Zucchini And Goat Cheese Quiche
Is there anything more French than a savory vegetable quiche? Choose fresh-looking, smooth-skinned zucchini. If you have a vegetable garden, add strips of squash blossom to the tart, as well. Crumbled goat cheese and diced ham give the tart a complex flavor.
Can You Substitute Feta For Goat Cheese
Ive had goats for many years, but Ive never been much of a cheesemaker.
It might sound odd, but out where I live, it can be hard to get your hands on goats cheese.
I love cheese of any and all kinds, and Im always cooking with it.
With it being harder to find goats cheese out here, I often have to put up with substitutes of one kind or another.
I love using firm, crumbly cheeses in a salad, and one type I had suggested to me recently was feta cheese.
I wasnt sure if it would work as I wasnt that familiar with feta cheese, so I decided to do some research first.
So, can you substitute feta for goats cheese?
Yes, feta makes a great substitute for goats cheese! Its firm and crumbly, making it a great option for something like a goats cheese salad if you cant get goats cheese. Feta cheese has a very similar flavor, texture and consistency to goats cheese, and though there are of course differences, they both taste fantastic.
It may depend on what you wish to do with the goats cheese, but overall feta will make a great substitute for goats cheese.
Its not the only one, of course, so we will look at some other alternatives once weve looked at the differences between goats cheese and feta.
Great Goat Cheeses You Should Know
Region of Origin: Humboldt County, California
Notes: Humboldt Fog, created by Mary Keens at Cypress Grove Chevre in McKinleyville, California, is named after Humboldt County’s thick morning fog. It’s an American original. Mary Keens started crafting goat cheeses in the 1980’s and helped lead the American artisanal cheesemaking revolution. Humboldt Fog is a gorgeous wheel of goat’s milk cheese with a clean, lemony, lactic taste which becomes earthier and mustier with age. Cut open the pillowy bloomy rind to find bright white, smooth paste, bisected with a thin line of black vegetable ash.
Serve: Over a dish of roasted wild mushrooms. Or with soft-dried pears, a drizzle of honey, and a crisp white wine.
- Pin
Goat cheese might be the most controversial cheese. If you work at a cheese restaurant or behind a cheese counter and ask people “Is there anything you don’t like?,” you will hear “goat cheese” like a sad refrain.
Why? Is it because people have been inundated with inferior, chalky grocery store goats? Is it the gamy funk? Is it the fault of the goat, the poor humble goat? I love goat cheese with all my heart and tummy, so to me, this doesn’t seem fair.
Behold, the beautiful, sculptural varieties of French chevres. The logs, the pyramids, the buttons. French cheesemakers have been crafting chevre for a thousand years and counting. Whatever your goat cheese stance, I urge you to open your mind and mouth to some of these seven greats.
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Wine Is Always The Best Beverage To Pair With Goat Cheese
You might assume a nice cheeses natural best friend is a nice wine, and while Sauvignon Blanc is a classic goat cheese companion, Nessler has another idea. We love pairing with beer because its not as acidic as wine. Goat cheese tends to be fairly acidic, and acid and acid are really harsh on your palate, so it can actually be kind of tricky to pair goat cheese with a lot of wine, she says. What I love most about it is that goat cheese tends to coat your palate, with all of that really luscious fat in it, and what the bubbles in beer do is cut through that fat and allow you to taste more of the cheese and the beer. Consider us sold.
Bonne Bouche From Vermont Creamery
Where it’s from: U.S.Flavor: Milk, lemon, bread doughTexture: Creamy to runnyProducer: Vermont Creamery
This diminutive ashed round closely resembles one of the classic goat cheeses of France’s Loire Valley: Selles-sur-Cher, a pasteurized version of which is available in the States. Unlike its French inspiration, Bonne Bouche has a rind produced exclusively with the yeast geotrichum candidum, known for its sweet, mellow flavor. Unlike Vermont Creamery’s other aged goat cheeses, Bonne Bouche also uses ash, hence its foggy grey color.
