So I’ve made goat’s milk cheese from this recipe I found at Serious Eats three times now. All you need is a couple of pints of goat’s milk, a lemon, salt, a cooking thermometer, and some cheesecloth – but I think you can do without the last two. You heat the milk to 180 degrees Fahrenheit (82 degrees Celsius), which is the moment the tiniest simmery bubbles just start to break the surface. That’s when you take it off the heat, stir in the juice from the lemon you squeezed while the milk was heating, and pour it into a colander lined with a few layers of cheesecloth. I use butter muslin – it’s finer, so you only need one layer – and if I didn’t happen to have that, I would use any kind of super-clean, soft white cloth with a close weave, like a big square from an old pillowcase or t-shirt. Then you make a pouch like so and finagle a way to hang it over a bowl for a couple of hours. Then you de-pouch, mix in a nice pinch of salt, and you have cheese! It’s like magic. See?
Technically, this is a goat’s milk ricotta – but it’s tons better than the grainy ricotta you buy at the grocery. The, um, goaty flavour of more aged goat’s cheeses is almost completely missing, so this could be used in sweet recipes where you might normally use mascarpone. I eat it on crispbread with pepper and olive oil like you see on the picture, as a spread on sandwiches and wraps, and… so far that’s it because I eat it up before I can do anything else with it. But I have plans… mixing in caramelised onions or fresh herbs, serving it with fresh fruit and honey. I’m also going to try lime juice instead of lemon juice with a little cumin and coriander to serve with fresh salsa and tequila marinated chicken tacos. Wanna come over?
