Goat meets Chicken...Warm Buffalo Dip

I know that there are tons of recipes out there for warm Buffalo Chicken dip.  I wanted to make some for my son's birthday party, but didn't have regular sour cream or cream cheese on hand. Since I use goat milk and cheese for most everything I cook...I decided to give it a try and substitute those 2 ingredients for the goat versions.  I have to say...this is the best warm dip!  Here is the recipe, and if you can't, and we all know you won't, find goat sour cream anywhere, just use regular (not low fat) sour cream.

I had a crowd coming so I made a big batch...you can cut it if 1/2 if you like.  This recipe filled a 8 x 13 baking dish.

3 Cups diced cooked chicken in baking dish

mix in a bowl the following:
1/2 cup goat milk sour cream
3/4 cup mayonaise
3/4 cup bleu cheese dressing (ranch can be used if you don't like bleu cheese)
3/4 cup Franks Red hot wing sauce
3/4 cup mozz. cheese shredded
1/4 cup parm.cheese
3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

pour the above sauce over chicken and mix well.  Bake in a 350 deg. oven for 20-30 mins until bubbly and getting golden on top.  Serve warm with crackers, bread rounds, pita chips, Frito Scoops...whatever you prefer!  It's delicious!

"Treehog" (formerly known as Groundhog)

There's "Butter Days" Ahead!

With the new baby goats arriving, and the weather feeling like spring, I got the urge to make some fresh butter. Since I'm not milking yet...I did the next best thing...bought a quart of heavy cream at Sams Club for $3.69 and used 1/2 of it to whip up some fresh butter and some buttermilk for ranch dressing.  If you've never made your own butter, you really need to try it just for bragging rights alone. Plus the taste is far superior to ready made butter. Here's all it takes...

Pour your heavy cream into a Kitchenaid mixer (or any other mixer with a whipping beater), set it on medium high, when it becomes whipped cream you are almost there! Keep mixing until it begins to separate into clumps of butter and separate from the buttermilk.  Once it does that, pour off the liquid into a jar and keep for dressings and recipes.  Now I like to add a pinch on salt, but you can leave it unsalted. Work as much liquid out of the butter by pressing it with a wooden spoon against the sides of the bowl, draining the liquid as it drains out of the butter. Try to get as much liquid out, as it will keep longer without going rancid if you do.   It's not going to save money to do this...,but it's very interesting and delicious!  

The amount shown in the photo represents using 1 pint of cream. You will get twice that amount using the whole quart of cream.