Since on-farm goat cheese/chevre is a hope and dream for another day, I have been thinking about finding a source for local milk, any milk frankly, (goat,cow,sheep) raised without antibiotics or growth hormones and not ultrapasteurized. Pasteurized versus raw milk is a topic I’m not going to discuss right now, however, when milk is superheated, i.e. ULTRApasteurized thus denaturing the proteins, cheese is very difficult if not impossible to make. Last weekend, I ran into a nice lady who makes her own butter. Conversations such as these remind me of how much I love dairy and how expensive it is, and also, how difficult it is to find a local natural source. Unless, of course it finds you…
After the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) meeting last night at our kids’ elementary school, I happened to talk to a parent about buying beef from his farm. I am interested in a half a cow for the freezer. He mentioned that they sell milk too. YIPPIE! I went over to his farm this morning and picked up some precious cargo.
2 gallons of fresh (milked within the last 12 hours, fresh) whole milk – located only about 3 miles away, I had to pinch myself. I told him that I planned on being a very good customer since my husband is an excellent cheese maker (well, the only one I know of, really) and I can’t wait to give the piglets some whey. Piglets fed whey eventually make very tasty pork, or so I’m told!
So out comes the “Home Cheese Making” book:
Which was a little dusty, and I spent this morning dreaming of “Mozzarella with farm-fresh cow’s milk”, Panir, an Indian cheese, Queso Blanco, “Whey Ricotta” (piglets are gonna have to share on this one) and Gouda. How about Caraway Swiss? Mascarpone? Lemon Cheese and Gorgonzola? I realize I’ll have to work up to Parmesan.
The other worlds that are opening up now to my culinary delight are buttermilk, sour cream, kefir, creme fraiche, yogurt, butter and ghee. It is all enough to make one giddy…
If you are interested in checking out the site where I purchased my cheese making book and got my initial “Cheesemaking kit”, click here. Check with your local farmers or ask around at your farmers market to locate a source for farm fresh milk – it’s worth it!
Pink Guitar Farm 