So its kinda gross, but I'm trying anyway....

Hey All,

So this is not about the normal cooking I do. Its about one of my passions, cheesemaking. Cheesemaking is not for the faint of heart. It has been fraught with challenges and "learning experiences". Curd handling alone took me a good eternity to master. Although these days, I can turn out a good mozarella from gallon of milk to pound of cheese in about an hour :) Yeah, I had to toot my own horn there!

So I'm attempting a blue bondon, or blue cream cheese, I'm not sure which it will be yet, that part will depend on what the next 24 hours bring in the way of keeping the house warm.

Once upon a time, I had a bagle with just butter on it....but I didn't realize it, my butter had molded and was the most delicious treat I'd had in a long time. The thought of a blue molded cream cheese or bondon has me drooling.

I can't find a good link for Bondon as I know it. My experiences with bondon are that it is a very mild cream cheese that melts and spreads more like butter than cream cheese, with a flavor like butter but creamier. Everything I'm reading is talking about molding it like brie and this and the other...my bondon is not that complicated, its just a lower temp cream cheese that doesn't get the acidic bite.

So here's how its done....really it is this easy, so I'm always looking for killer deals on cream ($0.20 per half pint at NPS last week is a case in point). Place 1 qt of heavy cream in a bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup mesophilic cheese culture.....mine has been going for a few years now and smells horrible, but it never fails! Cover and let that sit for 24 hours on the counter. At 24 hours at room temperature, it should be congealed and ready to strain. Strain in cheesecloth...and viola.

For the blued version, I added a few blue cheese crumbled and stirred a bit more than usual to get the mold spores mixed all around. Tomorrow, I'll poke holes in it, and give it another 24 hours before I strain it. I'll see how it looks/tastes/feels....if its super soft, I'll have to put it in the fridge, if it tastes super acidic, it'll go in the fridge. If not, I'll leave it on the counter indefinitely to get the mold going. Occasionally poking holes in it to get good marbling.