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How To Use Goat Cheese In Recipes

April 18, 2011 at 7:45 am · Filed under Cheese-Yogurt-Dairy, Recipes, Tip Of The Day

Mild, fresh cheeses made from goat’s milk taste like cream cheese with a tang. A fresh goat cheese log looks lovely on a cheese board with fresh or dried fruit (dates and figs are a favorite) and toasted almonds and/or walnuts.

But we enjoy it in many other ways as well:

  • For breakfast: With bagels, croissants, and toast, in a goat cheese omelet, mixed into scrambled egg batter or sprinkled on top.
  • On a sandwich: Our favorite sandwich is fresh goat cheese on a crusty roll or baguette with basil and fresh or sundried tomatoes.
  • On pizza and pasta: Great on a pie with mozzarella; freeze slightly in order to crumble finely. Toss crumbled goat cheese with pasta dishes or substitute for some/all of the ricotta in baked pasta.
  • With salads: Roll a log in chopped toasted nuts, herbs or lemon zest, slice into one-inch discs, bake and add to a plate of mixed greens or spinach salad. Or, crumble atop the salad. Add sliced or matchstick beets: They’re a beautiful match with goat cheese.
    		•   
    Beautiful on a cheese board, a goat cheese
    log fits into every meal of the day. Photo
    courtesy Westfield Farm.
     

  • For dinner: Stuff into chicken breasts and ravioli. Crumble onto asparagus and grilled vegetables.
  • For dessert: Serve a disc drizzled with honey, with or without nuts and fresh or dried fruit (fresh berries pair well).
  • Baked: In savory soufflés, quiches and turnovers; in savory and sweet pies and tarts.

    • Just substitute the fresh goat cheese for cream cheese, mozzarella, ricotta, or other fresh cheese in the recipe.

    You can enhance goat cheese with a variety of flavors. Or, be on the lookout for flavored goat cheeses.

    Westfield Farm, one of our favorite goat cheese producers, has an impressive selection including Apple-Cinnamon, Calabrini (sundried tomato and garlic), Chive, Chocolate (it’s just like cheesecake!), Cranberry-Orange, Herb, Herb Garlic, Hickory Smoked, Pepper, Pink Peppercorn and Wasabi.

    What are your favorite ways to use goat cheese?
     

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    RECIPE: Baked Apple-Balsamic Salmon

    April 17, 2011 at 11:51 am · Filed under Fish-Seafood-Caviar, Recipes


    [1] Spruce up weekday salmon with apples and balsamic (photo © U.S. Apple Association).


    [2] Use Granny Smiths or other green apples (photo © Good Eggs).

    		  

    Looking for a new way to prepare salmon?

    In this recipe from the U.S. Apple Association, a bit of apple jelly and balsamic vinegar add fresh flavors.

    Serve the salmon with brown rice pilaf or another whole grain, plus green beans or broccoli.

    Prep time is 25 minutes. Baking time is 8 to 12 minutes.
     
     
    RECIPE: BAKED APPLE BALSAMIC SALMON

    Ingredients For 4 Servings

  • 4 four-ounce skinless salmon fillets, ¾ to 1 inch thick
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt (normal table salt can be used)
  • ¼ cup apple jelly
  • 2 teaspoons aged balsamic vinegar
  • ¾ cup julienne-cut, unpeeled Granny Smith or other green apple (¼ x 1 ½-inch-long slivers)
  • ¾ cup julienne-cut, unpeeled Fuji or other reddish apple (¼ x 1 ½-inch-long slivers)
  • 1/3 cup very thinly sliced and quartered leek (white and light green portion only)
  • Coarse-ground black pepper
  • 4 twelve-inch-long pieces parchment paper
    		•
     
    Preparation

    1. PREHEAT the oven to 450°F. Fold each piece of parchment crosswise in half. Cut 4 half-heart shapes 7 inches longer and 4 inches wider than the fillets (the folded edges will be the centers of the hearts). Open each paper or foil heart; set aside.

    2. Lightly sprinkle salmon with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place each fillet near the center on one side of each heart.

    3. Heat apple jelly over low heat or in a microwave oven just until melted. Remove from heat; stir in balsamic vinegar. Spoon mixture evenly over fillets. Toss together apples and leek. Place mixture evenly on top of fillets.

    4. Fold opposite side of each heart up and over the fish and apple mixture. Starting at top of heart, fold edges to seal open sides by making small tight folds. Twist tip of hearts to close packets. Place packets on baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 12 minutes until fish flakes easily. (Carefully open packets to check doneness.)

    5. To serve, cut packets open by slashing a large X on the top of each, then fold back paper. Transfer packets to dinner plates and serve with rice. Or, if desired, remove fish with apples from packets and place on top of rice; spoon over juices. Season to taste with additional salt and the pepper.

    Recipe Note: This recipe makes enough balsamic-apple juice for serving over a rice or barley pilaf. If you prefer less juice, decrease the apple jelly to 3 tablespoons and balsamic vinegar to 1 ½ teaspoons.

    Find more apple recipes at USApple.org.

