Seasonal Gluts: Milk

By Emma Collen, Director & Food Addict at The Jericho Kitchen

When we talk about seasonal gluts, we tend to think of courgettes appearing faster than we can pick them, bowls overflowing with tomatoes, or an apple tree suddenly depositing its entire crop on the lawn.

But what happens when the glut is milk?

Milk is such an everyday ingredient that I think we sometimes forget what an extraordinary food it is. And when it comes from somewhere like North Aston Dairy, there is another part of the story too. These aren't anonymous cows producing an anonymous white liquid destined for a supermarket shelf. The cows at North Aston go outside. They graze. They have personalities. They even have names.

That feels increasingly worth celebrating.

Recent investigations into British dairy farming have found that the number of farms where cows have no access to the outdoors has more than doubled in the past decade. It is a reminder that the picture we have in our heads when we pick up a bottle of milk – a cow standing in a green field – isn't necessarily the reality behind every bottle.

At North Aston, it is.

And perhaps knowing the animals and the farm behind our food makes us a little less inclined to waste it.

So, if you find yourself with more beautiful North Aston milk than you can possibly drink, don't pour it away. Here are some of my favourite ways of turning a glut of milk into something delicious.

Emma's labneh, a thickened yoghurt which is delicious with everything

FREEZE IT

Yes, you really can freeze milk.

It's possibly the easiest solution of all and particularly useful if you know you won't get through a bottle before it turns.

Freeze milk while it's still fresh: pour it into tupperware and leave a little space in the container because it will expand. Defrost it slowly in the fridge and give it a really good shake before using it.

You can also freeze small quantities for cooking.

Once defrosted, use it exactly as you normally would, or put it into bread, sauces, pancakes, porridge or baking.

MAKE RICOTTA

There is something rather magical about making fresh cheese.

We have become so accustomed to buying cheese wrapped and ready-made that it's easy to imagine cheesemaking as something terribly complicated requiring specialist equipment and years of knowledge.

Fresh cheese couldn't be further from that.

Warm good whole milk, add an acid such as lemon juice, and suddenly the curds begin to separate from the whey.

Strain them through muslin and you have the most wonderful soft fresh cheese.

Spread your ricotta on sourdough toast with honey, spoon it alongside roasted vegetables, use it to fill homemade ravioli, or simply eat it with good olive oil, black pepper and herbs.

And the better the milk, the better the ricotta.

OR TURN IT INTO PANEER

Paneer begins in much the same way but is strained and pressed more firmly to create a cheese that can be sliced and cooked.

It is one of the simplest cheeses you can make at home and a brilliant way of using a larger quantity of milk.

Once made, cut it into cubes and brown it in a pan before adding it to dhal, spinach, peas or a gently spiced tomato sauce.

Suddenly that surplus bottle of milk has become supper.

MAKE YOGHURT

This may be my favourite bit of kitchen alchemy.

A little live yoghurt added to warm milk can transform the whole lot into another batch of yoghurt.

Once you get into the rhythm of making it, you can save a spoonful from one batch to start the next.

Eat it with fruit and honey, use it in dressings and marinades, spoon it over dhal or strain it further to make a thick, creamy labneh.

BAKE WITH IT

Milk is wonderful in bread dough.

It produces a softer crumb and a beautifully tender loaf, so a simple milk bread is another lovely destination for surplus milk.

And, of course, there are pancakes, scones and all sorts of baking that will happily make their way through an open bottle.

DON'T THROW AWAY THE WHEY

If you've made ricotta or paneer, you'll be left with a bowlful of cloudy whey.

Please don't tip it down the sink.

Use it instead of water in bread dough or pancakes, add it to soups, or use it when cooking grains. There is something deeply satisfying about finding a use for what would otherwise have been discarded.

And perhaps that is the real point of a glut. A glut isn't a nuisance. It's abundance.

It asks us to be inventive. To preserve, transform, share and cook.

And when that abundance is milk from cows grazing in the Oxfordshire countryside – cows with names, cared for by people we can actually meet – it feels particularly precious.

So freeze the extra bottle. Make your first ricotta. Have a go at paneer. Put a rice pudding in the oven.

But most of all, know where your milk comes from – and make every drop count.