This week’s recipes from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen

Take some milk, add a little acid and give the mixture time to do its thing — who would have thought homemade cheese could be this simple? What with all the equipment and specialized ingredients I’d read about, cheese making sounded as if it were better suited to a chemistry lab than to my tiny kitchen. That is, until I tried quark. A creamy, fresh cheese, quark’s curds come together to form something magical — rich with a gentle tang, it’s spreadable, kind of a cross between sour cream and soft ricotta cheese. And it’s easy to make: Bring a couple of cups of milk to a simmer over moderate heat, then let it come to room temperature. Whisk in some acid (typically buttermilk, though some recipes call for lemon juice) and leave the mixture at room temperature for a day or so until curds form and the mixture thickens. Strain it to remove the clear whey, and voilà! You’ve got cheese.