A goatally delicious cheese (giveaway c/d 19 October 2012)

As my second blogversary is approaching fast, I have decided to ask my favourite brands to sponsor a few giveaways for my blog readers.

Capricorn Somerset Goat's Cheese has been my discovery of the year.
It is a versatile cheese that could be savoured as it is, with a selection of crackers and oatcakes, grapes and figs, or enjoyed in many cooked dishes.

To tantalise your tastebuds, I'm going to showcase a few mouthwatering photos.

One of my most favourite blogs, London Unattached, has several wonderful recipes that use Capricorn cheese. If you are a foodie, Fiona's blog is a must.

I love the idea of making these lush pumpkin jam and goat's cheese tarts, they are so full of flavours and textures.

Or would you like to try these delicious crispy golden filo parcels?

This recipe has been suggested by lovely Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews (another of my favourite blogs), you can find the recipe on her blog among several other dishes, using Capricorn.

I have also participated in the Capricorn Challenge with my own ideas and recipes.
If you fancy trying Goat's cheese, baked in shortcrust pastry, my recipe can be found here.

More suggestions from me, offering a choice of pirozhki and arancini could be found here.

All of the recipes above use pastry, I think goat's cheese and pastry are made for each other, but of course, you can do any other dishes with the cheese like summer salads and risottos. Search for Capricorn Challenge on Google, you will be surprised how many wonderful dishes you will find.

Now how would you like to win a month's supply of Capricorn Somerset Goats Cheese (8 vouchers)?

 For a chance to win the prize, please fill in the rafflecopter form.
Leaving a comment is a mandatory step, all the other steps are optional.






a Rafflecopter giveaway

Piadina with goat's cheese

"Nothing speaks more of Romagna than this bread of ours - it is a symbol that speaks of devotion to our land" (Giovanni Pascoli)

Piada or piadina is a traditional soft flatbread from Emilia Romagna. It is sold in specialised kiosks called Piadinerie and is filled with cured meats, cheese and vegetables.

You can make your own Piada (Two Greedy Italians book have a lovely recipe for a Parma ham and stracchino cheese filled piadina).
However, if you don't fancy baking your own flatbread, you can buy Crosta & Mollica's piada in Waitrose now.
These thick soft flatbreads have a pronounced olive oil aroma and taste.

"Traditionally they would have been made with lard but these ones are made with extra virgin olive oil which are becoming more popular as they are lighter and healthier."
I love Crosta & Mollica range of breads and biscuits, and as soon as I found the pack of the flatbreads in Waitrose, I wanted to try it. I also wanted to surprise my husband who comes from Emilia Romagna.

For the recipe you will need

1 pack of Crosta & Mollica Piada (there are 3 flatbreads in a pack)
1 Capricorn goat's cheese
1 Galbani mozzarella cucina (a vacuum packed mozzarella in a smaller size of 125g)
a handful of rocket
3 slices of prosciutto
olive oil

It's very simple. Just add a slice of prosciutto on top of the piadina, sliced goat's cheese and mozzarella, drizzle with the olive oil and add a few sprigs of rocket. Fold in two, place in the oven preheated to 180C and leave in the oven for about 5-8 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
You could also put it under the grill if you prefer (our grill is ancient and I prefer to use the oven).

Eat hot. For a vegetarian version, skip the prosciutto, use the vegetraian mozzarella and add some grilled vegetables and chopped herbs.

I am glad that Waitrose is expanding its range of Crosta & Mollica products, have a look in the international breads section. Temptation, temptation!

Goat's cheese, baked in shortcrust pastry

We almost never have big Sunday roast lunches, and prefer to have lighter meals. My guys usually go swimming on Sundays, and when they arrive, tired and happy, they want some kind of a platter, so that they can relax watching TV and eat at the same time. Out comes an assortment of prosciutto, cheese, grapes, sliced apples or pears, figs, crackers and chunks of stonebaked bread. Sasha wants his tuna sandwiches and a Fab lolly.
Yesterday I accompanied my men to the swimming pool, had a quick shopping at Waitrose, got caught in the rain and once at home, decided I want something hot for lunch. I also fancied something inbetween sweet and savoury.
Goat's cheese, baked in shortcrust pastry seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
You might remember my post about taking part in the Capricorn challenge. I have already posted some recipes that include Capricorn goat's cheese (see here).
So here is another recipe for my friend Ethel the goat from Capricorn Somerset Goats Cheese.

