A quick poll for a Friday: goat cheese

[Gail]

Reading sunberst's thread on favorite 10 ingredients, I was astounded at the number of people listing goat cheese as a favorite food. As a matter of fact, I had a dream I was served a great big hunk of it for dinner.

To tell you the truth, I'm not a fan. I'll eat the stuff (but then again, I'll eat anything ) and enjoy it in minute quantities, but too much goat cheese to me is... well... goaty.

Since I'm obviously in the minority here (and used to being in that position, I might add) I'm curious as to just how far the scales tip in the other direction.

So... where do you stand insofar as goat cheese is concerned? Hopefully not in it. :p

[Kayaksoup]

I love the creamy chevre. Not too goaty. BUt the aged goat cheese. NOt a big fan.

[RebeccaT]

I like it. I wouldn't necessarily rank as one of my very favorite things (unlike feta! love feta!) but I really enjoy it when I eat it.

There's a pasta dish at a favorite restaurant of mine that's just a simple pomodoro sauce with fresh basil, and they serve it with a dollop of goat cheese in the center. When it's all stirred around, and it melts into the sauce... mmmm.... I love that. Oh, and emily's creation from this past winter, of pasta with proscuitto, spinach, and goat cheese... maybe I like it more than I thought it did! :p

[KristinK]

There are only a (small) few types of cheese that I like, and goat cheese is most definitely not one of them.

[tamawrite]

When I was in Panama, the only kind of cheese available on pizza was goat cheese. I didn't mind that...maybe because I was living on sardines and rice for the most part. But I voted "bleah!" since all the goat cheese spreads, etc I've had since were, um, rank.

[Julie A]

I love it! A favorite way of DH and I to eat it is on warm toasted french bread. I love the kind with you buy with herbs, and I usually put crumbled goat cheese on salads (almonds too).
I thought everyone felt the same way - I will be more conservative about serving it to guests, now that I see how other people feel about it. How nice to see some other opinions!

[Natasha3]

Eh. In small doses, I can eat it. But then, like Gail, I'm not a picky eater at all. I don't seek it out or anything, though. And since I love most kinds of cheeses, it seems like kind of a waste to me to have what (to me) would have been an incredible meal, had it had some other kind of cheese, and make it just so so (again, to my tastes) by adding goat cheese instead.

Oh well...

Natasha

[Alethea]

I really like it, though I don't know that I'd list it among my favorite foods, or even my favorite cheese. But I do like it. Though I'm a little bit worried about the next time I have it, because earlier this week I picked up a goat milk yogurt by mistake. Eeeewwwy eeeww, all I could taste was goat! Hopefully this doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the cheese. :o

[CompassRose]

I loooooove goat cheese. But my taste in cheese runs to the "please eat that outside" extremes of stinky. :p

[wallycat]

Voted I like it; I like most any cheese though :D
It's not my most favorite cheese so I didn't vote the top selection :)

[kristalsnow7]

Oh how I love it! In salads, pasta, on top of warm bread....plain. It's definitely in my top 10. :D

[waltnj]

I am very into it right now. A favorite quick dinner is spinach salad with goat cheese & dried cranberries with a balsamic vinegrette. (sp) The Capital Grille serves a similiar salad that inspired me to do this at home. I sometimes throw grilled chicken on it for a meal. It is sooooo good.

[LaraW]

Love love love it!

[Grace]

LOVE IT!! Love it, love it, love it. But my favorite story about goat cheese is still the one about the company Xmas dinner for my husband's company. I sat across the table from some 40 some-odd-ish old Italian woman (whose parents even owned a restauarant - go figure!) who took a bite of the goat cheese crostini appetizer they served and asked, "I wonder why they call it goat cheese?" :eek: :eek: It was all I could do not to spit MY crostini out laughing!! :D

[sunberst]

goat cheese is awesome!

i love scooping up creamy warm goat cheese with bread. yum.

some of you say it is "goaty". i dont get that. but then again, i am not sure what a goat tastes like! ;)

[CompassRose]

Originally posted by sunberst
i love scooping up creamy warm goat cheese with bread. yum.

Add in the squashed-out innards of roasted-to-melting cloves of garlic.
Oh.
My.
Whoa.

[d_ferrero]

I love love love LOVE goat cheese... it's certainly in my top ten.

Slice a round loaf of ciabatta in half 'horizontally'.

Spread the cut side liberally with soft goat cheese.

Sprinkle wiht brown sugar to cover.

Toss on a quarter cup or so of chopped pecans or walnuts.

Broil 'til the nuts are brown and the rest is goey.

Slice and serve.

One of the most amazing food experiences I've ever had.

