Each month, your Neighboring Food Co-ops feature our region’s artisan cheesemakers by offering a specially selected cheese at great price. Look for the “Cave to Co-op” sign in the cheese section at your local food co-op. To find one near you, visit www.nfca.coop/members.
This month’s special cheese: Hi-Land Chèvre from Hi-Land Farm, Franklin, VT
Hi-Land Farm was founded 30 plus years ago in Cornish, NH, by Jean and Gerry Hurlburt. The Hurlburts bred, showed and sold goats and in 1997 decided to start making chèvre. Today, grandaughter Heleena and her husband Tanner Abbott have taken over the cheesemaking on their own farm in Franklin, Vermont.
All Hi-Land cheeses are all made with vegetarian, non-GMO, organic rennet and non-GMO starters. The cheese is handcrafted in small batches to ensure that every product is made to the highest standards. Great care is taken in selecting the additional ingredients to make sure they are local whenever possible and of the highest quality.
The Chèvre is deliciously milky and clean, creamy and wonderfully versatile. Their goat milk Feta is not brined, but still moist and with just the right balance of salt.
Fresh chèvre is an amazingly versatile cheese. At its simplest, spread on toast with a smear of honey, it serves as a perfect breakfast. Here are some recipes that highlight its remarkable adaptability to succeed from appetizers to dessert.
RECIPES:
Super Simple Goat Cheese Appetizers
Thyme/Pink Peppercorn
- 8 ounces Hi-Land Farm chèvre
- 2-3 T extra-virgin olive oil
- 4-5 fresh thyme sprigs
- ½ t whole pink peppercorns
- sliced baguette or crackers for serving
Place cheese in a small ovenproof dish, and bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove the dish from the oven, drizzle with olive oil, and garnish with fresh thyme (if desired) and whole pink peppercorns. Serve with sliced baguette or crackers.
Honey/Pine Nut
- 8 ounces Hi-Land Farm chèvre
- 2-3 T extra-virgin o live oil
- 2 T toasted pine nuts
- 3 T fragrant honey, such as chestnut or thyme
- sliced baguette or crackers for serving
Place cheese in a small ovenproof dish, and bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove the dish from the oven, drizzle with olive oil, honey and pine nuts. Return to oven for 5 minutes. Serve with sliced baguette or crackers.
Olive/Chive
- 4 ounces Hi-Land Farm chèvre
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2-3 T extra-virgin olive oil
- 1T diced fresh parsley
- 2 ounces diced black olives
- sea salt and pepper
- sliced baguette or crackers for serving
Process chèvre and cream cheese in a food processor until creamy. Remove to serving bowl, stir in other ingredients and serve.
Dorie Greenspan’s Tourteau de Chèvre
Makes 8-12 servings
- 8 inch springform pan, generously buttered
- 1 round disk of pie dough 10.5 inches in diameter
Fit the dough circle into the pan, pressing it against the bottom and up the sides. It will pleat and fold in on itself as it climbs the side—do the best you can to straighten it out, but don’t worry about it, since perfection is impossible here and not really important. Put the springform in the fridge while you make the filling.
- 5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- ½ cup plus 2 T sugar
- 9 ounces softened plain Hi-Land Farm chèvre
- 3 T cornstarch
- ½ t pure vanilla extract
- baking sheet lined with parchment paper
Pre-heat oven to 400°F
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whip the egg whites with the salt until they start to form soft peaks. Still whipping, gradually add 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and beat until the whites hold firm, but still glossy peaks. If the whites are in the bowl of your stand mixer, transfer them gingerly to another bowl. With the mixer—use the paddle attachment now, if you’ve got one—beat the egg yolks, goat cheese, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, the cornstarch, and vanilla until very smooth and creamy, about a minute or two. Switch to a rubber spatula and stir one quarter of the whites into the mixture to lighten it, and then gently fold in the rest of the whites. Scrape the batter into the crust and put the springform on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 350° F. Continue to bake for about 35 minutes more, or until the top, which will have cracked, is dark brown and firm; a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the tourteau rest for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the sides of the springform. Cool the cake to room temperature before serving. The cake will deflate as it cools.
Scrambled Eggs w/asparagus, leeks, dill and Hi-Land Chèvre
Makes 2 servings
- 1 medium leek, white and light green parts thinly sliced, rinsed
- 1 Cup chopped asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 T sour cream or yogurt
- 2 ounces Hi-Land Farm plain chèvre
- 2 T chopped fresh dill
- salt and pepper
In a large nonstick or cast iron skillet, sauté leeks in oil over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes until melting and tender, turning heat down further if starting to brown. Whisk eggs with sour cream, salt and pepper. Add asparagus to the leeks and cook for a few more minutes, until asparagus is crisp, bright and cooked al dente (you may want to turn heat up to medium for just a minute or so). If pan seems dry add touch more oil or butter. Pour in eggs and gently fold and stir with a rubber spatula, over medium low heat, for 2-3 minutes. Add crumbled goat cheese. Continue folding gently until cooked to your desired doneness. At the end, add the fresh dill, and stir to combine. Serve immediately into 2 bowls.
Rhubarb Galette with Chèvre Cream
Makes 8 servings
Make crust
- 1 ¼ C all purpose flour, plus more for rolling the galette
- 1 T sugar
- ¼ t salt
- 7 T chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 2 T ice water – perhaps more
Pulse flour, sugar and salt in food processor to blend. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crunbs. Add T water and pulse until dough clumps together, adding more ice water by the teaspoon if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 2 hours.
Make filling
- 1 pound rhubarb, cut into ½ inch slices
- ¼ C plus 5 T sugar, divided
- ¼ t cinnamon
- 2 T unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 1 large egg yolk, beaten to blend
Combine rhubarb, ¼ cup sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Let stand for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Position rack in center of oven and pre-heat to 350°F. Remove dough from refrigerator and let soften for 10 minutes at room temperature. Place large sheet of parchment paper on work surface and sprinkle with flour. Roll out dough on parchment into a 12-inch round. Spread rhubarb mixture on dough, leaving a 1-inch border around edge. Gently fold dough border over outer edge of rhubarb topping, pleating as needed. Sprinkle 2 T sugar over rhubab. Dot rhubarb with butter cubes. Brush edge of dough with beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle border with 1 T sugar. Bake until rhubarb is tender and juices bubble, about 1 hour.
Make chèvre cream topping
- 8 ounces Hi-Land plain chèvre, room temperature
- ¼ C heavy whipping cream
In a small bowl, beat together the goat cheese, heavy crean abd 2 T sugar until smooth and creamy.Cut galette into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature with the Chèvre Cream on the side.
Cave to Co-op is a partnership between Provisions International and the Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) to support local, artisanal cheese producers in our region and make their products more easily available to co-op shoppers. The NFCA is a network of more than 30 food co-ops in New England, locally owned by more than 90,000 people like you. For more information, please visit www.nfca.coop.