Posted on 07/23/2015 4:02:37 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
Back in the 'Wild West' days of the early Internet, a lady named Susan 'Hattie' Steinsapir posted to the Usenet group rec.foods.cooking. Unfortunately, Susan passed from us far too early; but her recipes live on.
Perhaps her most renowned recipe was her Goat Cheese Torta with Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. (I have to admit that I didn't - and don't - know much about goat cheese; and the first time I made this, my husband said that it tasted as if he'd licked a goat. I decided to change the recipe, until I could learn more about goat cheese; and I substituted the goat cheese/cream cheese mixture for half cream cheese, and half feta. It works out wonderfully that way; bu I intend to do some research on goat cheese, to learn if there are milder types.
Anyway, here is Hattie's recipe, in her words. (Ever since I first found Hattie, in our family 'hors d'oeuvre' has always been pronounced 'HORSE DIVERS' :-)
"Goat Cheese Torta with Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes:
6 oz goat cheese
4 oz cream cheese
Garlic, peeled, smushed, and chopped (I usually put in lots and more, at least 8 cloves. It's up to you.)
1/2 cup pesto (at least)
1/2 cup chopped up fine oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, including 1 - 2 tsp of the marinade
Decorate with fresh herbs, such as branches of thyme, oregano, rosemary, parsley, and sliced baguettes.
"Mix goat cheese and cream cheese, add the garlic. Check the taste. Add salt and black pepper if you want.
"Line a small glass bowl (about 2 - 3 cups) with plastic wrap. Put about 1/3 of the goat cheese mix into the bowl. Top this with the pesto. Put another 1/3 of the goat cheese mix on top of this. Put the sundried tomatoes on this. Top with the rest of the cheese. Put plastic wrap over the top of this. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and up to four days.
"To serve, invert bowl on a serving dish. Carefully remove the plastic wrap. Decorate with herbaceous materials. Serve with baguettes. Keep out of the way of the devouring mob. Supposed to serve up to 20 - 25 with other horse divers."
Here is a link to Hattie's husband's website and his remembrances of her; it includes a link to her recipes:
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When I was a kid, the grocery store had this wonderful blue cheese dip; it came in a deep blue metal tin, and it may have been a Kraft Roka product. I haven't seen it for sale in decades, and would love to figure out a copy-cat recipe; but that little tin of dip forever sealed my love affair with blue cheese.
One of my go-to books for soup making is Crescent Dragonwagon's "Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread"; in it she writes about Maytag blue cheese. Maytag currently have this recipe on their website, and it looks very good:
http://www.maytagdairyfarms.com/aspx/recipes.aspx
-JT
This week: Stinky Cheese!
If you would like to be on or off of this weekly cooking thread, please send a private message.
-JT
It has a less pungent flavor.
I had some goat cheese someone brought back from Bulgaria and it was really delish! It seems their food is similar to Greek.
I have no problem with stinky cheese EXCEPT PROVOLONE. My husband buys it and it stinks up the fridge and the entire house.
I found this: http://www.amazon.com/Kraft-Dressing-16-Ounce-Plastic-Bottles/dp/B000e1hvzm
It’s not a dip but it has the name Roka in the title. Something you could gussy up? Hope the link works.
Goat Cheese Torta with Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
I love this stuff! We made it at Christmastime for parties when I used to cater and I still make it for our family.
There are plenty of google images of Kraft Roka Blue Cheese “cheese spread.” It does come with a large blue wrapper.
LOL! I’ve never noticed that provolone stinks; but remember, I keep kimchi in the fridge, so I’m probably immune to lots of stinky food smells ;-)
Except for deer buck meat.
Teddy Bear reminded me of the rule about venison, here. When my FIL would send down buck meat and my hubby cooked it, the smell was horrible. Finally I put my foot down, and said “only doe!”
But I guess you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. I’d love to have my FIL alive again, buck meat and all :-(
-JT
Goat cheese, not even a close fav...but Stilton is divine.
http://www.stiltoncheese.co.uk/ Cheddar is not stinky and it is still a favorite. Parmesan stinks to this nose and don’t much care for it as well. Mozzarella, bring it on! Swiss, love the nutty flavor.
Well, it wasn’t a spread. It was a smooth, light, creamy dip; light enough to poke potato chips in but thicker, more dense, than the onion dips you can buy today.
However, the Kraft blue cheese salad dressing is very close to the taste of the dip I recall, and that’s why I think it must have been a Kraft product. I know that until recently Kraft produced a jarred blue cheese spread at Holiday times; but this was just a dip.
I’ve searched many times; I figured that one of the retro-nostalgia pages celebrating foods from the early 1960s might have mentioned it; but haven’t ever seen it...
Exactly what kind of goat cheese did you use?
-JT
Marie’s Blue Cheese Dressing was good years ago but the last time I tried it it seemed like they left out most of the blue cheese.
Have you tried Marzetti’s?
For ‘everyday’ work lunches, I keep a jar of either Marie’s or Marzetti’s at work. The ‘chunkiness’ level seems to be random in both.
I don’t think I’ve ever made blue cheese dressing from scratch, but I should try that.
-JT
I have a large herb garden on my patio. Blessed with year round sunshine..there's nothing better than going outside and cutting some fresh basil, for pasta...or rosemary, or dill. The cilantro's awesome.
My problem, alas, is with thyme..it flourishes, and I love to use it..but it's a pain in the butt to strip the tiny leaves off the stems. Possibly it's because my fingers are too big. I'm, 6'4", and can palm a basketball with both hands..so I ain't, well..dainty. A few days ago, it took me 15 minutes to get a TBSP of fresh thyme..It is aggravating.
Any suggestions..is there a magical technique?
HELP!!!
NOTE: works only w/ Jack cheese cut 1/4" thick....will spread out paper-thin when baked.
MONTEREY JACK WAFERS / Makes 36-48 wafers
METHOD Cut lb Jack Cheese into 1/4" slices, then in circles 1-1/2" in diameter.
Bake on non-stick sheetpan, 3" apart (will spread) 10 min 400 deg.
Do not overbake. Remove immediately; cool. Store airtight.
What do you use fresh thyme in?
One fave..real easy..4 lb pork loin in a slow cooker...trim the pork loin of the silverskin and excess fat...make a rub of 2TBSP kosher salt, 2 TSP pepper, 1 TBSP chopped fresh thyme and 1 TBSP rosemary..coat the pork loin with the rub..wrap in heavy duty foil..with the seam up..place in slow cooker on LOW ..put it on top an inverted small disposable baking tin...cook for 4-5 hours until internal temp is 140...remove...open foil..allow to cool for 20 minutes...remove from foil, slice..serve with almost anything. It's moist, tender
If anyone has the recipe for Ed Zaberer's clam chowder, please post it. This was a restaurant in North Wildwood, NJ, in the '60s and'70s. It started out with a brown roux, similar to snapper soup, but not as spicy.
Well, I was going to say that if you’re using it in soups, stews, rice dishes, etc., you could just make a sachet or bouquet garni out of the fresh stuff; and pitch it when you’re done.
But, have you tried scissors?
You can just dry it, and then it’s easy to strip. Just remember to use only a third to a half of what you’d use if it were fresh.
-JT
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