My First Cheese

So I made my first ever attempt at homemade cheese today. Paneer, actually, though it sounds like you can make mozzarella in a very similar manner. It sounded so easy, I've been curioius to try it for awhile, and as we had a bunch of whole milk (bought for Grace, who doesn't like it) that was about to go bad, I figured I'd go for it.

Just in case you're curious, you basically bring the whole milk until a very foamy boil (you better catch it fast though or it'll be over the pan in a matter of seconds!), remove from heat, and add a couple tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice. Stir a couple minutes until it starts to curdle, then let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Then you basically strain the liquid out from the curds. The directions I was following said to use cheesecloth to strain it, but I didn't have any and used paper towels instead. Then press it between two plates stacked with cans for, um, I forget how long, but I left it several hours, before cutting into squares.

And apparently you can make ricotta from the leftover whey, but I'll save that for another day.