      

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    Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Or Raspberry Rhubarb Pie With A Lattice Crust

    April 17, 2011 at 7:49 am · Filed under Cookies-Cake-Pastry, Easter, Fruits, Nuts & Seeds, Recipes, Tip Of The Day

    Spring is rhubarb season. Fresh rhubarb is available for just three months a year, so do something special with it. A few ideas:

  • Stewed rhubarb or rhubarb compote, delicious as a side with ham, pork and poultry
  • Rhubarb ice cream
  • Rhubarb tarts, crisps and other baked goods (substitute rhubarb for apples or pears in your favorite recipes)
  • Rhubarb pickles

    •  
    Technically, rhubarb is a vegetable, a member of the sorrel family. Before it was sweetened by British cooks, it was added to soups (try it in lentil soup), sauces and stews—Moroccan tagines and Middle Eastern stews, for example. Be sure to cook only the stems; the leaves are mildly toxic.

    For Easter, how about a strawberry-rhubarb pie or raspberry-rhubarb pie. Here’s a recipe.
     
     
    LATTICE PIE CRUST

    Make your Easter pie extra-special with a lattice crust. The top crust of any fruit pie can be replaced with a lattice crust.

    Apple and pear pies need a tight lattice so the fruit doesn’t dry out. You can use a loose lattice (more space between the strips of dough) when baking berry, cherry, rhubarb and stone fruit pies, because the fruits have more moisture.

    Here’s a lattice tip from Lauren Chattman, author of The Baking Answer Book:

  • Instead of weaving the lattice on top of the filled pie, start with a cardboard cake circle set atop a baking sheet.
  • Cut the dough into 13-inch strips and weave the lattice on the cardboard.
  • Place the baking sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes to firm up the lattice.
  • Slip the lattice from the cardboard onto the pie.
  • Adjust the lattice strips to make them even, if required. Trim the ends and crimp onto the pie plate. Bake.
    		•   


    [1] Strawberry-rhubarb pie with a lattice crust. These lattice strips are very wide and quicker to weave, but are not as elegant as the thin strips in the photo below (photos #1 and #2 © King Arthur Flour).


    [2] Lattice strips can be much thinner, and can be cut with a crimped dough cutter.
     

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Easter Lamb, Passover Lamb

    April 16, 2011 at 7:46 am · Filed under Easter, Tip Of The Day


    Elegant lamb chops cut from the rack (photo © Meat And Livestock Australia).

    		  

    Many families roast a leg of lamb for Easter. But if you’re a small group and don’t want days of leftover lamb, consider an elegant rack of lamb or crown roast of lamb.

    Or, check our Lamb Glossary for even more cuts of lamb—all delicious.

    Lamb is the oldest meat animal raised by man. Since ancient times, it has been a religious symbol and a food for feasting and sacrifice.

  • Lamb is the traditional main dish at Easter dinner, commemorating the Last Supper, at which the meat served was likely lamb.
  • In Judaism, lamb is often served during the Passover seder to commemorate the first Passover. According to the Bible, on the eve of the exodus from Egypt, Jews marked their doorposts with the blood of a lamb so that the Angel of Death would pass over their households.

    •  
    Check out these lamb recipes: for Easter, for Passover, and both festive and everyday occasions.

     

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Egg Tips For Easter & Passover

    April 15, 2011 at 7:58 am · Filed under Easter, Kosher Nibbles, Passover, Tip Of The Day

    Here are some egg safety tips from the USDA, for everyone planning an Easter egg hunt or cooking eggs for the Passover seder.

    Hard-cooked eggs for Easter and Passover celebrations should be prepared with care.

    EASTER EGG TIPS

  • If you plan to eat the Easter eggs you decorate, be sure to use only food grade dye—not paint or fabric dye.
  • Consider making two sets of eggs: one for decorating and hiding, another for decorating and eating (see the tip in the photo caption). Or, you can use plastic eggs for hiding.
  • For an Easter egg hunt, throw away any cooked eggs with cracked shells. Bacteria can enter and contaminate the egg inside.
  • Keep hard-cooked eggs chilled in the fridge until just before the hunt.
  • Hide eggs in places that are protected from dirt, pets and other bacteria sources.
    		•   
    As pretty as they look, hard-cooked eggs can
    only be out of the refrigerator for two hours
    at a time. If you want to decorate eggs for display, use uncooked eggs. With a needle,
    punch a tiny hole in each end and blow out the contents before decorating. Photo courtesy McCormick.com.
     

  • The total time for hiding and hunting eggs should be no more than two hours. Then, if the eggs are not eaten, they need to go back into the fridge. Eggs found after two hours need to be thrown out.


    • PASSOVER EGG TIPS

  • A hard-cooked egg that has been at room temperature for more than two hours should not be eaten.
  • The hard-cooked eggs meant to be eaten should be kept in the fridge until ready to serve.

    •  
    GENERAL TIPS

  • When eggs are hard-cooked, the protective coating on the shell is washed away, leaving open pores where harmful bacteria can enter. Be sure to refrigerate eggs within two hours of cooking and use them within a week.
  • Check your refrigerator temperature with an appliance thermometer and adjust the refrigerator temperature to 40°F or below.

    • How to boil eggs.
      

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