Another Cheesy Adventure...Mascarpone!

This month's adventure in home cheese making was that delicious Italian Cream Cheese known as Mascarpone! You all know my cheesy partner in crime, she who lives in the kitchen with puppies...otherwise known as Natashya, right? Well, we're getting pretty good at this simple, fresh cheese making if I do say so myself! We started with a recipe...2 ingredients!...and ended up adapting slightly in order to make a seemingly less than stellar result turn around. I started it Tuesday and finished it today (Friday)...but the majority of that time I was planning, cooking, eating and enjoying Turkey day festivities...so I can tell you...it was mostly hands-off! The only time I spent was the initial heating and then transferring to a strainer. Then transferring to a bowl. So...what are you waiting for!? You know you want to make a little Mascarpone at home and then let us know how your adventure fared...so we can share it over at forging fromage (well, you know I want you to, at least). Mascarpone adapted slightly from The Home Creamery by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley 4 cups (2 pints) heavy cream 1 Tbs. white wine vinegar Pour the cream into the top of a large double boiler and slowly heat to 190 degrees F, stirring occasionally. Check the temperature with a thermometer. Stir in the vinegar, and continue to stir until the cream begins to curdle. Remove the pan from the water, cover and let stand about 15 minutes or until the curds begin to firm. At this point, my mixture was very creamy...nappé (able to nicely coat the back of a spoon...it'll leave a space in the liquid if you run your finger across the spoon) if you will, but not thick enough to sit in a strainer. It went right through. So, I followed Natashya's suggestion and went ahead and just covered it and transferred it to the fridge to sit for 24 hours. This added step really firmed the mixture up nicely....see the big mass? Pour or ladle the curds into a butter muslin-lined strainer set over a large bowl. Cover the strainer and refrigerate for another 24 hours to continue draining and firm up even more. The next day I did have some whey left in the bowl! So, I transferred the thickened Mascarpone to an airtight container. you can now refrigerate for up to 3 days. Stir well before using. We made Mascarpone!!! It took a couple days...but it was all unattended...another simple cheese on our journey to forge fromage! Now that you've seen just how simple it was...go check out Natashya's, too...she'll confirm it! And then take a chance and make some...join us in our monthly(-ish) adventure to Forge Fromage!

*no, I haven't forgotten to share my Turkey Day table...the amount of photos are just a little overwhelming right now and I need to figure out how to go about it...I'll get something up soon!*