[goats bleating] In this episode of The Farmer & the Foodie... it's goat time.

We're in southern Indiana to check out the Taylors' take on sustainable LaMancha goat dairy farming... and cheesemaking... at Sirocco Ridge.

I like to say our goats are like Olympic athletes.

You've got to feed them well, you've got to take care of them, and once we have this wonderful thing like milk, what can we make it that we would want to eat, that we would want to share with our community?

Then it's back to our Kentucky kitchen to put some of their delectable goat cheese to work.

I'm Maggie Keith, and I'm the farmer.

And I'm Lindsey McClave, and I'm the foodie.

And this is... The Farmer & The Foodie.

This was such a fun day.

I've never been on a goat farm before.

hey were like everything I hoped they would be and more.

I mean, they're like little dogs.

Not to mention we got to eat a bunch of cheese and gelato, and that always makes a good day for me.

David and Beth are brilliant farmers.

They're scientists, and they've taught me a lot.

I came to them because of the Big Softy.

I had it, and I was so blown away.

I literally took the label, and I called them, and I was like, this cheese is amazing.

They really dive in deep into data, which I love in regenerative agriculture, because it just proves that regenerative agriculture is best not only for the soil and the land but also the people eating.

[music playing] Thanks for coming to visit us at Sirocco Ridge Farm here.

It's a pleasure to show you around.

And this has been a farm we've been running about over 10 years.

And we can tell you have the passion and the love for this project.

So what is the mission and vision behind raising goats here?

So we're on 16 acres here, and then we have an additional 6 acres across the road.

And basically, we asked the land, like, what can we do here that isn't going to negatively impact it?

We wanted to positively impact it.

And when we look at the biodiversity and things like that, and soil health, like, it's significantly better.

But we also said, what is it that we can't grow or buy locally from farmers' markets back in 2015?

And it was dairy.

And it became real clear, like, we wanted to get into dairy, and goats were a very clear, right out of the gates choice for us.

We call them pasture puppies.

They're a lot of fun, but they're also really good on the property.

We have rotating pastures that we don't have any permanent fencing for them.

It's awesome to be able to do that.

Permaculture is a great start.

A regenerative, like, bringing back more soil health and diversity here is really important for us.

Yes.

But I love that it came from really wanting to eat humanely.

Absolutely.

Yes.

We can relate to that.

Yeah, 100%.

Absolutely.

And the appreciation of how good that food really does taste when raised with love and care.

And in this beautiful space is the terroir, so to speak, reflected in the product?

Yeah, absolutely.

And, like, you know, you're a steward of your land, and I love that you say that you're a steward of your property, because we feels the same way So we've been taking soil samples.

So, I mean, from a molecular point of view, we know that the soil is getting better.

And from a cheesemaker point of view, I can tell you, like, it's really fun to play with the seasons and play with what the goats are eating.

Because you have an immediate, like, feedback of, like, okay, so all of the honeysuckle is, you know, leafed out.

So there is, like, literally an aspect of honeysuckle in our fresh cheeses, which is super fun.

Production is also changing.

So as they increase production, butterfat goes down.

So our cheeses become a little less rich.

As we come into fall, production goes down, but butterfat essentially stays the same.

And so you get this butterier thing.

So, and the farmers market would say, this is spring cheese, this is fall cheese, this is winter cheese.

Winter cheese, when we're in December, we're mostly on hay.

We're not on pasture.

And so you have, again, a different flavor.

[music playing] We chose the breed of goat called a LaMancha.

People think it's an earless goat.

It has very tiny, short ears.

They do have ears.

And so when we committed to that breed, we said, okay, so what is important for us?

Number one is longevity.

I want to be able to breed a goat that's going to be milking at 10 years old, 15 years old, you know, with good conformation, good longevity.

Number two, I want a goat who has a gene called alpha-S1 casein.

So from a cheesemaker perspective, I have two goats.

One has two versions of that gene.

One has one or none.

I get 30% more cheese produced from this goat.

So we knew that's super important.

They eat the same amount and they produce the same amount of milk, but I get much more cheese for that one.

So that became really important for us.

And that's another reason we really love them is like they do great out foraging.

Okay.

