Goat Cheese – T.W.O.

Cherry & Goat Cheese Kale Salad with Pistachios

Published on May 29, 2015May 29, 2015 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

If you haven’t noticed, cherries are in season right now and most grocery stores have them on sale, so T.W.O. capitalized on this opportunity and bought bags and bags of the delicious red fruit! With all this supply, we tried to incorporate cherries into every meal. Below is a simple, summer recipe that is easy and doesn’t require a lot of prep-work. Add some grilled chicken or flat iron steak and you have yourself a main entrée!

Cherry & Goat Cheese Kale Salad with Pistachios

Ingredients:
– 4 – 6 cups baby kale
– 2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
– 1/2 cup goat cheese, crumbled
– 1/2 cup pistachios
– balsamic vinaigrette
– hearts of palm, sliced

Directions:
1. In a bowl place baby kale, cherries, hearts of palm and pistachios. Mix well.
2. Toss salad with balsamic and sprinkle with goat cheese.
3. Plate and serve.

Cherrie-O,

Goat Cheese, Honey & Pistachio Mini Cheesecakes with Meyer Lemon Curd

Published on May 7, 2014June 6, 2014 by T.W.O.2 Comments

Cheesecake – they come in all different flavors, sizes and presentations. Bet you haven’t had a cheesecake with pistachio, goat cheese, honey, lemon curd and crème fraîche. Well if you have – – you are pretty lucky! If you haven’t…don’t worry, T.W.O. has this delicious, flavorful, satisfying Spring dessert recipe for you!

Goat Cheese, Honey & Pistachio Mini Cheesecakes with Meyer Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

For the pistachio crust:
– 1 heaping cup de-shelled, roasted, and salted pistachios
– 1/4 cup granulated sugar
– 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
– 1 (11-ounce) log mild goat cheese, room temperature
– 1 (11-ounce) log mild honey goat cheese, room temperature
– 1/2 cup granulated sugar
– 1 cup crème fraîche room temperature
– 3 tablespoons good-quality honey
– 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
– 6 large eggs

For the Meyer lemon cream:
– 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
– 1/2 cup granulated sugar
– 2 large eggs
– 2 large egg yolks
– 3 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest
– 3/4 cup Meyer lemon juice
– 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. For the pistachio crust, combine pistachios and sugar in food processor until it becomes a fine meal. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Transfer the crust to a spring form pan.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. While the oven is heating, refrigerate the crusts until chilled. Bake the crusts for 10 to 12 minutes until set. Cool completely before filling.
3. For the filling, lower oven temperature to 300°F. Combine the goat cheese and sugar in the kitchen aid. Add the crème fraîche, honey, vanilla, mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, and mix until just combined; do not over mix.
4. Add the filling to the top of the pistachio crust. Place the cheesecake in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, put the cheesecake in the oven overnight.
5. For the Meyer lemon curd cream the butter and sugar in a KitchenAid mixer until light and fluffy.. Slowly add the eggs and yolks and beat for 1 minute, until well combined. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla. Note: The mixture will become curdled and lumpy – – – don’t be alarmed!
6. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly. The cream will become thicker, so be sure to not overcook. Once the curd can coat the back of the spoon, transfer to another bowl and press plastic directly on the surface. Let cool at room temperature. Add to the top of the cheesecake and let it refrigerate for a couple hours.
7. When you are ready to serve, top with pistachios and a lemon slice….bon appetite!

Happy Baking!

Lemon Goat Cheese, Artichoke, Mushroom Pizza

Published on January 17, 2014January 15, 2014 by T.W.O.5 Comments

It’s Friday. It’s Lemon Week. So why wouldn’t we end it with our famous Friday Night Pizza Night- using lemons! This Lemon Goat Cheese, Artichoke and Mushroom Pizza satisfies all taste-buds. It’s zestful, sweet, spicy and appetizing. How so? The zesty and tart taste comes from the Meyer lemon, then complimented by the creamy, sweet goat cheese. The spice – well that comes from the garlic! And what wouldn’t be more appetizing than marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, all covered with a fresh arugula salad? T.W.O. has the perfect pizza to finish off this Lemon Week!

