How To Make Quark Or Cheese from Kefir

This is how my mum always used to make a fresh quark/cheese form a raw milk. She started with letting the milk on the kitchen bench for a couple of days until it turned into kefir and then she turned it into super soft and creamy quark. The recipe is very simple and the quark is delicious. I am using kefir I make form a pasteurized milk (as I have no access to raw milk) using the kefir grains or how some people call them the Tibetan mushroom. You could probably also use store bought kefir if you don't have the grains or try the old fashion way how my mum did it.

How To Make Quark Or Cheese From Kefir
You need:

• kefir
• cheesecloth

1. Pour kefir into a small pot and place it in a larger pot filled with water. The smaller pot needs to "sit" in the water.
2. Place it on a low heat for about one hour at around 45-50°C
3. Turn the heat off and leave it until the water cools down.
4. Place a double layer of cheesecloth over a sieve and place over a bowl. Strain the kefir.
5. Wait until most of the fluid goes through, grab all the ends of the cheesecloth and wrap it together or secure with a clip. 
6. Depends on the room temperature and your liking, you can either hang the cheesecloth over the bowl and leave it in safe place or place your nearly ready cheese in the cheesecloth together with the strainer and the bowl in the fridge. Leave it there for few hours or over night until the cheese is ready. You can either gently push it through the cheesecloth to check but usually your quark/cheese is ready after about 5-6 hours.

Tips:

• If your cheese taste too dry, just shorten the warming time. The longer you warm the cheese, the more dry may come out. It depends also on the type of the milk you use.
• You can either drink the remaining fluid you collected in the bowl or give it to the animals if you have any. It is very healthy and it would be a wastage to throw it away. It taste better when its cold. Some people use it to make lemonade. 
• You can use cow milk, goat or sheep milk. Raw milk is always the best but it also works very well with the pasteurized milk you can buy in the local shops. 
• Any question? Just ask and I am happy to help :)

Serving idea :)

Daikon Radish Salad With Ginger And Turmeric

This was our last night side dish we made for dinner. I had a fresh Daikon radish which had to be harvested as the greens wanted to go to flowers already and this was the result! Super fresh and delicious salad! As usually it was a spontaneous idea so I just had to make a record of it. Now happy to share with you all.

Daikon Radish Salad With Ginger And Turmeric

• 1 Daikon radish together with some of the green top leaves
• few green onions stalks, washed and cut into small pieces
• 1 tsp self made sweet chili souse (the recipe is in my blog) or fresh chili and raw sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated or cut into very small pieces
• some fresh ginger and turmeric, peeled and grated
• 2-3 tbs vinegar
• 2-3 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

1. Wash and peel the radish. Wash the leaves. We have taken few of the younger leaves. I usually pick the outer leaves for eating as well while the radish grows. They taste delicious on a sandwich!
2. Grate the radish and cut leaves
3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a little bowl
4. Combine everything together and ENJOY!

How To Build A Cheap Or No Cost Worm Farm From An Old Laundry Tub

Everyone knows that the worm juice is very good for all your greens in the garden. Here is a simple video of how we made a no cost worm farm made of recycled materials. You can sometimes get an old laundry tub for free or very cheap from your local recycling center or garage sale. The net can be any net, even an old insect net will do if it doesn't have any holes. if you don't have a strap, use a rubber band :) You could improve it further like install a pipe with a tap from the drain down to the bucket. We haven't done it as we already started to build a second, larger warm farm so this one won't be needed soon. If you want to see the larger one, also build from recycled materials, subscribe and stay tuned! Cheers :)


Here some info about what the worms like and what not:
Feeding Worms

Compost worms will consume all your house hold organic kitchen waste and yard trimmings, as well as all your old news papers and scrap paper, you can also put all your pet waste [pet poo] in you worm farm and the worms will eliminate this for you as well without any smell or pest problems.

What are the Requirements for compost worm feeding?

Compost worms will consume all your house hold organic kitchen waste and yard trimmings, as well as all your old news papers and scrap paper, you can also put all your pet waste [pet poo] in you worm farm and the worms will eliminate this for you as well without any smell or pest problems.

Worms like:

– Fruit peelings and vegetable scraps
– Tea bags
– Bread
– Rice
– Grass cuttings (after heating stage)
– Organic green yard waste (after heating stage)
– Animal manures (beware of worm medications)
– Scrap paper
– Newspapers
– Napkins
– Soil or sand – To help with their digestive systems and provides a source of decomposer bacteria.
If worms are not consuming a certain food, do not put in again.

