The Goat Milking Adventures of a City Girl

Pulling up to the Caprino Royale farm is like pulling into an adult petting zoo. We were greeted at the door with a glass of wine, excited doggies, chickens running everywhere, cock-a-doodle-doing roosters and a 10 day old baby goat. Now that is my kind of welcoming!

Although I grew up in Oklahoma, we were definitely more city folk than country folk, there were no goats, cows, pigs or roaming buffaloes in our back yard.  The closest thing we had to wildlife were some goldfish I bought at Walmart!

When I started planning my “Summer Blogging Adventure” I knew I wanted to take some time in Oklahoma and Texas to see where the meat and dairy I was consuming came from. I was given my first opportunity to do so when I met Eric Tippit. I knew it was meant to be, when he told me his farm was named after the James Bond movie Casino Royale. My name is Whitney Bond y’all! Eric invited me out to his farm and the rest is goat milking history!

It’s amazing how much your level of appreciation for food rises after visiting a farm. There are about 1,000 components that go into making that little block of goat cheese for your favorite dish. From feeding the goats to milking the goats to turning that milk into cheese and the hundred things that come in-between each one, these farmers are working around the clock, 365 days out of the year to make the cheese we all love so much!

At Caprino Royale, husband and wife team Eric and Karen are taking things to a whole new level with the time and love they give to their goats.

As a consumer of food (which I’m pretty sure all of us here are, unless you’re on one of those juice diets and if so, why are you reading a food blog, that’s just being mean to yourself!) we should all know where our food is coming from and what we’re putting in our bodies.

I believe in eating meat and dairy, I’m not a vegetarian or vegan.  With that said, I do believe in buying local meat and dairy from farmers that treat their animals with love and respect.  I believe you can taste the love put into the animals, just how you can taste the love I put into all of the dishes I create! And if love is a key ingredient in great cheese, than Caprino Royale may just have the best cheese out there!

Each goat is called by name and fed and milked individually twice a day, yeah that’s 24 goats each given individual love and attention = 5 hours of milking and feeding a day!  That’s 35 hours per week, that’s 1,825 hours per year, just for the milking and feeding, we haven’t even gotten to the actual cheese making yet!

While I was at the farm they let me attempt to milk one of the goats… and this happened!

Well now that we’ve all had a good laugh for the day, lets meet some of my farm favorites!

This little guy was only 10 days old and so sweet!

He was so cute and playful, I could have just hung with him all day and been so happy… but he needed his rest!

While he rested, the other kids came to play!

And for my favorite picture of the day…

Thank you so much to Karen and Eric for introducing me to all the goats and a special thanks to Cachet the goat for allowing me to attempt my first goat milking experience on her!

To find out more about the farm, the goats or the amazing owners Karen and Eric, visit www.CaprinoRoyale.com.

Pineapple Goat Cheese Prosciutto Wraps

While I loved “Meatless May”  I am very excited to re-introduce meat to the LLB now that it is June!

The idea for this recipe came from a combination of my favorite pizza in Oklahoma and Pinterest.  I saw a pin for avocado with goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto, then the following day I had a slice of  ”Maui Magic” from Hideaway Pizza in OKC which combines pineapple, mandarin oranges and Canadian bacon, and that’s how the Pineapple Goat Cheese Prosciutto wraps were born!

I decided to pair the delicious wraps with a Honey Lime Mint Glaze to give it that extra fresh, light, summer flavor!

Ingredients (makes 15 wraps)

• 1/2 fresh pineapple (cubed)
• 4 oz goat cheese
• 3 oz prosciutto (sliced)

Honey Lime Mint Glaze (makes app 3/4 cup)

• 3 tbsp honey
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp fresh mint (finely chopped)

Start by slicing the prosciutto and cutting up the pineapple.  Next, take a small piece of goat cheese and place on a cube of pineapple.

Then wrap the prosciutto around the pineapple and goat cheese.

And repeat 14 times.

