Goat Milk Chronicles - Episode 3

Today is August 31st. Between my last Goat Milk post and today, I have had some unexpected things happen that has left the milk languishing in the fridge. Only 1 thing left to do. Goat Milk Riccota. I followed the directions on a cheese making site and had good results. Here is the link.
http://njnj.essortment.com/cheesemakingre_remb.htm

The ricotta went into a nice Papparadelle and Ricotta dish that I found on Lex Culinaria's blog.

The Goat Milk Chronicles - Episode 2

Well, there is some more goat milk gone today. I got a call from my husband, letting me know that his latte tasted weird this morning, until he figured out that he grabbed the goat instead of the skim. They both had blue caps! 2.5 more litres to go!

Glorious Potatoes

The weather was still chilly today. The sun came out but fall is definitely in the air. It was a good day to make chicken stock and to cook something in the oven. While in the Naramata area, I bought a cookbook called Menus from an Orchard Table. This book is written by Heidi Noble, from Joie Wines and Farm Cooking School. Heidi and her Husband, Michael Dinn are newly transplanted to the Okanagan, and have opened up a winery, and cooking school on a Naramata orchard property. This is a "must do" for my next trip to the area. For now, I am enjoying their story and Heidi's book and will make sure that I cook my way through many of the menus.

One recipe that caught my eye today was a Potato, Chevre and Thyme Gratin. It was, as they say "a keeper", and I can think of so many dishes that would go well with these potatoes. Following is an adapted recipe.

Goat Cheese and Thyme Potatoes

Serves 4

1 cup whipping cream
1 large clove garlic smashed
1 bay leaf
4 stems of fresh thyme
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 small chub of soft goat cheese
5 Yellow fleshed Potatoes, peeled.

Heat up the whipping cream with the bay leaf, smashed garlic clove and the thyme sprigs until just boiling. Remove from heat. Let infuse for 15 minutes while you prepare the potatoes. Remove the bay leaf, thyme sprigs and garlic. Add the goat cheese and stir. Let the goat cheese warm up in the cream, and then whisk until smooth. Using a mandoline or food processor, slice the potatoes thinly. It is important that the potatoes are uniform in thickness, as this will ensure that they cook evenly.

Layer the potatoes in a baking dish (9 X 9) . Salt and pepper this layer. After 1 layer, pour over 1/3 of the cream mixture. Repeat for 3 layers, ending up with cream on top. I placed some fresh thyme on top. Cover the dish with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for about half an hour. Remove foil and press down the potatoes with the back of your spoon to release the starch into the cream. Do this a few times, while the potatoes are baking. The total cook time is about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Test with a sharp knife that the potatoes are tender. Turn on the broiler in your oven and let the potatoes brown on top. Let sit for a few minutes and then cut into squares and serve. This will go great with any grilled or roasted meats.

The Goat Milk Chronicles - Episode 1

On our recent trip to the Okanagan area, we had the opportunity to visit Carmelis Goat Cheese. They are a small, family-owned boutique dairy and make all natural cheeses with no additives or preservatives, in the traditional European style. It is a little gem of a place, perched up on a hillside, overlooking Lake Okanagan. They will welcome you with a taste of all of their cheeses and also have a selection of goat milk gelato which was a delightful surprise. Super creamy, without the fat content of cow's cream, their freezer showcase was brimming with at least 20 flavours, beautifully garnished. I was so intrigued by this gelato, I vowed to try to make some at home. As we looked in on the goats before we left the shop, I said to them.......I'm looking for goat milk when I get home.

Well, I found some shopping at the Italian Centre Shop. It is from Fairwinds Farm in Fort Macleod Alberta. It has no additives and is hormone and pesticide free. I BOUGHT 4 LITRES. Now, the reason for the title of this entry is: what am I going to do with it all before the expiry date of September 1st?

Entry # 1

Goat Milk gelato was an easy one. I found a recipe for regular vanilla gelato and substituted the goat milk for it.

For those of you with an ice cream machine, here is the recipe

2 cups goat milk
1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 vanilla bean

Heat up the cream, milk and sugar in a sauce pan until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. If you are using the vanilla bean, slit it open and scrape the seeds into the milk before you heat it up. Let cool to room temperature, and then chill overnight. Freeze in machine according to manufacturer's directions.

