A year in the making...but really only took an hour and a half to make! Finally we reached a predictable 2 cups per day milk collection. To any respecting goat dairy person, this would be seen as a problem, to me it is pure joy! As the goats and I work through the milking process, (it is amazing how much hand strength all those little squeezes take!) my ultimate goal has been just to have enough to make cheese. When I found this simple goat cheese recipe on serious eats calling for just 4 cups of milk, I knew I was in business. The steps are easy:
•Steam/Boil all spoons, bowls, pots, cloth you intend to use.
•Add 4 cups goat milk (super fresh from my lovely goaties Bonnie and Chainti-mostly Bonnie since Chianti is hording her milk for her twins and I find that hard to argue with as a newbie.)
•Slowly heat to 180 F, stirring. (It took me 15-20 minutes)
•Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice.
•Watch the magic as curds form almost instantly!
•Spoon curds into cheesecloth, I bought the fancy butter muslin and it worked great!
•Hang and drain for an hour until drips start.
•Add delicious things-1/2 clove garlic grated, pinch of salt, herbs de provence, aleppo pepper, fresh dill and parsley to garnish.
•Set in airtight container in fridge.
•Enjoy.
The fun of this is beyond any cooking I've done before because it is so tied to the farm and garden, all the animals and plants I love and ultimately is a treat for the people I love most! What could be better? So many variations to try, I'd like to work on getting it a bit more moist, maybe a touch of olive oil would be yummy. More soon for sure.
Also must mention, our 25 baby chicks love the whey mixed with a bit of their feed, so nothing went to waste!
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