Fresh basil, tomatoes coming, where's the mozzarella?

Is there anybody in Chicago who makes fresh mozzarella in-house? I'm really trying for over-the-top fresh caprese during tomato season this year and need some help from LTHers.

You might want to check your farmer's markets. In Madison, even at the small farmer's markets there is usually a cheese maker, and often they have fresh mozzarella.

Tony' Italian Deli
6708 N Northwest Hwy

Fresh mozz made from clouds.

Thanks. I'm going to hit up Tony's deli next week for sure. I just got my first heirloom tomatoes of the season today at the Daley Center market this afternoon. They were started in a hot house, so that's how they're available so early.

On a related note, I have found this spring that fresh, local strawberries work amazingly well in place of the tomatoes in a caprese. Thinly sliced strawberries, fresh mozzeralla, julienned strips of basil, and a drop of aged balsamic. Perfection, really.

Real strawberries (unlike Driscoll and other supermarket brands) have very high acidity, which is what makes this work.

Kennyz wrote:On a related note, I have found this spring that fresh, local strawberries work amazingly well in place of the tomatoes in a caprese. Thinly sliced strawberries, fresh mozzeralla, julienned strips of basil, and a drop of aged balsamic. Perfection, really.

Real strawberries (unlike Driscoll and other supermarket brands) have very high acidity, which is what makes this work.

That sounds like a delicious combination of ingredients - look forward to trying this soon.

Jyoti

Caputo's in Melrose Park makes its own mozzarella, as does Riveria Italian Foods on Harlem.

Riviera
Riviera Italian and American Foods
3220 North Harlem

Caputo's
1931 North 15th Avenue,
Melrose Park

Personally, I'm really intrigued by the mozzarella-making kit sold here:

http://www.leeners.com/cheese.html

If you try it, please let us know.

fleurdesel wrote:Personally, I'm really intrigued by the mozzarella-making kit sold here:

http://www.leeners.com/cheese.html

If you try it, please let us know.

Fleur, I've been looking at this method, which uses $1.50 rennet tablets. I have always wanted to try this...the entire site is fascinating - there's even a recipe for homemade rennet, if you happen to have easy access to a baby goat nobody wants...

Have you tried making mozzarella, Mhays? Where did you find the rennet tablets? Thanks for the link!

I've been eyeballing it, but not enough to actually do it! However, if you poke around on that site, you'll find a page about sourcing rennet tablets.

Maybe this will be a doldrums of August project...

Cheesemaking.com is also a good source for rennet and cheese making supplies and kits. I went through a phase a couple of years ago making cheese. Making mozzarella was a hit-and-miss proposition with me, as it required some careful monitoring of temperatures and pH to make sure it "spins" correctly and congeals into a cohesive mass. That said, one of my favorite cheeses I made was a mozzarella that failed. I hung it up in the backyard in a very fine cheesecloth, and it made one hell of a fresh curd cheese, very similar to a Hungarian túro or Polish bialy ser.

Basic cheesemaking is not that difficult and worth a shot, especially if you can source good milk. I just used the stuff from the supermarket and, although it worked well enough, I'm sure fresh milk from a local dairy would be infinitely better.

Binko, do you have experience with making smaller batches of cheese? Although the idea of not only pulling but producing my own mozzarella really appeals to me, I'd hate to have it go bad on me...I could probably use up only a ball or two in the alotted few days.

I may do as the site suggests and start with an easier cheese. Always wanted to try it!

Define "smaller batches." I only made cheese 1 gallon at time. If I remember correctly, a gallon of milk makes around 3/4 -1 pound of cheese, depending on what kind you are making (the moister ones would have a heavier yield). I would generally go through the cheese within a week.

So, stupid question - how many balls of mozzarella would that make (being as it's a wetter cheese) I'm guessing there are usually 4 of the fist-size to a pound? If so, I might see if a half-gallon is feasible.

Of course, with the other cheeses, the point is that it stores well, so I'm not as concerned.

My recollection is that I only got about 2 fist-sized or possibly a bit smaller balls of mozzarella from a gallon of milk.

Perfect! Well, obvioiusly this is a project I'm going to have to test soon!

I should add that there are two main types of mozzarella recipes out there: those using citric acid and those using thermophilic starter culture. The citric acid recipes are the quick mozzarella recipes and they don't have as much flavor as the ones using a starter culture (either in the form of powder or active-culture buttermilk or yogurt.) The ones with the thermophilic starters take longer and are a little trickier (since getting the pH right is key to stretching the curds. With citric acid, it's predictable. With the starter culture, it depends on how fast your culture reproduces and acts.) The citric acid recipes (especially the ones using the microwave, which can be found using the search terms "30-minute mozzarella") are fairly foolproof. But as soon as you get that down, you'll probably want to move up to cultured mozzarella.

