Homemade Chevre Cheese

Most of my good friends know I’m dying to have one of these.

But until we move (if we ever do), it’s just not going to be possible — even though apparently backyard goats are the next big thing according to Willamette Week.

I guess the next best thing to having one of my own little goats, it making some homemade chevre.  It’s super easy with the help of a little kit from Urban Cheesecraft, a local homemade cheese enthusiast.  You can get the little kits at the Urban Farm Store in Portland or online at her etsy shop.

Aren’t they cute?

And here’s what comes inside.

Following the simple instructions, I first stirred together some water and citric acid.

After searching around and only finding ultra paturized goat milk, I finally found just plain pasturized at Trader Joe’s.  Gotta love TJs!

You heat it up in a stainless steel pot until it reaches 180 – 190 degrees.  And then you add your citric acid mixture — which makes the curds come out.

Next, you strain it into a cheesecloth lined colander.

Then you let your curds sit for 15 or so minutes to fully drain.  While they were draining, I chopped up some fresh thyme.

Rolled my cheese into a little log.

And rolled the log into the thyme – pretty!

It was delicious on a simple roasted beet and arugala salad.

And what about all that extra whey that was left over?  Well according to the instructions, you can feed it to your chickens.  Ours went absoultely nuts over it. They loved it!