Ingredient: Cottage cheese
Category: Dairy- Cheese
Season: All
Cottage cheese (pot cheese or farmer's cheese) is a cheese curd product with a mild flavour.
It is drained, but not pressed so some whey remains.
The curd is usually washed to remove acidity giving sweet curd cheese.
It is not aged or coloured.
Different styles of cottage cheese are made from milks with different fat levels and in small curd or large curd preparations.
Cottage cheese which is pressed becomes hoop cheese, farmer cheese, pot cheese or queso blanco.
It is also eaten in salads, with fruit, with fruit puree - such as peach, raspberry, blueberry, pineapple, or strawberry - or as an ingredient in recipes like jello salad and various desserts.
It can be used to replace grated cheese or ricotta cheese in most recipes (such as Lasagna).
It is popular among dieters and some health food devotees.
Cottage cheese is a favourite food among bodybuilders for its high content of casein protein while being relatively low in fat.
The term "cottage cheese" originated because the simple cheese was usually made in cottages from any milk leftover after making butter. The term was first used in 1848
Curd Size
The curd size is the size of the "chunks" in the cottage cheese.
Sometimes large curd cottage cheese is called "chunk style."
The two major types of cottage cheese are small curd, high-acid cheese made without rennet, and popular large curd, low-acid cheese made with rennet.
Rennet is a substance that speeds curdling and keeps the curd that forms from breaking up easily.
Adding rennet shortens the cheese making process, resulting in a lower acid and larger curd cheese, and reduces the amount of curd poured off with leftover liquid (the whey).
Nutrition
Cottage cheese is low in fat and carbohydrates while high in protein. It is quite beneficial for body builders as well as growing children.
A 4 oz (113 g) serving has approximately 120 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated), 3 g carbohydrates, and 14 g protein. It also contains approximately 500 mg sodium, and 20 mg cholesterol.
Manufacturers also produce low-fat and non fat varieties. A fat-free kind of a similar serving size has 80 calories, 0g fat (0g saturated), 6g carbohydrates, and 14g protein.
To compensate the flavour., low-fat and non-fat ones tend to have more sugar in them.
Very low sodium varieties are also produced, which can be salted to taste.
This is a very popular cheese because of its low fat content and is a firm friend of the waist watcher.
It is made from skimmed milk that is first heat-treated, then a starter culture is added that forms the curds and whey.
These are then washed several times in chilled water to remove the whey, and the curds are then drained and, finally, given a very light dressing of cultured cream.
The result is a mild, faintly acidic cheese with just a hint of creaminess but not a great deal of character and flavour
Cottage cheese should always be eaten as fresh as possible and is best served sprinkled with snipped fresh chives and seasoned with coarse salt and black pepper.
A Cottage Double is a product that contains cottage cheese and a type of fruit. Consumers are meant to mix the fruit with the cottage cheese or alternatively collect a little cottage cheese and a little fruit simultaneously, and then eat them together.
Cottage Doubles are available in the following flavours:
Apples and cinnamon, Strawberry, Raspberry,Peach, Mango, Blueberry and Pineapple
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