Next, make the glaze by whisking together the 4 ingredients.

Drizzle the glaze over the wraps or serve on the side for guests to pour on their own.

♣ Vegetarian Option: Substitute the prosciutto with Veggie Bacon.

• Vegan Option:  The glaze can be made vegan by substituting the Honey with Agave Nectar and poured over pineapple cubes, omitting the cheese and prosciutto.

♦ Gluten Free Option: This recipe is gluten-free.

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.

Kale Pesto Spaghetti with Goat Cheese

For lunch this week I decided to add my favorite homemade kale pesto to spaghetti, then throw in some sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese, because, well they’re awesome!

I also decided to try gluten-free spaghetti for the first time and it was also awesome!

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 4 oz spaghetti
• 1/4 cup kale pesto
• 2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 tbsp goat cheese (crumbled)

Start by boiling the water and cooking the pasta.

Drain the pasta, then mix in the pesto.

Next, add the sun dried tomatoes.

Place in a bowl and top with the goat cheese.

I will now admit that I ate this for 3 meals straight this week because it was that good!

This is one of my favorite vegetarian, gluten-free meals!

Now grab a fork and dig in!

♣ Vegan Option: Omit the goat cheese and prepare the pesto “Paleo Style” without the parmesan cheese.

• “Add the Meat” Option: Add grilled chicken on top of the pasta for a delicious and filling dinner recipe!

♦ Gluten Free Option: This recipe is gluten-free. Yay for delicious Trader Joes Gluten-Free pasta!!!

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.

Spinach, Goat Cheese and Bacon Frittata

A bag of spinach, a carton of eggs and a package of bacon, what to do, what to do?? It’s sounding like my Italian ancestors version of an omelet is about to happen!  Yes, if you were wondering what exactly a frittata was or what the difference between a frittata and quiche were, you are not alone!  So in the simplest terms: a quiche has a crust (usually) and more liquid than egg, where as a frittata has more egg than liquid and no crust, there it is!

So whether you just learned your fun fact of the day or not, you’re about to dive into a delicious recipe for this Italian crust-less egg dish!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 6 slices bacon
• 8 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 red pepper
• 3 cups spinach
• 2 oz goat cheese
• 1 avocado

Start by frying up the bacon.

Don’t mind those extra couple slices of bacon.  Those are for…. someone Fry until crispy then drain the grease, crumble and mix together with the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.

Next, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and add the onion and red bell pepper.

Sauté for 2-3 minutes then add spinach and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

I know that looks like a LOT of spinach, but I promise it will cook down!

See, I promised

Next, add in the egg and bacon mixture.

Let cook for 2 minutes then crumble the goat cheese on top.

These chunks of goat cheese add an amazing creamy surprise in the middle of the Frittata!  Now cook on the stove for 5 minutes, then move into the oven to finish cooking at 400° for 10 more minutes.  Remove from the oven and voila!

I sliced the Frittata into pieces, topped with avocado and served with homemade rosemary focaccia bread!

Click here for printer-friendly version: Spinach, Goat Cheese and Bacon Frittata

♣ Vegetarian Option: Omit the bacon.

♦ Gluten Free Option: Omit the rosemary focaccia bread.

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.

Grilled Jalapeño Poppers

These little morsels were meant to be a part of my Superbowl Party menu, but with so little time and so much over-ambition they did not make it on to the smorgasbord of hor d’oeuvres last Sunday. Never fear, two days later these little poppers made the perfect side for my Mexican Meatloaf!

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 10-12 Jalapeño Peppers
• 4 oz goat cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese
• 1 small tomato (chopped)
• 2 tbsp green onions (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients except the Jalapeños in a small bowl. Slice the jalapeños lengthwise and remove the seeds.

Stuff the cheese mixture into the jalapeños.

Place the stuffed jalapeños on a pre-heated grill covered in cooking spray.

Grill the peppers 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted and voila! These poppers make a great side dish for Mexican food or a fun Gameday Grub snack!

*All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.