So, what do you do when you have 3 gallons of fresh, raw milk sitting in the fridge? Fromage biensur! My ultimate goal in raising goats is cheese of course. I'm not really a milk drinker but cheese, I think there is nothing better. I believe cheese at every meal would be a wonderful existence.
I've been dabbling for a year now making simple chevre, mozzarella and ricotta. Those are the beginner cheeses, and they're terrific but my epicurean heart craves more variety. However, with homeschooling, farming, the house, etc., there is never much time for complicated recipes.
This week, everything fell into place. My wonderful SIL from France, Lea, kindly delivered to my kitchen a host of hard cheese molds, cheese cloth, and a wonderful book on goat cheese (french major finally pays off). The kids are at their grandmother's. The goats are getting over their heat induced slump. The kitchen is clean!!
Here's my first jab at a more complex fromage. It's a lactic cheese: long coagulation period with little renneting, some cultures, and a pinch of penicillum to get some white mold going. For me, the difficult part of all this is the drying process: too many fruit flies and way too many cats...
