source for baker's cheese in Chicago? + pagach recipe

I want to make my grandmother's pagach recipe this weekend, but I'm having trouble finding baker's cheese. Does anyone know where to buy it in Chicago? (Dry cottage cheese is not a good substitute.)

Could you provide more of a description of the cheese you seek? I assume you are making the potato filling? My first suspicion is that farmer's cheese would be a good substitute, but most of the recipes I found by asking The Google called for cheddar cheese.

If you live on the northwest side, the A&G has a good selection of farmer's cheese and similar white, crumbly, tangy cheeses in the refrigerated dairy case.
http://agfreshmarket.com/
5630 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL.

Cheers, Jen

Pie-love wrote:Could you provide more of a description of the cheese you seek? I assume you are making the potato filling? My first suspicion is that farmer's cheese would be a good substitute, but most of the recipes I found by asking The Google called for cheddar cheese.

If you live on the northwest side, the A&G has a good selection of farmer's cheese and similar white, crumbly, tangy cheeses in the refrigerated dairy case.
http://agfreshmarket.com/
5630 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL.

Cheers, Jen

Thanks so much for your post! I may head up to A&G - thank you.

Actually, I'm making a cheese filling - similar to the "dry cottage cheese filling" mentioned here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 57,3754211 But I've tried using dry cottage cheese and it's just not the same. My grandmother mentioned she had to order the baker's cheese last time she made it - the texture is similar to a dry ricotta cheese (in fact, she just recommended I look for dry ricotta if I can't find the baker's cheese). I know sometimes it is called "farmer's cheese" as well - but that name is such a catch-all in my experience.

It's the same kind of cheese used in Polish cheesecake (sernik) - http://www.wczorajsze.org/?p=4771

(It's frustrating how there are so many kinds of "white cheese" in Eastern Europe - all called the same thing in English, all different!)

A quick google search showed some locations in Wisconsin that sell baker's cheese. I wonder if a Whole Foods or Pastoral might carry it? Could be worth a call.

The GP wrote:A quick google search showed some locations in Wisconsin that sell baker's cheese. I wonder if a Whole Foods or Pastoral might carry it? Could be worth a call.

Oh, good thought! I have to visit a shop near Pastoral tomorrow anyway - that's a good back-up plan. I'll report back if I find it!

I'd call this dairy company in Elk Grove and see where their stuff is sold. They make farmer cheese and baker's cheese. I've seen it in Polish stores.

http://ludwigdairy.com/products/white-cheese

JeffB wrote:I'd call this dairy company in Elk Grove and see where their stuff is sold. They make farmer cheese and baker's cheese. I've seen it in Polish stores.

http://ludwigdairy.com/products/white-cheese

I have visited their operation in Dixon, IL run by a Polish family. For years I called and nobody answered. I phoned as I approached, too, and nobody answered. When I arrived and meandered in, I found them in their offices. When a call came, they looked at the ID and decided not to answer.

I hope they will answer for you.

I have seen their products at Jerry's in Niles and Bobak's on Archer. Bobak's had a wider range of products including a sheep cream cheese named bryndza.

Regards,

might this suit your needs?

http://www.friendshipdairies.com/produc ... heese.html

it's available at http://www.thefreshmarket.com/

I often recommend it for customers looking for(and uninterested in making) paneer

aletheis wrote:I want to make my grandmother's pagach recipe this weekend, but I'm having trouble finding baker's cheese. Does anyone know where to buy it in Chicago? (Dry cottage cheese is not a good substitute.)

Are you looking for twaróg, by any chance? You can find that in most Polish groceries, in my experience. That's what's usually used in sernik (at least by my mother.)

Sorry for this belated reply! I left the country right after baking tons of pagach for a university student event. They ate it all. I had selfishly hoped for some leftovers (but I'm glad everyone liked it so much).

Thank you, Pie-love, for recommending A&G. They had many Polish cheeses to choose from, and also a nice dry ricotta. I bought a large container of dry ricotta, and chose one of the Polish cheeses to try next time.

Binko, it's quite possible I should have searched for twaróg - I was going by what my grandmother said. She has called it baker's cheese or (rarely) farmer's cheese in the past. Possibly the original recipe from my great-grandmother used twaróg! When I looked at A&G, there was a dizzying array of types, and I admit that I'm not sure which one would be appropriate. I picked out one that seemed a bit drier, but in reality I wanted to take them all home with me!

This time, I used the dry ricotta, but I still pressed out any excess water using cheesecloth. The taste was great, and I think the dry ricotta is viable cheese to use in this recipe. However, I want to try the other cheese I picked up next time. I'll have to post a picture of the finished dish, too. I think I'm the only one who has ever mentioned this dish on lthforum.

Thank you all for your help! I love this forum.

I'm glad the A&G worked out well for you-- and I would love to see a photo of this dish-- is it a yeast dough? Perhaps a recipe?

Cheers, Jen

Pie-love wrote:I'm glad the A&G worked out well for you-- and I would love to see a photo of this dish-- is it a yeast dough? Perhaps a recipe?

Cheers, Jen

Yes! A yeast dough that's rolled out relatively thin, with a mixture of cheese/egg/butter in the filling. You can also do a cabbage filling. I've also heard of potato, but never had it.

This is a good picture of what it looks like, but I want to take my own! It doesn't seem like many people make the cheese filling that my great-grandparents liked to make. (They also made the cabbage version, which was delicious.) It can be frozen easily and reheated. We always had it with a Lithuanian mushroom soup. My great-grandfather picked the mushrooms himself; he took his secret mushroom spot to his grave, sadly!

I'll come back & post the recipe I have later.

Here's the recipe!

pagach (filled Slovak flatbread)

ingredients:
1 cup hot milk
1 package yeast
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water
about 6-7 cups flour (use more or less as needed: only use enough to make a kneadable dough that doesn't stick)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons salt

directions:
Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Pour hot milk over butter and sugar. Cool to lukewarm. Add dissolved yeast. Sift flour and salt in deep bowl. Add eggs and the yeast mixture with remaining water and milk; mix in flour just until a kneadable dough is formed (it should not be overly sticky). Knead well for about 5 minutes or so. Lightly butter a bowl; place dough inside. Cover bowl with cloth and set aside in warm place to rise until doubled in bulk (about 2 hours).

Divide dough into three portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each portion into a circle about 15” or a little larger. Put desired filling on half of circle, leaving about 3/4 inch margin. Fold other half over, seal edges, and put on large cookie sheet. Let rest 10 minutes, then bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes. (If desired,brush very lightly with melted butter before or in the middle of baking - remember that will exude oil in cooking.) Bread should be lightly browned but not overly crispy or dark. Cool on trays until bread can be removed with spatula to wire rack.

Makes 3 large flatbreads. May be frozen and reheated.

cheese filling:
1 carton dry baker’s cheese (2 cups) [may use dry ricotta, twaróg, or similar type of cheese - press out all excess water with cheesecloth before using]
4 eggs
4 teaspoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients and mix thoroughly.

potato filling:
2-3 large potatoes, crushed and mashed
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dry baker’s cheese [see note for cheese filling]

Melt 1/4 cup of butter and mix ingredients thoroughly.

cabbage filling:
small head of cabbage
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Shred small head of cabbage and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Let stand for 10 minutes. Squeeze water out of cabbage and fry in butter until beginning to brown. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and stir occasionally to keep from burning. Fry until golden brown.

Thank you, that sounds really good!
Cheers, Jen