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Marinated Goat Cheese

August 28, 2012 by 12 Comments

So, a while ago I won a photo contest run by the fabulous Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery, and a few weeks later they sent me a fabulous prize box of goodies.  As you might expect, there was some cheese in that book.  Some gorgeous, creamy, delicious goat cheese.  LOTs of it.  So after I finished slathering a crazy amount onto crackers and scarfing it down, I decided to get a little more elegant.  Marination was in order.

So I turned to one of my favorite cookbooks for inspiration, the fabulous OPEN HOUSE COOKBOOK, and did my version of their wonderful marinated goat cheese recipe.  It’s as simple as slicing rounds of goat cheese (and using a piece of sewing thread works way better than a knife for this – just hold both ends firmly and slide it through the cheese) and arranging them on a pretty plate.  Make sure you pick one with sides, because next we are going to pour in a nice puddle of olive oil.  This is the time to bring out the good stuff if you’ve got it!

But before we pour on the oil, we’re going to heat it up with some bay leaves, some peppercorns and some dried thyme until it is hot and fragrant and wonderful. (Just a word to the wise about the peppercorns…if you like a lot of spice and bite, leave them whole.  If you want your cheese to be a little more mild, crack them before you add them to the oil.  The smaller the pepper pieces, the less spicy it will be when you eventually bite into it.)

Now pour the hot oil over the cheese, scatter some sliced garlic on top, and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  The original recipe says to marinate it overnight in the fridge…I’m sure that is a great way to go, but frankly I’ve never been patient enough to wait that long.  We start eating it as soon as the 30 minutes is up.  If you have a loaf of french bread handy, you are ready to go.

Do I even need to say that we didn’t need anything else for supper that night?  We didn’t.  Happy goat cheese!

Here’s the recipe!

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Marinated Goat Cheese

Yield: 4 appetizer servings, or two for a light supper!

Marinated Goat Cheese

Ingredients

8 ounces firm round goat cheese
1 cup olive oil
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 clove garlic, sliced thin

Directions

1. Slice the cheese into 1/2 to 1/4 inch rounds (tightly held thread works well to slice soft cheese like this. Arrange the slices on a serving plate with sides.
2. Heat all remaining ingredients except the garlic in a small saucepan until hot and sizzling. Pour the hot oil carefully over the cheese.
3. Scatter garlic on top and let sit for 30 minutes.
4. Serve with crackers or torn french bread.

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Comments

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  1. Michelle says:
    August 28, 2012 at 12:33 pm

    That’s one magical box of cheese! I bow down to your patience to even do anything else with it, let alone marinate it. This looks delicious!

    Reply
    • Kate says:
      August 29, 2012 at 8:46 am

      You can’t go wrong with goat cheese this creamy and fabulous. As for patience….I DID eat the first round of cheese right out of the packet, I cannot tell a lie! Luckily they sent me lots. :)

      Reply
  2. Joanne says:
    August 28, 2012 at 9:27 pm

    I’ve seen marinated mozzarella before but never marinated goat cheese! I’m thinking the latter must be even better than the former. And marinated mozz is pretty dang good.

    Reply
    • Kate says:
      August 29, 2012 at 8:47 am

      I adore marinated mozz…I have a recipe lurking in my files for that one that I have to put up soon, because it is too great not to share. :)

      Reply
  3. swati says:
    August 29, 2012 at 8:38 am

    yum..yum.. so innovative…want to reach out and grab a bite!

    Reply
  4. Jane says:
    August 29, 2012 at 9:52 am

    Toss up between the great recipe and the cute goats! Love your pics.

    Reply
  5. ruthie says:
    September 5, 2012 at 11:00 pm

    I’ve just been looking for some nice, firm goat cheese logs! A few months ago I bought some Laura Chenel marinated goat cheese rounds. They came four slices to a small jar filled with olive oil and herbs, and they were fantastic.

    There didn’t seem to be any special trick to preserving them, so I thought they would be a good pantry item for me to make. Just grab a jar and dump it out on a plate and you have dinner in, literally, a minute! And your recipe is just about where I was going, minus the garlic slices, which I would add fresh before serving.

    Great minds! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kate says:
      September 17, 2012 at 7:44 am

      And if you have any leftover, it’s great as a sandwich spread the next day, especially with a little rare roast beef. Yummm….

      Reply
  6. Ginny Showman says:
    September 12, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    I made this as an appetizer over Labor Day. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was eating it while sitting around a campfire, but whatever the reason, this was FANTASTIC! We all loved it and so simple. We all discussed what we would add next time. Possibly capers, chopped Greek olives, sun-dried tomatoes? Anything sounds good with this. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

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