You will need
Capricorn cheese (1 per person)
Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry
2tbsp apricot conserve
2 tsp flaked almonds

For this recipe I used Bonne Maman apricot conserve but any good quality apricot conserve/preserve will do.
And Yes, I used a ready-made shortcrust pastry from Jus-Rol again, and No, they don't pay me to promote them, in fact I think they are pretty much oblivious to my existence.

If you use 2 cheeses, you will have some pastry left, just put it back in the fridge, it will keep for another day or two. Or bake cinnamon twists with it.

Cut each cheese in half and spread the apricot conserve on one half. Top with the flaked almonds (see the photo above). Put the second half on top. Cut a piece of pastry and gently wrap it around the cheese, smooth the edges and slightly butter the pastry.

Place the wrapped pastry in a deep dish or on a tray and put in the oven, preheated to 180C.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is golden.

Wait a few minutes before you cut your pastry, so that the cheese doesn't escape the shell, but don't wait for too long, you want the cheese to be gooey and hot. Serve with the green salad, some olives and a sliced persimmon (figs would be nice as well).

Hope, my friend Ethel would like my idea and be tempted enough to try it for herself.

Goat's cheese, Montalbano and the Russia House

If I mention that I follow a goat on Twitter, would you think I have gone baaarmy? Well, I do, and Ethel the goat is a lovely tweep.

Hi, kids!

I was recently asked to take part in the Capricorn culinary challenge. Yippee, a challenge that involves creative cooking! Just my idea of fun.

Here is what Ethel herself has to say:
"How it works:
- I send them a hamper jam-packed full of all my fave foods from Somerset and beyond
- They use the ingredients provided as inspiration – adding other tasty extras if they fancy! – to devise a lip-smacking recipe and post it on their blog
- I’ll try each recipe (what a life!) and select 6 finalists over the coming months – these will appear on my website: www.capricorngoatscheese.co.uk
- To finish off the challenge, I’ll choose my overall favourite recipe and the winning chef will receive a trip to Babington House in Somerset (it’s so plush – beats my pen any day!) and a year’s supply of Capricorn Goats Cheese".

I knew that Ethel and Co were going to send me a selection of products including the Capricorn goat's cheese to work with, what I didn't expect was the size of the hamper. It was literally bursting with goodies. My head was buzzing with ideas, where do I start?

Salad Primavera

The first thing I tried was a refreshing salad with beets, goat's cheese, rocket, pumpkin seeds and the strawberry dressing.
 If you fancy trying the same salad, you will need a handful of rocket (roughly, per person), about 3 baby beets (I used the beets from the hamper, they were the variety that comes in vacuum packs, already in a vinegar dressing. I think it would benefit this salad to use non-vinegary beetroot, either buy precooked or bake your own in the oven, wrapped in foil), half a Capricorn cheese, 4 strawberries whizzed to the sauce consistency) and a good sprinkling of the toasted pumpkin seeds. I chopped the beets and mixed them with the strawberry sauce. Drizzle a bit of the olive oil on top, once your salad is assembled. It is a lovely salad, full of flavours and textures (you get creamy cheese and crunchy seeds). As for the name, it is totally random, I just like the word Primavera (i.e. spring in Italian).

Next dish: a plain quick pizza for lunch. You can make your own version with the olives and tomato bruschetta sauce. And if you fancy: add a few slivers of proscuitto or grilled artichokes too.

Savoury croissants

As a busy Mum, I do love my shortcuts whenever possible. One morning I fancied savoury croissants for breakfast. The Jus-Rol croissant pastry tin was waiting patiently for its turn. Having divided the pastry into triangles, I added a spoon of the red onion marmalade on top, a piece of goat's cheese, rolled the pastry and tucked the ends in, so that the cheese doesn't escape. I have blogged about this recipe in more detail here.

