Do any of you cheese makers out there know of a recipe for monterey jack cheese or something similar? I've been making cheese for a couple of weeks from cows milk. I've made all sorts of soft cheeses and hopefully successful romano(it has to age for about two years) What I'm looking for is a cheese that you can shred(like for tacos) that doesn't have to age or has a relatively short aging period. I have attempted a recipe for longhorn and messed it up and it came out like a firm monterey jack but I can't seem to "mess" it up again to get the same results. Thanks in advance for any answers. cara lewis

-- cara lewis (cnllewis@email.com), October 20, 2000

Answers

Hi Cara, I've been dabbling in cheesemaking for about a year now. You should have heard the tone of people's voices when I inquired at various shops in my area about "cheese wax." They thought I was from Mars. Anyway, there is a great source of supplies and recipes at New England Cheesemaking supply company. 413.628.3808 or www.cheesemaking.com. They're really nice and get your order out to you really fast, even if you leave it by voice mail. They have a mozzarella recipe that only takes 30 minutes (uses microwave) and tastes great. You can grate that up pretty well, or roll it in little balls rolled in olive oil, parsley, garlic salt, etc. Yum. Good luck! Laura

-- Laura Jacques (tljacques@cyberport.com), April 30, 2001.