Chilled Peaches & Cream Soup with Saffron

Chilled Peach Soup with Saffron

Chilled Peaches & Cream Soup with Saffron
Goat Cheese Flower Croutons

Peaches are available year-round, yet we all know that the season for the most luscious fruit is in the summer. But did you know that the deep red blushing color of the skin occurs only on the side facing the sun?

Juicy, aromatic, sweet peaches make a delightful chilled soup. However this peach soup is even more intriguing with notes of exotic saffron, tart apple, and captivating vanilla. The addition of cayenne pepper adds another layer of complexity. And the texture is just what you would expect from peaches & cream – it’s velvety smooth and lush thanks to the efficiency of a high-performance blender (like Vitamix).

Chilled Peaches & Cream Soup Recipe

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Panko-Crusted, Two Ways

Panko-Crusted, Two Ways

Panko-Crusted, Two Ways
Goat Cheese and Chicken

Time to get crusty! Developed in Japan during World War II, the dough for panko is baked by electrical current, heated rapidly and uniformly, quickly producing a light, yeasty, crust-free bread. The bread is then ground to create fine slivers of airy, crispy crumb. Then the crumbs are toasted to a delicate crunch which results in breadcrumbs that absorb less oil and add more volume than the traditional type.

Both goat cheese and chicken cutlets are very satisfying with wide international appeal when cooked with a panko crust. They are often served with a fresh green salad to balance the crispy-fried technique.

Panko-Crusted Recipes

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Cream of Pea Soup, Goat Cheese Flower Crouton

Cream of Pea Soup

Cream of Pea Soup
Goat Cheese Flower Crouton

Spring is just around the corner but…No need to wait another month to serve this super-easy, spring-inspired soup! It is made with frozen peas and just a handful of ingredients.

Frozen peas are simply delicious, inexpensive, and convenient. They are picked and flash-frozen at the peak of freshness so they are always sweet and tender. Turn a bag of plain ol’ peas into something extraordinary, a soup that is quite pretty and awfully tasty.

And if fresh edible flowers are not readily available, you can serve the soup with a (still fabulous) goat cheese crouton topped with fresh herbs like mint or dill.

Cream of Pea Soup Recipe

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California Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

California Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

A Very California Salad
and a bit of Oregon too

Roasted Red and Golden Beets, Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese
Willamette Valley Hazelnuts, Turmeric-Black Pepper-Maple Yogurt
Arugula, Arugula Flowers, Beet Vinaigrette

A soft-ripened goat cheese accented with a line of bluish ash reminiscent of the fog often blanketing the expansive Humboldt County, California coastline is the centerpiece of this salad.

Pioneering American cheesemaker Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove conceived Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese in the early 80s in homage to cow’s milk French Morbier, with ash separating its light cakey layers.

Beets are available at California Farmers Markets year-round. And hazelnuts come from our wetter neighbor just to the north, Oregon (close enough).

Peppery arugula, earthy beets, toasty hazelnuts, and a tangy yogurt harmonize with the elegant and luscious goat cheese in this quintessential West Coast salad. A sweet-tart beet vinaigrette adds sunny notes with hints of herbs and fruit.

Arugula Flowers

Blooming in January, pretty arugula flowers come from my Southern California garden. Arugula flowers make a delightful garnish, they taste like light arugula leaves, maybe with a hint of sweetness.

Roasted Red and Golden Beets, Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese, Hazelnuts, Turmeric-Black Pepper-Maple Yogurt, Arugula, Arugula Flowers, Beet Vinaigrette

Cypress Grove describes their cheese with flavors of buttermilk and fresh cream, complemented with floral notes, herbaceous overtones, and a clean citrus finish. As Humboldt Fog matures, the creamline develops, the flavor intensifies and the subtle tanginess grows more pronounced.

California Beet and Goat Cheese Salad Recipe

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Sweet & Savory Autumn Tarte Tatin

butternut & acorn squash tarte tatin, bacon, goat cheese, hazelnut, sage
Sweet & Savory Autumn Tarte Tatin

Butternut and Acorn Squash
Bacon, Maple, Hazelnut, Goat Cheese, Sage

I have a feeling I’m going to get more requests to make the Sweet & Savory Autumn Tarte Tatin this season. With its nutty, tangy, and sucré flavors, the smoky aromas, rich earthy colors, and crispy, creamy, flaky textures ~ the famous inverted French pie originally made with apples back in the late 1800’s ~ is heart and soul of the inspiration for this recipe.

Butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup are intensified and caramelized at the bottom of the cast iron pan while the pastry on top remains dry, light and crisp. Stephanie Tatin’s inadvertent “mistake” in cooking an apple pie up-side-down has become a part of culinary history and its method copied in various forms over the years. Sometimes sweet, sometimes savory ~ here I present a delightful Autumn tarte that is both…

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