Goat Cheese – How to Use It

 Occasionally my bargain-hunting outruns my common sense, and I buy way too much of an ingredient because it’s on sale.  About a week ago an irresistible double package of goat cheese landed in my shopping cart.

Once I got it home I began to wonder what I was going to do with 20 ounces of this soft white cheese.  I took one package to a dinner party.  The other sat forlornly in the cheese drawer for a week until I remembered a quiche recipe an English friend sent me.  Conveniently it called for goat cheese.

The directions said

Question for Mom

(L-R) Cheddar Cheese, Goat Cheese, Colby/Jack Cheese

 If cheeses like Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Gouda or Goat have some mold growing on the surface, should I throw the cheese away? --Sheila S.

No.  Just cut off and discard the moldy portion. 

See all Questions for Mom

Is It Possible to Have Too Many Ripe Tomatoes?

Yes.  Too many ripe homegrown tomatoes on my kitchen counter can cause guilt, piggishness and extra work in general.  I can’t eat them all immediately.  Well, I could, but why should I be ruled by a tomato?

I could cook them up in soups, stir-fries, sauces and casseroles or make lots of salads.  I could haul out my Tomato Pie recipe. I could try canning them, but I have never canned anything.  I could experiment with drying them in the oven for use later.  I really should try that, but that seems too much like work.

Feta Cheese: What Is It and How Do I Use It?

When I was growing up, the only cheese regularly in my family’s refrigerator was a block of processed Cheddar.  It felt like modeling clay, and it was fun to play with.  I ate it and liked it because I didn’t know what else was out there.

Occasionally my father would ask my mother to buy Swiss cheese, but I never really cared for it.  Then I spent a summer in Greece as an exchange student and discovered feta cheese.  It was very salty, but it was the perfect accompaniment to a dish of sliced ripe tomatoes.

When I came back to my Pennsylvania small town,

The Joy of Greek Salad

When I was a teenager, I spent the summer in Greece as an American Field Service Exchange Student.  I drank goat’s milk (not my favorite beverage) and picked fresh figs off trees (don’t eat too many at once because there are consequences).

The one thing I didn’t do was eat a Greek Salad.

How to Use Up Leftover Potatoes

Baked Stuffed Potatoes

It’s so easy to cook more potatoes than you need—whether you meant to do it in order to have leftovers or you made a mistake.  How you cooked them in the first place will determine what you can do with them next.  Here’s a guide to using up leftover potatoes in recipes on this blog;

Tomato Glut

Is it possible to have too many home-grown tomatoes?  If you asked me in December, I would say NO.  But in July, my answer is YES. We get big bags of ripe tomatoes all through the summer from our gardener friend Kenny, who doesn’t cook but can’t resist planting them every year. 

Nothing tastes better than a tomato picked ripe from a vine, but how many a day can you eat?  I’ve already confessed to making blueberry jam, but I don’t think I want to start canning tomatoes.  I’ve thought about oven-drying some, but plum tomatoes are best for that procedure.  The ones on my counter are big and round.  Better to use them in dishes where you can appreciate their flavor. 

If the tomatoes are ripe and still firm,

Tomato Glut

Is it possible to have too many home-grown tomatoes?  If you asked me in December, I would say NO.  But in July, my answer is YES. We get big bags of ripe tomatoes all through the summer from our gardener friend Kenny, who doesn’t cook but can’t resist planting them every year. 

Nothing tastes better than a tomato picked ripe from a vine, but how many a day can you eat?  I’ve already confessed to making blueberry jam, but I don’t think I want to start canning tomatoes.  I’ve thought about oven-drying some, but plum tomatoes are best for that procedure.  The ones on my counter are big and round.  Better to use them in dishes where you can appreciate their flavor. 

If the tomatoes are ripe and still firm, try Salade Nicoise.  With such key ingredients as green beans, tuna, potatoes and hard-boiled eggs, this French salad is hearty enough to be a main course.

Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce is another option.  Hot cooked noodles are added to chopped fresh tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and goat cheese.