If you love goat cheese (or chèvre in French) and you’ve made yogurt before, this will be a familiar recipe. And if you haven’t made yogurt, this is fairly easy and just requires some timing over the course of a day or so. And it’s so worth it.
Traditionally, goat cheese is made by heating goat milk and then adding lemon juice to curdle it. I make goat cheese by first turning the goat milk into yogurt and then dripping the liquid from it. Either way works, but I like the added benefit of the healthy bacteria in the goat yogurt. And this goat cheese is creamy – great for spreading on crackers.
Once the goat cheese is dripped, I take about 6 to 8 ounces of it, mold it into a cylinder (log of cheese) on a plate, and then cover it with my favorite toppings: caramelized onions, chopped basil and mint, or pesto. But you can see that there are a myriad of possibilities here, such as pepper, thyme, rosemary, parsley, tarragon, and so on.
Tip The goat cheese is SCD legal when it is cultured for 24 hours. See my notes on making yogurt.
Herbed Goat Cheese
Caramelized Onions
Finely chop (or process) 1 red onion, and then add it to a frying pan with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch or so of salt. Fry them over a medium heat until they start to get a bit gooey, sweet and transparent (about 10 minutes). Cool and place over the goat cheese log.
Pesto topping
- 2 cups of basil and mint leaves
- 1/2 cup of toasted walnuts
- 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
- 1/8 teaspoon of salt (optional)
Add all the ingredients in a processor or blender, and whirl away until finely chopped. Spread over the goat cheese log.
Goat cheese
- 1 quart of goat milk
- yogurt starter (Yogourmet, or a tablespoon of goat yogurt)
- thermometer (optional; you can wing it if you don’t have one)
- paper towel, coffee filter, or cheesecloth for dripping
Preparation
- Pour the goat milk into a saucepan.
- Slowly heat the goat milk until it reaches a low, steady simmer. Heat to 180 degrees F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can tell it is ready when the milk develops a foam layer on top. It shouldn’t be boiling – just simmering.
- Cool the milk to about 100 degrees F, or a bit warmer than room temperature.
- In a separate jar or container, add some yogurt starter. Stir a few tablespoons of milk in with the starter, and then add the remaining milk and stir until blended.
- Place the milk in a warm location, such as a dehydrator, warm oven, or yogurt maker, at between 105 and 110 degrees F. Leave it warming for at least 4 hours, or up to 24 hours to remove all lactose.
- Place in the refrigerator for at about 8 hours.
- Take the yogurt out, and using a saucepan or bowl, place a strainer on top of the bowl, then a paper towel (or coffee filter or cheesecloth), and then place the yogurt in the towel.
- Cover the yogurt, place it in the refrigerator, and let it drip water through the strainer for at least several hours. I usually let it drip for at least 8 hours. The longer it drips, the firmer the cheese. For a shortcut, you can wrap the yogurt in multiple paper towels to more quickly absorb the moisture in the cheese.
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i love the process you use! and it removes the lactose? wow thats so fabulous!!!
This is a must try. I made something like this years ago, with a store bought chevre, but it was baked with tomatoes and herbs, it turned out wonderful. I haven’t tried making the goat cheese myself yet. This looks so good. I’m so glad you posted it.
I wonder if you can use your normal cows milk starter or should you use a goat’s yogurt starter? I doubt it matters, just wondering.
Hi Destin. Yes, you can use cow milk starter as well. I like to keep my goat cheese free of cow milk.