fat content - 60 kcal/100g
- Milk 1.5% fat content - 47 kcal/100g
- Concentrated milk 7.5% fat content - 140 kcal/100g
- Milk 2.5% fat content - 54 kcal/100g
- Parsley greens - 45 kcal/100g
- Kefir fat - 62 kcal/100g
- Kefir of 1% fat content - 38 kcal/100g
- Low-fat kefir - 30 kcal/100g
- Kefir 'doctor beefy' 1,8% fat content - 45 kcal/100g
- Kefir 2.5% fat content - 53 kcal/100g
- Salt - 0 kcal/100g
- Paprika - 289 kcal/100g