They are very efficient feeders.

They really enjoy vertical eating as well.

So they're super efficient on any kind of thing we put them on.

And they're very calm.

They're not loud.

They work really well with our personality and our neighbors.

So it's just nice.

So what we've done with our breeding program is to increase size.

The average is supposed to be about 130 pounds.

If you're not 150 pounds, you're probably not going to be producing enough in our program.

Okay.

And we've got girls that are over 200 pounds.

They're producing 10% of their body weight in milk per day.

Yes.

A number of them are doing that.

And as we were walking up, I know you mentioned you were gesturing to your different plots of land.

And you said those are the goat herders or landscapers, the goatscapers.

Tell me about that.

They're called goatscaping.

And so what goatscaping is is the idea of you're doing landscaping with goats.

Basically mow around, put our mesh fence in there.

Our goats know all of that.

And basically in three days, a quarter acre, they'll strip 10 feet high down, because the goats stand up.

And a standing up goat is above my head.

Wow.

It feels like one of the most multi-purpose farm animals I can imagine.

Absolutely.

Because you have the meat, too.

That's right.

So everything on this property is here because it has at least two purposes.

The goats have multiple purposes.

So the does produce milk.

All of the goats clear the landscape.

We sell kids.

And then, yes, for some of our goats, the male goats that we kind of go along with the philosophy of [inaudible] of just one bad day.

So they're out here.

And then one day we head on in where they are halal processed with a USDA processor.

We want to make sure that their bad day is as quick and as compassionate as possible, but also they're going to be feeding a community.

So when we have them halal processed, multiple communities are able to eat this meat now.

And that's really important for us, too.

Well, and I know that this has been just finishing up the busiest time of year with the kids coming in.

I think I saw some of those kids.

Oh, you gotta see the kids, too.

Yeah.

So would you take us to meet them?

I can't wait.

Yes, sure Absolutely.

[goats bleating] Where is the baby goats?

Oh!

Hi.

Come on, goaties, goaties.

This is my favorite one.

I can tell.

[music playing] Hi, kids.

Look at you.

Hello.

Hello, hello.

Oh yeah, come on.

Come on, kids.

They're so like little puppies, I feel like.

Right?

I mean, is that.

Yeah.

Exactly.

You said they're smart.

So they're clearly like they know who you are.

Yeah, they do know.

And they also know that now is play time or nap time.

Yeah, boy.

[laughter] Okay.

Hey, here's our newest kid.

[inaudible] He will turn two weeks old on Saturday.

Oh, it's so soft.

Yeah.

She feels way different.

Is that because she's younger?

Yeah, he's a little boy.

Okay, a boy.

You're so fluffy.

Yeah, he's got some big old feet.

He's going to grow into it.

There you go.

Turn-up.

Oh, he's smiling.

He's smiling.

Oh my gosh, I might have to take Turn-up home.

Turn-up.

[music playing] So this is where it all happens.

The magic, the science.

This is where we turn that liquid gold, the milk, into a product.

And so I'm very proud of this, the shipping container creamery.

So it is a fully licensed creamery in a 40x8 foot package.

So it's cozy.

But what's exciting about it is that we can make all of our cheeses in here.

We make everything from a very fresh cheese, a chèvre, which is very soft, very creamy, very spreadable, to our Big Softy, which is our signature, the first one we ever designed.

All the way up to even have some little mini aging caves in there for our manchego, our gouda, or gouda, as people say it, and even our bloomy rinds.

So every cheese has its own needs for temperature and cultures and all kinds of specs behind that.

So it's one part artistry, one part science, and we keep an eye on them throughout that process.

We also do make gelatos in here.

So I'm the cheesemaker, not the gelato maker, but they do a really great job in that.

So start to finish, you know, 50 feet from goat to gouda is what we kind of say, because it's raised right here on the property with us.

And so you got this set up, this amazing operation, had you made cheese yet?

Like, now let's make cheese.

That sounds like a great idea.

So David and I have been making cheese for ourselves for a number of years.

But then when we got really serious about it, I went ahead and enrolled in a course at Penn State.

So I went to "Cheese School."

But it was really great to get into a big facility, all kinds of cheeses we made, talk to professionals in the field.

