This is a recipe for making Ukrainian fresh cheese (сир, творог) at home. I use this cheese mostly to make syrnyky (сирники), which are simple cheese pancakes. This requires cheese that is quite dry, firm, with a neutral taste, and the recipe is optimized for that. This recipe's result should be more like cheese you'd get at a farmer's market in Ukraine than store-bought (which is usually too crumbly and too sour). I promise it will be much better than anything you can buy in a store in the US.
There are lots of recipes for fresh cheese around. I've settled on this one because it's very little work, pretty quick, and easy to reliably reproduce. I make this in the US, hence the imperial measures and the use of buttermilk.
- A large pot. Stainless steel works best. Many people advise against enameled pots - in my ex