Homemade goat cheese and what to do with it

First you'll need a goat. 

I am lucky enough to have a friend who owns goats and gave me some goat milk after goat-sitting while she was out of town. I decided to make the milk into delicious cheese. Yum Yum Yum. If you don't own a goat or have a friend with a goat you can buy goats milk here.

Aside from the goats milk these are my other ingredients: 

- Cheese cloth

- Lemon OR Lime juice

- Fresh garlic 

- Fresh parsley 

(or really just any other herbs that you desire, that's just what I have in my garden)

Step one: Boil milk on medium heat until it reaches 180 degrees farenheit

Step two: Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of citrus juice (that was my measurement with 32 ounces of milk). It will begin to curdle. 

Step three: Layer your cheese cloth about 3 or 4 times and place in a strainer over a bowl.

Step four: Pour your milk into the cheese cloth

Step five: Tie up your cheese cloth and let it hang over the bowl

Step six: Drip, drip, drip... for about 1 hour. 

Step seven: Remove cheese from cloth and add in your desired ingredients. For me it was garlic and parsley

Step eight: Eat and enjoy. Eat and enjoy on everything :) 

I used the goat cheese to make some fantastic grilled goat cheese sandwiches. 

I used extra sour rye bread and placed spinach, ham, and horseradish mustard on one side - goat cheese on the other. I grilled them in a frying pan with light butter for about a minute on each side. It was a delightful combination. 

 I have decided that I need to buy a goat. 

Aside from mouthwatering grilled goat cheese sandwiches you can put goat cheese on a plethora of dishes. 

Ways To Enjoy Soft Goat Cheese:

• Spread on toast or bagels. 
  
• Substitute for cream cheese in dips. 
  
• Swirl or layer with pesto to spread on crackers.  
• Top green salads with crumbled cheese, or with slices briefly warmed in the oven.  
• Use goat cheese in lasagna.  
• For a simple pasta sauce, mix goat cheese with pesto.  
• Slice goat cheese, warm in the oven, arrange in a pool of chocolate sauce on a dessert plate, and sprinkle with chopped nuts. 
  
• Use in place of sour cream on baked potatoes. 
  
• Arrange whole or sliced plain goat cheese on a serving plate. Sprinkle with fresh or dried herbs of your choice and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil or vinaigrette. Serve with crackers or bread. 
  
• Place two whole or split a 5-ounce goat cheese round in a pint jar. Add garlic, cloves, parsley, a few peppercorns, a spring of thyme, and 1/2 of a bay leaf. Cover all with extra-virgin olive oil and let sit for a few days. Serve with crackers or bread.