Really great opportunity there.

We also have been to the American Cheese Society Conference, and we have entries that go to their competition every year.

So while I love the feedback, as we get detailed feedback, it's also fun to say, like, we might have a gold medal winner in this batch.

So that'll be coming up here in a couple of months.

Oh, my gosh.

Well, I've had a chance to taste the Big Softy and it is definitely gold medal winning to my palate.

And I would love to try a few more, if you have some samples we can indulge in.

Absolutely.

Yep, and we go from soft to age, there's kind of a whole range.

So something for your palate, no matter what you're looking for.

[music playing] Before we taste our cheeses, I want you to taste what we really think is the most important thing, which is actually the milk.

So if you smell this, [sniffs] just like you're doing wine tasting or anything else, you can set sort of a grainy flavor there.

And then when you put it over your tongue, you taste dairy.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

That's what you're tasting.

It's creamy.

It's creamy, dairy.

We had one person who said it's sort of like the milk leftover when you have Cheerios.

I said, yeah, but a bit of grainy.

I get that, the grainy, yeah.

The graininess.

Yeah, but like very clean, very, very lovely.

Yes.

That's why we think our cheeses and our gelato taste so good is because we make great milk.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.

And so we're very proud of our milk.

And you make great land, which then makes the milk great.

I mean, I love -- Everything's tied together.

It is, and I just love it.

We were recommending you start with Big Softy.

I think this is such a great example of what I personally love about goat cheese that I've had.

It's got this like inherent sort of tanginess.

Yes.

It's bright.

It's very, but like this is so smooth and refined.

Yes.

I really appreciate the quality of this.

You can, you taste it.

Thank you.

There's plenty of depth of flavor.

Don't take this lightly.

So Manchego next, you said.

Yes, Manchego next.

Mm, I love that too.

This is actually a young one.

So this is only about 30 days, which is our minimal aging on it.

But she's able to get a really rich flavor out of that.

The texture too.

I can see how you could -- someone who's used to eating cow cheese could go right for this and be fine.

Well, and you could grate this.

I mean... Yes.

You could shred it, grate it.

It's a meltable cheese.

Fresh cheeses don't melt the same way.

Fetas don't melt, they actually crisp.

They're great on the grill.

Most people's fetas are cow out of Wisconsin.

Cow has never traditionally been made into feta.

And so if you get goat or sheep, which is how it's been made for 6,000 years in the Mediterranean, you really get a richness of flavors.

This is fantastic.

Okay.

And I really wanted to try this chevre to the spreadable.

So this is what we do every spring.

We think of the onion and chive and garlic flavors.

Garlic's a little more summer.

But we have people waiting at the farmer's market saying, when are you going to bring that?

We're a little late on production on it because we ran out of chives.

Yeah.

[laughter] Well, that is delicious.

That's so good.

Yeah, it's spring.

Spring in a spreadable delicious bite.

And I'm going to take some of that home with me.

And gelato, tell us about that.

The difference between gelato and ice cream is ice cream has added cream.

Okay?

So this has about a third the fat calories as ice cream So it's actually a much healthier thing.

It has similar amount of sugar.

We use a cane sugar on it.

We think that gives a better flavor to it.

But that's basically the difference.

We get a lot of people who buy our products because they can't eat cow based products.

I had one person say after 10 years this is the first time they've had an ice cream that they could eat.

We are 100% goat milk in here.

Some places add cow cream to bring it up.

So this is, and we think we do a really good job with both the texture and the flavors on them.

The mango is so subtle, but it does.

Yeah, it's been always, is that enough or not?

But we think... It's the perfect amount.

We think it's the perfect amount.

And it's not that bright orange with artificial flavors or colors and things like that.

I think that is an indicator always when I'm having ice cream.

And I make like homemade ice cream with fresh fruit.

And I'm like it doesn't look that like strawberry, that pink.

But that's why, because I'm using all real strawberries.

That's right, and it's never that pink.

Okay, we are on to something.

I'm going to have one more scoop each.

And then I think I might have to get back in the kitchen because you got me with an entire bag of cheese to take home.

Thank you so much.

This has been... Well, this has been wonderful to have you out.

