I’ve tried a number of Asiago cheeses, and this Rosemary Asiago is by far my favorite: easy, straight-forward, delicious. I’ve made it a number of times, including for the YouTube channel, and I keep meaning to do a proper write-up of the recipe. Finally, I am.

tools, spritzed with vinegar

homemade yogurt as the starter culture

checking for a clean break

first, cutting the curd into large cubes

then smaller, with a whisk

after cooking the curds and pouring off the whey

cutting fresh rosemary

minced, with olive oil

halved, so it’ll fit in the bag

smells heavenly!

the wait begins

Rosemary Asiago Cheese
Adapted from Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll.

For a straight Asiago, simply omit the rosemary rub. You can use partially-skimmed milk for a harder cheese, or use whole milk and add in even more cream for a softer, more moist cheese. The original recipe called for 1 ½ teaspoons of rennet, but I dialed it back. To see me do a comparison taste test between two rosemary Asiagos, go here.

7½ gallons whole raw milk
1 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in ½ cup water, optional if using raw milk
1½ cups yogurt, thinned with a couple cups of the milk
1 teaspoon rennet
saturated salt brine
¼ cup chopped fresh rosemary
½ cup olive oil

Heat the milk to 95 degrees. Stir in the diluted calcium chloride. Add the thinned yogurt and stir well. Let the milk ripen for about 30 minutes. 

Dilute the rennet with about a half cup of cool water and add to the milk. Stir for no more than one minutes. Cover and let rest for about 25 minutes, or until the curd gives a clean break.

Cut the curds into roughly 1-inch columns (or cubes, if you’re overachieving) and let rest for 5 minutes to set up. Then, cut the curds with a balloon whisk — final curds should be about ¼ inch cubes — and let rest for another five minutes.

With your hand, or a large spoon, gently stir the curds for about 10 minutes to make sure they’re all broken up to the right size. (If the pot is too full, remove some of the whey.) Over the course of the next 25-30 minutes, heat the curds to 106 degrees, stirring steadily. Now, heat the curds a little more quickly: to 118 degrees over the next 10 minutes. If needed, continue to gently stir the curds in the whey, off heat, for 20 minutes. (I don’t usually do this last step — generally my curds are done cooking right around 116 degrees.)

Let the curds rest for 5 minutes to settle to the bottom. Pour off the whey. Transfer the curds to the mold. Press at about 30 pounds of pressure for 20-30 minutes. Flip, and press for another 30 minutes at 30 pounds. Flip, and press at 40 pounds for 1 hour. Flip and press at 40 pounds for about 12 hours. 

Brine the cheese in a saturated salt brine for about 24 hours (4-5 hours per pound of cheese), flipping halfway through and salting the exposed surface. Air dry the cheese for a day or two, flipping morning and night

Mix the chopped rosemary with oil and heat in the microwave for about a minute to sterilize the herbs. Rub it all over the cheese. (I had to cut my cheese in half to fit it in the bag. I put both halves in the bag and then added the rosemary and oil and smooshed it around.)

Vac-pack the cheese and age at 55 degrees for 2-12 months, flipping weekly. 

This same time, years previous: wedding whirl, how we homeschool: Terra, second amendment sanctuary, sour candied orange rinds, science lessons, the quotidian (12.14.15), the quotidian (12.15.14), bits of goodness, soft cinnamon sugar butter bars, crazier than usual (updated).

Quotidian: daily, usual or customary;
everyday; ordinary; commonplace

One person’s (diner’s) trash is another’s treasure.

I can vouch for this NYTimes cookie recipe, and then some.

Would you like some chips with your cheese?

Last-minute, nutritious, and delicious: the best kind of meal.

Upping my butter game: now on the hunt for wooden paddles, molds, and stamps.

Apple crumb, with dulce de leche-sweetened ice cream.

When bartering, this much cheese will get you…

…this much chicken, wheeee!

Secondhand, in excellent condition, and for just $20: score!

End of an era: a landline family no longer.

Equipped.

