It tantalizes me, really, and I’ve always loved raising my status in a group by going bold and ordering a meal with goat cheese in a restaurant. Other than goat cheese and feta, however, my cheese experience pretty much begins with cheddar and ends with mozzarella.
When Ile de France Cheese offered to send me some samples, I wasn’t even sure what to ask for. I got goat cheese, brie, Fol Epi (???), and some very, very stinky cheese that I gave away to Jen at Big Binder Blog, who really likes stinky cheese.
I was seriously intimidated.
In case you haven’t noticed, my recipes all use…cheddar or mozzarella. Have I said that before? Repeating myself if a bit like the cheese selection in my refrigerator…
I did manage to use all the cheese, and in spite of my fears, I enjoyed experimenting, although I didn’t go very far outside my comfort zone. I mainly adapted recipes I already had to include fancier cheese. Just goes to show you don’t have to try something radically new to try something new.
I’m working on focusing on in-season produce this month, since the Farmer’s Markets are bursting with fresh veggies here in Michigan, where the growing season has finally caught up to the eating season.
Cabbage.
Cabbages can be huge, especially if you always go for the biggest ones to get your money’s worth when they’re priced individually instead of by the pound. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to use the whole thing when you’re not a sauerkraut maker. (Pity I’m not; my 100% Polish grandmother used to have a fifteen-gallon crock to make hers in. Isn’t that fabulous?)
I like using about half to make Simple Cabbage Soup with Secret Super Food, and the rest for Beef and Cabbage Pockets from The Nourishing Gourmet. However, it’s really nice to have more than two recipes for a massive head of cabbage (which is actually pretty healthy, not like iceberg lettuce like I used to think).
Cabbage can work well in a kid friendly dinner salad bar too.
Recipe: Cabbage Salad with Goat Cheese (or Feta)
(Print version first followed by pictorial.) This simple salad goes together in minutes and is a welcome change from a lettuce salad each night at dinner. Cool, crisp, with a little bite, cabbage salad will refresh you, even if you don’t like coleslaw!
salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase)
dill
goat cheese (or feta)
optional: Add sunflower seeds and/or shredded carrots for color if you’re serving a crowd.
Instructions
Shred cabbage with a sharp knife.
Drizzle EVOO and vinegar on top and mix well until satisfied with the saturation. Add more to taste.
Sprinkle salt and dill over the top and mix in with the garlic. (This recipe is not for those who love their measuring spoons!)
Add goat cheese or feta to taste.
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Recipe: Cabbage Salad with Goat Cheese (or Feta)
Method:
Shred cabbage with a sharp knife. Drizzle EVOO and vinegar on top and mix well until satisfied with the saturation. Add more to taste. Sprinkle salt and dill over the topand mix in with the garlic. This recipe is not for those who love their measuring spoons! Add goat cheese or feta to taste.
The salad lasts well a day in the refrigerator, and somewhat well for a few more days, but it’s definitely best freshly made!
Does your cheese intimidate you? What do you do with the fancy stuff?
Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.
Category: Real Food Recipes
Tags: appetizer, cabbage, easy meals, fast meals, feta, gluten free, goat cheese, grain free, meatless, salad, side dish
To try something different and fully appreciate the taste of your favorite goat cheeses, try matching a fresh goat cheese with a mild honey like acacia honey; then pair a more intense cheese with a richly aromatic honey, like chestnut or lavender honeys.
But a simple treatment for raw cabbage — salting — makes it just a tad more tender and considerably more flavorful while preserving its distinctive crunch. When you salt any vegetable that has high water content, the salt draws out some of the water by simple osmosis.
If you're wondering what to do with quick pickled red cabbage, I have some ideas! Try it: On top of tacos, like my Ancho Chile Black Bean Sweet Potato Tacos, Crispy Smashed Black Bean Tacos, or Lentil Walnut Taco Meat. Added to sandwiches: BBQ (like pulled pork or my BBQ Lentils with Shredded Carrots), burgers, or fish.
Baking soda does help green vegetables retain color, but it causes undesirable color changes in red cabbage—it turned blue. The science can be distilled to this: Adding baking soda to cooking water makes it slightly alkaline, which stabilizes the green color of chlorophyll.
Green is the heartiest variety; it takes well to all cooking methods. Red can turn a funny blue color when cooked, so it's best used raw. If you do want to cook it, add a touch of acid like lemon juice or vinegar to lessen the effect.
The salt will draw out excess water from cabbage while helping preserve the crispiness. After letting it sit for an hour or two, rinse it with water to remove the salt.
Coleslaw (from the Dutch term koolsla meaning 'cabbage salad'), also known as cole slaw or simply as slaw, is a side dish consisting primarily of finely shredded raw cabbage with a salad dressing or condiment, commonly either vinaigrette or mayonnaise.
More or less into even slices the great thing about cabbage is that because it's layered it willMoreMore or less into even slices the great thing about cabbage is that because it's layered it will separate. Easily. Now you can use this chopped cabbage to make coleslaw to make egg rolls.
To balance the flavour of the cheese, try pairing it with:
“Whilst allowing your customer to have their first taste of goat cheese, you should also initiate the great partners in wine, cider and even Champagne to lift the flavours and give the cheeses their prominence on the cheeseboard,” Patricia explains.
Freshness is important — the older goat milk is when it's processed, the goatier the cheese will taste — and so is keeping male and female goats separate, explains Nessler: During breeding season, the males produce strong-smelling hormones that can make the females' milk and the cheese produced from it taste goaty, too ...
Always serve goat cheese at room temperature. Bring it out of the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving, if possible. Remember, goat cheese is great at almost any time of day and goes well in so many recipes, making the simplest foods spectacular.
Sancerre, a Sauvignon Blanc-based wine from the Loire Valley, pairs very well with fresher styles of goat's cheese. They have acidity, so one doesn't overpower the other,” says Allison Hooper, founder of Vermont Creamery, which makes Loire Valley-style goat cheeses.
Introduction: My name is Nathanael Baumbach, I am a fantastic, nice, victorious, brave, healthy, cute, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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