But all of the recipes above were not exactly challenging, so I was thinking what could I make that would be different?

Arancini with goat's cheese

Then Commissario Salvo Montalbano came to mind and his love of the arancini, i.e. traditional Sicilian stuffed rice balls. Apparently there is even a cafe in Sicily which serves Gli Arancini di Montalbano.
On the day before making them, I cooked some plain risotto. Take about 250g of dry risotto and cook, following the instructions on your pack. You can also use a saffron risotto rice. Once cooked, let it cool. The risotto has to be completely cold before you start working with it.
You will need 1 Capricorn cheese, a red onion (a half, finely chopped), some fresh herbs like sage and basil, or dried like oregano, breadcrumbs (about 4 heaped tbsps), 1 egg and about 3 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese (grate your own please, do not use the dust that is sold as grated parmesan)..
Mix the risotto rice with the egg and the grated parmesan.
I made a meat-free version though traditional arancini would have a ragu (minced meat in tomato sauce) inside and be cooked with the mozzarella cheese. Rather than adding tomato sauce inside, I roasted tomatoes separately and served them as a side-dish with the arancini. Fry the chopped red onion in the olive oil until translucent, once cooled, dip a chunk of cheese in the onions and chopped herbs, coat it well, then using your hands grab a handful of risotto rice and roll the rice around the cheese with onions.
Once you are happy with the shape of the arancini, coat them in the breadcrumbs and place on a big tray to bake at 180C for about 20 minutes. You could also deep-fry them for the more authentic flavour and do it in batches, if you add them all at once into the hot oil, the temperature will lower and the arancini will get greasy.
That's how they looked before being baked.

And that's the end result. For the roast tomatoes: wash them and put in a ceramic dish with 2 tbsp of olive oil, 2 tbsp vodka, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1tbsp honey or maple syrup. Believe me, they are heavenly. Love them hot, love them cold the next day, added to a cheese sandwich. You'll want to lick your fingers too.

Having paid homage to my favourite Commissario, I was still not satisfied completely with my creative input.

Hasten to add that I kept buying more Capricorn cheese for my experiments. It is such a lovely cheese.

Pirozhki with goat's cheese and sorrel
After several attempts of being creative with the goat's cheese, I decided to go back to my Russian roots and find inspiration there. What could be more Russian than tiny pirozhki? Fab hot with the generous dollop of the soured cream or served with a cup of hot boullion (preferably clear chicken broth).

For this dish I used the readymade shortcrust pastry (but if you are feeling virtuous, please make your own, a mid-term break was not a good time for me to spend more time than necessary in the kitchen).

For the filling I used 2 bags of Uncle Ben's rice, 4 soft-boiled eggs, 2 packs of fresh sorrel (30g) and goat's cheese. I made enough for two batches, so if you're using just one roll of Jus-Rol pastry, half the amount. Cook the rice and eggs (you could also use hard-boiled eggs if you prefer), let them cool completely before chopping the eggs into the rice. Add wilted sorrel (pan-fry it in the olive oil for a minute) and crumbled goat's cheese.

Roll out the pastry, cut out small circles using a standard glass. Add a bit of the filling in a pastry circle, close it and pinch the edges. Continue until all the pastry is done. Place on the big tray with the pre-oiled parchment paper and brush each small pie with a bit of milk. Bake at 180C for about 15-20 minutes. Serve hot. You can reheat them the next day in the oven. They keep for a few days in the fridge wrapped in foil.

And as we are on the topic of Capricorn, I kept singing to myself "Sous le soleil exactement", just because the first few lines refer to the Capricorn. Do you remember how it goes or are you too young to know it?
Un point précis sous le tropique
Du Capricorne ou du Cancer
Depuis j’ai oublié lequel
Sous le soleil exactement
Pas à côté pas n’importe où
Sous le soleil sous le soleil
Exactement juste en dessous...