Recipe - herbed cheese spread

Here's the recipe I started from to make the "green cheese" or "pot cheese" as the base for the spread. http://www.medievalcookery.com/recipes/cheese.html

Starting from the beginning -

Put 1/2 gallon of milk in a large pan on the stove on medium heat. If you have a thermometer, you're wanting to get the milk to about 195F. I don't tend to trust my thermometers, so the other thing to watch for is for the milk to almost boil. Small bubbles on the surface of the liquid is about right.

Stir 1/4 cup vinegar (I usually use white vinegar, but you can use apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar as well) into the milk. This will start the curdling process to make the cheese. Take the pan off the heat, and let it set for about 10-15 minutes.

Pour the cheese through a cheesecloth to separate the curds from the whey. You can save the whey (liquid) to use in other recipes.

When it is cool enough to handle, pull the corners of your cloth up and squeeze as much liquid out of the cheese as possible. Even while it's fairly hot, I've found that I can gather the corners of the cloth together and twist the whole thing , putting pressure on the cheese and squeezing more liquid out. Tieing the cheesecloth with a piece of string is the way most recipes say to do it.

Leave your cheese to drain for at least an hour. Leaving it overnight or for a few days in the fridge works well, too, and the cheese will stick together better the longer it stays tied in the cloth.

Now that you have your cheese, it's time to make the spread.

Crumble the cheese into a medium sized bowl. With an electric mixer (I tried this by hand, but the mixer makes it turn out much better) beat cream into the cheese until it is the consistency you want. Add a bit of salt to taste, and mix in chopped fresh herbs. For a nice spring seasonal spread, I used parsley, chives, and thyme. Letting the spread sit for a few hours lets the flavors blend.

Serve on a hardy, full-flavored bread.