local goat cheese makes for easy recipes

I have been on the hunt for local goat cheese and rustled up a few leads but the one I connected with is Amazing Acres Goat Dairy in Elverson. I have heard that this cheese artisan sets up on Penn Avenue for the West Reading Farmers Market.

For a recent tasting at Shri Yoga on Penn, I ran out to Amazing Acres and if it was not a rainy day I would have taken a photo of the great goats who were checking me out from their cozy barn. I picked up fresh fromagina and chevre.

The owners shared that fromagina can be substituted in recipes that call for ricotta or mascarpone to make a sweet or savory recipe. Use it for a savory dip or add sugar (I used agave) and fresh/frozen fruit for a sweet alternative. I served chocolate wafers with a creamy fromagina that was blended with Weaver's Orchard cherries, vanilla bean, agave and walnuts.
Bet it might make a nice addition to a savory cheese cake.

Goat cheese is an easy savory to serve in a roll or ball. I rolled the chevre in cranberries, walnuts and rosemary from my garden. If you want to stretch the cheese or make it a bit softer try blending in an equal portion of cream cheese.

At a recent get together held at Epiphany Life Enrichment Center, I made a cranberry goat cheese log. Here is a link to an easy cranberry goat cheese log recipe, it is just as tasty as it is beautiful to present.

all in all...use simple, local ingredients and keep it real folks!

dirty risotto...comfort food oolala

I have a great, fool-proof recipe that I use for risotto from a Todd English book, The Figs Table. This is a perfect comfort food and this week's weather begged for a pot! My version is fudged from the original. My aunt-in-law went to Myrtle Beach for the month of February and dropped off some things that she could not pack and did not want to spoil...okay guys, down there in MB your loss!

I was gifted garlic, red onion, fresh herbs for soup, a sweet potato, and a butternut squash. I already used the herbs and garlic for a simple tomato garlic soup with chick peas and orzo. The red onion was next to be used. Typically a basic risotto is creamy white and to use the red onion would alter that color, I further fudged it up by using dried mushrooms and the broth they were reconstituted in. Instead of the traditional white wine, I used red to further dirty my rice and lastly I found whole grain risotto!!! No photo for this post, it was dirty rice.

If you like Italian sausage (not passing judgment...being as some people keep pigs as pets is all) it might be nice in this mix, maybe with a bit of sage and thyme.

Four-Onion Risotto
this is Todd's recipe ** my alternations are in blue

serves 6-8

2 T butter **extra virgin olive oil
2 c leeks, thinly sliced **red onion
1 spanish onion, diced
5-6 shallots, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (or pressed)
1 cup dried mushrooms, reconstituted
2 cups arborio rice **brown arborio
1/2 c white wine **red wine
6 cups chicken broth **organic beef broth
2 T thyme, fresh or 1 T dry
1/2 goat cheese **grated parm

Place a large stainless steel/non-reactive pot over medium heat and add the oil. Add the onions, shallots and cook until tender and translucent, about 7-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and cook until it is absorbed.

Add the broth, one cup at a time, stirring with each addition, until it is absorbed, about 20 minutes. DON'T leave unattended! Add the herbs and cheese and serve while still creamy.

berrylicious spinach and goat cheese salad

Well, garden growth is still headed in the right direction! We are just finishing up on the raspberry harvest, an eggplant has made an appearance, I underestimated the potential of my tomatoes (mere cages cannot hold these beasts. shout out to happy cat organics! his plants are looking great in my garden) and I was just munching on sweet peas from the vine.

This recipe will be a punch of super foods (SF) and is a creation of my mother's (special event caterer at the Lewes Hospital). She said this salad was a success and she hopes you enjoy it too. It also offers an opportunity to buy local, organic and seasonal foods.

Huge score for me, I picked up freshly picked blueberries from a neighbor who puts out a few pints of whatever is growing in the garden that week. The raspberries that compose the dressing are from Dan's bushes and the thyme from my garden.

The down and dirty on this salad begins with an organic spinach base that provides you a daily allowance of this SF. Spinach is loaded with anti-oxidants and mineral rich. Blended in is a mix of local blueberries and a from scratch raspberry dressing with a hind of shallot (yes, you guessed it... the crazy cousin to garlic and a SF) and thyme . Topped with walnuts (yes, it's getting redundant ... another SF loaded with omega 3-fatty acid and more) and thyme and lime zest goat cheese. BTW, the berries help satisfy that sweet tooth craving!

raspberry vinaigrette

• 10 oz / 1 pint / 2 cups raspberries
• 1 T shallots, finely diced
• 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 c white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp stone ground mustard
• 2 T maple syrup
• 1 T lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 2 tsp thyme or tarragon

food process the raspberries. you can leave it seeded or remove the seeds by pressing it through a strainer. when you have the raspberry pureed whisk in the remaining ingredients. mom suggests you gently mix the blueberries and raspberry dressing to macerate overnight in the fridge. don't second guess mom.

salad

• 5 cups (16oz box) organic spinach, unless you are growing some
• 5 cups blueberries, fresh (use 4 cups in dressing)
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 small log (5-6oz) of goat cheese
• zest of one lime
• 6-8 sprigs of fresh thyme or tarragon, chopped (mirror the herb used in the dressing)

toss the spinach, 1 cup berries, shallot and carrots. mix the zest, herb and 2 T of walnuts (finely chop those) and roll the goat cheese to coat in the herb mixture. slice the goat cheese into discs. top the salad with the blueberry and raspberry dressing, walnuts and then the goat cheese. This might be best presented on individual plates.