Potato and Lemon Cheese Pierogi

On April 16, 2026April 16, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, frozenLeave a comment

I ate pierogi often as I traveled and lived in Eastern Europe and Russia, and I love having homemade batches in my Montana freezer that I can pull out and throw straight into a frying pan for a quick meal. The dumpling dough recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon uses just a few kitchen staples. The hot water and oil help to slow gluten development, and the ice water helps to keep the dough light and not too soft to roll out.

Although the dough is simple, pierogi assembly takes time, so I typically make a double batch and freeze most of the dumplings. I either set aside a few hours to prepare multiple fillings and the dough from start to finish or spread out the project over a couple of days. Pierogi dough keeps well for 2 to 3 days in the fridge; just let it come to room temperature before you roll it out. Most fillings can be refrigerated for up to 3 days before they should be used, and cold ones are often easier to work with than those that are still warm and saucy. Crimping or rolling the edges gives them a hand-shaped look, but a dumpling press speeds up this stage.
Learn to make Potato and Lemon Cheese Pierogi

Rustic Lemon Cheese Mashed Potatoes

On April 9, 2026April 9, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Column, dry storedLeave a comment

After I started this month by explaining how to make an easy cheese at home, I wanted to offer plenty of ideas for using it. The recipe I share this week in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon is both straightforward and versatile. It mixes fresh, homemade Lemon Cheese into basic mashed potatoes for a simple and flavorful side dish.

As I explain in my column, I intentionally leave these mashed potatoes relatively dry so that they work well as a filling for pierogi, a recipe I’ll share in next week’s column. Even though you could mix other cheeses, store-bought or homemade, into a side dish of mashers, my lemony version of farmer’s cheese doesn’t completely melt when heated and won’t become oily and ooze from a pierogi wrapper. This ability to retain its shape, hot or cold, makes this cheese my favorite addition on and in many other dishes.
Learn to make Rustic Lemon Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Lemon Cheese

On April 7, 2026April 9, 2026 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn cheese, ColumnLeave a comment

For the first time, I’m sharing my homemade cheese recipes in my Twice as Tasty column for the Flathead Beacon. I’ve been making these recipes at home and teaching them in cheese-making workshops for years, and they’re tasty enough that they should be on your table too.

Cheeses run the gamut from easy and quick to complex and well aged, but the one in this week’s column is about the easiest to create. I call it lemon cheese because I use lemon juice to set the cheese curd, but it’s also known as farmer’s cheese, queso blanco, and paneer. You only need three ingredients and 20 minutes of hands-on time to make this cheese, and just a few specific tools and ingredients: a large kettle, finely woven cheesecloth, an instant-read thermometer, and ideally nonhomogenized milk.

Learn to make Lemon Cheese

How To Make Cheese, Step by Step

On April 25, 2023November 19, 2023 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn cheese, FermentingLeave a comment

I’m excited to share my first pieces for The Old Farmer’s Almanac website—all about cheese! I created a basic cheese making guide to help beginners make their first cheese and experienced cheese makers learn some of the history and details about the process. It includes a recipe for a classic cheese from pioneer days: Farmer’s Cheese. You’ll also find that recipe in a separate post that includes step-by-step photos of the process.

I’m just as excited that by creating these pieces for Almanac.com, the editors have added more recipes to their website for making cheese and other dairy products. The website’s collection now includes recipes for homemade ricotta, yogurt, and butter. I have another piece in the works for their website, too.
Learn how to make cheese, step-by-step

Ricotta: Fresh and Aged

On April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, Topic8 Comments

Enjoy ricotta fresh, or salt and age it to take the flavor to a new level. Get ricotta recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Ricotta didn’t interest me as a homemade cheese until I spotted an aged, salted version in Karen Solomon’s Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It. She described its texture and saltiness as resembling Romano but less complex. That, I thought, is a cheese I could love. Homemade Romano is a cultured cheese that is repeatedly molded, pressed, brined, and salted before it is aged 8–12 months. So a substitute that takes less than an hour of hands-on time and is ready in a week or so seemed perfect.

This aged cheese starts with ricotta made entirely from fresh milk. If you already make Lemon Cheese, the ricotta recipe will look familiar: it’s essentially the same cheese, although I tend to drain it for less time so that it’s soft and moist. Like the lemon version, it can be eaten fresh. I often make a double batch of ricotta, setting aside half to enjoy straightaway and aging the other half into the Romano replacement.

The only ingredient difference between Whole-Milk Ricotta and Lemon Cheese is the acid used to separate the curds from the whey. The ricotta recipe uses citric acid, a powder with a sour, neutral flavor rather than a lemony one. It’s usually easier to find than the cheese cultures in last week’s post; if you can’t buy it from a local natural-foods store, you can order it online from the sources I provided for cheese cultures.
Learn to make Whole-Milk Ricotta and Ricotta Salata

Soft Cheeses

On April 8, 2021April 15, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, Topic1 Comment

Learn to make soft cheeses, and you have so many choices. Get soft cheese recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
I’ve always loved the tang of goat cheese, or chèvre. Unfortunately, goat milk is hard to find in my area. Local stores tend to carry one ultrapasteurized brand or a powdered version—neither of which works for cheese. Regulations for selling milk directly to individuals are so strict, convoluted, and enforced that it feels like a black market. I occasionally trade with friends who are milking goats (and have momma and babies willing to share), but mostly I gave up on making soft cheese.

