Making Chevre

This is the process of making the delicious bright white goodness known as "chevre."

Happy Autumn!

It is a fantastically lovely Sunday morning out here in the Southern California desert. Our friends and family on the East Coast are suffering from an unseasonably cold October...like snow storm cold.  However, we're enjoying 80 degree weather and sunshine.

I woke up at 6:50 am with a smile on my face and a spring in my step. I dressed quickly in yoga pants and a sweatshirt and headed to the ranch.  Milking had already started but I arrived in time for the second goat.  I brought pineapple, watermelon and strawberry scraps and tried to entertain the milking goat while she patiently  stood on the stand.  Turns out my goats have actually neglected to learn that they are, in fact, goats.  My fresh fruit treats were totally ignored.

Our milk production has dropped dramatically since the weather has changed and estrous has begun again.  Turns out goats in heat are focusing on other things than milking.  Here's hoping that production picks up a bit in January when the mating season is officially over. Nonetheless, we're still getting between 1 qt and 1/2 gallon per day.

Chevre

We have finally enjoyed a couple of days of sub 100 degree weather. Not only does this mean my attitude has greatly improved, it also means we can recommence making chevre! My first batch of the season came out yesterday and it looks beautiful. 2.5 lbs of wonderful soft white goodness.

I'm still playing around with seasonings but I think this batch is pretty damn tasty.  For 1 gallon I used 1.75 teaspoons of salt and 1 heaping tablespoon of herbs de provence. In  total I used 2 gallons of milk and made 2.5 lbs of cheese :) 2 lbs are traveling to Boston and Maine this weekend to be shared with friends and family on the other side of the States.

Updates

I've been quite remiss lately with my blogging.  However, we've been quite busy chez Lawyer Cheesemaker.

The goats were vaccinated...thanks Dr. Mom.
Basil was banded.
Daisy and Sage were sold and will be leaving the farm next week.
All goats still have very healthy and strong horns growing...boo!
I attempted to re-burn Lola's horns with disbudding paste.  (Do not do this. Ever. The stuff is horribly strong and the little girl cried continuously for nearly 2 hours).

I've made roughly 20 lbs of cheese including: chevre, feta, ricotta, queso blanco, mozzarella and one unsuccessful attempt at cheddar.

One of Sage's horns is growing while the other appears to have been successfully disbudding with the iron. Therefore, I correctly disbudded 1 of 6 horns.  Not good.

Milking Goats

We started a diligent milking schedule last Sunday.  We're currently getting about 2.5 quarts/day between the two goats. Rosie is my superstar and I think will prove to be a fantastic milker in the near future. She runs to the parlor, hops onto the stand and waits for the grain. 

The once a day milking is working out fabulously.  We don't have to bottle feed, and we only have to worry about milking/cleaning in the morning.  Fias Co Farm offers a fabulous account on their milking schedule and it has proven to be quite helpful for the full-time lawyer.

We're using the Henry Milker for all the milking.  Rosie's teats are big but she's not terribly comfortable letting the milk down so hand milking is difficult. Clover's teats are tiny and she's incredibly fidgety.  Also, the closed system of the Henry Milker is great and we haven't have a single incident of contaminated milk.

Tough Day for a Goat Farmer

Goat farming is usually quite fun, peaceful and exciting.  However, disbudding day is not any of those things.  It's horrific, nerve-wracking and slightly unsettling. Yesterday, the littlest members of the herd were ready for this painful procedure.  They had little buds the size of peas and at 13 days old they were ready. Although I watched the experience closely last week when the vet disbudded the older kids, I was still filled with dread and nervousness. However, I also learned from that first experience that if you do not do the deed correctly the first time the re-burn is even more horrific and stressful for the goat (and handler).  The vet didn't leave the iron on long enough so Daisy and Basil were still growing little (though not quite little ) horns. 

I plugged the iron in and then got the first goat ready to be shaved.  Sage is incredibly sweet and didn't protest the handling or the sound of the trimmer.  She happily sat in my husband's arms.  Then we moved on to the iron.  As my husband held her and I attempted the first burn she squirmed and screamed and protested violently.  Husband decided that he wasn't cut out for this type of work so instead he handed the goat over, took the dogs for a walk and left my mother and I to finish up. 

We disbudding Sage then Lola and finally I re-burned Daisy. 

The day was rather stressful but nonetheless necessary.  My technique was simple. Apply the iron for 2 second intervals until you see the copper ring. I sure hope everything is successful because I do NOT want horned goats and I do NOT want to do this again this year.

Goat Milk

Even though we've had little goat babies on the ranch for 2 weeks now, we haven't actually milked anyone yet.  Of course, this also means we haven't tasted anything yet.  Well, not until today.  Rosie was swollen on one side of her udder so my mom milked her out.  I strained the milk and put it in the freezer. Then, I tasted it.  It was absolutely amazing. 

Goat Babies Encore!

Rosie kidded last night and gave us another two female goats.  Unfortunately she was very early (145 days), we were unprepared and we didn't follow the advice and traditional wisdom of baby mammals. All the above resulted in a very long and stressful night and a goat mother that has rejected one kid. However, both kids know how to nurse and when Rosie is tethered she allows both to drink freely.

Goat Babies

Clover delivered her twin baby goats on Earth Day (April 22) after a gestation period of 149 days. She was left unattended for 1 hour 15 minutes and that's when she decided to go for it. My father walked out to the pen after having a sandwich in the house and realized that the ranch goat population had doubled.

