Instructions: To me, a goat is just a four-legged word for "ornery." I wouldnt dream of inviting my dinner guests to quaff a pint of fresh goats milk. But I do serve them goat cheese. Only it is a tangy, feather-white cheese called chevre.

I wondered just what went into making this chevre Id been serving my guests and decided to visit Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy near Boulder, Colo., to find out.

First off, goats are no crankier than you or me. The minute the dust settled on Haystacks dirt driveway, goat kids crowded to the fence to be scratched behind the ears. "Goats dont like to be alone," explains owner Jim Schott, in what I found was his usual understated fashion.

He and his staff at Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy have named every one of their 120 goats. Each year they settle on a theme (one year it was flowers, another it was the periodic table) and name the kids accordingly. Herd Manager Amy Siegfried gives each goat the "personal time" it demands, from bottle-feeding the newborn kids to patting the rump of a 10-year-old.

But a goat isnt just a pretty face, either. Schotts goats produce enough milk to make 30,000 pounds of Haystack Chevre a year. The best-producing goats can give up to a gallon of milk twice a day. The pointy-eared Saanen goats are the highest milk producers; the floppy-eared Nubian goats produce milk higher in protein and butterfat.

Schott also owns two "black sheep" - an earless, coal-black goat named Tar Baby (a variety called La Mancha), and a longer-haired matron named Lucy (an Alpine goat). The herd recognizes the difference and picks especially hard on Tar Baby, Schott says. She evens the score during milking, when she swats at her neighbors ears and provides no target to swat back.

The Key to Good Cheese

Though goat milk tastes almost as rich as cream, goat cheese is lower in fat and cholesterol than cheese made from cows milk. Compared to an ounce of cream cheese, at 9.9 grams of fat, Haystack goat cheese is a dieters delight, at 5.5 grams of fat per ounce. It also contains about twice as much protein as cows cheese and is more easily digested, making it a good choice for those with a sensitive stomach or an aversion to cows milk.

"The key to good cheese," says Schott, "is to make sure the goats are healthy and clean and then get out of the way." He feeds them a mix of corn, oats, and soy, as well as high-quality alfalfa grown by a local farmer. Schott never uses hormones or antibiotics. He claims the musky, strong flavor that some people associate with goat cheese is not characteristic of the cheese, but a result of poor diet or herd management.

At Haystack Mountain Goat Diary, the milking room is spotless, even mid-milking. The goats nose the feed trough while Siegfried cleans their teats with an iodine solution and slips them into a milking hose. For the next half-hour, I am lulled by the rhythmic sigh of the pump and the wavelike rush of fresh milk.

Cheese making begins at 4 a.m. when Eva Klemmens turns on the boiler. It ends 12 hours later. After the milk is heated to 155 degrees for 30 minutes to pasteurize, it is cooled in a water bath to exactly 84 degrees. Klemmens stirs the milk, and lets it sit another half hour. Then she adds natural vegetable rennet (a coagulant), stirs for two minutes, and lets the curds separate from the whey.

Though the process is scientific, Klemmens says that cheese making is

"half chemistry and half art." As Klemmens coworker, Pat Henisse, explains with obvious admiration, "Eva talks to the cheese until it feels good. She can tell if things are right just by looking at it."

One hundred pounds of milk yields only 15 pounds of usable curds and 85 pounds of whey, a byproduct that the staff imaginatively proffers to local farmers. One farmer uses the silky-smooth liquid to settle the dust on his dirt road. Another fed it to his pigs before he sold his small farm. Schott hopes more local farmers dont close up shop. Making 30,000 pounds of cheese a year produces one heck of a lot of whey.

Although certain stages in cheese making are routine (Klemmens says 40 percent of what they do is cleaning), the consistency of goat cheese changes with the breeding cycle.

In winter, at the end of a goats 300 days "in milk," the curds will be moister and more fragile. It takes a skilled hand to pipe the chevre into logs about an inch in diameter. To pack the cheese, Klemmens uses a length of PVC pipe ("the cheapest piece of equipment we have in here") to slip the cheese into a plastic bag. The vacuum packer costs more than Klemmens

A Labor of Love

Many of the employees gave up well-paying careers in order to rise before the sun and work long, hard days. Klemmens left a 17-year career as an institutional kitchen manager in order to work in an environment with a high commitment to quality and integrity.

Pat Henisse was an occupational therapist who felt stymied by insurance regulations that, she says, compromised patient care. After years as a college professor, museum curator, and educational consultant, Jim Schott concluded that conventional institutions demand that we all think and do things in much the same way.

He recently wrote a letter to his crew to express how grateful he was for their initiative and hard work. Schott said simply: "Haystack Mountain Goat Farm is the best thing Ive ever done."

The renegade crews commitment shows in their cheese. Haystacks most popular variety, Boulder Chevre, is a delicate, crumbly cheese formed into the classic French log. It is available plain or coated with cracked pepper, rosemary, or Herbes de Provence.

Using Chevre

Chevre Spread is a mild, creamy cheese with a bright, clean flavor. It is offered plain or with a variety of additions, such as garlic and dill, garlic and herbs, and cracked pepper.

Grateful Chevre is an aged grateable log that is piquant and intense.

Chevre Marinade is marinated in extra-virgin olive oil with herbs and fresh garlic and packaged in an imported French canning jar.

Haystack Mountain Goat cheese is sold at retail stores and restaurants throughout the Rocky Mountains, from Albuquerque, N.M. to Ft. Collins, Colo.

Customers can also order directly by calling Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy at

(303) 581-9948. Because the cheese is fresh, it should be used within three weeks of purchase.

Once you buy goat cheese, youll be tempted to use it in many ways. It is remarkably versatile, brightening such standbys as stuffed shells and lasagna.

Simply halve the amount of ricotta used and fill the void with chevre.

Mexican dishes also benefit from the substitution. For a twist on the traditional chile relleno (stuffed chile pepper), halve the pepper of your choice (mild poblano peppers and sweet red peppers do nicely) and place it cut-side down on an oiled cookie sheet. Brush the surface with olive oil, roast the pepper al dente, and stuff it with a soft goat cheese.

Goat cheese makes a simple meal special. Start with lacey salad greens tossed with snowy chevre and finish with a board of chevre surrounded by fat, ripe peaches. Goat cheese doesnt stay long in my refrigerator. And I bet it wont in yours.

If youre in the area, plan a visit to the Haystack Mountain Goat Dairys annual open house, Sunday, June 24 from 10 to 2. The open house is the farms celebration of the birth of its new kids. All are invited.

For more information:
Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy
5239 Niwot Rd

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