When my friend Magda told me about 8-9 years ago that her favorite cheese was goat cheese, I felt kind of lost… Goat Cheese? How does that taste like? Is it soft or hard? Tell me more, tell me more…
So I immediately went to the specialty cheese case in my grocery store to see what this goat cheese was all about. I was instantly HOOKED!! I could not believe I had been ignoring the specialty cheese section for so long… Magda opened up my eyes to the delicious variety of cheeses there are and that there’s more to cream cheese than the Philly kind I love so much… to this day.
One of my guilty pleasures on the weekends (and some weekdays too…) is to make myself a Goat Cheese Toast… crispy, creamy, tangy – One of my perfect snack foods.
GOAT CHEESE TOASTS
1 whole-wheat baguette 3 oz of soft goat cheese, make sure it’s without animal rennet Extra-virgin olive oil Kosher Salt Freshly-cracked black pepper
- Slice the baguette into 2 halves. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Toast the baguette halves in a 350° F oven for about 5 minutes or just use the toaster setting on your toaster oven.
- Take the toasts out (careful, they’re hotter because of the oil) and spread the goat cheese on the bread. Sprinkle a bit more pepper and drizzle a bit more olive oil for the nice cool finished look.
Enjoy alone, with a nice chilled glass of pomegranate juice… or fill the two halves with a few slices of fresh tomato, baby spinach and roasted peppers for an awesome sandwich.
KarmaFree Cooking 
There is a little farm outside of Des Moines called Northern Prairie that makes flavored chevre. My favorite is Lemon Basil and I add it to a freshly cooked and drained pasta – it makes the best sauce!
Ack! I just read the post on Rennet and did a hasty check of my cheeses and of course they only list ‘enzymes’ – but not what kind that is used. With all the lobbying that was done to get proper labeling on food – it would have been nice if they would also be required to be specific about things that are questionable for vegetarians. Or what if someone had a food allergy to rennet or any of the other ambigious ingredients that are used?
KFC – Kimberly, do not fret… I agree that labeling should be clearer on most products out there. Rennet, also known as rennin, when not specified it’s usually from an animal source. But there are other types of rennet that are suitable for vegetarians, for example – vegetable rennet or microbial rennet. I guess it was too hard for people to find a completely new name for these. I am not certain if the law requires to list animal rennet in the ingredient list, just avoid the ones who clearly mention plain rennet in them.
I’m not actually sure about the rennet side, but in a distant blog you can see me milking goats then making cheese. It was a most wonderful morning with wonderful friends in rural Southern France!..cheese wasn’t bad either!!
Mmm, goat cheese! I’ve been indulging on it a lot myself lately. I tend to go for it sweet – with lots of honey! There’s a farm near me that makes it and even in chocolate flavor!
Perhaps I should be trying the savory side as well. The olive oil drizzled on it looks mighty tasty.