The geo rind has a corrugated brainy appearance, so the higher ratio of rind to interior cheese means the paste breaks down more quickly, resulting in an oozing, spreadable texture within several weeks. French Loire Valley cheeses are often unaged, sprinkled in ash but essentially fresh goat cheese beneath. With Bonne Bouche, you’re guaranteed a developed rind. The cheese can age as long eight weeks out in the market, developing piquant black walnutty flavors, but for the most part it’s drippily spreadable with a bare background of lemony tang.
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Grilled Turkey Burgers With Goat Cheese Spread
A small amount of tangy goat cheese flavors the creamy spread. This low-calorie condiments adds a ton of flavor and soft texture to your next summer grill out. Double the spread and use it on grilled chicken or turkey sandwiches, or sub it as a dip for your party tray of chips and veggies.
Why Is Goat Cheese Put In That Awful Vacuum
Plus, answers to all the other cheese questions youve had for many years.
Cheese is a delight. Good cheese is a love language. Great cheese could, we suspect, bring peace to the world.
But cheese is a bit of an enigma. After all, cheese is typically made from four ingredients: milk, salt, enzymes, and bacteria or microbes. None of those things taste particularly great on their own.
The real magic is in how the cheesemaker uses those ingredients, plus a few clever cheesemaking techniques, to mold and shape the cheese into a delicacy unlike any other.
Seeing as we arent people to eat our cheese and drink our wine without asking questions , we pondered on a few popular cheese-related questionsand found some rather interesting answers.
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Prosciutto Fig And Goat Cheese Toast
Rather than using canned fig preserves, we used whole figs for this toast and paired it with a creamy goat cheese spread and thin slices of prosciutto. This combination makes for a delicious lunch, or serve it on smaller pieces of toast for a beautiful appetizer.
Goats Milk Has Higher Nutritional Value And Never Causes Allergic Reaction
Surprised? Dont be. It has more benefits than you think.
Youre going to make a minimally processed goats cheese. So all the nutritional benefits of milk will be carried into the goat cheese.
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Arugula Salad With Goat Cheese Bacon And Balsamic
If youre lucky enough to harvest or happen upon the freshest of arugula greens, youll want to eat an entire salad of them. The sweet figs in the balsamic dressing and the tangy goat cheese are a strong pairing with the peppery greens and the salty bite of bacon. Make the dressing up to three days ahead, and refrigerate. This will be your go-to green salad in season.
Are All Rinds Edible
Almost, but not entirely.
Wax rinds, like what you will find on Gouda, Manchego, and some cheddars, are not edible. Dont even try it.
Almost everything else is edible, even if you cant eat them.
Most cheese rinds are naturally occuring as part of the cheese-making process. They form from a mixture of molds and yeasts on the outside of the cheese, and they harden as the cheese sits. Others may be made from compressed curds that are added to give cheese its shape. All rinds end up protecting the cheese from the environment and keep it nice and moist.
Some rinds are tough and thick. They can develop tufts of mold or patches of furry growths. Rinds may also have an extremely concentrated flavor. That doesnt mean theyre not edible. They just might not be too tasty. Indeed, some can be quite overwhelming. Eating rinds is often a matter of preference.
Use those rinds in dishes like soups and stews to add flavor without adding creaminess from the cheese itself. Parmesan and Pecorino are great for vegetable or tomato soups, for example.
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Beyond Chevre: 10 Essential Goat Milk Cheeses To Know And Love
Everyone knows about “goat cheese,” a.k.a. “chèvre.” It’s white, it’s crumbly, and it’s always showing up on beet salad thanks to northern California cooks in the ’80s.
Good fresh goat cheese is a special and important thing. It should be moist and creamy, without a hint of graininess. Its flavor should be clean and fresh, mouthwateringly tangy but not astringent, lemony but also milky and balanced. An unaged cheese has nowhere to hide its faults.
Unfortunately there’s a lot of faulty, gluey goat cheese out there, metallic and sour without any nuance. And that stuff, I suspect, is what turns people off goat milk cheese entirely. But there are a lot of goat cheeses out there to try besides chèvre.