This same time, years previous: just what we needed, turkey broth jello, in praise of the local arts, the quotidian (12.12.16), Italian wedding soup, hot chocolate mix, constant vigilance!, light painting, the quotidian (12.12.11), Sunday vignettes: human anatomy.

Right now I am…

Obsessing… over Christmas cookies. I got hooked on the NYTimes YouTube cookie-making videos. Top of my list: gingerbread latte cookies, pistachio and orange shortbread, and macadamia and white chocolate cookies. Therefore, I am…

Ordering… all sorts of specialty ingredients like pistachios, Valrhona white chocolate ($31/pound, gulp), espresso powder, and my favorite baking caramels.

Candying… my own orange rinds that I scrounged from the diner’s juicer. (Don’t worry, Mom! I haven’t lost all my sense of thriftiness.)

Struggling… to accept that I can’t do all the things I want to. When the kids were little the days dragged endlessly, but now that they’re older the days are all mine for the having. I wish they were twice as long. 

Keeping a running tally… of all the projects I wish I had more time for, such as cookie baking, book writing, cheesemaking, filming, blogging, acting, bakery shifts, kickboxing, homeschooling, reading, teaching (via filming/in-person classes), listening to podcasts, business development (based on one or more of the above-mentioned projects), and learning new things like watercoloring and cake decorating. 

Dreaming… of a personal assistant to do all the little tasks that suck up my time like video editing, graphic design, recipe writing, and proofing. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a creativity support person?

Listening… to this Fresh Air podcast about a New York maître-d’ and wishing the library carried the book so I could read it.

Considering… getting a living (potted) Christmas tree instead of cutting down a live one. Our local tree farm has been short on trees lately, and I kinda like the idea of creating a little evergreen forest with a collection of our used Christmas trees. At $80 a tree, they’re pretty expensive, but look at it this way: since a cut farm tree is $50, we’d actually be getting a brand new, live-forever tree for the rock-bottom price of $30.

Discovering… cool, new kitchen tools thanks to my day of staging at Cou Cou Rachou, a French bakery in Charlottesville that is TOTALLY worth a food pilgrimage, if you dig that sort of thing (check out the English muffins!). They used this cool little dohicky to core apples — I had no idea such a thing existed and it’s exactly what I’ve been wanting — and I was all sorts of enamored by their little tart pans (they don’t use the bottom piece), shallow sieves for sifting spices, and plastic lids for sheet pans.

Savoring… my leisurely (yet highly structured!) days in front of the fire working on all my various projects.

Boycotting… putting my clothes away. Since we have no good space for storing off-season clothing, I’ve been begging my husband to build a bed box with drawers — but he won’t. So now all my summer clothes are in a neat pile on the floor, waiting for him to put them away. My theory is that he’s more likely to fix the problem if it bothers him.

Watching… Derry Girls (Netflix) with my husband (I only catch about 50% of it, ha!), Alone, Season 8 (Netflix) with my younger son and husband, and The Crown, Season 5 (Netflix), Hacks (HBOMax), and White Lotus, Season 2 (HBOMax) by myself.

Hoping… that this last visit from Mr. Big Balls has been profitable. My husband injected both Emma and Butterscotch with Estrumate to bring them into heat, and we’re keeping the bull for an extra month to follow up, hoping that if if the magic didn’t happen the first time, he’ll make it right when they cycle round again.

Questioning… the value of our choice in piggies. This breed was supposed to be grazers, not rooters, but turns out they dig things up a-plenty, making a huge mess of the field and putting my husband in a foul temper. That they’re slow growers means we’ll have to tolerate their rooty behavior and throw food scraps at them for just that much longer. Would it be more profitable and efficient to raise regular meat pigs? Or will the flavor of these wee-uns be noticeably better? We’ll see….

Pondering… the new cinnamon roll hack that involves pouring heavy cream over the cinnamon rolls prior to baking. Have you tried it? Should I?

This same time, years previous: the fourth child, 2020 garden stats and notes, the quotidian (12.9.19), yeasted streusel cake with lemon glaze, managing my list habit, okonomiyaki, the quotidian (12.9.13), a family outing.