The name is because…now that I know how easy it is to experiment with queso fresco, I’m going to do a whole lot more of this in the future.
This one is for a garlic and lime infused cheese I made for a dinner party that is better than any cheese I have ever had in a store. There’s really nothing else to say. It’s garlic lime cheese curds and it tastes exactly as good as you think it would.
Ingredients
1 gallon whole milk
6 small limes, zested (I think the ones I used were key limes, they were a little bigger than a golf ball)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup lemon juice (bottled is fine)
Equipment
A big pot
A mesh strainer
Cheesecloth
A good thermometer
Directions
Okay, so, take your strainer and line it with four layers of cheesecloth, and put it over something so that it will be able to drain.
Now, put the milk in the pot and put it over medium low heat, stirring frequently. Don’t let it go more than a minute or two between stirs. Also, you’re going to want to heat it, but you definitely don’t want to bring it to a boil. You want to take the temperature every few minutes. Once it hits 170 (you want between 165 and 180, this worked for me), start adding lemon juice a few tablespoons at a time, stirring rapidly after each time. At some point, the curds and the whey will separate; you’ll know because if you pull your stirring spoon out of the milk, there will be curds stuck to it.
At this point, if you have any lemon juice left over, you can discard it. You don’t need it anymore.
Now you’re mostly done. Kill the heat completely and set it aside. Let sit for 30-45 minutes while the curds and whey separate. You can let it sit longer if you want, it doesn’t hurt anything but there’s also no benefit.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the curds from the pot to the strainer. Once you have them all transferred, let them drain for an hour. Then, mix in the salt, lime zest, and garlic. Fold the cheesecloth over so it’s covered, then put a jar of water (or whatever, I don’t know, I have mason jars around) on top to press the cheese. Let sit for a few hours until it firms up.
It’ll never get really firm, it’s much softer than store bought, but it’s SO FUCKING GOOD.
Enjoy!
eatbensmeat 