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Herbed Goat Chevre

Ingredients

The Chevre

  • 1 gallon goat milk unpasteurized or pasteurized, NOT ultra-pasteurized
  • 4 drops liquid rennet
  • 1/8 tsp Mesophilic culture MM 100 is the best
  • 1/3 cup cool water
  • 4 Tbl chopped herbs of your choice see choices below

Mixed Herbs of Your Choice

  • 2 & 2 Tbl Garam Masala and Tumeric
  • 4 Tbl Holy Basil
  • 2 & 2 Tbl Mint and Rosemary rosemary chopped fine
  • 3 & 1 Tbl Ground Coffee and Cacoa Powder extra fine ground coffee
  • 3 & 1 Tbl Ground Coffee and Lavendar extra fine ground coffee
  • 2 Tbl Lemon Pepper
  • 2 & 2 Tbl Fennel seeds and lavender use dried fennel and ground lavender

Instructions

Basic Goat Chevre

  1. Pour the milk into a large pot on the stovetop and turn the burner on medium.

  2. Clip an instant-read or dial thermometer onto the side of the pot.

  3. Heat the milk to 80° F, stirring once or twice to keep the milk an even temperature.

  4. When the milk reaches 80° F take the pot off the burner and sprinkle 1/8 tsp of culture into the milk. Let the culture rehydrate for about 5 minutes then stir the milk for 60 seconds in a back and forth motion rather than in a circle.

  5. Add 4 drops of liquid rennet into the 1/3 cup of cool water and stir gently. Take 2 Tbl of this water rennet mix and pour it into the milk. Stir for 60 seconds.

  6. Put a lid on the pot. Find a warm place in your house that is about 80° F. It could be by the fireplace or wood stove, the proof setting in your oven, a warm sunny window, or near the heater with the pot wrapped in old wool sweaters. Keep the pot warm for at least 6 hours or until the cheese separates from the whey.

  7. Scoop or pour the cheese into a colander lined with cheesecloth or an old pillowcase flipped so the seams are turned out.

  8. Tie a piece of kitchen twine around the neck of the cloth and hang it from a hook in your kitchen so it can drain into the pot that you made cheese with. Drain for about 8 hours.

  9. Scoop the drained cheese into a large bowl and add slightly less than 1 tsp of salt to the cheese. Use a baking spatula to mix the salt into the cheese.

  10. Rinse out your cheesecloth or pillow case in cold water and air dry it before washing it, so the next time you want to make cheese your cloth does not smell like old cheese.

Making the Herbed Chevre

  1. Take a handful of cheese and shape the cheese with your hands into a flattened disc roughly 4 inches in diamter by 3/4 of an inch thick. You should be able to make 5-8 cheese discs with a gallon of milk.

  2. Set the cheese discs onto a sushi mat over a shallow pan and let the cheese air dry for about 4 hours. If your cheese is very runny let it dry a bit longer.

  3. While the cheese is drying start making your herb mixtures. You can use dried or fresh. I mostly used dried.

  4. Grind all dried ingrediants seperatley with a mortar and pestle.

  5. After the 4 hours of drying, sprinkle the herb mixture of your choice onto the cheese. Cover both surfaces top and bottom.

  6. Plastic wrap each cheese indivudally and place them in the fridge for three days.

  7. After three days you can start eating the cheese or place the individually wrapped cheese in a gallon freezer bag with a paper towel on the bottom to catch excess whey, and freeze.

  8. Once frozen, the cheese is good for up to 6 months and you can take as many out as you want at one time.