Udderly Scrumptious

      From the goat barn to your table: easy and delightful recipes using goat's milk, cheese, chevon, and Kefir.

                    Home Made Goat's Milk Cottage Cheese 

                                                                                              The first step in making goat milk cottage cheese is to heat one gallon of fresh milk to 86 degrees.

 

Secondly 1/2 cup of cultured butter milk is stirred into the heated milk for your culture. 

                                                                                              Next 1/4 tps of liquid renet is added to 1/4 cup of cool water and then mixed into the milk and butter milk in the pot.

 

Left to rest for 1 hour the milk will coagulate to form a soft curd. 

The next step is to cut the curd into about 1 inch chunks and then slowly heat the curd and whey to 110 degrees holding that temp for about 1/2 hour. 

 Now the curds should be drained for 20 minutes. One time I had no cheese cloth and so tried using a collandar with equal success.

Last step is to break up the curds to the size you like, mix in salt to taste and enough goat milk or cream to moisten the curds to the consistancy you and your family like for a creamy and delicious home made cottage cheese. 

For a variety of recipes using goat's milk visit At Bag's End.

                    Goat Milk Kefir....Versatile and Healthful 

Kefir is a fermented milk product that originated with the shepherds of the northern Caucus region. The shepherds discovered that the milk, which was stored in leather skin bags hung by the doors of their huts, often fermented into an effervecent yogurt like drink. This drink has proven over the centuries to have many interesting health benifits. We make our Kefir with authentic grains cultured in raw goats milk. The culture is kept in a glass jar on our kitchen counter top and changed daily.

Purists will say never to let metal come in contact with your grains but I have had no problems with flavor or health of our culture in using a stainless sieve to filter the Kefir from our grains. If you wish to be truely traditional you will need a wicker or wooden sieve to strain out your grains from your Kefir.

Gently pour the Kifir culture into the sieve. 

Next gently work the Kefir through the sieve. 

Carefully rinse the grains with cool water. This does not have to be done every time you change your culture but should be done fairly regularly to help keep your colonies fresh and healthy. 

Return the grains to fresh raw goat's milk and return to the area that you culture your Kefir. Kefir grains are a symbiotic colony of various beneficial bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of protiens, sugars, and lipids. These colonies or grains look kind of like cauliflower and are gelatinous in consistancy. Good quality grains will be some what yellowish in color. 

                            Baking With Kefir .

The finished product is a thin, yogurt like, slightly alcoholic beverage that can be consumed as is or sweetened to taste with honey, sugar, or setivia. Various flavorings such as vanilla, coffee, or fruit  can also be added. Or you can create all kinds of smoothies with Kefir and your favorite fresh fruits. It is wonderful to use in baking just like you would cultured butter milk and makes great fluffy pan cakes, muffins, and bisquets.

We offer Kefir grains for $8.00 to cover shipping and handling. If interested please contact us at goatburper@yahoo.com to order a starterr culture of your own.

                Green Peppers Stuffed With Chevon and Rice

Brown two pounds of ground chevon. Season with garlic, black pepper, oregegano, tarragon, onions and basil to taste. 

Stir in 2 cups of boiled rice. 

Add one 30 oz can of  tomato sauce and mix in compleatly.

Wash and remomove the tops and seeds from twelve large green bell peppers fresh from the garden. Place about one cup of water on the bottom of your baking dish. This will help prevent burning and also help to steam cook the peppers.

Fill the peppers with the chevon, rice,and tomato sauce mixture. 

Sprinkle the tops of the filled peppers with grated Parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve with a fresh from your garden tossed salad and Kefir ranch dressing, home made Kefir bisquets, and a cold glass of fresh goat's milk.

For more recipes using chevon visit our Chevon Chef page.