The cheese I make closely resembles a well-known industrial cheese called “Yantar.” For this cheese, it’s better to use crumbly cottage cheese rather than the layered kind. I place it in an aluminum pot with butter or margarine, and as soon as the cottage cheese starts to melt, I reduce the heat to medium and stir more frequently. The finished cheese should turn into a yellowish, smooth mass without any curds.
If desired, you can add salt or sugar to the cottage cheese, but this should be done at the very last moment of heating. I then scoop the finished cheese into dry, sterilized jars and seal them with boiled lids.
To make 1 kg of cheese, you’ll need 8.5 cups of low-fat cottage cheese, 2.5 tablespoons of butter, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, and 3 teaspoons of fine salt. First, pass the cottage cheese through a meat grinder and place it in a metal pot. Evenly sprinkle 1 teaspoon of baking soda over the surface of the cottage cheese and slowly heat it while constantly stirring with a wooden spatula. If you notice whey forming on the sides of the pot, remove it from the heat for 10-15 minutes, covering it with a lid, then drain the whey and continue heating. If you can’t completely remove the whey, add another teaspoon of baking soda to the cheese mixture and heat it again.
Once the cheese mixture melts beautifully and thickens slightly, add the melted butter. About 15-20 minutes before finishing, add the salt.
When the cheese mixture is smooth and stretchy, you can take it off the heat. Immediately transfer it to a clean, greased container and place it in a cool spot. Before removing the cooled cheese from the container, briefly set it in hot water.
Making cheese using my recipe doesn’t require any special skills; it will turn out well on the first try and become one of your favorite homemade dishes. If you have even a small home farm, you likely have all the basic ingredients needed to make this cheese. You’ll need 3 liters of milk, 1 liter of sour cream (a thicker, tangier version of sour cream common in Eastern European cuisine), 5 eggs, and 1 tablespoon each of salt and sugar. Additionally, prepare cutting boards and a weight stone.
Bring the milk to a boil while you whip the sour cream with the eggs until you have a smooth mixture. Once the milk is boiling, add the salt and sugar, and then slowly pour in the sour cream and egg mixture in a thin stream. Heat on low, stirring, until it curdles. When a thick curd forms in the pot, remove it from the heat and immediately strain it through a colander lined with two layers of cheesecloth.
After waiting for some of the whey to drain, tie the cheese mixture in the cheesecloth, spread the ends out, place it between two clean cutting boards, and weigh it down with a stone. Once all the whey has been removed, the cheese can be considered ready. It’s incredibly delicious. You can also use the whey to make pancakes. The cheese will keep for 48-72 hours.