We always love to share what we're doing on the farm and what we're producing as well.

Well, keep it up.

It's all delicious and worthwhile.

[music playing] Who knew goat cheese was so versatile.

We have the basic chevre, which is just a really classic goat's milk cheese.

Very mild in flavor, really neutral profile, which just makes it so fun to cook with, because it can do so many things Then we have a manchego style cheese.

And also the signature cheese that they create, the Big Softy.

And it is so, so good.

So they take their goat cheese chevre and they add chives to it.

And they have other flavors.

But really this one, when we tasted it at the farm, it was like, oh, spring.

Just loved it.

Yes.

With that in mind, we have some beautiful spring onions and green garlic.

So we decided to confit them.

And basically what that confit means is cooked in fat.

We have chopped those up, the green onion and the green garlic, and just covered it in a nice olive oil with a little bit of salt.

Simmered it on the stove about 30 minutes, 40 minutes.

You just kind of let it do its thing.

I really thought it would be extra delicious if it was topped on these crispy crostinis.

Oh, I love this.

Yeah.

So we're just going to take advantage of the bounty of oil that is now entirely infused with the green garlic and onion.

And we are going to use that in our next dish, which will be goat cheese gnocchi.

Yeah.

Yes.

I know, this was a lot of fun.

So the Big Softy is going to be our featured cheese and that we're also going to use the manchego style cheese is like a Parmesan element.

And once the gnocchi are formed and cooked, we're going to sear them in this infused olive oil.

Then top them with another classic spring ingredient that you have brought from us from your farm today.

Oh yes, our ramps.

Yes, yes.

I was wondering how those were going to be incorporated.

Well, ramp pesto, of course.

Of course.

One of our favorite ways to consume ramp.

So we're going to have that with our gnocchi.

And at the end, we're going to take this amazing plain chevre.

And for dessert, I was really just loved how they make the gelato with goat's milk.

I mean, it was so smooth, so creamy, so delicious.

And so it got me thinking, how can you use goat cheese in different ways?

And truffles came to mind.

And so we're going to make a goat cheese truffle.

We're going to encase it in chocolate.

Wow.

And top it with a little bit of Maldon salt, maybe some crushed pistachios.

Yeah, just a really fun.

I've never made truffles before.

Excited.

They're so much fun and so very delicious.

[music playing] So I love this.

It's really creamy, crunchy.

It's got like a nice fatty quality from the oil.

I think it needs a little heat.

So do you want to sprinkle some of your classic red pepper flakes?

Yes.

And I'm going to come through with a final.

This is a violet sorrel, so it's going to give like a little lemon punch, but I love that.

Like a bright and fresh.

Yeah.

Oh my gosh.

█like violet flower.

Yes.

Oh, I love that.

Perfect.

Okay.

I don't think we should make ourselves wait.

We shouldn't cook hungry.

Yeah.

Cheers.

[music playing] Mm.

I really love the chive through the goat cheese.

It's like not overpowering.

It just adds this really savory element.

Yeah, the crunchiness of the bread with the smoothness of this cheese is just perfection.

Mm-hmm.

Good thing we have satisfied ourselves because we have a little bit of work to do now with the gnocchi and the truffles.

Okay.

Both of the bases for those need to sit in the fridge a little bit.

So I think we clean this up and we get started on gnocchi dough and the truffle base.

Let's do it.

All right.

I'm going to go ahead and start with our gnocchi base And as we mentioned, we are going to use the Big Softy here, which is so good.

It has a lovely, slightly salty, tangy quality to it.

I just absolutely love it.

So we've got about six ounces of that here straight in the bowl.

And then we're going to go with about a half cup of all-purpose flour.

One farm egg.

And then we've got their manchego style.

It's very delicate.

It's delicious.

Oh my gosh, it melts beautifully.

Really versatile style of cheese.

So we're just grating it here like where you would maybe grate Parmesan.

Why not use some of this beautiful?

Goat on goat.

There you go.

All about the goat.

So we're going to grate about a quarter cup.

So I'm just going to use my fork to kind of bring everything together.

You don't want to overmix the dough, but you do want to make sure everything's pretty well combined.

Put a little flour on my hands as well as into the bowl.

