Goat Cheesecake with Hazelnut Brittle and Blood Orange Caramel Sauce

I only made this once, years ago. It was delicious, though, so when a friend who has gone dairy-free for her nursling asked if a goat-cheesecake was possible, I responded in the affirmative. And I typed this whole thing out while MY baby slept. All that hard work should be shared with MANY wonderful ladies, I think, so, without further delay...

Goat Cheesecake with Hazelnut Brittle and Blood Orange Caramel Sauce


1 egg
1 Egg yolk
10.5 oz goat cheese
5 oz crème fraiche
3.5 oz granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 300, grease six indivudal sized ramekins
Mix eggs, sugar and salt together, whisk until smooth.
Add goat cheese and and whisk smooth
Add crème fraiche and whisk unstil just combined. (Do not overwhisk, or cake will be grainy.)
Pour into molds, and bake 20-25 minutes, ratating halfway through. Centers should be just set.
Remove from oven, allow to cool. Chil in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Loosen with knife to unmold. These will keep refrigerated for 4 days.

Brittle:

1/8 tsp cream of tartar
½ c toasted skinned and finely ground hazelnuts
¼ tsp finely ground salt
1/3 c water
Preheat oven to 350, line an 11x17 baking pan with archement (or silpat, love those)
Place sugar, cream of tartar and water in a small sauce pan, cover. Heat on high until it boils, uncover, reduce heat to medium high and cook until sugar is dark golden brown. Pour onto prepared shhet to cool and harden. Break into small pieces and grind fine in food processor.
Stir in ground hazelnuts.
Place clean parchment or silpat on baking sheet, spread caramel/nut mixture evenly in a thin layer.
Bake until caramel melts and bubbles, about four minutes. Remove, and sprinkle sea salt over hot caramel.
Cool, and regrind, will keep in airtight container for up to three weeks.

Blood Orange Sauce:

4.5 oz granulated sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
½ c blood orange juice
¼ to 2 tbs water
Combine sugar, cream of tartar and water in a saucepan. Cover and dook over high heat until the mixture boils. Reduce heat to med. High until sugar is dark goolden brown.
Remove from heat and CAREFULLY add OJ (it will bubble!)
Return to heat and whisk so caramel dissolves and mixes with OJ
When mixture boils again, remove from heat, transfer to heat proof container, and place in fridge to chill and thicken before using. (Keeps for a week).
Coat cheesecakes with hazelnut brittle dust, dot or drizzle with sauce, and enjoy!

Empanadas with Goat Cheese

I got this recipe out of the latest RealSimple issue. They have an article featuring a whole bunch of three-ingredient dishes, and this was one of them.

It's so simple, it's not even a recipe, really, but they were SO GOOD. I made them the other day when a friend came over and we gobbled them all up!

You need:

2 sheets of refrigerated pie dough (you can also make your own, if so inclined)
4 oz. of goat cheese
salsa

Roll out the pie dough and cut 3-inch circles out. I used a biscuit cutter, but you could also use the rim of a drinking glass.
Spoon a little goat cheese (about 1/2 a tsp. or so) in the middle of the circle.
wet the edges of the dough with a little water and then fold it in half, pinching closed (be careful not to get cheese in your seam).
Bake in the oven at 350 for about 20-25 minutes until they're golden and delicious.

Then, dip them in a little salsa and eat. So, so yummy!

Dippity-Doo-Da

This month's issue of Real Simple has a great dip recipe on its back page. I cut it out and promptly lost it, but I was able to recreate it from memory: it's THAT easy!

Peel, slice and dice one whole biggish cucumber
Open and drain one (12 oz) can of corn kernels
Mince several stalks of fresh mint
Open and crumble one 8 oz package of goat cheese

Mix together, et voila!

The recipe they had called for pre-spooning this mixture into Tortilla brand Scoops! chips, but I saved myself that aggravation by just serving the bowl of Scoops! next to the bowl of "dip". :P

A very big hit at our last barbecue!!

Just Popping in...

I'm so afraid I'll lose my membership through lack of posting! :D I haven't been baking as much as I'd like (turns out, I have a baby who likes to be IN the sling, but hates BEING PUT into it...hmmm. Most days it's easier to not bother and just carry him around on my hip, like Mom used to!) and The Elimination Diet has reduced my dinnertime repertoire to Variations of Chicken/Fish plus green beans. BUT! I do have a fun and fast little trick to zest up an otherwise boring dinner: Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Dried Figs, and Honey Mustard dressing!

I know dried figs can get expensive ($4.99/lb in the bulk section of the health food store) but you only need a small handful, sliced in half. Toss the spinach leaves (baby spinach is best - no tearing needed) with crumbles of goat cheese*. In a (preferably glass, so you can watch the levels) measuring cup, pour 1/3 c. olive oil, salt, and pepper, and add honey and mustard by the tablespoon to taste, muddling as you go. Dump in the dried figs. When the oil starts to get low in the cup (meaning, of course, that the figs are soaking up the oil-honey-mustard goodness) toss the figs in the leaves and cheese. Serve immediately. SO delicious!

*If you don't like goat cheese, or it's prohibitively expensive, of course substitute your favorite salad cheese! Goat cheese happens to be MY favorite! :)

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil

We made this last night for dinner alongside roasted asparagus and snap peas and a salad.

In the style of Regis's "however many" system...

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil
(adapted from The Barefoot Contessa)
-Stuff goat cheese and basil leaves under the skin of boneless chicken breasts. More is better, trust me.

-Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven. (I don't remember how long, but use whatever system you use for baking chicken).