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Adventures in {CHEESE}.

How do I love cheese? Let me count the ways - or, rather, the varieties. Soft, hard, old, young, mild, wild, stinky, raw; you name it, chances are I've tried it and loved it. But, as I realized recently, even though my passion for cheese borders on obsession, I really don't know much about it. So I decided to learn more and share the experience here. What better way to kick off my brand-new adventure series, I figured, than an exploration into all things cheese? 

First step: with the help of a brilliant new website called Course Horse, I enrolled in Cheese 101, an introductory course held at Manhattan's famed Murray's Cheese Shop (New Yorkers, I highly recommend Course Horse - it makes signing up for classes in the city so easy and convenient. You can search by interest, location, price, age - it's really fantastic).


I recruited my friends, Stephania and Davey, (pictured below) as partners-in-crime, and on a brisk Sunday afternoon, we joined a handful of fellow dairy connoisseurs for ninety minutes of cheese-filled fun.


Upstairs at Murray's West Village headquarters, each student was given a board loaded with an eclectic array of of cheeses, a pamphlet for note-taking, and a seemingly bottomless wine glass. Under the guidance of our very knowledgeable teacher, Sydney, we tasted, touched, and sniffed our way through the basics of cheese. It was a lovely way to spend an evening - and I can't wait to try this class next.


A few days later, inspired by my newfound knowledge, I decided to take a stab at making cheese from scratch, and chose this ricotta recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I assumed the process would be complicated. In reality, it was nearly foolproof. What's more, I splurged on top-quality milk and cream, and still, the ingredients set me back less than $10 (the cheesecloth was given to me for free by my local butcher). 


The process was a quick one, too. I put the ingredients on to boil at noon, and by two o'clock, I had a warm, gorgeous-smelling bowl of fluffy, decadent ricotta. 


Cheese lover that I am, I wondered, what's taken me so long to try this?


Voila! Success. Looking forward to the next adventure...

First photo via Brooklyn Brewery. (Know who took it? Please let me know so I can give proper credit!) The rest by me.

32 comments:

  1. homemade ricotta is so wonderful, isn't it? it's exceptionally comforting, i find. :)

    yay for cheese! and yay for your adventure series!

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  2. Shoquito!!! I love that last photo of you! What a cutie patootie.

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  3. I've never made cheese from scratch, either, I definitely need to try this!

    Thanks for the Course Horse recommendation!

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  4. i LOVE making ricotta! once you make your own, it's so hard to go back.

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  5. Ugh, cheese, get in my belly. This is on my bucket list!

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  6. OMG! I can't wait to try it! looks delicious!!


    xoxo from München
    La Vie Quotidienne
    www.laviequo.com

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  7. Oh my I love this (and I love CHEESE!). Thanks for posting your version of Smitten Kitchen's ricotta - I really want to make it and try it with fresh pasta. I have some awesome cheese pairings too if you're interested in taking a peek.

    xoxo,
    mon amy

    PS: love your blog, I read it daily!

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  8. Thanks, guys!

    Vanessa, definitely try Course Horse - I loved it!

    And Amy, your cheese pairings are fantastic! Thanks so much for pointing them out to me - and for being such a loyal reader! That makes my day.

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  9. Haha, awesome! What a great start to your new adventures :)

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  10. Ooh, taking interesting and sometimes odd classes is so much fun! Now I have to look up some classes in my area.

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  11. I love cheese too! That ricotta looks amazing!

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  12. yay shoko! 90 minutes of cheese sounds amazing, and a bowl of fresh homemade ricotta even more so! what did you make with it? (no shame if you just ate it by the spoonful) :)

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  13. I love cheese! and I don't really know about it too.. I just know I love the taste. This is such a great idea to take a class and even make it yourself! p.s. Your adventure post made me go to the gym to walk. It's not adventure nor new thing, but it's been a while. So it was great! xo akiko
    Style Imported

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  14. Oh my! This looks so fun and yummy! I never knew something as amazing as Course Horse existed and I can't wait to try it. 90 minutes of wine and cheese doesn't seem like a bad place to start. Loving the adventure series so far!!

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  15. AH I LOVE the SK recipe for homemade ricotta. It's become an almost weekly tradition in my kitchen. It's especially great for pizza! Try vegan chorizo, kale, ricotta, and a fried egg on top. Divine.

    Hilary

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  16. Sarah, four ingredients: heavy cream, whole milk, lemon juice, and salt. It's a snap! And yes, i did eat it by the spoonful :)

    Akiko, so glad to hear that - that's awesome!

    Melissa, thank you! Definitely try it and let me know what you think!

    Hilary, great tips! Thank you so much! That pizza sounds divine.

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  17. Shoko, I just love your new adventure series! It was so much fun seeing the pictures and reading about your cheese 101 experience! I think I will need to try out the Ricotta recipe - who knew it would be that easy?!

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  18. This looks like so much fun! I will have to try making my own ricotta one of these days, yum :)

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  19. you are the opposite of cheesy!

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  20. I've long thought about taking a class at Murray's, now I'm sold! This adventure series is going to be fun!

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  21. Mmmm I wanna make my own cheeses now!

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  22. This looks like so much fun! And I'm in love with your modern tie-dye tank top - mind telling us where it's from? haha. You should do an outfit series like Darling Dexter! You have such a cute, effortless style.

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  23. haha this is awesome!! i ignorantly had no *idea* homemade cheese was even doable.

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  24. Rebecca, Hannah, and Lisa, the recipe couldn't be easier - I totally recommend giving it a shot!

    Megan, thank you! What a compliment! I'd love to do a style series one day. What you see in the photo is actually a dress, and it's from Steven Alan. It's one of my regulars!

    Lucy, thank you so much!

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  25. Wow, I'm definitely making my own ricotta soon:)

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  26. Shoko this looks like so much fun!! That sounds like a perfect outing with friends, and with a fun skill to takeaway. I've been dying to go to the Mystery of the Caves forever, but alas it's ALWAYS sold out when I try!

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  27. This is so funny! Took the same class - blonde short haired right next to the teacher. I read your blog for a longtime and didn`t realize you were there : ) I would have loved to say hi.
    Maybe next time!
    Patricia

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  28. Patricia, how funny! I wish I could have met you! Thanks so much for being a longtime reader. I am planning on taking the "Mystery of the Caves" class at Murray's soon - you should do it, too! :)

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  29. Definitely! I`m moving to NYC this June and I would love to take that class :) It would be so fun to meet and marvel at aging cheeses:))

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