Feta Greek Salad
Imagine eating a feta salad that contained garden ripened tomatoes, fresh garden cucumbers, brine cured kalamata olives, succulent purple onion with homemade Feta cheese. I find it so rewarding to feed my family a meal that I had a hand in preparing from the seed to table. Feta, like ricotta is a very easy cheese to make and I recommend it to any beginner. It requires a small amount of patience, some culture, rennet and of course milk.
Feta Curd with Clean Break
Feta Curd Cut
I love how you can really start to understand how the milk will coagulate with feta and how the curd and the whey separate as it is stirred.
My feta is typically very white, with a slightly salty goat smell, and quite tangy. Because of the brine it can make it very salty as the cheese ages. I’ve noticed my feta will change with the lactation season-early and late in the season it is very robust because of the amount of lactic bacteria in the milk, but mid-season it has a very mild taste. I choose to leave my feta whole and cut off slabs as needed. This way I can cut or crumble it on salads. Also I’ve noticed if I have been over vigorous while stirring the curd, the drained aged curds are quite a bit harder than if I only stir slowing for 20 minutes.
Begining of the Stirring process
After 30 minutes of stirring Feta Curd Draining
It may have originated in Greece but you too can make your own Feta, check out my website for DYI kits, and place your order today.
Drained Feta before placeing in brine
Great looking feta!! I really want to try it again but with goat’s cheese
It’s awesome you’ll have to give it a try!
I have never seen such a clean bread or such solid cubes when cut! I cannot wait to make it with you! Maybe you should add the brine solution you use that doesn’t make it so salty. How do you store your big piece, just in a bucket of brine? YUM!
V
Yes it goes into the brine after it is drained. I like my cheese pretty solid so I drain over night-flipping once or twice in the basket. Then I place in the brine and refrigerate for at least a day before I eat-I think you are suppose to leave it a couple days but I get hungry. It’s such a great cheese and I find it’s so easy. We’ll put it on the list! Ntala
Looks fantastic and your greek salad has my mouth watering!
I’ve never tried Bulgarian feta, but it’s a sheep’s milk feta so it has to be delicious. I won’t eat any of the comlercialmy available fetas they are almost always cow’s milk and way too hard and salty. I love French feta, and if I can’t find it at Whole Foods will settle for Israeli feta from Trader Joe’s. So I’m seriously color me green with jealousy that you have a cheese monger down the street with bulk feta! I love my local cheese shop (Venissimo Cheese) but they don’t do feta!
Hi! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m undoubtedly enjoying your blog
and look forward to new updates.
Well Celesta_thrash I’ve been avoiding yet another social media but I’ll go for it-I do have a facebook page of The Crazy Mare Ranch.
Hi, just wanted to mention, I loved this article. It was inspiring. Keep on posting!
So Glad you enjoyed it.
Hi, just wanted to say i liked this article. it was practical. keep on posting.