New Years Eve Cheese hors d'oeuvres

I {heart}cheese! I really do. So a little over a year ago I decided to learn how to make it. I thought it would be kind of fun to say "Would you care for some cheese? Oh yeah, I MADE it, by the way. I started out with soft cheese and then eventually  tried hard cheeses. Soft cheese, or farmers cheese as it really is called, is so UNBELIEVABLY easy to make. So easy my kids make it. Seriously. It is fast too. You can see my original post HERE. I decided to do something a little different with it for New Years Eve. I made cheese ball
hors d'oeuvres. ( spelling of the word courtesy of the Food Network. There are so many spelling variations out there and I SUCK at spelling. So I am going with their version!)I love anything Italian so I added basil, oregano, and red pepper to the the cheese. They are yummy by themselves or on a cracker. You could even spread it on bread. 

What you will need: Milk, Vinegar, salt, and anything you want to add to it.

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of milk. It makes this much ( as shown in the picture) which is not a ton. Perfect for a family snack but not for a platter of hors d'oeuvres.
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So I tripled the recipe and used 6 cups of milk. Boil the milk in a sauce pan. Stir constantly so it doesn't scald. Once it is boiling turn off the burner but leave the pan on it.

The add the vinegar. Add 4 teaspoons for every 2 cups of milk that you used. So that would be 3 tablespoons (12 teaspoons) for me. It will instantly start to curdle. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to do its thing.

 You can either use cheesecloth or a non-terry kitchen cloth. If you use the cheese cloth you will need to use several layers since it has such a loose weave. You don't want the cheese curds falling through the small holes.

I put the cloth over a bowl.  When it has sat for the 5 -10 minutes, pour it over the bowl to strain it and separate the curds from the whey.

 Pick up the corners of the cloth and let the whey drain out. Squeeze a little. Don't squeeze too much or the curds will be too dry. *TIP* If you happen to squeeze out too much (which I have totally done) then add a little of the whey back in before shaping.

 Here is where you add the salt. The recipes I found always said a "pinch" or "to taste". I like salty cheese so I added a couple pinches. I don't want it to be blah. Then you can added anything else you want. Black pepper and olive oil, herbs, Mexican spices, peppers, WHATEVER :)

 I keep the cloth handy that I used earlier. To form the balls I put about a tablespoon worth of curd in the cloth (on the wet part of the cloth) and form a ball by twisting and adding pressure. *TIP* The warmer the curd, the better it will hold its shape.
I got distracted with kids and did mine when it was cold. It still work but it wasn't as tight or smooth of a ball.

 This amount of cheese made about 20 balls. When I made hors d'oeuvres for a get together I have at least 3 options on the platter so 20 is a good amount for a small gathering. They are amazing on these crackers!!! My kids kept swiping them and eating them plain though.
You could also make one big ball and have a knife by it so people could spread it on the crackers. It isn't as creamy as say, cream cheese, but as long as you didn't squeeze out too much whey, it spread pretty well.

 This is all that were left when I went to take the picture. Also, the orange background didn't look as nice as I thought. But you get the idea. Just imagine they are on a beautiful silver tray. . .

Even if you don't make these for New Years, I highly recommend making this cheese with your kids. My boys get such a kick out of it. It is tasty and educational :)