Cheese Dip

Monday, February 5, 2024
Hello friends,
              February has arrived and its still winter, but I have heard the birds singing as if it were spring.  The maple trees have those plump bud covers that will be covering the sidewalk soon.  We were just starting to dry out a bit and then it rained all weekend, and we are soggy again.  Our cow traffic rerouting has helped, but the warm sunshine that is supposed to arrive this week will probably do better than anything else. 
              The Superbowl is coming up next Sunday and maybe you have some company coming to watch the Chiefs beat the 49ers.  I had a customer ask me about which cheese would make the best cheese dip, i.e. a substitute for the Velveta style cheese that is named in these recipes.  Well, I have a couple of really high moisture cheeses like Gouda or Himmelsburg that melt easily.  How to keep the butterfat from separating out when heated, that is the trick.  Stephen researched it and discovered an ingredient that helps keep it all together, sodium citrate.  You can buy it as a supplement, or you can make it from lemon juice or citric acid and baking soda. Unless you want the lemon flavor with the seasonings you use, I’d recommend using citric acid. Make a mixture of 5 parts baking soda to 4 parts citric acid. When water is added, these will react to form sodium citrate. Here is the recipe that we tried:
              Add a tablespoon or so of water to 2 teaspoons of the baking soda/citric acid mixture. When it is done bubbling pour this into a saucepan over low heat and add a ¼ cup beer, about 1 wedge of grated high moisture cheese (like our Gouda or Himmelsburg), your own seasonings like chili powder, or Rotella. Stir until cheese melts and texture is smooth. The flavor of the cheese really shines through and is incomparable to using more highly processed cheeses….