Goat Cheese Salad

The other night, having had no thought about dinner until it was time to eat, I had to concoct something from what I could find in the frig.  Thankful we had the vegetable garden for I found a cucumber and some heirloom tomatoes sitting on the kitchen counter, which I put together with the goat feta cheese bought at the Fairview Farm Goat Dairy last weekend.

The Fairview Farm Goat Dairy was a place I'd wanted to visit for sometime - ever since I sampled some of their cheese at the Dallas Farmers Market (aka the Polk County Bounty Market).  Since the farm is only open to the public Friday through Monday, I took a ride over to the far side of Dallas last weekend. Aside for the dairy store they also have a road side self serve kiosk outside farm. You’re on your own, using the honor system, but you can purchase eggs, cheese, yogurt, milk and other things (is this possible?). 

The owners, Terry and Laurie Carlson, are usually working around the farm and in the dairy store on the weekends.  They are happy to talk to you about the dairy, the goats, and the products they produce and sell.  There's all sorts of samples to try so you can decide what you like the best, and to my pleasant surprise, they have soft serve goats milk ice cream on tap, served up in a cone just the way I like it.

As you can see I had a great time at the farm, the goats were as interested in me as I was in them.  Confidentially, they really are more like pets than dairy goats.  It’s obvious they are loved and well cared for – as are the chickens!

Meanwhile, back to my dinner -  which turned into sliced up cucumber, tomatoes and chunks of that goat feta cheese, mixed with dill, a pressed garlic clove, equal parts of fresh squeezed lemon and olive oil (about 2 T each), salt, and fresh ground pepper.  Humm –  explode in your mouth flavor – wonderful.

Usually when I have fresh chevre on hand I prepare a warmed goat cheese salad  that I found in Ina Garten’s book, Barefoot Contessa Parties!.  The simplicity of the salad makes it a perfect starter to a more elegant meal and I have served it often.  I substitute equal parts of champagne vinegar with half olive and vegetable oil instead of the dressing suggested in the recipe, just because this is what I prefer.

Or one could simply marinate disks of fresh chevre in olive oil and fresh herbs (rosemary, basil, parsley, etc.) for a couple of hours (or not), coat with bread crumbs (sour dough, panko, whatever you have that will work), bake in the oven (I use my toaster oven)  at 300 degrees for about 4 minutes (or until the goat cheese is warmed), then very carefully remove the disks from the pan to a plate.
That’s pretty wonderful too!

Bye for now - Evelyn


Remember:  Buy Local When You Can!