Artisan Cheese and other stuff

Thanks to Dr Grumpy I had problems last night with not shouting "bingo" each time the presenter said "Artisan".

Yes I was at a Cheese making demo (with Miss 10) for a company called Mad Millie. As part of the cost of the demo you got an "Italian Cheese Making Kit".

So today Miss 10 and I attempted the Fresh Milk Ricotta. Apart from the fact that it didn't separate initially (we forgot to increase the citric acid in line with the extra milk we used), however we ended up with a very, very, very creamy cheese. We put some in the ricotta basket to drain (which went perfectly with the fresh parsley bread rolls gifted to us by a neighbour), and since that was full, we also drained some in muslin. That's still draining so we'll see how that tastes later.

Apparently there's enough Cheese salt, rennet, citric acid in the kit to make 15 batches of cheese. So we're looking forward to more cheese making in the future.

Additionally, I used this recipe for a quick lunch:

Thai Chicken & Pineapple Fried Rice

1 cup pineapple, canned, cut into pieces
1 cup chicken, boneless, cubed
5 cups cooked rice
4 tbsp oil for stir-frying
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red chili
3 tbsp chicken or vegetable stock
3 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp curry powder

Start by preparing the rice. Add a little oil to the rice (up to 1 tbsp.) and work through with your fingers. You want to separate the grains of rice, so that they don't stick together.

Preparation
Put 3 tbsp. oil around a wok over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, garlic, and chili, stir-frying for one minute, or until fragrant. Add chicken and cook until it tender.

Mix together the chicken or vegetable stock, soy sauce and curry powder. Stir well, and then add to wok. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Now add the prepared rice to the wok. Stir-fry until all the rice has mixed with the sauce and is a uniform color. Break up any lumps with your utensil or a fork.

Stir-fry Tip: Continually lift/scoop up rice from the bottom of the pan, tossing rather than stirring it.

Add pineapple. Stir-fry to mix in. Continue stir frying until everything is integrated (1-2 more minutes).

I also make this slice (in my never-ending quest to find a nice peanut butter slice/cookie suitable for the girl's lunches);

NO-BAKE OATMEAL FUDGE BARS
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. butter
4 tbsp. cocoa
3 c. quick oats
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa and boil for 1 minute. Stir in oats, peanut butter, and vanilla. Spread onto greased jelly roll pan. Cool. Cut into squares.

We had a piece each to try it. The general consensus was that it was very rich but a bit dry.