In Mexican cooking, you’ll find queso fresco sprinkled on top of salads and enchiladas, adding a salty flavor.  One of its characteristics is that it doesn’t fully melt.  In a pinch, it can also serve as a substitute for other crumbly cheeses like feta or paneer.

Here’s how Menu In Progress began their cheesemaking effort.  Nice job!

“For my queso fresco I started with two gallons of organic whole milk. The thing that gives many cheeses their characteristic twang is an active culture that produces lactic acid. I used a freeze-dried version (Mesophilic A) from Leeners.com that you add directly to the milk. Since my milk was homogenized I also added a little calcium chloride to avoid an overly soft curd.

After letting the milk ripen at 90°F for 20 minutes, I stirred in some diluted rennet and let it form a reasonably solid curd – it sets up rather like a custard. Next the curd gets sliced into little cubes and the solids start to release a lot of liquid (the whey).”

More, including great photos, after the link:

Queso Fresco – Home Cheesemaking – Menu In Progress.

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The Homesick Texas shares a straightforward recipe for queso blanco. This “white cheese” is great sprinkled over spicy black beans or a burrito, and we love their idea of adding chiles or spices. (Full recipe after the jump).

“Enter queso blanco. This simple cheese doesn’t call for those other ingredients. And while the end result may not be as creamy as Brie, as smoky as Gouda or as nutty as Manchego—the end result is still recognizably cheese and a darn tasty one at that.

Now, queso blanco won’t melt, but you can slice it and fry it in your skillet, crumble it into your refried beans, wrap bacon around it and bake it, spread it on crusty bread or toss it with some vegetables and salsa. Because it’s not aged, it has a neutral flavor like mozzarella, but I like to add herbs, spices and chiles to punch it up a bit.”

Homemade cheese: queso blanco | Homesick Texan.

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