How did I not notice the freaking GOAT on the bag?

March 28, 2009 11:43 AM

Goat's milk. wtf?

I accidentally bought a bag of 2% goat's milk at the store instead of cow's milk. Because I'm a MORAN who wasn't paying attention.

Please give me some tried-and-true recipes that call for goat's milk. Preferably something easy. (Recipezaar came up with nothing for me.)

posted by peggynature to Food & Drink (23 answers total)

I would use it in the same way you had intended to use your cow milk.
posted by Sonic_Molson at 11:50 AM on March 28, 2009

I have used goats' milk and cows' milk interchangeably in the past. If you don't like the taste of it, just make up a cake or an omelet or whatever you do with milk that involves cooking.

My favorite use: homemade yogurt! This link is all you need to know how.
posted by farishta at 11:53 AM on March 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Goats' milk tastes, to me, a bit more savory than cows' milk. It's great in recipes for cream soups that call for milk or cream.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:59 AM on March 28, 2009

guess you didn't notice you spent twice as much for milk?

make some yoghurt. i usually find goat milk too strong for breakfast cereal. the yoghurt will keep longer.
posted by geos at 12:02 PM on March 28, 2009

My son is a very, very picky eater and he didn't mind when we switched from store milk to goat milk from our own little herd. I've tried it myself and it's indistinguishable from cow's milk except for a faint buttery note. I have never had store-bought goats milk but I've heard it is prone to picking up off-flavors with shelf time, so I'd say just try some and if it's good, use it as normal.

There's a saying somewhere that goes "butter from the cow, milk from the goat, cheese from the sheep", so take heart... this is good stuff and not like using dog milk.

Alternately decent stores will take your purchase back, though I'd hate to see the milk go to waste.
posted by crapmatic at 12:07 PM on March 28, 2009

Response by poster: No, I didn't notice the price. That is how I ended up bringing it home. (Mistaaaakes. Aren't they awesome?)

I have also already tried using it in the same applications I would use cow's milk (in coffee, cereal, straight up with cookies) and found it quiet unpleasant. The milk I bought is VERY GOATY, and I definitely notice the difference. That is why I'm asking this question on AskMeFi, rather than just going about my business as if it were regular milk.

I like goat's milk cheese alright, so I figured there must be some savoury recipes for which goat's milk is a distinct advantage over cow's milk.

I would like some specific ideas of what those recipes might be.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.
posted by peggynature at 12:12 PM on March 28, 2009

Response by poster: quiet=quite
posted by peggynature at 12:12 PM on March 28, 2009

Seems to me, if you don't like it as milk, but enjoy goat's cheese, you might be up for making your milk into a cheese. Very nearly as simple as heating the milk, adding an acid, straining, & enjoying.

Delightful Paneer Recipe
posted by Tapioca at 12:20 PM on March 28, 2009

It's very healthy. Why are you complaining? Here are recipes.
posted by watercarrier at 12:27 PM on March 28, 2009

I would use it to make a white sauce to use in a cheesy baked pasta dish. That will use up quite a bit of milk, and the goatiness should go well with the cheese and other savory flavors (garlic!).
posted by redfoxtail at 12:33 PM on March 28, 2009

It's very healthy. Why are you complaining?

Because some of us might not like the taste? What kind of question is that, watercarrier?

Like peggynature, I like goat's milk cheese, but cannot abide the milk in my coffee or cereal.

Ever made a souffle? It might seem intimidating, but it's not, and they're delicious.
posted by rtha at 12:42 PM on March 28, 2009

If you like the cheese sauce idea, and you have a ton of milk you need to use, I've had good success freezing cheese sauce in ice-cube trays, putting the frozen cubes in freezer bags, and tossing a couple with hot pasta whenever wanted.
posted by palliser at 12:48 PM on March 28, 2009

Make cheese.
These guys will get you started.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:12 PM on March 28, 2009

The recipes on this page are called "impossible pies" because they are "impossibly" easy. They use at least a cup of milk mixed with a baking mix like Bisquick. I bet the mixing and baking would mask the taste a little, plus you can add extra spices to your liking. Some are sweet pies, put the ones I've tried are the savory ones. We like the chicken especially. You could freeze your milk in recipe-sized portions, and then put it in the refrigerator a day before use to thaw. Shake it up before use, and is it may separate. That way it won't go to waste if you have a lot of it.

