Goat Cheese

[marshalynne]

Anyone have any favorite recipes/uses for goat cheese? I love it!!!

[Susann]

I have a delicious Moosewood recipe for stuffed zuchinni, which contains feta (by the way, are feta and goat cheese the same?) cheese and swiss cheese. Let me know if you are interested-I would be happy to post it.

[SandyDee]

Marshalynne, I recently got my Complete Cooking Light book and it had a great recipe for Artichoke and Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts. It sounded wonderful to me, I haven't made it yet but it is one of the first ones I plan on trying.

1( 14 ounce) can artichoke bottoms
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled goat or feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped chives, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind, divided
8 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Drain artichokes in a colander over a bowl, reserving liquid. Coarsely chop artichoke bottoms. Combine artichoes, goat cheese, 2 tablespoons chives, t teaspoon thyme, and 1 teaspoon lemon rind in a medium bowl.

2. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff about 1/4 cup artichoke mixture into pockets. Sprinkle chicken with pepper.

3. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 4 chicken breast halves; cook 6 to 8 minutes on each side or until shicken is done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with 1 teaspoon oil and 4 chicken breast halves. Add reserved artichoke liquid, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, and 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind to pan. Combine cornstarch and lemon juice; add to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan. Cover and simmer 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Spoon sauce over chicken. Top with 2 tablespoons chives. Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half)

CALORIES 189 (22% from fat); FAT 4.7g (sat 2g, mono 1.6g, poly 0.5g); PROTEIN 29.4g; CARB 6.8g; FIBER 0.1g; CHOL 75 mg; IRON 1/6mg; SODIUM 378mg; CALC 86mg

Susann as you can see Feta and Goat cheese are not the same but they are quite similar and usually can be substituted one for the other in a recipe.

Now here is my question. Artichoke bottoms?
Can I substitute artichoke hearts for these. I don't believe I have ever used them before and not sure I have ever seen them before. However I will admit I have never really looked for them. What do y'all think?

[shoyski]

SandyDee, this recipe is good and I used artichoke hearts and feta.

[lindrusso]

I don't have any recipes, but I have noticed many recipes using goat cheese on Epicurious.com. You can do a search and probably find something enticing.

I'm going to try a cannelloni recipe in the near future using spinach, ricotta cheese and goat cheese (among other things) - I'll let you know how it turns out if you are interested.

[LauraEllen]

I won't even make pizza anymore unless I have goat cheese to put on it. It goes great with sundried tomatoes. Also, grilled eggplant, sundried tomato pesto, and goat cheese are my favorite sandwich fillers. Two of the best brands from Northern CA are Laura Chenel (she kind of started the whole trend about 20 years ago) and Redwood Hill Farms. The best out of New York, hands down, is Coach Farms in the Hudson Valley. (Actually the same family that started Coach Leather)

Regarding feta, I think what Lorilei said is correct - in Greece feta is made with goats' milk. But all of the domestic fetas that I have seen (here in CA, anyway) are made with cows milk and are milder tasting that the Greek version.

[CATHIEA]

Shelly- I made the chicken with artichoke bottoms and goat cheese and used artichoke bottoms. The texture is so different from hearts, I wasn't sure how hearts would work. In my experience, sometimes hearts can be a little woody. Did hearts require more chopping?
CathieA (I am curious, this is one of the recipes I got to thinking about when Elinor mentioned the need to go back and do oldies)

[SandyDee]

Shoyski: thanks for the response, I will defintely try this one. LauraEllen I agree goat cheese on pizza is a favorite of mine
Cathiea: Was it difficult finding artichoke bottoms? Are they in cans with the rest of the Artichoke products? I can't believe I have never noticed them.

[Deanna]

For anyone who wants to become a cheese "aficionado," here is a great site to bookmark: http://www.cheese.com

It has a wonderful cross-reference listing different cheeses by name, country, texture, milk, vegetarian, and a section on "Cheese Facts." They will soon be adding a section on RECIPES.

(P.S. Don't ya think the big red "eese" adds a lot to the graphic?)

http://cheese.com/images/front_rg2.gif

[This message has been edited by Deanna (edited 07-17-2000).]

[marshalynne]

Thanks everyone! I can't wait to try all the ideas. I have to agree that Coach Farms is the best!!! Off to have my baby field green and goat cheese salad with raspberry vinagrette and toasted pecans (just a couple of those though!)

[lorilei]

This posting plays into my question about the best types of chevre... anyone have any recommendations with regard to which part of the country exports the best goat cheeses?

I've heard that the New York varieties are even better than some european cheeses, but I can't verify this...

With regard to feta cheese -- it is a type of goat cheese, but is a Greek variety, as opposed to the softer French varieties (more commonly used as spreads and in quiches and tarts).

[This message has been edited by lorilei (edited 07-17-2000).]