Goat's Milk Cheese with Egg

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   To make this cheese, you'll need full-fat goat's milk. Mine is homemade, so I can't say its exact fat percentage—but the richer it is, the more curd you'll get. Squeeze out a tablespoon of lemon juice, making sure no seeds get in.

2. Step 2:

   

   Pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat it over low heat until the first bubbles just start to appear.

3. Step 3:

   

   Add the lemon juice. You can substitute a teaspoon of 9% vinegar.

4. Step 4:

   

   Now wait for the whey to separate from the curds. This takes about 4–5 minutes.

5. Step 5:

   

   Tip the mixture into a colander lined with several layers of cheesecloth. Let the whey drain off completely. You could stop here, really, but we'll take it a step further.

6. Step 6:

   

   Whey is a valuable thing—don't pour it out! You won't need it again for this recipe, but you can use it to bake homemade yeast bread, for example.

7. Step 7:

   

   In a separate bowl, mix the egg, salt, and baking soda with a fork. My egg is a farm egg with a deeply colored yolk—the egg is what determines the color of the finished cheese.

8. Step 8:

   

   Melt the butter in a nonstick skillet.

9. Step 9:

   

   Pour in the egg mixture and stir it constantly with a spatula so it doesn't set into an omelet. Keep the heat at medium.

10. Step 10:

    

    Free the curds from the cheesecloth and add them to the skillet.

11. Step 11:

    

    Melt the cheese for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes stretchy and thick. Then transfer it to clean cheesecloth and shape it into a ball (you can use cheese molds if you have them). Refrigerate the cheese overnight, and it'll be ready to serve.