In some ways, goat milk cheeses are the opposite of cow milk the longer they’re aged, the more approachable they tend to be. Some goat cheeses are buttery and mellow, with hints of lemon. Firm, aged, and rinded varieties offer flavors of nut skins and cooked milkmuch more subtle than younger styles, which are more piquant and goaty fresh chèvre is actually pretty intense.
What goat cheeses should you seek out beyond the fresh kind? In the spirit of my top 10 introductory cheeses and my survey of essential sheep milk cheeses, here are 10 goat cheeses worth seeking out.
Learn About Goat Cheese Goat Cheese Tips
Goat cheese is being used in the kitchens of some of the most famous restaurant in the U.S., as Americans have enthusiastically embraced the taste of goat cheese in their favorite dishes, including pizza, ravioli, sauces, and appetizers. Fresh goat cheese also pairs wonderfully with the local wines and microbrews. Everyday, more and more people discover the delights of goat cheese, thus continuing the demand for it.
Goat cheese can be found in many varieties, packed in various shapes and sizes, and varying in texture and taste. Fresh goat cheese should look moist. Reject if air-bloated, moldy, or leaking whey.
Fresh artisan goat cheeses are not usually aged, so they are fresh and creamy looking with a fairly mild, salty flavor. To store, you need to protect the cheese from air with the original wrappings, plastic wrap, or wax paper. Remove from refrigerator one hour before serving. Discard any cheese that develops an off-odor, strange colors, or more than a touch of mold.
For longer storage, freeze your goat cheese. The cheese can be frozen in small packages . As long as the cheese is in good condition and tightly wrapped, its flavor, texture, and moisture content will remain unchanged. Thaw goat cheese slowly. Leave it undisturbed in the refrigerator for a period of 24 to 48 hours. Whatever you do, let the cheese warm to at least to room temperature before serving to maximize the flavor.
To purchase Goat Cheese, check out whats Cooking Americas Cooking Store.
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What To Look For
Plastic wrap invites unwanted mold, so avoid it if you can. “What happens if you put mushrooms in a plastic bag for a week? It’s the same thing,” Schad said.
If you have a cheesemonger who lets you sample before you buy, who can slice to order, who constantly refreshes the case, who uses paper, not plastic, wrap fantastic. Thats idealand probably not the situation at your average supermarket. Still, you can take steps to find the best options wherever you shop.
Fresh goat cheese should feel firm, not mushy, “otherwise you’re paying for water,” Schad said. For vacuum-sealed cheese, avoid excess liquid, leakage and any off-colors. For varieties with rind that have already been cut into, look for any separation between the rind and the cheese you don’t want that. If it looks dried out as if it’s been sitting there a while, it probably has been.
Why Do Some Cheeses Stink
The scents of fine cheeses are sometimes more funky and unpleasant than endearing and comforting. Indeed, some of the best cheeses are, well, downright foul. Thats thanks to the cheese-making process.
When cheesemakers start the process, they add rennet or other enzymes to the cows, sheeps, or goats milk to separate the whey from the curds . When theyve removed as much whey as they want, they then add pre-selected bacteria to the curds. These microbes help shape a cheeses texture, taste, and yes, smell.
Each type creates unique and special properties, so cheesemakers choose their microbes carefully. Some bacteria can create a mushroomy, forest floor-like flavor. These bacteria might be ideal in a Brie or Camembert.
Another type is renowned for creating a sweet and salty flavor, as well as carbon dioxide, which creates holes as the cheese ripens. Those bacteria are commonly used in Emmental and similar Swiss cheeses.
A second factor, age, can play a key role in cheese stink. The longer a cheese ages, the more likely it is to develop an intense aroma.
Finally, some cheeses, like Taleggio, are washed during the cheese-making process. Washed rinds are important for keeping cheeses moist. The liquids that are used to wash the cheesescommonly, beer, saltwater, brandy, or portcan also create distinct flavors and smells in the cheese.
