Homemade Cheese with Pea Shoots, Greens , Blackberry Vinegar and Rapeseed Oil

Perhaps the most inspiring show I have watched this year has been the Edible Garden with the lovely Alys Fowler, for a year she devoted her small garden in Birmingham to growing as much edible produce. Not rows of
carrots and cabbages allotment style but inspired planting of attractive vegetables , herbs and edible flowers in which the equally attractive Alys wandered nibbling.  I know I am not alone over at Butcher and Baker, Jules is sharing  shots and stories of her edible garden

Last year my growing efforts left me a little sad, catapillars munched on my purple sprouting , the tomatoes never ripened . But the beans were good and we got a few squash and feasted in plenty of pretty nasturtiums flowers.  I am determined to do at least a little better this year, and these tiny shoots  are the first produce.  Planted just a few weeks ago tiny mixed salad leaves and pea shoots are ready for snacking

For my first harvest I wanted something equally lovely to go with them  I haven’t made cheese for a while since I made
some Paneer this is a slight alteration of the recipe adding a little salt to create a salty fresh cheese. recipe at the end of the post. The final part is dressing splashes of   Mellow Yellow Rape
Seed oil from Farrington Oils not
only a beautiful smack you in the face yellow but a nutty taste , a  blackberry
vinegar made last summer from foraged fruits (recipe
here)

Homemade Cheese

This recipe makes six, 50g portions of cheese

Ingredients
3 pints of whole milk
200ml live plain yoghurt
2 pinches of salt

Method
1. Bring the milk to the boil
2. Once the milk starts to boil and rise up, stir in the yoghurt
3. Keeping the milk on the heat, stir gently to help the milk curdle; it should only take about a minute. The curds will coagulate and separate from the watery whey.
3. Remove from the heat.
4. Line a large sieve with muslin & place over a large bowl or saucepan. Strain the cheese into the sieve and run some cold water through it. Discard the watery whey
5. Wrap the cheese in the cloth and hang from the kitchen tap over the sink to allow the excess water to drain for 20 minutes,
6. Add  salt to the cheese and in the bag and  and squeeze until dry

7.Prepare a  flexible silicon muffin mould with items you want to top the cheese (edible flowers, or herb)  placing them in the bottom of the moulds  then place the curds on top and press down with the back of a spoon
8.Refridgerate for at least two hours