Homemade Roasted Garlic and Chive Chèvre
Recipe By: 
Recipe type: Appetizer, cheese
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: makes about 2.5 cups
 
Equipment you will need:fine cheesecloth,a large non-reactive pot with a lid,a wooden spoon, a thermometer
Ingredients
  • 1 gallon fresh goat milk (do not use ultra-pasteurized milk)
  • ⅛ teaspoon Mesophilic Culture MA4001
  • 2 drops liquid animal rennet dissolved in ¼ cup cool water
    FOR THE ROASTED GARLIC
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons minced chives
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation Instructions
  1. Place the milk in the large pot and gently heat to 75˚.
  2. Remove the milk from the heat and sprinkle the culture over the top, do not stir just yet, allow it sit on top for 2-3 minutes.
  3. Stir in the culture thoroughly.
  4. Next pour in the rennet mixed with water and use up and down strokes to combine the rennet completely with the milk, do this for about 20 seconds and then cover the pot and allow it to culture for 14-16 hours.
  5. After 14-16 hours the mixture should look pretty similar to yogurt, soft and creamy but will pull away from the sides of the pan allowing the whey to come through.
  6. Once you have this result, place a double layer of cheesecloth into a colander and place the colander in a large bowl to catch the whey.
  7. Gently scoop the cheese into the cheesecloth, then gather up the corners of the cheesecloth and tie them together, I like to use some butchers twine just so I know it won't come apart. Then hang it from a cupboard handle or something like that, I don't have handles on my cupboards so I use the handle to my microwave.
  8. Allow it to hang for 6 hours. You can let it hang longer if you want a thicker, drier cheese but for this super creamy, spreadable cheese I have found 6 hours is perfection.
  9. While it is hanging get the garlic roasted by heating the oven to 400˚. Place the garlic into a small baking dish, drizzle it with olive oil and sprinkle it with a little salt.
  10. Cover with foil and bake until the garlic is soft and can be mashed, about 30 minutes.
  11. Set aside to cool completely.
  12. Once cool, mash with a fork.
  13. Once the cheese is done hanging, remove from the cheesecloth and mix in salt. Divide out half the cheese and add chives and mashed garlic. to one half. Saving the other half to try something else.
  14. Drizzle the flavored cheese with some fresh olive oil and serve with crackers or baguette slices.
Recipe by Foods of Our Lives at https://www.foodsofourlives.com/2013/06/homemade-roasted-garlic-and-chive-chevre/