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Can I Leave My Cheese Wrapped In The Plastic From The Store
You can, but you shouldnt.
Cheese is a living organism. Unlike say, your clamshell of mixed greens, cheese continues to ripen, so you dont want to choke off all the air. Instead, you should allow moisture and oxygen to reach the cheesebut not too much.
The best way to protect your cheese is to wrap it properly before you put it into your refrigerator. That starts by asking the cheesemonger at your store to wrap it in wax or parchment paper if they have it. If they dont, do it yourself as soon as you get home. Then, loosely wrap the cheese in plastic wrap. Next, put the cheese in a wooden box or plastic container with a lid.
If you have a particularly stinky cheesewere looking at you Époisseskeep it in a separate container from your other cheeses. You dont want the scent to invade your porous cheeses.
Check your cheese often. If its too soggy or wet, it needs more air. Take it out of the plastic container or wrappings. If its too dry, gently wrap the cheese in a damp, clean cloth.
Of course, cheeses, once theyre cut from the block, do not last long. Their protective shield cant keep air from reaching them now, so its better to eat your prized chevres as soon as you can.
Humboldt Fog From Cypress Grove Chevre
Where it’s from: U.S.Aroma: Yogurt with a whiff of moldFlavor: Sour cream and citrusTexture: Crumbly cakeProducer: Cypress Grove
Many a cheese counter suggests that this cheese takes its name from the superior weed grown in Humboldt County, California. That’s not actually the case, but the cheese’s origins are trippy and wonderful enough that the idea is apt. Cypress Grove founder Mary Keehn dreamt of Humboldt Fog on a 1980s plane ride home from France, imagining it in painstaking detail, from its tall, cakey shape to the wavering line of blue-grey vegetable ash, included as an homage to the French mountain cheese Morbier. Folks new to the cheese think it’s blue mold, as in “blue cheese,” but the ash is merely decorative, and a daily acknowledgement of the French cheesemaking tradition that so moved one American woman.
Humboldt Fog isn’t sticky and silky like Brie, but you look at it and imagine a Brie in Wonderland that swallowed a growth potion. Unlike fresh goat cheese, Humboldt Fog is dusted in vegetable ash and inoculated with P.candidum to develop that edible white skin. Its flavor is saltier and less acidic than Brie, without the animal notes. Instead, you get a flaky cheesecake texture and buttermilk tang with pronounced citrus fruit. The brightness of lemon shining through all that fog.
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List Of Goat Cheeses By Region
China
- Rubing is a fresh goat cheese from Yunnan Province, resembling the Indian paneer, a cow’s cheese.
- Shosha a pungent cheese and staple food in Tibetan cuisine of the Tibet Autonomous Region that is often made from animals suited to the climate such as goat and yak.
Japan
- Yagi Cheese is a goat cheese made in Japan. Yagi is the Japanese word for goat.
Eastern Mediterranean
- Labneh is a goat, cow or sheep yogurt cheese consumed in many parts of the world including the Eastern Mediterranean. It is often eaten with olive oil, olives, zaatar and fresh vegetables on flatbread for breakfast.
France produces a great number of goat’s milk cheeses, especially in the Loire Valley and Poitou, where goats are said to have been brought by the Moors in the 8th century. Examples of French chèvres include Bucheron, Chabis, Chavroux, Clochette, Couronne Lochoise, Crottin de Chavignol , Faisselle, Montrachet , Pélardon, Picodon, Pouligny Saint-Pierre, Rocamadour, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Chabichou du Poitou, Valençay, and Pyramide.
It is sometimes served hot as chèvre chaud.
Belgium
Belgium produces several goat cheeses, most of them soft cheeses and some half-hard types. Some artisanal farm house cheeses are made with raw, organic goat milk: Karditsel in Lummen , Farm Polle in Lichtaart and Ferme du Chemin Chataigne in Ayeneux . While others are made by artisanal producers with raw or pasteurised, organic goat milk: the fromagerie Gros Chêne in Mean and Het Hinkelspel in Ghent .
Greece
