Luna's gift...Cheese!

One of the lovely things about living with goats is the fresh milk they produce. I was terrifically hesitant to take my first sip of goat milk, and was delightfully surprised to find that it tasted very much like the cow's milk I was used to, but perhaps a bit creamier.  Soon we stopped buying milk at the store, and used only our own fresh goat milk for drinking and cooking.

Because my goats produce more milk that we can drink, it didn't take long before I tried my hand at making simple Chevre, a basic goat cheese, from the bounty that was filling my refrigerator.

The raw milk is heated to 85 F. on the stove.  Next, some lemon juice is mixed in. The acid from the lemon juice causes the milk to begin to curdle. The milk and juice mixture is left to sit for 12 hours or so, until it takes on the consistency of yogurt. Poured into cheese cloth, the liquid whey runs out, and the milk solids remain behind.

It takes several hours for the liquids to drip out, but eventually a soft, creamy cheese is ready to be mixed with fresh herbs from the garden. I like to add some crushed garlic, too. It is excellent on crackers. We also like to leave some plain, with just some salt, to use in pasta dishes such as lasagne or stuffed shells. Luscious!

It had never occurred to me that some day I would be whipping up batches of fresh cheese, in my very own kitchen, with milk I procured from my very own goat. It's implausibly delicious.