(and for those of you who love brie, the recipe above is equally good wiht sour dough and brie.)

[SusanMac]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM:-) Our Whole Foods has a dozen different kinds of goat cheese and we're happily making our way through each one! I can, though, see why some people don't like it. All goat's milk cheeses tend to be on the stinky side. Not nearly as severe as blue, though (which I adore, and DH won't touch)

[AndreaU]

I'm a big fan of goat cheese. Since DH can't eat dairy products made from cow's milk, he tried out goat cheese and found it a delicious alternative without the side effects. And ever since I found a local farm that produces fresh goat cheese, I'm all over it. I even got to meet the goats! Talk about going to the source...

[sneezles]

Add me to the list of goat cheese lovers! I'd never heard anyone refer to it as tasting goat-y until we went to dinner with some friends and it came on the salad and she said this cheese tastes like mutton! I told it was from a goat and she said that's what they call old goats around here! :p So I keep trying to taste it with that in mind but I can't get past the "YUMMMMM!" part!

[aggie94]

Yuck, blech. :o I was never a cheese fan growing up, but am learning to like (even love) a lot of different cheeses now. Goat cheese is not one of them. So Gail, I'm in the minority with ya. ;)

[Gail]

Hey, now... I'm surprised. I think there are a lot more closet goat cheese haters here than I thought. Either that, or the goat cheese lovers have signed off for the day!

(In answer to your question, Sunberst, though I haven't tasted a goat, I've certainly smelled them. And since things frequently taste like they smell, I use the term "goaty.")

I might also add that I think feta made from cow's milk is nasty. To me, the only worthwhile feta is one from goat's milk. Go(at) figure.

[kwormann]

Ill eat just about ANYTHING with goat cheese....:)


AND dont forget, Im the one that introduced Drunken Goat Cheese to the board...:D:D:D

[Kayaksoup]

completely OT, but goats milk is the WORST. I like the goat cheese, but the milk....I had to drink it when I was a kid. Oh and milk the goats and make goat cheese and goat yogurt....

[Pico]

I wish I could say I love it, but alas... I've never had it. (Bowing in shame.) Anyone know a good "beginner's" variety? I'd like to try it, since I usually like sharp/pungent cheeses--and if it's worth anything, I like goats!

Kayaksoup, I envy your childhood experience! I often visit a pick-your-own farm that raises goats. There's an elevated ramp in their pen, so they often climb up and hang out there. It's odd to see these little goats standing 12 feet above your head--they almost look like gods surveing their domain. :)

[Kayaksoup]

Actually, Pico, as much as I hated it at the time, I am nostalgic for my childhood on the farm.

[TerriS]

I am generally not a fan of the softer, stinkier cheeses. Don't like feta, blue, camembert, any of those. Give me a hunk of cheddar or gouda any day.

[Beth]

I said I like it. It seems like there is a good deal of variancce in goat cheeses, so some more than others I have had.

[claire797]

Gail, we've been through this already remember? You said it tasted like GOAT ;).

That's what I think of whenever I see Goat Cheese.

[Gail]

Forgive me, Anna--

I'm old, it's hot in here (or I'm having a hot flash) and I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to. If you mean I said it before somewhere else, it's possible.

...I mean, I don't listen to myself... :p

[claire797]

Originally posted by Gail
Forgive me, Anna--

I'm old, it's hot in here (or I'm having a hot flash) and I'm not entirely sure what you're referring to. If you mean I said it before somewhere else, it's possible.

...I mean, I don't listen to myself... :p

Or maybe you just REALLY hate goat cheese and need to reiterate.
Fine by me. I hate it to.

Another vile goat product is Cajeta. Ewwwwwwwww. It taste like goat too. The question is, what does cabrito taste like? Does it taste like goat?

[Gail]

(glancing around with perplexed look, palms up, shrugging)

I'm really confused.

And you're not clearing it up by dragging cabritos into this.

Is there something in this soy milk which is causing me not to comprehend what you're trying to point out? Or maybe I should just forget about it and worry about what I'm going to serve for dinner. (Yes, tonight.)

(Scratching head) Maybe I better chuck the soy milk and have some WINE. :D

[boisewinesnob]

I voted love it. :)
Gail, I always feel like the minority when it comes to cilantro! :eek: . It seems like such a trendy ingredient that everybody loves but I can't stand the stuff--other than the cilantro/banana mojo recipe I posted many moons ago. :)

[claire797]

Originally posted by Gail

I'm really confused.



1) You post a pole asking how people feel about goat cheese.

