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Recipes
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6 oz.
Goatsbeard Farm Walloon Cheese
1 lb. asparagus stalks, trimmed
2 medium shallots, finely diced
1 ½ Tbl. white wine vinegar
Salt
3 ½ Tbl. roasted walnut oil
4 cups spring lettuces
2 cups arugula
Cut the
Walloon into matchstick pieces and allow to
come to room temperature.
Simmer the
asparagus in boiling salted water for a
minute or so. It should remain fairly
crisp. Immerse in cold water and then blot
dry with paper towels.
Make a
vinaigrette dressing by combining the
shallots, vinegar and 1/8 tsp. salt in a
small bowl and allow to stand for 15
minutes. Then whisk in walnut oil.
Dress the
lettuces and arugula with a small amount of
vinaigrette, and arrange them on a large
plate. Top with asparagus spears and then
matchsticks of cheese. Pour remaining
dressing over the salad and serve.
Serves six. |
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¼ cup olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs. tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely
chopped or 32 oz. canned tomatoes, chopped
1-1/2 lbs. raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
½ lb. Goatsbeard Farm Feta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chopped parsley
Heat the
oil in a large skillet and sauté onion until
tender but not brown. Add the garlic, and
sauté for about a minute. Add tomato and
cook until heated through. Add shrimp and
cook 6-7 minutes or until almost done.
Coarsely crumble the feta into the
tomato/shrimp mixture and heat until the
cheese just begins to melt. Adjust
seasonings and sprinkle generously with
chopped parsley. Serve immediately with
rice or roasted potatoes.
Serves four. |
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1 lb. country style bread,
crust removed, cut into ¾ inch cubes
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 bunches scallions, cut into ½-inch lengths
8 ounces spinach, tough stems removed,
washed well and coarsely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
4 large eggs
1½ cups half and half
¾ cup sour cream
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
10 ounces Goatsbeard Farm Fresh Goat
Cheese, crumbled
Preheat oven to 400
degrees. Toast bread crumbs on a cookie
sheet until golden—about 10 minutes.
Melt butter in a large
skillet and sauté green onions until soft,
about 3 minutes. Add garlic and spinach and
stir, cooking just until spinach wilts.
Season with salt and pepper.
In a large bowl, whisk
eggs, half and half, sour cream and nutmeg.
Fold in bread cubes, vegetable mixture, and
half the goat cheese. Season with salt and
pepper. Let stand at least 30 minutes, or
overnight. (Bring to room temperature
before baking.)
Transfer mixture to a
9-by-12 baking dish. Sprinkle with
remaining goat cheese. Place baking dish in
a larger roasting pan and fill roasting pan
with enough hot water to come halfway up the
sides of the baking dish. Bake for 30-40
minutes, or until the pudding is set and the
top is golden brown. Serve hot or warm.
Serves
8.
(Adapted
from Food and Wine, March 2005) |
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12 oz. Goatsbeard Farm
Fresh Goat Cheese
¾ cup plus 1 Tbl. sugar
1 -1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. minced lemon zest
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 large eggs, separated
3 Tb. all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350
degrees. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and
dust with 1 Tbl. sugar.
Combine cheese with ¾ cup
sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla.
Beat until smooth. Beat in egg yolks, one at
a time. Add flour.
In another bowl, using
clean beaters, beat the egg whites until
firm. Beat one third of the egg whites into
the cheese mixture. Gently fold in remaining
egg whites. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a
toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
and cake is deep golden brown. Cool for 15
minutes on cooling rack; remove from pan and
cool completely.
Invert onto serving plate
and dust with confectioner’s sugar. Spoon
sweetened fresh fruit on top and serve.
(From The New American
Cheese by Laura Werlin)
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Serving Cheese
We recommend removing your goat cheese
(or any cheese for that matter!) from the
refrigerator about 30 to 45 minutes before
serving. This allows time for the cheese to
develop its full flavor and best texture for
serving.
When you open the package you may notice
a little moisture—this is natural whey and
doesn’t affect the quality of the cheese in
any way. Once opened, fresh cheese is best
stored in its original packaging or in
tightly closed waxed paper. We suggest
wrapping aged cheeses first in waxed paper
and then in plastic wrap. Check the cheese
every few days to be sure moisture isn’t
being trapped in the wrapping, or that the
cheese isn’t drying out.
- Fresh rounds can be served whole or
sliced with crackers or bread.
- Fresh plain rounds can be sprinkled
with fresh herbs, garlic, cracked pepper,
laced with roasted red pepper, pesto or
diced anchovies, and drizzled with olive
oil.
- Tubs of fresh cheese can be spread on
crackers, bread, pita, or bagels. We like
the following pairings in particular:
- Chipotle cheese with pretzels or
tortilla chips
- Curry cheese with apples or chutney
- Garlic cheese stirred into scrambled
eggs or crumbled into baked potatoes
- Herb cheese sprinkled on salads or
pizza
- Cut soft-ripened cheeses such as our
Missouri Moon or Prairie bloom into wedges
before serving. Remember the rind is
edible and delicious.
- Use the Walloon as a grating cheese,
or sliced for sandwiches. Slice or cut
into cubes before serving with crackers.
- Moniteau Blue is ideal served in
wedges with grapes and crackers. Use it to
make your favorite Blue Cheese Dressing or
just sprinkle it directly on a salad.
- Alice Waters created one of our
favorite ways to feature fresh goat
cheese: Coat ½ inch slices with bread
crumbs or chopped pecans, warm in the oven
until cheese becomes soft, and place on
salad.
Enjoying Cheese with Friends
Many people enjoy including a cheese
course at the end of a dinner with friends,
often in lieu of a more traditional desert.
Generally, between one and two ounces of
cheese per person is suggested for this
purpose, and a variety of tastes will be
appreciated. You might also vary the texture
of the cheeses offered—soft, hard, crumbly
or ripened. Accompany the cheeses with ripe
or dried fruit, bread or crackers and
perhaps toasted nuts. Walnuts are especially
delicious with fresh goat cheese.
Generally, we find that fresh goat cheese
pairs well with crisp white wines such as
Sauvignon Blanc or a dry Chenin Blanc. With
our soft-ripened cheeses—the Missouri Moon
and Prairie Bloom, we suggest a red wine
such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir. A
sherry or port generally works well with the
Moniteau Blue. Ask a wine merchant for help
with these pairings.
We recommend the following books which
are filled with interesting and useful
information on cheese—its history, how it is
made, the different types and how to use
them. Have a look at:
- The Cheese Course by Janet
Fletcher (Chronicle Books, 2000)
-
The Cheese Plate by Max McCalman and
David Gibbons (Potter, 2002)
-
The Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins
(Workman, 1996)
-
New American Cheese by Laura Werlin
(Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2000)
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Index of Recipes
Spring Salad with Asparagus,
Arugula and Walloon Cheese
Baked Shrimp with Feta Cheese
Spring Onion, Spinach and Goat
Cheese Bread Pudding
Goat Cheese Cake with Fresh Fruit
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