It seemed the ultimate bait and switch for my friend Amy. She saw my Instagram picture of a Belgian style waffle and immediately thought “THAT LOOKS SO GOOD” but then she read the caption. “Quinoa Goat Milk Belgian Waffle with Double Cherry Maple Syrup” and immediately was horrified. Amy was not having any of those funky flavors in her waffles, she’s a straight up buttermilk waffle girl. Which is too bad, because the addition of goat milk and quinoa flour really adds an extra layer of crazy awesomeness to the waffles. Of course I live in bubble called San Francisco, the land of crazy, so what do I know? (Clearly a lot, because the genius of goat milk and quinoa deserves a prize in my book…)
I’m not a huge goat milk person to be honest (though that has certainly changed). Truthfully, I hadn’t thought much about goats until my friend Maggy of Three Many Cooks invited me and a few other bloggers up to the Redwood Hill Farm to learn more about their facilities and goats in general. It turns out that goats are insanely cute and the baby ones will snuggle up with you immediately if you pick them up. Pretty much every blogger swooned when this happened and I was able to catch a little bit of it on video.
[vimeo 47436060 nolink]
Immediately smitten with the goats, it didn’t take long for everyone to fall in love with Redwood Hill Farm as well. A family owned and run farm for over 40 years, the passion of everyone at the farm was evident the moment we pulled up. From the solar panels (the creamery is 100% solar powered) to the mellow wandering chickens, romping dogs and curious goats, the entire farm gave me that sort of bucolic sunshine happiness that only came from employees and owners that loved what they were doing.
Of course, you can’t visit a goat farm without milking a goat, which, it turns out, isn’t nearly as difficult as it seems; at least for the first couple of squeezes. I can see it getting old after awhile and I had an extremely difficult time synchronizing my squeezing technique for both hands. Thankfully Shauna of Gluten Free Girl was there to capture my goat milk skill set. I don’t think I’ll be giving up my day job anytime soon.
[vimeo 47436059 nolink]
One of the reasons people hate goat milk is the “goaty” funk that they associate with it. That goaty funk comes from the natural bacteria in the milk. It’s important to cool the milk down as fast as possible as the bacterial can exponentially increase at room temperature. The faster the milk is cooled, the less goat funk you get, and needless to say, Redwood Hills farm cools their milk immediately after milking the goats.
Of course, the way most people consume goat milk is by goat cheese, and Redwood Hill Farm makes their own award winning cheese from the goat milk including fresh Chevre, raw milk Feta, a Camembert style cheese and even a Cheddar cheese. We were served samples of all the cheese that they made, and I tried each of them, you know, in the name of research.
Redwood Hill Farms is located up in Sonoma, California and occasionally opens up their farm to the public. Bounce on over their website and check out all their products and events.
Special thanks to Redwood Hills Farm for bringing me, along with the other awesome bloggers: Marla from Family Fresh Cooking, Tracy from Shutterbean, Lisa from With Style and Grace, Sabrina from The Tomato Tart, Emma from The Kitchn, Shauna from Gluten Free Girl, and Maggy from Three Many Cooks, for a tour of their facilities and letting us play with their udder adorable goats (you knew I had to put one pun in there didn’t you?). Though they provided the transportation and sample of their product for use in our kitchens, I was not compensated for anything I wrote above and all opinions are my own.
This post has been submitted to YeastSpotting.
Quinoa Goat Milk Belgian Waffle with Double Cherry Maple Syrup
By Irvin Lin
Ingredients
Waffle Batter
2 1/2 cups goat’s milk
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast, not rapid rise
115 g (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
245 g (1 3/4 cup) all purpose flour
80 g (1/2 cup) quinoa flour
40 g (1/4 cup) cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cherry Maple Syrup
115 g (3/4 cup) fresh sweet cherries, pitted
80 g (1/2 cup) dried sour cherries
1 cup pure maple syrup (don’t use cheap pancake syrup)
Directions
1. Make the waffle batter in the evening by first heating the goat milk on the stove until it is just warm to the touch (about 100˚ to 105˚). Basically you just want to cut the chill of the refrigerator, so watch the goat milk on the stove carefully and don’t over heat it. Dissolve the yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes to proof.
2. In the meanwhile, beat the melted butter, eggs, honey and vanilla extract together in a medium mixing bowl. Once the yeasted goat milk has proofed add it to the butter and eggs and beat together.
3. In a large mixing bowl add the flours, cornstarch and salt together. Using a balloon whisk, stir the dry ingredients together until uniform in color. Add the wet ingredients to it and stir with a large spatula until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Make the cherry syrup in the evening as well by combing all three ingredients together in a small pot over the stove. Turn the heat to low and cook until the maple syrup starts to form bubbles on the side of the pan. Turn the heat off, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
5. The next morning, pull the batter out of the fridge when you wake up and let it come to room temperature as you prep your Belgian waffle iron. You don’t have to actually let it come completely to room temperature, but you know let it warm up a bit on the counter. Follow the instructions for your waffle iron and make the waffles (I’m not going to tell you how to do that, if you own a waffle iron, you should already know how). Heat up the cherry syrup on the stove so your not pouring fridge cold syrup on your hot fresh waffles. Serve immediately.
Makes 6 Belgian Waffles or so (depending on the size of your waffle iron I guess)
JJ @ 84thand3rd says
Looks like a great day and the waffles sound brilliant! I use goat milk and quinoa flour regularly – love this combo and the corn flour tip. Thanks!
