Chevre (pronounced SHEV)

A few bales of exceptionally good alfalfa, cooler weather, a herd share customer that dropped off a week early, and voila!  I have milk to make even more cheese!  This one will be about Chevre. 

 I started out with a gallon of milk for the chevre, and then because I got carried away folding laundry, I let it heat up too much and had to add another gallon.  Two gallons is easier than one, anyhow.  :)  Heat (or cool as the case may be) your milk to 80*F.  Sprinkle your culture (you can use 1/2 tsp mesophilic, or 1/2 tsp flora danica, or even buttermilk, but I'd have to look up how much and the rest of the house is asleep now...) on the warm milk and let is set for a minute or two.  Then stir it in well.  Let that set 30 minutes.

 Next, you are going to add diluted rennet.  By diluted, I mean one drop of rennet to 1/2 cup of cool water.  Yes, I said a drop of rennet.  This is a soft cheese!

 Once you've added your rennet, stir it in, cover the pot, and let it set 8 to 12 hours.  You're done for a while!  (this is the easiest cheese!)

 After it has set, you can tip your pan and see that it has coagulated and now looks yogurty. 

 Gently scoop, or not so gently dump (messier that way, but much more satisfying!) your curds into a muslin (or pillowcase) lined colander.  I like to set the colander in a large pot on the floor, making sure the pillowcase is neatly tucked in the handles so as not to touch the floor.  Tie up the edges of the pillowcase (my trusty hair bands again!) and let the cheese hang to drain 12 or so hours.  It can even set as long as 24 hours and still be fine.

 All that dumped out whey that was in the pot under the colander?  You can make ricotta (oh my, one of these days, I'm going to have to photo journal ricotta aren't I?) but this is a busy season, so it goes to the critters!  Again, I gave it to Poppy--I figure she can use all the nutrients she can get while nursing 6 babies.  What a gal!

 After the 12 hours, the drained chevre bag will be considerably smaller...

 ...and you will have lemonade colored whey in the drip pot.

 When you open the bag, it will look much like the feta did--after all, they both did hang in a bag,

 however, it will have a much creamier consistency.  Take all the chevre (or as much as you can) out of the pillowcase and put it in a bowl.  It is time to work the cheese into an even consistency.  The cheese on the inside will be softer than the cheese on the outside.

 I separated half of the cheese out to freeze for later, and decided to add spices to the other half.

 Minced garlic, non-iodized salt, and dillweed ready to mix in my chevre above, and chevre packaged for freezing below.  Chevre can accomodate a variety of treatments.  It can be sweetened and used to make cheesecake, or spiced up and used as a spread or dip.  It's just as versatile as cream cheese, but so much healthier!

 Mixing the spices in...

 and finally placed in a bowl.  This makes a great spread for crackers, a mayonnaise substitute for sandwiches, filled in celery, you name it!  Use whatever spices you like best!

Chevre is best eaten within a week if kept in the fridge.  It can stay in the freezer about a year, and eat it within a week of thawing.  When frozen, it tends to not be as soft when it thaws, but warming it to room temperature before using it, or mixing a little milk back in will remedy that issue.  Enjoy!