Bobby Flay Down on the Goat Farm

(CBS)  Goat cheese has been around for centuries, but is just now becoming more popular in the U.S. So recently, "The Early Show" sent our resident chef, Bobby Flay, to Rainbeau Ridge, a small, artisanal goat farm in Bedford Hills, N.Y., to learn firsthand how to make the delicious cheese.

Rainbeau Ridge's cookbook: "Over the Rainbeau"
"Early Show" Recipes Galore

Flay pointed out that the Westchester County in New York -- a suburb just north of Manhattan -- one of the most exclusive areas in the nation -- may not seem a likely place to run a goat farm. However, that's just what two sisters are doing there -- and loving it.

Lisa Schwartz, one of the farm's proprietors, told Flay, "I love goats because they have incredible personalities, and they give so much. They're great moms; they're great milkers."

Schwartz and her sister Karen Sabath both left corporate careers to raise families, but today the kids they take care of are on their farm -- one that produces hand-crafted goat cheese.

To really understand how goat's milk goes from milk to cheese, Flay decided to learn the process firsthand.

He began with learning to milk the goat.

Swartz explained, "I'm going to close my hands around the teat and then follow it down and give it a little squirt."

Flay said milking the old-fashioned way is certainly an acquired skill. But he quickly caught on.

He said at one point, "They didn't teach me this in culinary school."

Once the milk is flowing the milking machine then takes over.

The goats on Swartz and Sabath's farm will produce a gallon of milk per day, which will eventually yield about a pound of cheese.

The milk is then pasteurized by heating, cultures are added that cause the milk to thicken, and after 24 hours it's ready to be ladled into the cheese molds.

Swartz added the cheeses are handmade, but there should be some symmetry with the cheese's shape.

In some cheeses, a flavoring called ash is added both on the inside and the outside.

Swartz explained, "The ash that we use is a vegetable carbon, and mixed with the salt allows us to apply it to both draw out the moisture and provide an additional earthy seasoning."

Goat cheese can be used in ways you may not have imagined. In fact, the sisters have written a cookbook with over 60 recipes with dishes like goat cheese French toast and goat cheese cheese cake.

Flay remarked, "You got to start with goat cheese and end with goat cheese."

Swartz replied, "In our house there's nothing that doesn't go with goat cheese."

So what can you make with goat cheese at home? Flay shared these recipes on "The Early Show":

Go to Page 2 for some tasty goat cheese recipes.

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[book_of_wally]

I dont see any GTO's.