Warning: If you are using animal manures, make sure that the animals have not been given any worm medication, as this will be fatal to your worms. We age all our animal manures for one month before feeding to our worm stock.

Worms don’t like:

– All fatty foods (The oil can suffocate the skin breathing worms.)
– Onions
– Garlic
– Chillies
– Capsicums
– Any spicy foods
– Dairy products (will make your worm farm smell)
– Citrus foods
– Meat (Will cause flies and maggots and make the bin smell)
It is very important to only feed enough food for a couple of days at a time, when there is only a small amount left re-feed the worm farm but in a different position in the worm farm. As your worm stock increase you can increase the amount of food that you are feeding.

Make sure that you keep an eye on the moisture levels in your worm farm, as some food has quite a lot of moisture. You might find that you will never need to add water if there is enough moisture in the food source.

Lemon or Lime Cheesecake

Super yummy cheesecake for any occasion. It is very easy to make and it tastes just delicious! Super fluffy and refreshing summer taste. We had plenty of limes from our food forest and didn't want to waste them so that is how the recipe evolved. Try it and you won't regret it :)

Lemon Or Lime Cheesecake

Ingredients for the base:

• 150g bread crumbs
• 1 tbs raw sugar
• 1 tbs dessicated coconut
• 80g melted butter

Combine and press the mixture into the pan lined with baking paper. The loose-bottomed tart pan is best.

Preheat the oven to 160°C

Ingredients for the cheese cake:

• 500g cottage cheese (Coles or Woolworths are the best)
• 4 whole eggs plus 2 extra egg yolks (keep the egg whites for the topping)
• 125ml lime or lemon juice
• finely grated rind of 1 lime or lemon
• a dash of vanilla essence (optional)

Process the cottage cheese with a stick blender until smooth, then gradually add all the remaining ingredients until just combined. Pour over the base and bake for about 30 minutes (the cheesecake should still have a slight wobble) Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly for about 15 minutes. Use the time to make the topping:

Ingredients for the topping:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup raw sugar or caster sugar
• 1 cup desiccated coconut

Place the egg whites in a clean and dry bowl, whisk until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat till thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut gently.

Carefully spread meringue over the cooled cheesecake. Return to the hot oven and bake for further 10 minutes or until very light golden and firm to touch.

Remove from the oven, cool down a little until safe to touch and place in fridge for at least 4 hours before you cut it.

Enjoy! :)

Madagascar Bean With Feta And Veggies Recipe

Madagascar bean is a perennial vine which grows up to 7 years in a warm climate. It not only grows very easily but the beans are also very tasty. If you want to see how the Madagascar bean grows in my garden, just click on the video below the recipe.
It was the very first time for us to cook a meal with Madagascar bean and it was a big win so I am happy to share with you the recipe now.

Madagascar Bean With Feta and Veggies

Ingredients:

• dried Madagascar beans, I took 12 large table spoons but this is to your liking
• 2-3 tbs smoked bacon chopped into fine strips
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 2-3 garlic clove, finely chopped
• fresh tomatoes peeled and finely chopped or tomato puree
• 1 carrot
• 1 capsicum
• 1-2 fresh and young eggplant
• 1 large or 2 small finely chopped celery stalks
• some feta finely chopped
• fresh or dried oregano and basil finely chopped
• some flat leaf parsley
• olive oil
• sweet chili souse
• soy souse

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of water as they will double in size. I have placed the pot in a fridge in the morning until I started to cook them late afternoon.
Drain and rinse. Cover with fresh water and cook until nearly soft. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add onion, garlic, bacon and eggplant and cook until soft. The onions should be light golden, not brown. Add remaining veggies, tomatoes and or tomato puree, herbs and simmer for about 3 minutes. Add the cooked beans, sweet chili souse and soy souse and stir through gently. Add Feta on top, put lid on and simmer on lowest heat for about 3-4 minutes. Garnish with some fresh parsley on top and ENJOY! :)

Madagascar bean in my garden

Perennials In Our Food Forest - Madagascar Bean

A quick video about the Madagascar Bean we grow in our food forest. It is a perennial bean and definitely worth growing if you live in a warm, subtropical or tropical climate. I could imagine they would also grow in a colder region as an annual.