Prepare Onion & Garlic
The key to this recipe is the onion and garlic flavor . The dried onion can be added with no worries because the dehydration eliminates bad bacteria . Rehydrate them with about 1/4 cup boiling water before you begin.
The garlic scapes need some attention though, since they are fresh from the garden and may harbor some unwanted bacteria. The easiest way to handle these is to get a pot of water boiling and drop the whole scapes into this and hold for 1 minute then remove to cold water and they are ready to chop.
Combine these and mix together. Most of the water is absorbed by the dried onion by now. Refrigerate until you are ready to mix these into the drained curds for pressing.
You may find that you can do this during the next step of heating milk and waiting for the culture to work. It is just a better use of your time.
Cook Curd & Drain Whey
Now it is time to begin drying out the curds. This will be done by increasing the heat slowly to 102F. The heat needs to be increased slowly by about 3-5F every 5 minutes at the beginning. The total cooking time will be 60 minutes and may be extended by another 15-20 mins if the curds are still soft.
The final curds should be cooked well through and should be examined to make sure that enough moisture has been removed. A broken curd should be firm throughout and the curds should have a moderate resistance when pressed between the fingers.
When this point is reached the curds can be allowed to settle under the whey. The remove the whey to just about 1″ above the settled curds.
Then the curds can then be transferred to a colander lined with butter muslin. They should be allowed to drain for 30 minutes and a gentle stirring of the curds will make sure that the whey drains off.
