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Country Living

Halloumi and Anari

12/17/2017

 
By John Maniatty

A Greek cheese made in Cyprus, Halloumi is a hard cheese that can be used fresh, or stored in a brine. It has a very high melting point, making it a good choice for the delicious Greek appetizer, Saganaki (fried cheese). 

Anari is a cheese made from the whey produced while making Halloumi. It's excellent eaten fresh, or it can be hung to dry. It will harden into a cheese that is good for grating on pasta or salads.
Here's what we'll be using today.
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2 gallons fresh Goat’s milk • Cheese Press • Rennet • Stock Pot
Knutz • Curd Knife • Cheese Cloth • Colander
½ tsp. Rennet, diluted in ½ cup water • Kosher Salt • Butter Muslim
Slotted Spoon • Thermometer • Bamboo Drying Rack

Let's have some fun.
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First, I heat my milk up to 86° and add the rennet and let it sit. After 45 minutes, you should see a clean break. To check, I stick my knife in at an angle, and pull it straight up. The milk has now split into a solid and a liquid (curds and whey).
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Cutting the Curds!
Now it’s time to cut the curds. Cut parallel lines about ½” apart, then turn the pan 90°s. Cut parallel lines ½” apart again, and turn the pan 90°s. Now, with my knife at a 45° angle, I retrace my first lines. Then, I turn the pan 90°s, and again retrace my previous cuts at a 45° angle. I do this two more times, and by the end, it’s hard to tell where my original cuts were! That’s OK.
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After letting the curds rest for 10 minutes or so, I scoop them up and put them into a colander lined with cheesecloth to drain. I reserve the whey to use when I make Anari later today.
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Line the mold of the cheese press with cheese cloth and gently place the curds into it.
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Press the curds at 30 pounds of pressure for 1 hour.
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Remove the cheese from the mold and gently peel off the cheesecloth. Then turn it over, re-wrap it, and press at 50 pounds of pressure for 30 minutes.
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Remove the cheese, and cut into three inch blocks.
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It’s time to boil the cheese. Bring the reserved whey to between 180° - 200°, and add the cheese blocks. Allow them to simmer gently for a half hour or so. The blocks now look and feel like cooked chicken breasts.
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Let them cool for about 20 minutes, and sprinkle with salt. Continue to let them cool on a cheese mat for another 2-4 hours.
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The cheese can either be eaten fresh or stored in a brine for sixty days. To make the brine, I combine 2 pounds of coarse salt and 1 gallon of cold water.
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Anari
Anari is made using the whey produced when I made the Halloumi earier today. I made the Anari while my Halloumi was in the cheese press for an hour.
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Bring the whey to a boil. The curds that are left are much smaller than the ones that have been removed previously, and they float right up to the top.
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Pour the whey through a butter muslin lined colander into another pan to strain out these curds.
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They can be eaten fresh and warm, or sprinkled with honey or sugar and a little cinnamon.
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They can also be hung to dry to form a hard cheese that can be shredded over pasta. My Anari doesn’t stand a chance of becoming a hard cheese. It’s just so wonderful fresh!
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