Daisy and Basil are healthy and happy and just starting to frolic and play.  Welcome to the world you two!

The Countdown Begins...

April 18th is day 145 on the gestational calendar for Clover. Since goats usually give birth between 145-155 days after conception, we could have baby kids as early as tomorrow. Clover looks terribly uncomfortable and I'm hoping for an early birth. God knows I'm ready.

In the last three weeks we've:
Created a milk parlor,
Constructed a milking stand,
Built a kidding pen/nursery,
Picked up 4 bales of fresh hay,
Finished preparing a kidding kit, and
Had a pre-natal ranch visit from the vet.

Now we're just waiting for baby Nubians.

Pre-natal check-up

The vet visited the girls this week to draw blood for CAE and CL testing. She also showed me how to administer CD&T vaccinations.  The girls performed beautifully and were hardly bothered at all by the poking and prodding. Apparently, they can withstand anything if they're nibbling on dates.

Dr. P says that both girls look big enough to be carrying twins! (Unfortunately, my mother loved Dr. P until she said the dreaded T word. Mom is definitely looking forward to kid goats but was hoping to enjoy far less of them...say 1 per goat.)

Clover is due April 23--16 days to go.

Birthday Girls

Today the girls are 1 year old and my mother made them this lovely birthday spread.

Now they are old enough to be mothers which they will shortly become around Easter this year.

A hoof accident and Blu-Kote

Sunday was supposed to be a great goat day. The girls had two walks, their pen was cleaned, they grazed for 3 hours and took a nap beside me in the shade. Then we had fresh hay delivered and that's when the goodness ended.  Immediately after we unloaded the bale, Clover sliced the top of her hoof open on a piece of metal. We couldn't stop the bleeding and she vehemently objected to having her hoof wrapped and held with consistent pressure. I looked at my mom and said, "tell me what to do, because I have no idea." She responded with, "go get the Blu-Kote."

My mother's been around animal emergencies. She was raised on a horse ranch and has worked over the years for vets, so when she asked me to get a product I'd never heard of I didn't hesitate.  I raced to the house, rummaged through the regular medicine cabinet and then raced back to the goat. She promptly shook the can, sprayed the hoof and herself then released the goat. Although anything and everything that is sprayed turns immediately bright purple, this stuff is a miracle.  The bleeding stopped. The next day the hoof was neither swollen nor infected.

It's been 3 days and the hoof and goat are still doing well.

Lessons learned: 1) trust your mother. 2) always keep Blu-Kote in your animal supply kit.

Very Vanilla Gelato

Sometimes vanilla is sufficient. Sometimes you just want a pure flavor that's uncomplicated.


Very Vanilla Gelato

3 cups goat milk
1/2 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 whole vanilla bean.

Slice the vanilla down the middle and scrape the insides into a a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the milk, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and the rest of the vanilla bean. Bring the milk just to a boil. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the sugar until the mixture  is a pale yellow color. Slowly pour the milk into the eggs while whisking constantly. Return the egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. DO NOT BOIL. When the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, remove pan from heat and strain into a bowl.

Place the bowl in an ice-bath and let stand until chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Pistachio Gelato

Continuing with my ice cream/gelato creations here's the newest recipe:

3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons roasted, unsalted shelled pistachios
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups goat milk
1 tsp almond extract
6 large egg yolks

Finely grind the pistachios and 1/4 cup of sugar in a food processor.

In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk, pistachio mixture and almond extract. Bring the mixture just to a boil. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the rest of the sugar until the mixture  is a pale yellow color. Slowly pour the milk into the eggs while whisking constantly. Return the egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. DO NOT BOIL. When the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, remove pan from heat and strain into a bowl.

Place the bowl in an ice-bath and let stand until chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Photo Updates

Spicy Chocolate

While in Boston one winter, I visited the original location of JP Licks (pretty much the best ice cream in the world) and I tasted the flavor "Mexican Chocolate." Imagine silky spicy chocolate with a bit a heat that lingers on the tongue. The experience was titillating, captivating, fascinating and slightly bizarre.

Here's my version using goat milk:
2 cups goat milk
1 tablet Abuelita Chocolate
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Kahlua liquor

In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk with the chocolate tablet and the red pepper flakes. Bring the mixture just to a boil, making sure the tablet has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Strain the mixture, reserve the milk.

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the vanilla and the Kahlua until the mixture is fluffy. Slowly pour the milk into the eggs while whisking constantly. Return the egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. DO NOT BOIL. When the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, remove pan from heat and strain into a bowl.

Place the bowl in an ice-bath and let stand until chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Goat Runnings

Honey Lavender Goat Milk Gelato

Santa Claus brought an ice cream maker and I'm working on recipes for future goat milk surpluses.
Since I love all things intriguing and culinary surprises, here is honey lavender goat milk gelato.


2 cups goat milk
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup dried lavender
7 egg yolks

In a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat the milk with the honey and lavender. Bring the mixture just to a boil, making sure the honey has dissolved. Remove from heat and let the lavender steep for 3-5 minutes. (The longer it steeps-the stronger the lavender flavor.) Strain the mixture, reserve the honey milk and discard the lavender.

Meanwhile, whisk the yolks with the sugar until the mixture is pale yellow. Ladle some of the milk into the eggs whisking constantly. Repeat until half of the milk has been added to the eggs. Return the egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. DO NOT BOIL. When the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, remove pan from heat and strain into a bowl.

Place the bowl in an ice-bath and let stand until chilled.

Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.