Let's Make Chèvre!

I've had dairy goats for a little over a year now. In that time not only have I discovered the most amazing, mischievous little companions, but also that um, goat milk is like the best thing ever. And goat cheese? Fahgetaboutit. Chèvre is smooth, creamy and has just enough bite to let you know you're eating something kinda fancy. But if you're reading my blog, you probably currently have chicken poop on your shoes so that oughta balance that fancy right out. 

Ingredients:

1 Gallon Goat Milk

1 Packet Chèvre Starter Culture

Cheese Salt (Optional)

Herbs and Spices (Optional)

Equipment:

Large Pot

Wooden Spoon

Cheese Thermometer

Cheesecloth

Colander

Pour goat milk into the large pot and warm over medium heat to 86 degrees F. If it's fresh, you may actually have to let it cool down. I don't have any goats in milk at the moment so I use frozen and it takes a while to melt and heat up. Sprinkle the chèvre starter culture over the warm milk and let rehydrate for two minutes. Do not stir.

Cover the pot full of warm milk and let sit undisturbed at room temperature for 12-18 hours. Ladle curds into your cheesecloth lined colander and allow to drain for 4-8 hours. You can nix the colander all together and hang the cheesecloth to drain but I find using the handles of a colander to suspend over a deep bowl easiest to work with. If you don't have a thousand animals in the house like we do, you could just let it drain sitting in your kitchen sink.

Ba-bam! Congratulations, you just made a super fancy sounding cheese. Now tell everyone you know and impress the heck out of them. 

To shape into balls or logs, chill the cheese for a couple of hours first - shaping will be much easier. Pictured clockwise from upper left is plain salted, rosemary garlic, cinnamon pecan, and lastly (and my absolute favorite) tomato basil. Get creative with flavor combinations,

almost everything pairs well with Chèvre.