By request here’s some live-action cheese making using the method from my original “Discount Goat” post. Still just as good as before. I mention in the video my favourite use for chèvre is to stuff radicchio leaves and pan fry them in the vein of old Italian farmers. You can find that recipe below, simple as it may be. I’ll try to manage a photo of the tasty little parcels next time I make a batch if I can pause long enough after they come out of the pan.
Chèvre Radicchio Parcels
1 head of radicchio
200g pine nuts (or substitute blanched slivered almonds)
200g goat cheese (chèvre)
4 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
Freshly ground black peppercorn, to taste
Fine sea salt, to taste (note, depending on your cheese, you may not need any additional salt)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of fresh garlic, minced
Core and separate the radicchio leaves leaving them as intact as possible. Rinse well and spin dry. Set aside.
In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the pine nuts until fragrant, about four minutes. Be sure to move the pan often to prevent scorching. Allow to cool completely.
Mix the cheese, chives, peppercorn, and sea salt well. Gently stir in the cooled pine nuts and keep chilled until ready to assemble.
Take each leaf and place a scant tablespoon of the cheese mix in each. Fold the leaves over to form a parcel. If your leaves are particularly rigid and uncooperative, pass them briefly over a steaming kettle to soften slightly before filling. Set the assembled parcels seam side down on a chilled plate until ready to fry.
Just before serving, add the oil and garlic to a pan cold then bring up to just below medium heat. Place the formed parcels in the pan seam side down and fry until a light golden brown on the first side, about three minutes, then flip and fry for an additional minute. Serve almost as soon as you get them out of the pan as an appetizer with a slightly sweeter white wine. Eat every fourth one yourself.
