Fromage blanc is a very fresh, mild, soft creamy cheese. You don't have to age it at all, which makes K2 very very happy.
I got the fromage blanc culture from Ricki, where I get all my cultures. It is a direct set cheese, which means you warm up the milk, stir in the culture and in the morning, you're ready to drain it and eat it.
Here are the steps:
- Warm the milk to 86 degrees.
- Stir in the culture.
- Keep in warm place overnight. [We keep ours in a cooler full of old towels. That's where we batch our yogurt, too.]
- In the morning, pour the curd into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Tie the cloth up and hang it to drain. If you don't have a place to hang it, you can just twist/wind the ends of the cloth tightly so that there's pressure on the cheese and let it sit that way. It'll be fine.
- When it has drained for an hour put the cheese in a bowl. The longer you drain it, the drier and milder it will be.
- Salt it if you like. We use kosher or sea salt.
- It's ready to eat right now! Great with fruit, eggs, by the spoonful....