2) I, noting that you have stated your opinion on goat cheese in many a thread, take an opportunity to josh you a bit by saying (with many smilies, of course) that we've been through this before. In fact, I point out that you mentioned it tasted like goat, which I thought was funny.

3. For some reason, you are confounded by this. Perhaps you have no recollection of the goat cheese thread whatsoever.

4. My response to your confusion was to say perhaps you are reiterating how much you hate goat cheese because you have started a whole new thread on this much discussed subject. Not that I care. I hate goat cheese too and find pleasure in trashing it in as many threads as possible.

As fodder, I mention the wretchedness of cajeta (goat caramel) and cabrito (actual goat). Going on the assumption that you think goat cheese tastes "like goat", the joke here is that I'm wondering if cabrito tastes like goat. Ha Ha. Cabrito IS goat. Get it?

NOW do you get it?


http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32684&highlight=dirty+socks


http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44782&highlight=goat+cheese

[Varaile]

And meanwhile...;)

I'm not thrilled about goat cheese either.

I've made it in a few dishes where it was good (I made sure to buy a good brand of cheese) and in one where I thrust the entire dish at my DH and said "here, you eat this!"

Now if we started a thread about feta or blue cheese...YUM YUM YUM. :D

[Gail]

Thank you for the clarification, Anna. Truly, I was mystified, though it was clear you were kidding about something. The issue, you see, is that I couldn't tell if you were referring to the fact that I used the term "goaty" twice within the current thread and the wine you were drinking had gone to your head :p, or if you were alluding to something I'd said in another thread-- which I understand now was the case. Obviously, our minds were on two very different tracks. I was aware there were other threads on the subject of goat cheese-- it is my habit to run searches before posting-- but it was numbers I was after more than anything else. All the time I've been on these boards, I've seen post after post proclaiming the wonders of goat cheese to the point where I became curious as to just how far in the minority I might be. Call it more of a quantitative study than anything else. And probably, I should NOT have posted on a Friday, 'cause I'm never going to get a realistic head count that way.

I appreciate your taking the time to explain yourself.

[claire797]

Originally posted by Gail
it is my habit to run searches before posting-- but it was numbers I was after more than anything else. All the time I've been on these boards, I've seen post after post proclaiming the wonders of goat cheese to the point where I became curious as to just how far in the minority I might be.

I guess we'll have to wait until next week to get an accurate result. You started the poll around noon PST on Friday. Maybe by Monday evening the "blechs!" will gain some ground.

I am curious to hear what Pico thinks about goat cheese, having never tried it. Hopefully, she'll make it her business to try some soon so she can report back.

The goaty taste is very distinct. It's not necessarily a question of liking strong cheeses, either. I absolutely love blue cheese and gorgonzola, but can't stand the goatiness of goat cheese. I can only imagine how putrid and vile Alethea'sgoat-milk yogurt must have been. Ick.

[Gail]

Originally posted by claire797


I can only imagine how putrid and vile Alethea'sgoat-milk yogurt must have been. Ick.

Actually, I've eaten that before. Probably won't buy any again, but I was able to stomach the entire carton.

[Gail]

The goats are back.

Bumping this up because I believe that posting this late on a Friday didn't exactly give it the best time to gather votes. Seems to me we're showing far more goat cheese haters than I expected...

[lorilei]

Aha. You've caught me. A real NINNY.

I AM a goat cheese fan -- though it depends on the sort of goat cheese we're discussing.

I've had some goat cheese that tastes reminiscent of TOE DIRT. Not my kind of cheese.

Other types I've found to be smooth, and not tasting quite so much like something found in an unmentionable place. THESE are the kinds of goat cheese I use for my cooking.

Just made an eggplant lasagnette over the weekend that calls for a few ounces of chevre, in fact -- always a pleasure, as long as I consult the right goats first.

[honeygirl1971]

I missed this thread last week, and thought maybe others had too. Gail, I LOVE IT!!! It's definitely on my favorite things list. And I like all kinds--the soft creamy kind we call chevre here, the slightly firmer bucheron, the aged stuff, the herbed stuff, ALL OF IT!!!

Monday night I made a pizza topped with diced prosciutto, roasted red peppers, lots of crumbled goat cheese, red onion, and fresh basil. YUM YUM YUM!

I cook with it all the time, but also love it on bread, crackers, etc.

So, in sum, I am one of the crazed goat cheese lovers on the BB. I am surprised to see how many people don't like it, though.

[Suncoupons]

I'm not a picky eater but I've tried many times to like goat cheese, but just can't. I do like sheep cheese however. Yum Manchego cheese!

But goat cheese has this rustic quality to it that I just do not like. Oh well!

Good thing there are so many other yummy cheeses out there!

Savita