Aurore Sauvignon Blanc 2006 and Spaghetti Frittata

We had the opportunity to visit an up and coming vineyard in the Oliver region called leVieux Pin. Our friend, who has settled in Naramata, took us to the winery to meet one of the owners. This winery has tastings by appointment, and we were able to call and give a few hours notice to set up a tasting. Dry farming, minimal fertilizer addition, high-density plantings and low yield production are some of the tenets of this vineyard. They harvest the grapes by hand and this particular vintage claims to have had only 15 hours of irrigation during it's growing season. If you have been to the region, you will see that it is almost a desert in this area of B.C., so 15 hours of water does not seem like so much!

We had a taste of this wine last night and enjoyed it's fruity almost sweet character. Today, I wanted to see if I could pair it with a light lunch and test it's compatibility with food. Trouble is, my fridge was almost empty and I did not feel like going out for the "big grocery load up" yet. I have tomatoes ready in my garden, and a sage plant the size of a shrub. There was a few nubbins of goat cheese kicking around in the cheese drawer, and some pasta from last night's hurry up supper when we arrived home. I decided to make a Spaghetti Frittata. I won't print a recipe here, but will give the list of ingredients, so that when you find that your fridge is bare, you know that it really is not!

I warmed up olive oil in a saute pan, and then threw in some fresh garlic and a handful of fresh sage leaves. I let this sizzle away for a few seconds, and then added the leftover spaghetti to heat through. Next, 3 eggs, whipped, with some fresh chives, the goat cheese, and chopped fresh tomato. I stirred this around until the edges started to cook, turned down the heat and warmed up the broiler. It sat on the stove top for about 10 - 15 minutes, and when it was almost cooked all the way through, I ran it under the broiler. We ate this lovely little lunch in our almost finished gazebo. My husband had to come down off the roof from nailing shingles to partake in this repast. The wine tasted even better with the lunch than it did last night.

Peach Melba Muffins

I don't know what possessed me to let 3 beautiful Okanagan
peaches rattle around in a huge cooler with 20 bottles of Okanagan wine. But, they were pretty beat up this morning and I thought the best thing for them would be muffins.

I have just returned from a 7 day trip to the VERY SUNNY Okanagan. I say this with much emphasis, because it was raining at home when I left and raining when I got back. We spent our days of +30 degrees laying on beaches, touring wineries, traversing canyons, ogling fresh fruit and produce, and reveling in the laid back atmosphere of the Okanagan. We had a beautiful lunch on the patio at Lake Breeze Winery in Naramata, and a dinner at Passa Tempo, a restaurant at the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and Spa.

The peaches were bought at one of a million roadside fruit stands that line the road between Osoyoos and Penticton. The Elephant Island Framboise is from a great fruit winery on the Naramata Bench area above Penticton. I also purchased a nice dry cherry wine that I am looking forward to pairing with a meal.

These muffins are Peach Melba muffins, which are reminiscent of the traditional Peach Melba dessert that was one of the many coupes I learned to prepare in culinary school. This classic dessert was created by Auguste Escoffier, to honour Dame Nellie Melba, an opera star of the late 1800's.

Peach Melba Muffins

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp Framboise liqueur
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3 oz melted unsalted butter
1 cup milk
1 cup fresh peach, peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a muffin pan with non stick spray.
Toss the raspberries, 1 tbsp sugar, and the Framboise, and let macerate for about 30 minutes.

Stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, whisk eggs, melted butter and milk together. Stir into the flour mixture until just moistened and lumpy. Fold in the peaches.

Spoon batter into 9 muffin cups, not filling them to the top and reserving about 1/4 quarter of the batter for the top. Spoon a few raspberries onto each muffin, and then top with the rest of the batter.

Sprinkle the almonds, that have been tossed with the remaining 1 tbsp sugar, onto the muffins. Bake about 25- 30 minutes or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out dry. Cool 5 minutes in the pan and then remove from pan to continue cooling.

Enjoy!

A Turn in the Weather

Who's responsible? I'd like to know how the weather could suddenly change from a month of positively Mediterranean to FREAKIN' COLD! I am on day 5 of a month off and am just a little peeved at the weather. I know.......grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.........

It's a good thing that I have all the fixings in my fridge for a great summer borscht! I was lucky enough to find golden beets as well as regular ones. I have so much dill in my garden that "volunteered" from last summer that I could open up a borscht factory. For those of you "not in the know" of gardening jargon, volunteer plants are the ones that pop up anywhere from seeds that you did not get rid of in previous years. It's a true sign of a laissez faire gardener, who doesn't dead head the blooms of the plants before they spread their seeds. They should be treated like the weeds they have become, but as they are yummy little plants, I leave them around and then pull them out as required. Manicured gardens do not have many volunteers!

