In anticipation for my goats beginning their milking adventures next year (fingers crossed), I've been experimenting with making home made goat cheese (chevre). I've done it a few times, and it turns out just incredible. It's obviously a bit more work than just buying it at the store, but there's just no comparison in flavor. This is far milder in taste, especially at first, but will gain more ripeness and a more tart flavor if you let it age a few days in the fridge.
First, I'll introduce you to my girls: Peanut (Alpine) is on the left, with Faith and Grace (Saanen/Nigerian Dwarf mix) to the right. No clue which one is which with those two
And yes, that is duct tape on Peanut's unicorn horn (scur). We're attempting to help it fall off naturally with elastic bands so she'll quit getting her fool head stuck in the fence.
Faith and Grace really are a pretty angelic little pair.
SO! Now for the goodies. The Ingredients are: 1 quart of goat milk, 1/4 cup of lemon juice, and some salt and herbs. If you can find goat milk that is NOT ultra-pasteurized, that's preferable, but UP is okay if that's all that is available.
Heat the milk in a saucepan slowly until it hits 180 deg. F, making sure it doesn't scorch on the bottom.
Gently stir in 1/4 cup of lemon juice and remove from the heat.
The milk will start to curdle (it's gets grainy, basically, not curdled like you might traditionally see with other cheese-making). This isn't a great shot, but you can kind of see it separating/curdling on the spoon.
At this point, you can slowly spoon it into a cheesecloth lined colander (you'll need LOTS Of layers of cheesecloth) or use a fine coffee filter. The filter takes longer to drain, but I find it less frustrating than the cheesecloth method. Probably user error.
If you use the cheese cloth, you'll help drain the whey by pulling the edges up and making a ball, then gently squeezing the cheesecloth. With the coffee filter, you can stir and press the cheese against the filter to drain the whey.
Once it's to the desired consistency, mix in salt and herbs to taste. I usually use a few teaspoons of salt, and add garlic, rosemary and parsley.
No final shot on this batch, it usually doesn't sit still long enough for a photo before getting eaten.
Once it's finished, you can pop in the fridge to cool and let the herbs infuse the cheese with flavor. If you leave it (covered) in the fridge a few days, it takes on more of that typical goat-cheese taste like you might enjoy from store bought chevre.
Here's the tutorial I used when I first started making this-- they've got some good photos of the process!
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/02/how-to-make-goat-cheese-recipe.html