cheese & crackers

 This past weekend spent at home paired with the acquisition of several giant Ziplocs of frozen goat milk from a neighbor meant I was more than set for a few days of cheese making!

I ended up trying three different methods and to find one that truly produced a goat cheese as I, and probably most other people, know it. The first I tried I term the "cheater" method, which was not actual cultured cheese, but used lemon juice to produce curds. This is great when you're in a hurry, but the lemon juice leaves it a little tangy.

The third method that included rennet somehow created curds the consistency of fresh mozzarella, but goat-milk flavored, if you can imagine.

Honestly, I can't even remember what I did for the second method that turned out the best... I've still got two more bags of milk though, so on to more experimenting later!

In addition, I made these wonderful crackers to go along with the cheese: 

Herb & Walnut Crackers

1/2 c walnuts

1/2 c AP flour

1/2 c barley flour

1 tsp rosemary, caraway, fennel

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 T olive oil

1/4 c milk

Preheat the oven to 350.

Chop the walnuts finely and mix in bowl along with the flours, herbs, and salt.

Whisk the egg with the oil and milk and mix in with the dry ingredients to form a ball.

Place the dough ball between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin. When it's about a 1/4 of an inch thick or less, cut into cracker pieces with a pizza cutter. Don't move the pieces, just cut.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. The edges should start to brown a little. Remove from the oven and completely cool.