Koch (Cook) cheese.

My wife is a descendant of German immigrants. When I married her, her family always had this stuff sitting around. When we lived in South Texas in the 70's, we could buy it at Krogers, etc. Later we acquired a home-made recipe from a family member, and have been making it ever since. It is delicious, very lo-cal, and is made from cottage cheese.

Recipe - In a bowl, put one tsp. baking soda into a carton of cottage cheese. Cover with saran wrap and let sit for several hours until it has fermented and lost it's original texture. Then grate 3 oz. of Monterey Jack over the cottage cheese and microwave in short segments (30 secs.) stirring in between until the cheese melts into the cottage cheese. Don't cook it - be gentle! Use a hand mixer and blend the mixture until smooth. Add caraway seeds to taste (1-2 tsp.), put mixture back into the cottage cheese container or other containers, refrigerate, and enjoy on toast, rye bread, or English muffins.

I love it!

My mother and grandmother used to make something by putting cottage cheese in a dish towel and dry it on the clothes line. Don't know what else they did, but it was good.

Koch kaase is very bland tasting and is used as a spread like butter on bread. I didn't like the taste of regular cheese but enjoyed this very much.

Enclosed is a recipe from an old cookbook. My wife made it and it was very good, reminded me of when my German Grandmother made it when I was young.

KOCH KAASE (Cooked cheese)

1 (12 oz.) carton large curd cottage cheese
3 tbsp. flour and 1 tsp. baking soda

Mix ingredients and let stand for at least one hour or until clear. Mix 1 stick butter or margarine and 2 to 3 teaspoons of evaporated milk (regular milk may be substituted).
Mix all ingredients together in a double boiler and cook until it comes to a boil. Remove from stove. If desired add caraway seeds (1 to 2 teaspoons). Cool. Serve on fresh homemade bread or crackers. Yield 4 to 5 people.

This recipe is from my late grandmother, “Happy Emma Meyer”. It was a favorite for their many domino parties when they lived on the farm at in Westhoff. Brenda Wetzel