That changed when I took a chance on fromage blanc. I’d written off this cow’s milk cheese as too mild for my tastes. But it has a surprising amount of tang and flavor. Best of all, the technique for soft cheeses really does work across milk types—cow or goat, reduced fat or whole milk or cream. It can be soft and spreadable or drained until it crumbles. It can be shaped or molded, and it absorbs flavors like herbs, zests, and spices. Learn to make soft cheeses, and you have so many choices. You can do it!
Learn to make Homemade Fromage Blanc and other soft cheeses

Cheese: You Can Do It!

On April 1, 2021April 1, 2021 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, Topic5 Comments

The first thing to know about cheese making is that you can do it! Learn more at TwiceasTasty.com.
Spring is working its way into Montana. This means 4 weather cycles in a day, plenty of mud, the first harvest of walking onions, and baby animals in the barn. At the farm where I garden, two baby cows have arrived, with a third on the way. Although the mommas will keep their milk for their newborns, it always seems like the perfect time to explore home-fermented dairy and cheese.

I’ve spent little time making cheese over the past year. A year ago, I skipped my planned cheese posts to extend the sourdough giveaway and share ways to eat well when stuck at home. Then I co-opted my “cheese cave” (aka mini dorm fridge) for pickles while I was launching my new book.

But last month, while filling pierogi with potatoes and Lemon Cheese, I was reminded just how easy it is to make cheese and other dairy products. Here’s your reminder too.
Read more about making cheese

Mozzarella

On April 23, 2019December 1, 2019 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, Ingredient, Using1 Comment

Mozzarella was the first cheese I learned to make and use. Get cheese-making recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
Mozzarella may seem like the epitome of soft cheeses, but as I’ve mentioned previously, it was the first cheese I learned to make. I have to thank the Cheese Queen, Ricki Carroll, for this: her books, kits, and company are the reason most people, including me and my young niece, started making cheese at home. Most of the recipes you’ll find today for quick mozzarella are nearly identical to her original kit instructions, including mine. But after years of making mozzarella at home, I’ve learned enough techniques and tips that I’m posting my own version, along with a recipe that will use the first harvest from your garden.
Learn to make Quick Homemade Mozzarella and Spring Pasta and Fresh Mozzarella Salad

Paneer

On April 16, 2019December 1, 2019 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, Ingredient, Using2 Comments

My freezer holds all sorts of vegetables ready to mix with homemade paneer for Paneer Tikka Masala. Learn to make cheese at TwiceasTasty.com.
Every April, I’m focused on two things: what I’m going to grow in my garden this year, and how I’m going to eat up everything I saved from last year’s harvest. Last week’s post used up not just the whey leftover from making yogurt but also the potatoes starting to sprout in my storage bins. This week, I dug deeply into my freezer and found all sorts of vegetables for an Indian dinner: cherry tomatoes, onions, peppers, garlic, and cilantro pesto. Flavor them with my dwindling supply of home-smoked chilies and homemade curry powder, toss in some freshly made paneer, and the flavors explode.

There are several other fabulous things about this week’s recipes. If you already make Lemon Cheese, you don’t need to learn to make paneer: you just need to learn how to press your cheese. If you don’t yet make this cheese, which also goes by queso blanco, whole-milk ricotta, and farm cheese, you have another reason to learn how.
Learn to make Fresh Paneer and Paneer Tikka Masala

Fresh Feta

On April 24, 2018December 1, 2019 By Julie Laing | Twice As TastyIn Fermenting, Ingredient, UsingLeave a comment

I have a long list of reasons for making feta, starting with delicious and easy. Get homemade feta and salad recipes at TwiceasTasty.com.
I can give you a long list of reasons for making feta. It’s delicious. It’s relatively easy. It lets you become comfortable with many ingredients, tools, and techniques that are important in more finicky cheeses, including slow heating, powdered starter, held temperatures, curd cutting and stirring, hang draining, molding, and salting. It will impress all of your friends, if you decide to share. And did I mention how tasty it is?

In Greece and other Mediterranean countries, feta is as common as cheddar is in the United States. During my travels, I ate feta made from backyard goats and sheep, feta flavored with herbs just snipped in the garden, and feta in lots of salads. Feta is traditionally made from sheep or goat milk; if you can get your hands on either, you’ll get the best flavor. But even homemade cow’s milk feta tastes better than many of the most readily available commercial types.
Learn to make Dry-Salted Feta and Warm Quinoa and Feta Salad