I spent more time in the kitchen this weekend.

    As I wait for one or two more estimates about putting together a transfer switch, so I can use the generator to power parts of the house in case of a blackout,    I thought that I should as least do something in the kitchen this weekend.

    Part of my journey into "country mousehood" is learning how to cook.  If your growing your own food, you should at least know how to prepare it is some form right?

    Having a deep love and respect for history and a desire to explore, I've learned that flavors and styles change.  Big business determines what we eat (and that is several blog entries waiting to happen) and as such the American palate grows smaller and our desire for something that isn't familiar to us, grows less.

    Hence you don't see venison (deer), duck, rabbit or turtle soup anymore in the restaurants and inns of America.  When I lived in Florida, I looked forward to eating other types of fish only to see the big three - Salmon, Tilapia and Haddock (white fish) - in every restaurant.   Sometimes you might come across a Red Snapper, Catfish or Trout but that tended to be a rare occurrence.   

    God knows how many studies have been linked to our high meat diets but...like I said, another blog entry another time.

    I am however a big fan of the You Tube channel Tasting History.  In fact, I had been wanting to try something called "Farts of Portingale" for some time.   Yes, it's easy to fall into juvenile humor and frankly having aromatic little brown meat balls  in front of you doesn't help.   It is a surprisingly simple dish however.   Special thanks for Max Miller of Tasting History for this recipe.  Full disclosure, I didn't use dates because I forgot to buy them, so I added dried cherries.   It worked out fine.

MODERN RECIPE INGREDIENTS 1lb (450g) leg of Mutton or Lamb ⅛ Teaspoon Cloves ½ Teaspoon Mace ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper 1 Teaspoon Salt ⅓ cup (60g) Dates ⅓ cup (60g) Currants 1 Quart (1L) Unsalted Beef Stock METHOD 1. Mince the mutton or lamb as fine as possible (almost ground). Then mix in the spices, dates and currants and form into balls about the size of a golf ball. 2. Heat the beef stock to boiling and drop in the balls. Boil for 6-7 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool.

    Surprisingly these meat balls are sweet and savory.  They are aromatic as the nutmeg and cloves come through wonderfully, if they don't remind you have the holidays then you have no soul.   They are however a little dry - which I've seen others complain about.   So maybe next time we will add a bit of egg for moisture, or serve them with the beef broth over some jasmine rice.  Or perhaps even as a meat ball soup.  None of the historical records really record how they were served. 

    The other thing that I liked about this recipe is that this is something that you could do over a campfire, or on a wood fired stove.  It is really a very simple dish.  Lamb isn't cheap sadly and it's hard to find in stores, so if your processing your own lamb, let me know.

    Personally I enjoyed the little farts.   While they do not that appetizing in the photo. I'm not a professional photographer OK, I can ensure you that they went over pretty well with my family as a whole.   I would make them again and fully intend to bring them to work if and when we ever go back to the office.  I just would not call them "farts."

    The other dish that I wanted to try was a Farmers Cheese.   This is allegedly one of the simpler cheeses to make.   It's referred to as a "Green Cheese" because it's not aged and can pretty much be eaten once the process is done.

    I enjoy a variety of cheeses, with goat cheese being a favorite and like the hummus before it, it's origins are lost in history.  Our ancient ancestors used it as a way of storing dairy in all types of climates and quickly realized that you can do a lot with cheese.   Again it's one of those foods that interest me not only for the history, which is interesting in it's own right, but the science behind it.   

    In this case, I would be using this recipe here.  Farmers cheese tends to be low in fat and calories but packed with probiotics.  It differs from cottage cheese in that it's firmer and dryer, and often rolled in dill or chives.  I had leftover chives left, so that the hell, I'll use those.I also liked the fact that you could use cow, goat or sheep's milk for this recipe, so it tends to be versatile.  I would like to get into cheese making as a hobby sometime in the future.

    I have to admit that I enjoyed the experience completely, although I won't be able to taste test my cheese till the morning (you need to let it firm up), but it looks pretty close to the recipe that I used.   Although next time I will either use a better quality cheese cloth or simply follow a different recipe as I had a bit of issue with the cheese cloth.  Of course, not knowing quite what to expect didn't help the matter.

 
  While I was smiling the whole time, it really was that simple of a process, I quickly started to realize that cooking would take something that I generally don't have.   Patience.

    It was pretty cool to take a bunch of cheese curds and separate it from the whey (the liquid part for those of you that remember your nursery rhymes) to squish it together to eventually make something like the cheese we are used to; I wondered if I had the patience to wait weeks, months and sometimes even years that are needed to make some of your more exotic cheeses?  Would the lovely Susan have enough patience in me as I experimented with these ideas?  I could see myself making a chevre or a nice Queso Blanco easily enough.  

    Overall, just on the experience alone I would rate my first cheese making experience as a A+.  Everything went as planned and my final product (still wrapped in the cheese cloth here) doesn't look that much different than the professional photographers final shot.   

I can't wait till the morning.