00:00And the dog eats the water, yeah.
00:05Hi, I'm Chef Angie, and today we're gonna be making
00:08a caprese-style salad with fresh-made mozzarella and peaches.
00:12I'm usually in the West Village at my restaurant, Don Angie.
00:15The kitchen there is a little different,
00:17so can somebody tell me whose kitchen this is?
00:20Hi, Chef, my name's Lisa, and this is Malka.
00:23Say hi, Malka.
00:24A few things you need to know before you get started.
00:26The stove works, like, 40% of the time.
00:30As far as tools go, I really only brought
00:32the food processor into this apartment, so good luck.
00:36All right, well, my challenge today is gonna be
00:39making fresh mozzarella without a thermometer,
00:43without proper measuring tools, without cheesecloth,
00:46and with a stovetop that may or may not work.
00:49Wish me luck.
00:50So first off, I'm gonna sterilize this pot.
00:54Okay.
01:00I couldn't really find a lid down here, so...
01:04Ooh, this should work.
01:06So citric acid and rennet basically are what caused the milk to coagulate,
01:10and the curds to separate from the whey.
01:13I did not find any measuring spoons, so I'm just gonna use, like,
01:17a regular teaspoon here.
01:18I need 3 quarters of a teaspoon of citric acid,
01:21and I add that to half a cup of cool water.
01:24I add an eighth teaspoon of liquid rennet to 2 tablespoons of cool water.
01:33This is really taking a minute here.
01:38Okay, so our pot is finally boiling.
01:41I'm gonna add the diluted citric acid mixture,
01:44and immediately add in the milk.
01:46So ideally, you wanna use raw milk from, like, a farmer's market for something like this.
01:51This milk says it's pasteurized and homogenized, but it doesn't say that it's ultra-pasteurized,
01:56so I think it should work.
01:58Usually in the restaurant, I would have this on a very low flame,
02:01but the flame here in general is just kind of a low flame.
02:06One of the most important things about cheese making is having patience,
02:10which is something that I always have to work on.
02:13This milk is visibly starting to curdle.
02:16It's probably around 90, 95 degrees.
02:19Cut the heat, and I'm gonna add in the rennet.
02:22Stir it really well in sort of an up-and-down motion.
02:27It looks like the rennet has really worked its magic here.
02:31It's kind of this, like, gross coagulated mass,
02:34which is exactly what I'm looking for.
02:36I'm gonna cut these curds up into smaller pieces,
02:39and then I'm gonna heat it up again.
02:42Today is my lucky day.
02:43Bring it up to about 110 degrees here.
02:47I think we're about there, so I'm gonna cut the heat.
02:50I haven't found any cheesecloth in this kitchen,
02:52but I found something that I think will work as long as it's clean.
02:58I'm just gonna separate the curds from the whey.
03:04Alright, this is gonna take a while, so...
03:10This is so gross.
03:12I feel like I'm, like, milking a cow or something.
03:15The curds are officially separated from the whey.
03:18We're just gonna kind of let this stuff chill out for a little bit
03:20while we move on to the peaches.
03:26Yes.
03:27So since I don't have a grill handy,
03:29I'm trying to emulate that, like, caramelized char flavor
03:32by making do with a saute pan.
03:34I, like, really want to flip these over,
03:36but I'm just gonna let them sit there and brown and get some color.
03:39Oh, we have some browning here. Perfect.
03:41You really probably shouldn't be using your hands so much.
03:44I just cook with my hands so much
03:46that I don't really feel, like, heat sensation that much anymore.
03:49Ideally, you want to do this with, like, a set of tongs.
03:52Okay, so now that I've seared the peaches,
03:54I'm going to macerate them.
03:56Amaretto's actually made from peach pits.
03:58I'm also gonna use a little lemon juice to brighten it up,
04:02some fresh basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
04:08I'm gonna pour off, like, a cup and a half of this whey.
04:12Reheat these curds and melt them and stretch them.
04:16I don't have a thermometer on hand,
04:17but I've done this enough to kind of have an idea
04:20of how hot I need this liquid to be.
04:23One of the most important things about cheese making
04:25is having patience.
04:28Okay, so I think our whey is around 180 degrees,
04:32and I'm gonna add in the curds.
04:34Kind of gently try to move them all to the same side of the pot.
04:39Our end goal is to make it into one solid ball of mozzarella.
04:44I don't agree when people say mozzarella making is easy
04:48because I feel like there's a lot of variables,
04:51and you have to be really careful throughout the entire process.
04:54These curds are separating quite a bit.
04:56They don't want to come together.
04:58I think it's because I eyeballed the rennet and the citric acid,
05:02and I might have put a little bit too much in there.
05:03So we're gonna try this one more time with hot water.
05:09Okay, I think we have success here.
05:12It's starting to do what it's supposed to do,
05:14which it's sticking to itself instead of separating.
05:17I'm gonna start folding the edges under,
05:20and now I'm gonna push it through my thumb and index finger.
05:23Cinch the end.
05:25I particularly really enjoy the act of stretching the mozzarella.
05:30It's like a really, like, tactile, fun experience for me.
05:35It tastes really good.
05:38Fresh mozzarella is so delicious because it's warm and it's creamy,
05:44and it's, I don't know, it's perfect.
05:46You just have to try it yourself.
05:47Then I'm gonna finish the dish with my crushed amaretti cookies.
05:51This particular type of cookie is one of my favorites that my grandfather makes,
05:56so it's kind of like a nostalgic thing for me.
06:08How's it going in here?
06:09So your stove cooperated with me today, and I was able to make some fresh mozzarella.
06:17That's crazy.
06:18You wanna try it?
06:18Yeah.
06:19Okay.
06:26Oh my god.
06:28I can't believe you made this in here.
06:30This is amazing.
06:30Yeah, maybe I'll give this a shot next week.
06:33Even if there's limitations in your kitchen,
06:35that doesn't mean you still can't be adventurous with what you try and cook.
06:40You can still do a lot with a little.
