AAF’s Recipe of the Day
Written by Asinus Asinum Fricat on June 8, 2008 – 12:18 pm -This is for goat cheese lovers, and Floja Roja, who is waiting patiently for this treat. What’s more there’s no cooking involved except the blanching of the bell peppers, the eggplants and the asparagus. With this recipe use what we call the goat loaf, a creamy concoction from France, available in most good delis and supermarkets, as seen below.
For this little treat you’ll need a loaf pan or terrine dish, 1 pound of goat cheese of course, and 3 large eggplants, 3 bell peppers (1 green, 1 yellow, 1 red), 6 asparagus spears, 2 oz of toasted pine nuts, 2 oz of pitted black Kalamata olives (from Greece), 1 glass of buttermilk, a handful of chopped basil leaves, a handful of finely chopped chives, a little double cream, some olive oil to brush the vegs, salt & cracked black pepper to taste. I have made this terrine with layers of smoked forest ham as well, just as good as this vegetarian version.
First cut the eggplant lengthways, same as all the bell peppers and drop them into salted boiling water till they become soft. Same with asparagus, plunge and remove, drain, wipe, brush with olive oil (or basil oil, if you can find it) and set aside. In your food processor (or by hand, not hard) mix the goat cheese with a glass of buttermilk, then add a little double cream to it, at the very end. You should end up with a creamy mixture, salt it and pepper it to your liking, and fold the chives and the basil into it with a rubber spatula. If you have made a terrine in the past, this is very much the same process, it’s what I call the bricklayer technique! Line the terrine dish (or loaf pan) with the eggplants, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides, and start building your terrine: a layer of cheese mixture, then a layer of bell peppers (you can choose which color you want first), then more cheese, a couple of asparagus, more cheese, some pine nuts, a sprinkling of chopped Kalamata olives, more cheese, bell peppers, asparagus….till you use all ingredients. Cover with the eggplant overhang, then place some plastic cling film over it, and use something heavy, like a brick, or a few tins, and place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. To unmold it, remove the weights and invert the terrine onto a cutting board, take the plastic off and cut carefully into slices with a serrated knife. I used to serve this with either an avocado coulis or a wild salad.
Tags: Food, Goat Cheese Terrine, Recipe
Posted in Food, Recipes |
12 Comments
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Thank you thank you thank you!
I just picked up a couple more kinds of goat cheese at the farmers’ market this morning.
Of course, if I’d seen this earlier I would have picked up all those other ingredients, too.
Another quick trip to farmer’s market! BTW, you can substitute olives (if you don’t like them) with capers, or chopped gherkins, all good!
This looks delicious and doable. I’m generally not a big eggplant fan unless it is smoked and whipped into babaganoush, but I might try this.
By the way, AAF, have you ever tried goat’s milk butter? We’ve been using it for a couple of years and it adds a great layer of taste to many things, including sourdough bread and mashed potatoes.
No, it’s not available here, you might have to ship me some ;.)
Oh, man, I’d love some of that. The goat cheese people at the market were so nice. The daughter loved my t-shirt (Every Time You Shop at Wal-Mart God Kills a Kitten), and we had a nice talk. But no butter. I will inquire next week.
Where did you get your T-shirt? I’d love to buy one.
Orangeclouds115 sells them. Try the Recipe for America site, or the Vegetables of Mass Destruction site. I bought mine directly from Jill at Yearly Kos.
Thanks.
I’ve been getting my goat’s milk butter from Whole Foods. You might have to ask the cheese department people. It’s not shelved with the other butters; it’s in the cheese and olive section of the market. I think it is imported; I’ll check the name the next time I’m at the market.
That lump of goat cheese looks so good. I need to try your terrine. Sounds lovely. I love eggplant and baba ganoush!
Try to make it, it’s not too time consuming and it will keep a few days in the refrigerator (though fat chance with me, I tend to eat this sort of thing in one sitting!)
Oh, is it a sandwich or just a slice and some condiments? I actually have a 1960’s version that I think would be really good as either.