Spring On The Farm

Air Date:
Heard On The Larry Meiller Show

Every season on the farm brings its own challenges and rewards. Larry Meiller talks with Wisconsin Public Television’s Inga Witscher about spring on the farm.

Featured in this Show

  • Got Milk? How To Make Your Own Ricotta

    There are many iconic images of this wonderful state, but it’s hard to imagine one more lovely than a Wisconsin dairy farm.

    Inga Witscher hosts “Around the Farm Table” on Wisconsin Public Television. Witscher and her husband Joe Maurer own and operate a small organic dairy farm near Osseo, Wis. It’s 30-acres, which she said is small for a dairy farm, but it’s “just enough to keep us busy without overwhelming us too much,” she said.

    Witscher and Maurer decided that for them, it was best to calve all of their cows in the spring.

    “It’s just a wonderful time because the snow is melting, hopefully it’s not going to return, and the cows are anxious to get out on pasture, and they’re all having their calves. And we can get back into the swing of things, get back to farming, which … is a welcome event,” she said.

    Fifteen cows make up their herd, and that means that while they are producing a good amount of milk, it’s not enough to ship, Witscher explained. “So, we are now in a situation where we have more milk that we know what to do with!”

    One of the ways that Witscher uses that extra milk is to make fresh ricotta cheese.

    It’s not as hard as it might sound. Witscher said that “it sounds complicated, but it is so easy!”

    Because it is a whole milk ricotta, instead of being made just with whey, which is common, it has a light consistency. She treated Wisconsin Public Radio host Larry Meiller to some on bread baked by her father and local honey produced by a friend.

    “I encourage everybody to try it,” she said.” It literally takes about 15 minutes, and most of that time is standing there watching the milk. So, it’s not labor intensive.”

    Plus, she said, it never fails to impressive if you have friends coming over to share a meal.

    A caller who identified herself as Cindy in De Pere asked whether the milk should be pasteurized or not.

    Witscher said that her source is getting the milk out of the milking vat, so hers is raw. But she added that the recipes she has seen on-line call for pasteurized milk, so she is confident that would work just as well.

    Inga Witscher’s Recipe for Fresh Ricotta Cheese

    Ingredients

    • 1 gallon of milk
    • 2/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice or distilled vinegar (vinegar seemed to give the best yield)
    • Salt to taste
    • Cheesecloth
    • Colander
    • Thermometer

    Instructions

    1. Slowly heat milk to 180-185 degrees in a heavy bottom pot, stirring constantly as you increase the heat.
    2. When the milk has reached 180-185 degrees, remove the pot from the heat and gently stir in the lemon juice or vinegar. The milk will begin to coagulate immediately.
    3. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, then pour slowly into a colander lined with cheesecloth.
    4. Let ricotta drain for as little as 15 minutes or as long as an hour—depending on the consistency you desire. The longer the ricotta drains, the drier it will be.
    5. Season the ricotta to taste with sea salt.

    Notes

    1. Ricotta lends itself nicely to flavors like almonds, berries, honey, cinnamon, lemon, herbs, nutmeg, orange, garlic, and chives.
    2. Mix a bit of honey and lemon zest with fresh ricotta and serve on a toasted bread.
    3. You can also season the ricotta with a few teaspoons of herbs and fresh cracked pepper and drizzle with olive oil.

    A listener who identified herself as Lynette from Richfield shared her recipe for a savory cheesecake.

    Whip ricotta, cream cheese and goat cheese in a food processor. Then add one egg, a tablespoon of sugar and a pinch of salt and whip until smooth.

    Pulse in a couple strips of roasted red pepper strips and pour the mixture into a 4-inch spring form pan. Cook it in a hot water bath at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. It should still be a bit wiggly in the middle when you remove it from the oven.

    Let cool and top with slightly diluted apricot jam. Serve with crackers or pita chips.

Episode Credits

  • Larry Meiller Host
  • Judith Siers-Poisson Producer
  • Inga Witscher Guest