Homemade Albanian Cottage Cheese (Gjizë)

Cottage cheese belongs to the group of Soft Cheeses. 

There are many ways to make Cottage Cheese just as there are many types of cottage cheese.

Here, where I live, (Crete), the common types you find in the Market are:

- Anthotyros
- Ricotta
- Cottage Cheese
- Mizithra etcc ..

with differences in moisture, in sourness, in the amount of salt they have, and in the shelf life of the product.

One might say:

Why should I make Cottage Cheese when there are plenty in the Market for all tastes and pockets ??

My answer is simple.

- Because it's worth it!

It is not easy to find good, fresh Cottage Cheese in the Market. 

We usually buy Mizithra (1 kg= 6 euro) which is sweet, has a lot of moisture, and a short shelf life. It should be consumed within 3 days because it sours. Plus, if you want to use it for pies or cakes, you should strain it. In other words, it is expensive and it needs work too!

Now,the Cottage Cheese that you make yourself, it has work, but it is delicious, economical, and the most important -There are no dubious substances in it!

My Recipe for Homemade Cottage Cheese

   Ingredients :

-- 1 kg of greek yoghurt (10% fat)

-- 1.5 kg of milk (3.7% fat)

-- 1/3 teaspoon Citric Acid

-- 1/2 teaspoon salt (if desired)

-- 1 glass of cold water

    About the Ingredients

    Yoghurt - should be natural, homemade or purchased, it doesn't matter. If it is strained (greek yoghurt), even better. The product must not have substances like sugar, starch or fruits. More precisely: NO Yoghurt Dessert!

 Milk - it must be full fat because we have to admit: Fat gives flavor!

 Citric Acid (ξινό) - is a natural preservative and is extracted from citrus fruits (lemons, oranges, etc ..)

If you do not have Citric Acid, you can replace it with half glass of lemon juice. I haven't tried it because I find Citric Acid very easily in the supermarket and it is cheap

(50 grams= 1euro).

    Salt - I do not add salt because I want the whey to come out sweet.

 Tools needed:

-- 1 pot to hold about 4 liters
-- 2 large bowls
-- 1 strainer
-- a cheesecloth
-- 1 ladle

   PREPARATION

1 - Pour the milk into the pot.
2 - Put the pot on the fire.
3 - As soon as the milk starts to boil, add the yoghurt and mix well.
4 - After 5 minutes add the Citric Acid (and the salt if desired) and mix.
5 - Again, after 5 minutes add 1 cup of cold water and mix.
6 - After 10 or 15 minutes, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest.
7 - After half an hour, after it has cooled a bit, we start to separate the Cottage Cheese from the Whey.

This process is very simple, just get organized. On the table:
--Left, put the pot.
--In the middle, put a big bowl,above the bowl put on the strainer, and on top of the strainer put the cheesecloth.
--Right, put a bowl where we will put the Cottage Cheese.

8-- With the ladle, we take juice from the pot and pour it on the strainer.
Cottage Cheese will stay on the cheesecloth and the
whey=liquid will drain into the bowl.
9-- When the cheesecloth is filled, we squeeze it hard because we want the Cottage Cheese to have as little moisture as possible.
10-- We put the strained cheese in the bowl on the right. It will look like a white ball. Repeat it as many time as needed.

Storage and Use

If you want to store the Cottage Cheese for a long time, you put it in food freezer bags and put them in the freezer.

If you are going to use it within the week, put the Cottage Cheese in a jar, press and level it well, pour salt over it and cover it with olive oil.

The whey, once cooled, is bottled and stored in the refrigerator. We usually make brine with the whey, but you can drink the fresh whey as a juice, because it is full of proteins.
That's it.

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