You could also try mixing a little bit of it into your regular style milk, to see if you notice the taste at very low concentrations.

I wonder if goat's milk would make a nice milk bath?
posted by SuperSquirrel at 2:22 PM on March 28, 2009

Mac'n'cheese was my thought too. Cheese it up and make a pasta sauce out of it. Could be tasty!
posted by Billegible at 3:07 PM on March 28, 2009

Mod note: few comments removed - "suck it up" and its variants are not appropriate answers for AskMe, please stop that, thanks
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:36 PM on March 28, 2009

I'd go with the yogurt -- it'll use up a lot of the milk and requires nothing special other than some starter yogurt and is delicious. There's this:
http://sugarmountainhome.com/milkncheese/yogurt.htm and this one has pictures:
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/cheese/yogurt_making/yogurt2000.htm

I like the idea of doing a mac 'n' cheese with it. Yum!

Store-bought goat milk will have a stronger flavor. It's been pasteurized and sitting on a shelf. Fresh goat milk has, in my experience, zero "goat" flavor -- it is like skim milk. Since you got store-bought milk, I agree that you should cook it up in something and not bother drinking it straight or putting it in coffee. (Although a chicory coffee might work... )

You could try feta: http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/feta.html.
posted by amanda at 3:41 PM on March 28, 2009

Best answer: Alfredo pasta
Non-creamy soup (tomato, mushroom, squash) made creamy with the addition of goat milk & a bit of goat cheese
Chowder
Bechamel sauce for lasagna or mac n' cheese
Cornbread, subbing goat milk in for the buttermilk. I'd add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the goat milk to sour it so it's more like buttermilk, plus one more strongly flavoured ingredient to kill the goatyness even more- maybe cooked crumbled bacon or chopped jalapenos.
Quiche, subbing (a little less) goat milk for the cream.

I'd add a little actual chevre or goat feta to most of these recipes, to reinforce the "yes, that taste is goat, not stank" vibes.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 5:09 PM on March 28, 2009

I disagree with jessamyn, and think that you should, indeed, suck it up. Literally, through a straw. But if you don't like that, I'm sure it would be delicious in a quiche (easier than a souffle).
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:57 PM on March 28, 2009

I just want to note that watercarrier's link is the first thing that comes up when one google's "goats milk recipes", so I suggest going that route or searching other recipe sites such as epicurious, all recipes, food network, etc...
posted by echo0720 at 5:58 PM on March 28, 2009

Response by poster: Some of these answers are kind of unhelpful. I guess I need to rethink my wording of questions. I was really hoping to get "tried-and-true" recipes from fellow MeFites -- meaning, these are recipes you have prepared with goat's milk and liked a whole lot. If you don't have such a recipe, then that's okay -- maybe no one here has one. But referring me to Google isn't super-duper helpful, since I would have already thought of that.

I appreciate the omelets/yogurt/paneer/pasta/cornbread ideas. Those are solid suggestions.
posted by peggynature at 7:33 AM on March 29, 2009

Sorry we're not giving you what you're looking for, peggynature, but really, I think you should trust anyone who said that goat's milk will do fine in any savory recipe that normally calls for milk. I don't have specific recipes on hand, but I've used it in a ton of different butternut squash, carrot, or pumpkin soup recipes, and it always tastes great. Use it to play up savory flavors rather than sweet ones--I can't imagine drinking goat's milk in cereal or coffee, either.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:57 AM on March 29, 2009

If I'd seen this post earlier, I'd have offered to take it off your hands. I only drink/use goat's milk and the Metro always runs out between weekly shipments.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 7:57 PM on March 30, 2009