Homemade Mozzarella with Basil from the Garden!

Panic mode when the cheese temperature was rapidly rising.

Scooping and draining.

Separating the curds from the whey.

Forming the curds into a ball.

It's starting to have a stretchy consistency!

Kneading the cheese curds.

Beautiful spread with vegetables fresh from the garden!

Our delicious spread.

And Puss joined us for a lovely dinner.

I am not known for my culinary skills in a desirable way. Rather my friends have been treated to and my family served an array of ambitious attempts, where my menu consisted of burnt risotto, doughy gnocchi, teeth-chipping gingerbread cookies and lastly, dolmathes where the soggy grape leaves hung raggedly around uncooked rice. Despite my usual inedible outcomes I find the intricate process of cooking exciting and fulfilling. Preparing and sharing dishes enables me to host memorable soirees where the food may be more scoffed at than savored but it serves as the catalyst for bringing us all together for hours of conversation and laughter.

To complement my habitually disastrous results, I have a penchant for choosing difficult recipes showcased by my perusing Martha Stewart and elitist foodie blogs. That was part of the appeal when The Spokesman-Review (where I happen to be employed) published an article on cheesemaking: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/jun/09/moz-zarella-magic/ I wasn't even aware this was something that could be done in single batches at home. It just seems like the sort of thing that requires a vat, wooden spoons as tall as I am and stretching machines in a large temperature controlled warehouse. As it turns out, the most difficult part of our making mozzarella was finding and working with the ingredients. Citric Acid I'm sure will be a useful addition to the kitchen cupboard and converting Rennet tablets into liquid involved a strange almost ritualistic doubling of the ingredients to throw out half. It didn't make any sense but we were afraid to disturb the precise directions.

As always in trying to follow a recipe in an exact matter, things went awry. The temperature rose too quickly and kept going, there didn't seem to be enough curds in our whey and the kneaded cheese had more of a lumpy texture than stretchy taffy consistency. The article we frequently referred back to for assurance is full of dire warnings of failure. It seems almost expected as the cheese experts focus their advice on encouragement to keep practicing until a successful batch is made.

We were prepared to start our second batch as we iced and refrigerated the cheese. But when it was sliced and prepared as part of a beautiful spread, we anxiously tasted the mozzarella and it was fresh and creamy and contributed to a delicious dinner! Our feast included fresh lettuce and basil from Julia's plentiful garden and was arranged beside ripe tomatoes and flavourful salami with olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled over.

It was a challenging recipe that ended successfully. It was a lovely dinner and it was a beautiful summer day enjoying Chardonnay on the deck with Julia as we caught up. It was a very leisurely and delightful time as we talked and watched the kids play on the assembled lumber of a dearly loved fort in the beginning stages.

Do you have any recipes that you are particularly proud of? How about any kitchen disaster stories?

-ako