Cheesemaking at Cornersmith

Last weekend I made cheese.

My friends have called me the Dairy Queen for decades. 

My love of cheese and cheese dishes is legendairy!

So a cheesemaking course at Cornersmith was always going to be something I had to do.

I just had to find a free weekend.

Kristen Allan is the cheesemaker; ricotta, yoghurt and labneh are the cheeses we learn to make.

Slowing cooking is the philosophy; sustainable, ethical food production is the aim.

And good times are the name of the game.

The course begins in a relaxed manner.

A platter of homemade cheeses, pickles and bread are provided for us to sample as we get to know each other over a glass of wine (or homemade cordial).

After a discussion about what type of milk we should use and the various processes involved we get stuck in.

We don our aprons, pick up tools and begin to slowly heat a pot of milk, lemon juice and salt.

Kristen told us lots of amazing facts about curds and whey, including the uses of whey to wash your face and to water your pot plants.

After the appropriate cooking time, it's time to separate the curds and whey.

Ricotta is born!

Kristen then showed us how to make our own yoghurt before providing us with enough of her homemade yoghurt (made earlier as it takes a day to make yoghurt from scratch) for us to start our own labneh.

  

I have since made my own yoghurt at home and another batch of labneh. 

Kristen provides a cheese hotline so that we can contact her with any problems.

My second batch of labneh ended up tasting quite different to the first - it may have been the milk I started with or not enough salt. 

I'll add some herbs and olive oil to see if that improves the flavour.

It's all very, very fascinating & I can't wait to have more time over Easter to make another batch!

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot and Weekend Cooking.

Saturday Snapshot - Vietnam Part 1 - The Food

There was so much to love about our recent holiday to Vietnam, but one of the stand-out highlights for us was the food. 

We ate well and we ate often.

A few margarita's may have happened too!

Pho - I made the mistake of eating the chilli (like I would at home).

We booked a morning cooking class whilst in Saigon.

It involved a trip to to the markets to check out all the fresh, local produce.

Our first lesson at the Saigon Culinary Art Centre was how to create carrot flowers!

I was only drinking iced tea - really!!

  

We then went on to make seafood spring rolls, morning glory salad with pork & prawns and deep-fried egg noodles with seafood & vegetables.

It was a fabulous way to start our holiday in Vietnam.

Mai loved a camera shot too!

It was all delicious!

I also enjoyed drinking the lotus & jasmine tea's.

On our last night in Saigon, we treated ourselves to a meal at Maxim's.

The decor was wonderful, the jazz groovy & the margarita's sublime!

The prawn spring rolls (above) were scrumptious.

But the whole red snapper in ginger and onion (below) was out of this world!

The BBQ'd prawns weren't bad either!

 Rambutans are a cousin of the lychee.

I managed to have several of these for breakfast everyday, along with dragonfruit (pitaya), passionfruit, pineapple and watermelon.

Our first lunch in Hoi An was the local specialty - 'white rose' shrimp dumplings.

The flavour was very subtle & very satisfying.

Happy hour margarita's for two by the pool, Hoi An

We fell in love with the Hoi An Special Spring Rolls - they became our lunch time special.

Along with a glass of cold Tiger beer.

Mai Fish, Hoi An do a mean kumquat margarita! A great way to watch the sunset.

In Hanoi (below) we joined a night tour of the local street stalls.

We ate 'rats tails' (so called like the American hotdog - for its shape not its contents)!

Rats tails were minced pork with coriander, cucumber & chilli wrapped up in a long skinny roll.

 It also included a tour of the local markets.

The highlight was eating from one of the DIY street BBQ stalls.

Mr Seasons loved the Iced Vietnamese Coffee with condensed milk.

But while in Hanoi we also tried their famous Egg Coffee.
Yes - coffee and egg together!
 They blend the yolk into an espresso with a splash of condensed milk.

A liquid tiramasu say some! 

Too sweet says me.
One cafe also served them with a meringue made from the egg whites floating on top.

Our last night in Hanoi saw us dining fine on stuffed squid & pork ribs in Hanoi special spices.

The desserts at Porte d'Annam were pretty special too.

 Needless to say, the diet started this week!

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot and Weekend Cooking.