Can cheese be made without rennet?!
Can cheese be made without rennet?
As a vegetarian I was surprised to find that cheese was made with rennet (cow's stomach). Is there any other way to make real cheese - I mean without a dead animal.
Answers:
Basic forms are very easy, I have listed 2 recipes below.
But just in case you decide not to go homemade, here are some links to a list of store bought cheeses that do not contain animal rennet:
http://cheese.joyousliving.com/...
http://www.natural-connection.com/resour...
There are many recipes online for homemade cheese, here 2 from from my files:
Home made fresh cheese
1 liter of pasteurized milk (a little more than 4 cups). You want the milk to be a little fat.
5 to 10 centiliters of white wine vinegar or lemon juice (about 2 oz.)
1 table spoon of rock salt
Optionally: finely chopped fresh herbs (e.g. chives) and/or garlic (about 1 table spoon total).
Slowly bring the milk to a boil, wait a few seconds then turn off the heat.
Add the vinegar (or lemon) and salt and stir well. You'll see the milk turning almost instantly into a white, grainy paste (the curd) and a pale yellow, limpid liquid (the whey).
Add the fresh herbs and garlic and stir some more.
Let the coagulation be complete (let stand for 5 minutes).
Filter the curd through a colander lined with a cheese cloth. Let it drain for about 5 minutes. You can keep the whey if you have a use for it... which we don't at the moment although we're sure there's one ;-)
Press the curd in the cheese cloth and shape it into a ball.
It's ready to eat! Or you can keep it a few more days... As you wish.
(http://myfrenchcuisine.blogspot.com/2005...
This one is very good. It's from George Duran of Food Network:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/...