Kickin' Jack

Made a batch of Jack cheese today... and decided to spice it up a bit for the winter months. Thanks to the festive speckles of green Habanero and red chili flakes, it's a perfect cheese for Christmas!

I'm not quite sure it's going to be spicy enough... but if that's the case, we'll just call it "Kickin' Lack" instead.

Thanks to Sean for the homegrown Habaneros and to Dana for the name!

2 gal. Trader Joe's Organic Whole Milk
1/4 tsp. Direct-Set Mesophilic Starter
1/4 tsp. Calcium Chloride
1/2 tsp. Vegetarian Double-Strength Liquid Rennet
2 Habanero peppers, diced fine
1/4 tsp. Dried Red Chili Flakes
1 tbs. Salt

Notes: Boiled one pepper and chili flakes for 15 minutes in 1/2 cup water, strained the mixture, added the remaining water before renneting, added peppers during milling. Diced the second pepper and added it directly during milling.

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6-foot, 16-Gauge Extension Cord: $0.99

Not having stand there for hours, stirring the curds by hand: Priceless

Black Sand Cheddar

The "Black Sand Cheddar" will whisk you away to the stunning beaches of Hawaii. Aloha! Or something like that. In any case, it sounds a lot better than "Cracked-Pepper Cheddar," right?

Serve chilled, with a lime...

2 gal. Trader Joe's Organic Whole Milk
1/4 tsp. Direct-Set Mesophilic Starter
3/4 tsp. Liquid Vegetarian Rennet
2 tbs. Cheese Salt
1 tbs. (approx) cracked assorted peppercorns (boiled in water for about 10 minutes, added at the same time as the salt)