And then I just kind of do my best.

So it's just a matter of kind of bringing it together.

All right, so we'll cover that and get it in the fridge.

But it needs a friend in the fridge, and that will be our truffle dough.

So if you want to go ahead and put this bowl of the plain goat's milk chevre into the larger bowl.

Of course.

It's about six ounces of that.

Yes.

Yum.

And then we're just going to add a few ingredients to flavor, and you can get creative here.

What we're doing is adding about two tablespoons of the cocoa powder.

Okay.

It's a quarter teaspoon of almond extract, and then about a half teaspoon of vanilla extract.

And it just adds a little nice, like, depth of flavor there.

Just a little pinch of salt, and then we're going to do a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon.

There you go.

Excellent.

A pinch of the nutmeg powder.

Fantastic.

And then to sweeten it, we're going to use three tablespoons of some local honey we have.

Mm.

This is amazing.

So I love how simple this is.

I know.

Right?

And, yeah, if you could just come to my house and set it all up for me like you did here, that would be amazing.

And, you know, all I really needed was the goat cheese.

These were ingredients that I already had.

These are pantry ingredients.

Exactly.

So now you're just going to mix that together until well combined.

Fantastic.

We're just going to cover these up, pop them in the fridge, and let's go ahead and make our ramp pesto for our gnocchi.

I love ramps.

They're so special to us, and you picked some fresh from the forest this morning.

Yeah.

All right.

Let's do it.

So these are wild alliums that you find in the woods usually in the Appalachian region.

They're all around the creeks of our farm, and they're just delicious.

You can do the leaves, which I harvest them just for the leaves, or you can also harvest the bulbs and have some of that, too.

Ah, I love it.

And the bulbs give, like, garlic, but also the oniony flavor, chives.

They're just magical.

They're perfect.

So for this pesto, we're going to go with about three of those bulbs.

Okay.

Then we'll use one whole bunch of the greens.

And to just kind of bulk it up just a little bit, round it out, we're going to use some fresh spinach, also very abundant at the market right now, which I love.

And then instead of traditionally Parmesan cheese goes in to a ramp pesto, but we've got this amazing Manchego-style cheese that grates beautifully.

So we're going to sub it out with that to keep with our goat cheese theme today.

Yes.

I love how you've incorporated the ramps into this.

It makes me very happy to see them shine.

Then we'll just put them in.

Go.

That's three ramp bulbs.

Fantastic.

We're going to add about a quarter cup of pine nuts.

I've toasted them.

They help just add a little creaminess to the pesto.

We'll go ahead and put in our handful of fresh, fresh spinach.

If you want to go ahead and just roughly chop that bunch of ramp greens.

This whole bunch?

Yeah, do it.

Let's do it.

A farmer loves when someone says, use a whole bunch of that, because you're like, okay.

[laughter] You know, and this is one of those, I've got it, let's throw it in there.

It'll be fine, I'm sure.

Then we're going to do a nice, healthy pinch of salt.

That's probably about a teaspoon.

We have a lot going on here, so we want to make sure it's well seasoned.

Red pepper flakes, I'm going to do a good pinch there.

And then a few cracks of fresh black pepper.

We want to make sure there's a nice level of acid in there.

So, yeah, we'll just squeeze that.

Yeah.

A couple tablespoons.

This is a taste it and decide if you want more or less type of thing.

That's brilliant.

So we've got all of our ingredients in here.

So we're just going to pulse to start, just kind of bring it together.

You can see it's going to break down really nicely.

And then we're going to just take this little feed tube out.

We're going to let it go.

And in goes our olive oil.

[mixer whirring] Excellent.

I think that might be just about right.

And then I like to add the cheese at the very end so it's not just like completely obliterated in there.

It's very delicate, as you'll see.

[Laughter] Like, look how beautiful that is.

Okay, perfect.

Now we're just going to mix this in.

All right.

Time for gnocchi.

So our gnocchi dough is chilled and now we're going to roll it out.

So we're going to flour our beautiful board here.

And then I'm just going to cut it into four pieces.

And I'm going to give you one and I'll just show you what I do here.

All right.

Give you a little flour on yours.

Thank you.

My flour station.

