Mushroom and Goat Cheese Spread

I am taking these conversational French classes with my friends… we get together to speak French every week.  We talk about our stuff, all in French.  But we’re disciplined too – we discuss and review grammar, we give ourselves homework and even assign Show and Tell projects.

Our first Show and Tell presentation was about the food of a certain region of France.  I selected the Loire Valley and the Center of France.  I was not sure what I was going to find there, but I was determined to make my presentation vegetarian-friendly.  We had to add a TASTE to the Show and Tell, making it a Show, Tell and Taste…

To my surprise, the Loire Valley is also affectively known as the Garden of France, because of its proliferation of fruits and veggies – apples, pears, plums, mushrooms – porcini, chanterelles, among many other wild varieties. 

The Loire Valley is also the heart of goat cheese production in France.  So for my TASTE portion of the presentation, I decided to make this spread as an appetizer, using traditional ingredients from the Loire Valley…

MUSHROOM AND GOAT CHEESE SPREAD

2 tbs butter

1 small shallot, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

½ pound of button mushrooms, coarsely chopped

4 ounces of goat cheese

2 ounces of cream cheese

1 tbs plain yogurt

2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and Freshly-cracked Pepper to taste

1 whole-wheat baguette, sliced on the bias

1. In a medium saucepan, melt butter.  Add shallot and garlic and sautee for about 1 minute.  Add the chopped mushrooms.  Cook until the mushrooms begin to soften, about 5-6 minutes.
2. 
3. In the bowl of a food processor, add the goat cheese, cream cheese, yogurt and cooked mushrooms.  Add the oil, salt and pepper.  Pulse a few times to combine. 
4. Toast baguette slices.   Serve spread with baguette toasts at room temperature.

The French taste is truly authentic.  I also ate this spread mixed with boiled potatoes.  It’s delicious and versatile.

Tags: Goat Cheese, mushrooms