#1 – Whey Cool!

Posted on December 9, 2009. Filed under: Cultured Dairy Products, Recipes, Recipes that are Ingredients to other Recipes | Tags: buttermilk sea salt, celtic sea salt, condiments, cream cheese, cultured, DD1-purple fork, DD2-violet fork, DH-blue fork, fermentation, Kim-pink fork, piima milk, soaking, whey, yogurt |

'Whey' gets 4 forks!!

I thought that it would be fitting to start out my journey with the EASIEST recipe on the planet.  Also it is an ingredient in a lot of other recipes, so it is very fitting to do first.

When I first ‘made’ whey, my husband thought I was nuts.  Little did he know that it is an extremely useful thing, with a great by-product of wonderfully flavorful cream cheese (not like the dead stuff in stores).  And it lasts for months in the fridge.  I have used whey to make dozens of recipes, including yogurt, pancakes, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing… basically anything that you would like to preserve or culture and add beneficial bacteria to.  I also use whey when I soak flour, grains, nuts or beans to neutralize phytic acid and other anti-nutrients. And the whey is ‘good’ for you and can be taken as a tonic for upset stomach in a little bit of water.  Let’s just say, I used to love vinegar pickles but condiments with whey make me feel good!  And the cream cheese is AMAZING.  Give it a try, you’ll see!

Whey and Cream Cheese

Rating: 4 forks (key)

they don’t know they’re eating it when they eat it!  But they eat it all of the time!

Difficulty:

Easiest

Page in NT: 87

Yield:

2 cups whey and 2 cups cream cheese

Ingredients:

1 Quart of organic whole milk yogurt, preferably made from raw milk, but pasteurized will work as long as it’s GOOD yogurt, and WHOLE milk!

Preparation:

Line a large strainer with a thin dish towel or multiple layers of paper towels.  Put a bowel underneath the strainer.  Pour the yogurt into the strainer, cover and let stand at room temperature for 3-5 hours.  The whey will run into the bowl and the ‘cream cheese’ will stay in the strainer. When the whey stops dripping, the cheese is ready.  Store whey in a labeled mason jar in the fridge, it will keep for 6 months.

Salt the cream cheese with celtic sea salt and keep in a covered container in the fridge, it will keep about 1 month.

Please note:  Sally’s recipe is written a bit differently.  You can also use raw milk, buttermilk or piima milk (2 quarts) to make whey/cream cheese.