Ricotta and Whey

Following instructions given in a recent issue of Cook's Illustrated, last weekend I made ricotta cheese. (I can't find the magazine right now so can't say specifically which issue, possibly Aug/Sept.)

Well, per the instructions, what I made is actually a "ricotta fascimile." I have no idea the difference between this and the real deal, but I was happy with what I got and it was easy peasy to do. I was not, however, so happy with what I ended up making with the ricotta (a lasagna-like casserole but with no noodles) but the ricotta was not to blame. One gallon of whole milk yielded 3 1/2 cups of ricotta, and what I was left with once the cheese curds were removed was a whole lot of whey. So, following recipes in this book, I made a few different kinds of lacto-fermented foods.

So far I've made raisin chutney, pineapple chutney, and ketchup. I took pictures of them but they're not too pretty (think: jar of vomit), so I think I'll refrain from showing them. I am pretty into this book, although I've tried very few of the recipes (one of the authors, Sally Fallon, is the one who wrote the broth article I linked to in this post). I can vouch for the crispy nuts, they are REALLY GOOD (especially the almonds, in my opinion), but I think that's the only thing I've made up until now, with these fermented foods, but the jury is still out on them. To use up more of the whey, I also plan on making lacto-fermented sauerkraut, kimchi, ginger carrots, pear chutney, apple chutney, and orange marmalade. I need to do this all very soon, like tomorrow, because I don't know how long the whey is good for and it's already been a week.