There you go.

And you just kind of start rolling.

This almost makes me feel like a kid.

Yes.

Like playing with Play-Doh, you know.

[music playing] In a large pot of salted boiling water, we're going to add our gnocchi in two batches so they're not overcrowded.

We're going to boil them just until they come to the top of the water and rise up.

That's when we know that they're done.

I'm going to use a spider strainer or a slotted spoon works well here to gently remove them to a paper towel lined plate.

And then I'm going to transfer them over into my saute pan to give them a nice sear.

In the saute pan, I'm first going to warm two tablespoons of our confit olive oil that's been infused with the green garlic and the spring onion.

Once that's nice and hot, I'm going to add half of the gnocchi in a single layer on the pan.

And I'm going to resist the urge to touch it.

We're going to let it just cook nice and hot for two minutes until it gets browned on one side.

Then we're going to remove it back to the plate and wait to toss it with our pesto.

Once the gnocchi is seared and is resting, add your pesto into your hot pan.

Let it warm up just a little bit before adding about a quarter cup of the gnocchi cooking water.

Bring that together, stir it, and then turn the heat off.

Toss the gnocchi back into the pan with the pesto and transfer it to a platter to garnish and serve.

Oh my gosh, it smells so good.

Yes.

The pesto, I love what it does as soon as it hits the warm pan.

It just, like, brightens.

You smell all the deliciousness.

And, yeah, the gnocchi browned beautifully.

I think we just garnish with a little bit of this Manchego-style cheese from Sirocco Ridge.

And nothing like some fresh [inaudible].

Beautiful.

I love it.

If this isn't spring, I don't really know what it is.

Yeah.

And what is this gorgeous color you've added here?

This is a crimson clover.

And I just think it's so beautiful.

It is beautiful.

And so I love to bring it into the kitchen as well.

That's fantastic.

All right.

Shall we try?

Yes, we shall.

Take this guy right here.

[music playing] I got a twofer.

[music playing] And it's so fun and tasty.

Yes.

And I think the first time I made it and tried it, the goat cheese came through so much more than I kind of expected it to.

And it's delicate, but, like, full of flavor.

Has a nice, not crunch, but, like, that browning of it really gives it a crust that I like.

I really like doing that.

Yep.

Yep, absolutely.

Delicious.

Yes, perfect.

It's going to be hard to step away from this.

I know.

But the knowledge that our truffles are waiting to be dipped in chocolate is about all I need.

So shall we get to that?

Yeah, let's do it.

All right.

Our truffle base has been chilling in the refrigerator, and now we're going to roll it out into individual-sized balls.

Once rolled out and put back on the tray, we're going to let them chill in the fridge again for at least 30 minutes so they're nice and solid and ready for a dunk in our melted chocolate.

For our chocolate, we're going to melt some bittersweet baking chocolate on a double boiler.

Keep your eye on the chocolate, stir it nice and slowly, and take it off just before it's fully melted when you still see a few chunks of chocolate in there.

Once the chocolate is melted, we're going to put our truffle balls inside, coat them in the chocolate, and garnish.

So now we are going to just quickly give them a little dip in the chocolate and then set them over here.

They'll start to harden up, you'll see, and then it'll be just in time for our garnishes.

I think we'll do a mix of, like, this one will have some Maldon salt on top and maybe a little pistachio.

[music playing] These are almost too pretty to eat.

Oh my gosh, I love your little garnishes here.

So we did get these all dipped in the chocolate.

We let them hang out in the freezer for, like, five minutes just to be sure that chocolate set up.

Shall we try?

I think we should.

Are you going salt or pistachio?

I'll go nutty.

Okay.

[Laughs] I'll go salted.

[Laughs] Yum.

Mm, mm.

Oh my.

It's, like, so goat cheese.

But I think all the little elements of the honey, the cinnamon, the extracts, I think they're used just the right amount to, like, bring it out, but you don't lose the goat cheese.

But it's still so dessert.

Yes.

Right?

And it's absolute perfection.

Yay.

I love it.

Decadent, yet simple.

Yeah, fantastic.

And all with goat cheese.

Yeah.

I'm going to have more.

Okay.

[Laughs] [music playing]