Milk it!

I remember a time when I was about 8. We were on holiday, staying on a boat, with an ice box and no fridge. It was the summer, and naturally enough the milk on our cereal wasn't quite as fresh as we were used to. We moaned.

But actually, milk which is "on the turn" is not bad for you, neither rancid or mouldy, and could be employed in other ways even if it not to your taste splashed into tea or liberally poured over cornflakes. In times passed curds were an important part of Irish food culture.

1. Check that it is actually "off". It sounds stupid, but as kids we were convinced that anything passed its sell-by date was bad. I have friends who are still like this. It is easy to tell with milk. If it smells fine, then it is fine, regardless of what the packet says. And you will know if it doesn't smell good!
2. If it is a little sour, it can still be used for baking- cakes, biscuits and so on.
3. Make cream cheese. You can leave it go sour (make sure it is still in its container or covered), cook until it boils wrap the remaining lumpy bits in a cloth (cheese cloth or muslim) and hang. The liquid needs to drain out but you will be left with delicious homemade fresh cheese, which you could mix with fresh herbs, finely chopped onions or garlic, or pretty much anything you fancy. For a different flavour you could also try adding white vinegar or lemon juice to the milk when it is cooling, which will help it to curdle.
4. Another version of this is the Indian fresh cheese, paneer, which is pressed after the curds and whey have been separated. Once made, you could also preserve this cheese in olive oil.
   
   
5. Make yoghurt. You need a bit of yoghurt to start with "live and active cultures" in it. Bring the milk to a boil. When it starts to get foamy on top, remove from the heat until it cools to around 46 degrees C (115 F) or until you can hold your finger in it without it burning. Put a couple of spoonfuls of yogurt in a jug and blend it together with some of the warm milk. Pour the mixture back into the pot of warmed milk and stir. Pour the warmed milk into clean containers (large glass bottles or washed and dried 4 pint milk cartons could be good), put the lids on, cover with the containers with a towel, and put them in a cool, dry, undrafty place over night. Wake up to fresh yoghurt!

Traditional Irish Curd Cake

This curd cake is not only based on a traditional recipe, but it also gives you the opportunity to use up milk that has gone sour, by turning it into the cottage/ cream cheese that you need for the recipe. Please look at our post "milk it" to find out how. Also an opportunity to use up broken biscuits and left over egg yolks.

Traditionally this would have had a pastry crust, but in the interests of health, and speed, you might want to just bake the mixture in an oven-proof dish, or you could experiment with using broken digestive or ginger biscuits as an alternative base.

Lemon and Vanilla Curd Cake
You will need:

• 175g/ 6oz sweet shortcrust pastry or a pre-bought pastry case (if using)
• 50g/2oz caster sugar (+ 1 tbsp for the topping)
• vanilla essence or extract
• half a lemon (juice and grated rind)
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 2 egg yolks
• 225g/ 8oz cottage cheese (homemade or bought)
• 2 heaped tablespoons of plain flour
• 1tbsp melted butter

1. Preheat oven to gas mark 4/ 180°C/ 350°F
2. If you are using pastry: warm a baking sheet and grease a loose-bottomed flan tin. Roll out the shortcrust pastry until thin, then line the flan tin with the dough, trimming off any excess. Chill pastry case (that you have made or bought) in the fridge.
3. If you are not using pastry put your broken biscuits into the bottom of a dish for a more informal but equally delicious family pudding. Ignore this step if you simply want a set curd putting without pastry or biscuit.
4. Sieve the cottage cheese, or your freshly make paneer/ cream cheese.
5. Cream together until fluffy the butter and sugar, before beating in the egg yolks, 1 heaped tbspn flour, lemon zest, lemon juice and the cheese. Mix well.
6. Spoon the mixture into the pastry case/ onto the biscuit base or put into the dish on its own.
7. Mix together together the beaten egg, one tbspn flour, spoon of caster sugar, 1tbsp melted butter sugar (you might also want to add further lemon zest). Spatula evenly over the curd filling.
8. If you are using pastry in a flan tin, pop it onto the warmed baking sheet. Otherwise just put your dish into the oven and bake for around an hour. When it is done the top shoul dbe a little brown and a bit firm.
9. Best served cool, not chilled. You could dust with sugar or garnish with grated lemon rind.

photo with thanks to chotda