Irvin says
Corn starch! Not corn flour. Though cornflour or cornmeal would add a great flavor or texture to the waffles. But you want the pure starch to get the crispiness!
Belinda @zomppa says
Not your typical waffle, eh? Looks awesome!!! Isn’t milking goats kinda fun? They are like big dogs! But not….
fabiola@notjustbaked says
Omg shut up! These looks amazing, and I happen to love quinoa, so this works for me. And the syrup, I won’t tell you to shut up again, but I want to. I kinda want breakfast now in a bad way, so thanks for that! By the way I have a thing for goats, they are the cutest, and I will have one in my lifetime, it’s a goal. The video of you milking is awesome!
Irvin says
They were totally the cutest! I have begged and pleaded with my partner AJ to get a pet goat, but sadly he won’t let me. Something about living in a tiny one bedroom apartment and not enough room. Pshaw.
merri says
aww cute goats! i used to want a pet mini goat when i was a kid. i dunno about goat milk, never tried it, but i love goat cheese and goat yogurt. not a cherry fan though. maybe one day ill be ambitious and try these, prob not, but maybe, as i love waffles.
Melissa {Being a Bear} says
Maple and Cherry are two of my favorite flavors. Maple + Cherry? Fabulous. Maple + Cherry + More Cherry? Swooning. Can’t wait to try these this weekend!
Kristen says
Loving that video of you milking the goat 🙂 What a fun event.
Jameson Fink says
Baby goats are indeed adorable! The staff of the wine bar I work at went out to Whidbey Island and visited Little Brown Farm (http://www.littlebrownfarm.com/) and we couldn’t get enough time with the baby goats. They also make wonderful cheese that is (wait for it…) udderly delicious. What a great post from what looks like an inspiring farm visit.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar says
Oh wow! What a fun looking trip! These waffles are gorgeous looking!
Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery says
Hey, Irvin! Great post about your visit to the farm! We loved your recap of that wonderful day. Thanks for the tip on goat milk & quinoa. Of course we think goat milk & anything is better but will look forward to trying that combo. Love crispy waffles, too, so thanks for that cornstarch tip!
Barbara Bamber | justasmidgen says
I really enjoyed reading your post this morning. I have been thinking it was time for me to visit a few of our local farms in Alberta and this is a huge encouragement for me to do so. Beautiful and adorable photos of the goats as well. This looks like a very fun day! xx Smidge
Irvin says
You should! Farm visits are one of my favorite things to do. I love learning about where my food comes from…
Sharon says
Love the post Irvin! You really caught the essence of life on our farm…your pics are gorgeous too! It’s waffles for me this weekend…
amyt says
hee hee I knew I was gonna catch a bit of flack for my close-minded waffleness
Irvin says
Busted! Ha ha ha. Sorry, I had to mention it. 😉
marla says
Oh do these waffles look amazing! Love reliving our FUN experience at the farm through you post!! We need to have a reunion with those goats ASAP!
Irvin says
Yes please! I had the absolute best time. You + Me + Goats = Awesomeness.
Annie says
This is great!
We raise our own goats. Goat milk should NEVER taste funky. If it does, do not drink it as it wasn’t handled properly. (I have been given milk like that and it was possibly the nastiest thing I’ve ever had in my mouth.) Theoretically, goat milk can have off flavors if there is a buck onsite or if the goat is eating some strong tasting weeds. But in my own experience, neither of those things affects the taste a whit.
If the goats are healthy and the milk is chilled immediately, the milk tastes like regular cow milk, maybe even a little better.
I’m really glad to see that more people are getting down with goats. They are a lot easier to care for than cows, a lot cheaper to keep, and your average goat gives plenty of milk for a family’s needs. And no one’s going to stop you if you like it raw. ;D
Katherine says
Yum!
http://therealfoodrunner.blogspot.com/
Heather | Farmgirl Gourmet says
Great post Irvin! Now I miss my goats and my waffle maker. 🙂 It looks like you all had an amazing time!!
Now to the store for goats milk and a waffle maker.
xo
H
Maggie @ A Bitchin' Kitchen says
Oh my gosh, you made my morning with those cute goat pictures! I hate living in a city when I see gorgeous farm photos like these!
Irvin says
I’m lucky to live in San Francisco, that is a large city, but is so close to farms. I believe Redwood Hills Farm is only an hour or two outside San Francisco. Nestled in wine country!
Trish says
Holy wow this sounds SO SO amazing. Also, what a cute little trip to a farm! I’ll have to try these out.
Trish
http://www.jellybonesblog.blogspot.com
hobby baker says
Awesome post! We had goats when I was young, some little alpines and one thick-skulled nubian, bless his ears. Thanks for the memories. As for the waffles, definitely trying them out! I regularly make waffles out of oat and millet flour and coconut milk and they are unbelievably crispy so I’m sure yours will be delicious too. I don’t often get goat’s milk but I have easy access to both raw and pasteurized, which is cool.
Irvin says
I absolutely love millet flour! I’ve been out of it for awhile, but I finally made a trip down to the store, to stock up on it. Millet, oat, and coconut milk waffles sound fantastic. Perhaps I shall try that next!
Steph (@crushgear) says
I love this post! I visited my very first farm this summer (yep, definitely a city girl) and was so inspired I started growing tomatoes and peppers on my roof. I’m so glad you got to spend a wonderful day at a farm — I’m also insanely jealous 🙂