The first tomatoes from the Oak Park Farmers' Market (and I bought the last basket at 7:30), bread and cheese from Caputo's Cheese, basil from my mother-in-law's balcony. Not a bad breakfast in the office! (My co-workers were pretty happy, too).

oh you have my mouth watering! my tomatoes are just small little green rocks on the vine right now. I'll have to wait a while longer. But I'll definitely have this post in mind once they become vine ripe

Dan

I've definitely seen greenhouse tomatoes at the farmer's markets I get to (green city and sunday wicker park)

jygach wrote:

Kennyz wrote:On a related note, I have found this spring that fresh, local strawberries work amazingly well in place of the tomatoes in a caprese. Thinly sliced strawberries, fresh mozzeralla, julienned strips of basil, and a drop of aged balsamic. Perfection, really.

Real strawberries (unlike Driscoll and other supermarket brands) have very high acidity, which is what makes this work.

That sounds like a delicious combination of ingredients - look forward to trying this soon.

Jyoti

aged balsamic about to be drizzled on...



I've looked forward to eating this for many months now, and it was every bit as good as I had anticipated. Once you get hooked on local strawberries, you just can't eat any other kind.

Kennyz wrote:Once you get hooked on local strawberries, you just can't eat any other kind.

Ain't that the truth? Up until a few years ago, I kind of thought I didn't like strawberries; then I tried some from the OP Farmers Market that completely changed my outlook on them.

My grandfather was the gardener in the family. I still remember a clipping my grandmother kept from the Star newspaper. It has pictures of my grandfather in his garden and talked about how he followed this approach called "organic" gardening, lol.

One of the things he did was to teach me about wild strawberries. They grew all over in the back two acres of his property. I'd spend hours in the tall grass, scooching around from area to area, parting grass and searching for signs of the telltale flowers and leaves. I'd come back with about ten berries in the container and extremely red hands and mouth.

Oh, to eat a berry like that from Driscoll! Juicy, bursting with berry flavor, with this gorgeous red color. Unfortunately, they bruised just picking them. The big farmers grow berries that aren't mushy and travel well, holding up for days or weeks in a plastic package. But, the local growers can take a route somewhere between the two, growing varieties that have more flavor.

I've gotten to the point that I do not eat tomatoes that are out of season. I eat ones I or my family grow or that are grown locally. Maybe it's time to do the same with strawberries, too.

Is there something wrong with those strawberries in Kenny's photos? Aren't the insides supposed to be white?

Matt wrote:Is there something wrong with those strawberries in Kenny's photos? Aren't the insides supposed to be white?

My experience is white interiors = relatively tasteless; red interiors = good strawberry flavor.

nr706 wrote:

Matt wrote:Is there something wrong with those strawberries in Kenny's photos? Aren't the insides supposed to be white?

My experience is white interiors = relatively tasteless; red interiors = good strawberry flavor.

Sorry, should have used the sarcasm/winky emoticon.

To actually contribute to this discussion a bit more -- I was converted last year to only eating local strawberries, as the taste is just incomparable. At the end of the season, we bought a flat of strawberries from one of the GCM vendors and froze the majority of them. They lasted us until about January, mostly used in smoothies and cooked desserts. With the exception of some strawberries we got in Louisiana at a farmers market back in early April, I have not had any fresh strawberries since last summer until this weekend, when we got a pint in our CSA basket.

I am looking for a place to find good, fresh mozzarella in the city on a weeknight after work hours. Normally I get mine at Graziano or Bari on the weekend, but where could I find it after 6 pm on a weeknight? I am thinking Whole Foods is a safe bet, but want to know if there are other options.

Caveat--it would need to be on the north side, and I won't have time to go out to Harlem Ave.

Thanks for your help.

Try Pastoral, you can call and check the availability.

Lakeview - 2945 North Broadway, Chicago, IL 60657 ~ (800) 721-4781 ~ (773) 472-4781
Loop - 53 East Lake Street, Chicago, IL 60601 ~ (312) 658-1250
Chicago French Market - 131 North Clinton, Chicago, IL 60661 ~ (312)454-2200
Phone Support Hours: Monday-Friday, 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. CST
Saturday, 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. CST
Email Us With Questions and Comments pastoral@pastoralartisan.com

Whole Foods is a sure bet. The Lincoln Park and Peterson stores have especially good cheese selections.

Pastoral may also have it. You'd have to double check their hours (and of course whether they have it). Trader Joe's usually has a fairly cheap version.

Darren72 wrote:Whole Foods is a sure bet. The Lincoln Park and Peterson stores have especially good cheese selections.

Pastoral may also have it. You'd have to double check their hours (and of course whether they have it). Trader Joe's usually has a fairly cheap version.

Yes, I've been very happy with the quality of the cheese section at the Sauganash (Peterson & Cicero) Whole Foods.

If you're looking for something less expensive, In addition to TJ's you could check out any of the Tony's Finer Foods on the NW side. These markets primarily serve Latino & Polish populations today, but they have an Italian-American history and still serve a fair amount of inexpensive Italian-American products in their deli case (fresh mozz., arancini, breaded eggplant, etc.) Furthest east northside location is on Elston, a few blocks north of Irving Park at Hamlin.

Best,
Michael