Ingredients:
– Pizza dough
– Cornmeal
-Flour
-2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
-2 Meyer lemons
-1 large log goat cheese
– 2 Tablespoons dried basil
-1 cup Crimini mushrooms, sliced
-1 small can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and cut
– 5 garlic cloves, diced
-3 Tablespoons spicy brown mustard
– Arugula

Preheat oven to 425ᴼF.
Roll out the pizza dough on a floured/ cornmeal surface. Once the dough is evenly rolled out, transfer the dough to a greased cookie sheet.

Spread the olive oil on the dough using a spoon. Sprinkle the dried basil leaves on the dough, making sure to evenly distribute. Add 3 of the diced garlic cloves.

In a bowl, mix the goat cheese, dried basil and the juice one lemon. Set aside. Add the mushrooms and marinated artichoke hearts to the pizza dough. Place small spoonfuls of the goat cheese mixture onto the dough about ½ inch apart from one another. Make sure the cheese reaches the edges.

Let the pizza rise for about 15 minutes. Note – you don’t want to put the pizza in a cold oven, so make sure your oven reaches 425ᴼF. Once the oven is ready, place the pizza in the oven and watch closely. Do not open the oven door, as you want to keep the heat in. The pizza will take 15-20 minutes.

While the pizza is cooking, make your arugula salad for the top. In a bowl, mix together the juice of the remaining lemon, 2 diced garlic cloves, spicy brown mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the arugula and mix. Set aside.

Once done the pizza is done, take it out of the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the arugula salad and then cut your pizza. It’s time to eat!

Hope you all had a great Lemon Week, because we sure had fun making it!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Lemon Infused Pizza!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Swiss Chard

Published on October 28, 2013October 24, 2013 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Picture this: A cold autumn’s night with green vegetables, toasted pine nuts, butternut squash and goat cheese. Sounds T.W.O. perfect, right? Well it is! Check out how to make this dish below.

Ingredients:

– 1 large butternut squash
– 2 large shallots, quartered
-4 gloves of garlic, skinned and halved
– 1 ½ Tablespoon cinnamon
– 1 ½ Tablespoon nutmeg
-1 large head Swiss chard, stems and leaves chopped separately
-¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
-¾ cups dried cranberries
– ¼ cup honey goat cheese, crumbled
– balsamic vinegar, to drizzle

Preheat oven to 375ᴼ. Peel the squash and cut in half lengthwise. Seed the squash and cut into bite-size cubes. Spray/brush the squash with olive oil and mix in cinnamon and nutmeg. Once the squash is coated, place on a baking sheet and cook for about 30-40 minutes until soft. Check the squash periodically and mix.

At the 20 minute mark, add the garlic and the shallots to the butternut squash on the baking pan in the oven.

While the squash medley is cooking, chop the Swish chard stems and sauté in a fry pan for 3 minutes with a drixzle of balsamic vinegar. After 2 minutes, add the Swish chard leaves.

Mix in the cranberries and the roasted pine nuts.

Remove the squash, shallots and garlic from the oven and add to the Swish chard mixture. Once mixed, remove from stove and plate the ingredients. Add the goat cheese to the top for garnish. Serve immediately.

T.W.O. enjoys having this for leftovers for lunch the next day. Just heat it up in the microwave or on the stove and you will have another tasty meal!

Happy cooking!!!

Harvest Quinoa Salad

Published on October 18, 2013October 13, 2013 by twinswithoriginalityLeave a comment

Fall is just not in the air, but also in quinoa! T.W.O. loves making this harvest quinoa salad during the autumn months. It makes a great side dish, lunch meal, or snack! Serve it hot or cold! It’s just not perfect sweater weather, but perfect quinoa weather.

Ingredients

-2 cups water
-1 cup red quinoa, rinsed
-1 green apple
-1 cup spinach
-1/2 cup of dried cranberries
-1 lemon, juiced
-3-4 tablespoons olive oil
-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
-3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
-Garlic powder
-Cinnamon
-Salt & Pepper
-Goat cheese, crumbled

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add a dash of cinnamon and garlic power. If you want a little kick, add a dash of cayenne pepper. Once the water is boiling, add quinoa and reduce to low-medium heat. Cook for about 12-15 minutes. While the quinoa is cooking, cut the apple (unpeeled) and spinach.