There are as many borschts as there are cooks. This version is my version today, as this is what I had available to me in my fridge and garden. Enjoy!

Summer Borscht

1 small onion, diced
1 cup diced carrots
1 - 2 litres chicken stock
about 1 dozen small or 4 medium beets
1 large potato
1/2 large or 1 small zucchini
Salt & Pepper
fresh dill springs
fresh thyme springs

additional or optional: green and yellow beans, cabbage, diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)

Pre-boil beets to loosen skins and then peel and roughly chop. Chop all vegetables to the size that you desire, however, a rustic soup such as borscht is nice with chunky vegetables.

Saute onion and carrots in vegetable oil. Add the stock, thyme, tomatoes, beets and potatoes, and bring to the boil. Cook until all are almost tender. Add the rest of the vegetables (the zucchini and beans if you are using them). Cook some more and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the fresh dill. Serve with a splash of vinegar if you wish, and/or a blob of sour cream or creme fraiche.

Figs in Edmonton

I have a "thing" about the South of France and Italy. The climate, cuisine, wines and laid back culture all strike a chord with me. I long for the day when I can spend a month in a rented house, shop in the local markets, and soak up the sun and vibe.

My husband took a tree pruning class a few winters ago, where the expert gardener said, " why have an ornamental fig as a houseplant when you can have an edible fig?" The fig seed was planted. I purchased a brown turkey fig this spring. The tree had these great huge leaves that I have only seen in books (covering the nether parts of various people).

About a month later, the figs started budding. The tree had about 20 figs on it. The figs took about 2 months to mature. About a month ago, just before I started harvesting the fruit, I noticed that the leaves were getting brown and shriveled. I saw that evil spider mites had infested the tree, and were hell bent on "taking it down". Even the new leaf buds were lunch for the mites. We decided to move the tree outside. With daily showers, and the wind in it's branches, the fig seems to have recovered. The leaf buds are now able to emerge, and it may just make it.

Pictured above is the last fig from the tree. Below is the simple dish that we made by broiling the fig crop with Lola Canola Buckwheat Honey drizzled over. Buckwheat honey is very dark, with a molasses appearance and flavour. We ate the dessert on our piazza (patio) in front of the forno (fire).

Market Day

It was raining cats and dogs today. This was the day that I was going to check out the St. Albert Farmer's Market. It is a great market. Many producers and artisans were displaying their bounty. Those dedicated souls were huddled under their tents and we dedicated souls were trudging around trying to stay inspired. Pictures were out of the question because of the downpour. When I shop at a market, supper that day is usually pretty exciting. What to make.......what to make.

I had a small salmon available and a new fish basket to try out. This fish basket is a stainless steel cage with handles that you can flip on the barbecue so your fish does not tear or break. I went out to the garden and got a selection of fresh herbs. I stuffed them into the cavity of the salmon with some slices of lemon and thinly sliced shallot. Smoked sea salt and pepper, and then on to the BBQ. Boiled new potatoes and yellow beans rounded out the meal, and a satisfying shopping trip turned into a satisfying meal.

Avoiding the Dark Side

I got home from work today and the age old thought popped into my head. What am I going to make for supper? As usual, the little person that whispers in my ear said "avoid work at all costs". The picture of my open refrigerator runs through my head. Hot dogs, fresh cherries, cheese....... vegetables..........no.....not the vegetables. Hot dogs it is! My 2 teenage boys will certainly not mind. Unfortunately they survive on only a few food groups; processed meats being one of them!

While I was tidying up in the kitchen I started hearing things from my refrigerator. "Cook me!" "I belong in a soup, please help me!" I opened up the fridge and there they were:

• 3 kinds of peppers
• Summer carrots from the Farmers Market
• Zucchini
• Half an onion
  
• tomatoes that were too ripe to stay at room temperature
• leftover chicken stock
  

I looked outside.....Fresh basil, oregano and thyme.....

They're ganging up on me! What is a girl to do? Minestrone.

It really only took about 15 minutes to make. I threw the chopped vegetables with onion in a pot with some olive oil. Sauteed it and then tossed in the stock, tomatoes, herbs and some small pasta. Cooked it for about 8 minutes. Salt and pepper, and then half a can of fava beans. Another 5 minutes cooking and there it was....smiling at me from the pot. It said "you must avoid the dark side....Making good food doesn't take that long".

We ate the soup on the patio with a crusty baguette and a nice Chilean Rose. What more can you ask for?