A Soft Goat Cheese Wrapped in Rye-Infused Hickory Leaves
Banon is the name of a town in France where this cheese is made, and in the authentic cheese, Eau-de-Vie and Chestnut leaves are used. I have a beautiful Shag Bark Hickory tree in the yard so I used leaves from that tree, and it seemed that Rye Whiskey would go better with Hickory than Eau de Vie would. Here I will share a photo log of how I made this cheese.
FIRST: Wash, clean, and sterilize all surfaces, tools, bowls, and utensils that will come into contact with the milk, cheese, or ingredients. I use star san.
Make the macerated leaves a couple days before you need them so that they can soak in the liquor. Here's how to make the macerated leaves. I think you could use any local leaf like a maple leaf, chestnut leaf, or grape leaf.
Make the macerated leaves a couple days before you need them so that they can soak in the liquor. Here's how to make the macerated leaves. I think you could use any local leaf like a maple leaf, chestnut leaf, or grape leaf.
When you begin making the cheese, start with 1 gallon of whole , pasteurized, goat milk. I got fresh milk straight from a local goat farm. https://swissfraufarmproductsllc.com
- After you have stirred in the 1/4tsp of MA11 starter culture, dilute an 1/8tsp of Calcium Chloride in a 1/4 cup of water and stir that into the milk
- Then dilute 1/4tsp liquid calf rennet in a 1/4 cup of water, and stir that into the milk
- Let it sit at 72 deg from 9 hours