How To Use Up Milk

I don't like milk by itself.  I've never been one to like milk in my cereal or just drink a glass of milk.  But I love all things made with milk, gelato, butter, yogurt, cheese.  Its a little strange, much like how I used to love tomatos but hated ketchup (although that has changed).  The closest I get to milk in its original form is when I make Ricotta Cheese.  One thing I like about the Farmers Market is that you can get small bottles of grassfed cow milk.  You know, the pint size ones, the ones that are pretty easy to use up.  However, when you buy grassfed cow milk at the store, it often only comes in a half gallon size.  I had to buy a half gallon of milk to do a custard and I was kind of stuck what to do with the rest of the milk.  Sometimes I make paneer, but I wanted to try something a little different. 

First, this recipe is not exactly ricotta since its not made from recooked whey.  Second, regardless of what you categorize this cheese as, its creamy and delicious.  I ate mine with sliced strawberries from my CSA.  It tastes like spring.  You cannot find any ricotta that will taste as creamy as this one in the store, especially a 1% milkfat ricotta (which to me, tastes grainy).  And, its super super super easy and quick. 

I basically scalded what was left of the milk (except about 1/2 cup which I reserved) which means that I brought it up to nearly boiling, but not quite over medium low heat in a stainless steel pot, and then skimmed off the milk "skin" off the top, which is the milk protein.  Then I turned the heat to low and poured in about 3TBSP distilled white vinegar and kept stirring until the curds and whey separated, about 3-4 minutes.  I lined a strainer with a clean hankerchief and strained all the whey out, then left it in the sink to cool off enough so I could touch it.  At that point, I squeezed out most of the moisture and then ran cold water over everything and squeezed it again.  I transferred it to a small jar, added 1/4 tsp sea salt and stirred in the reserved milk which absorbs a bit back into the curds and voila!  Magic!  If you want to have a creamier ricotta, I would use whole milk or cream at this step.