When the quinoa is done, fluff with fork and cool for 10-15 minutes.

Once cool, add olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, apple cider, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix. Next add in apple, spinach and cranberries and mix well.

Allow salad to chill for about 20 minutes. When you are ready to serve, crumble goat cheese over salad. (If you plan to serve, only let quinoa cool for about 2 minutes before adding in the ingredients. Top salad with goat cheese when you are ready to serve.)

Bon appetite!

*T.W.O. also likes to add grilled chicken breast to the salad or even chunks of roasted sweet potatoes.

Harvest Salad

Published on September 30, 2013September 29, 2013 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

Fall is one of T.W.O.’s favorite seasons because of the weather and the harvest foods! To kick off the season, T.W.O. decided to make a dish with butternut squash. The weather has been quite warm, so a fresh salad with all the Fall ingredients was put on the T.W.O. menu.

Ingredients

Roasted Butternut Squash:

-Butternut Squash
-Olive Oil
-Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Salt and Pepper

For the Salad:

-Roasted butternut squash
-Spinach
-Apple (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith)
– Cucumber
-Crimini mushrooms
-Dried Cranberries
-Pepitas
-Goat Cheese

For the Dressing:

-1/4 cup olive oil
-3/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
-2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
-1 ½ Tablespoons Greek yogurt
-I tablespoon honey
-Cinnamon
-Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 415°. Cut butternut squash in half and remove seeds. Place butternut squash on a foil-lined cookie sheet and brush the squash with olive oil. Next, season the squash with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Put the squash into oven and roast for 45 minutes to one hour.

For the dressing, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, yogurt, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Put the dressing in the refrigerator to chill. Ten minutes before the butternut squash is ready, prepare salad. Dice apple, mushrooms, and cucumber and place on platted spinach. Next, add your cranberries, pepitas and crumbled goat cheese.

When the squash is done, take out of oven and let sit for 3-5 minutes to cool. Cut the squash into cubes (removing the skin) and put on salad. Drizzle the dressing over salad and mix. Now it’s time to enjoy this gastronomical, fall inspired salad!

Peach Goat Cheese Crostini

Published on September 6, 2013September 6, 2013 by twinswithoriginality2 Comments

Summer is not over yet; Peaches are still in season…So it’s time to get into the kitchen with T.W.O. and make these fabulous peach goat cheese crostini! They make a wonderful appetizer that all your guests will enjoy. And you will enjoy them to because they are easy to make so you can spend more time socializing with your guests and not stuck in the kitchen!

Ingredients

-Fresh baguette
-Goat cheese
-Fresh basil
-Peaches
-Balsamic vinegar
-Honey, optional

First, pre-heat your oven to 425°F. Next, slice your baguette and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet. (The foil makes for an easy cleanup!) Then, slice your peaches into thin wedges and chop your basil into small pieces.

Once the oven is heated, place your bread slices in the oven. After about 3 minutes, check the slices to see if they are golden brown. If so, flip them over to get the other side golden brown. Once both sides are done, take the bread out of the oven and get ready to prepare the crostini! While the bread is still hot, spread your goat cheese on the crostini. Next, place some basil on top of the cheese and finish with the peach slice. Repeat this for the remaining bread slices.

Once all the crostini are assembled, drizzle the balsamic over each piece. T.W.O. also drizzled honey over each crostini and found that it added an extra kick of sweetness. So if you are in the mood for a sweet, but savory treat, add the honey! Now it’s time to serve!

Fig Goat Cheese Appetizer

Published on August 15, 2013August 15, 2013 by twinswithoriginality1 Comment

Hosting a last minute dinner party on Friday night? Need an easy appetizer to impress your guests? Well T.W.O has the perfect one for you! It’s gastronomical, quick and the best part is that it is only 4 ingredients! That’s T.W.O. times T.W.O! Wow!! There is no doubt your guests will enjoy this tasteful bite. Take a deep breath, relax- T.W.O has planned your first menu item for this Friday night!

Ingredients:
-Goat cheese
-Fresh Fig, sliced in wedges
-Rosemary Raisin Crackers*
-Honey