Tuesday Twister – July 28, 2009

My Tuesday Twister posts are my weekly round-up of what’s going on in my kitchen and our lives, as it pertains to food. So here we go – I’ll catch you up on what’s twisting in my kitchen this week!

• Middle Eastern Goat Cheese – I’ve learned so much about cheese the past couple months – so I got confident enough to play with the Middle Eastern goat cheese recipe, and start adapting it for my kitchen and my life. I am working on finding a molding process that doesn’t take up the entire sink for hours at a time and also an aging process that doesn’t require a dip in boiling water once the cheese is done. I will be writing on this soon – hoping that some of you will give it a try. The cheese is really delicious. My sweet Naomi, who tends to be the pickiest eater (though a sweetheart the whole time) told me she really liked the cheese, liked it even better than the Landmark cheese from Azure. That is high praise!!! (Definitely worthy of three exclamation points.) The picture shows one morning’s breakfast – fried pastured eggs, a chunk of cheese, and sprouted spelt biscuits with homemade butter.
• Herbed Kefir Cheese Dip – With my kids gone visiting in California the past two weeks, and not here to drink their usual several cups of raw goat milk daily, I had alot of goat milk to put to other uses. I made several batches of cheese – the ME cheese above, feta cheese, and a first try at cheddar cheese – but there was still more milk to use. So I made extra kefir, and what we didn’t use in smoothies or with fresh fruit, I turned it into kefir cheese. I like it plain but salted and spread on any bread, but I tried something new – and it turned out awesome! I added homemade herb seasoning salt to the kefir and it made an incredible dip or spread!
• Goat Milk Soap – It was bound to happen eventually – I made goat milk soap (that links to my personal blog, Such Treasures, with more detail). It was fun and surprisingly, my first attempt worked. I’m so grateful! It smells a little like food, which is interesting. Tomorrow I am going to take some of it to Localvore Fresh Oregon Foods in Sutherlin. Speaking of Localvore, Larisa, the owner, started a new blog! In addition to her very interesting back story, she’s shared a couple good recipes already: foie gras and no-cook blender soup. I’d like to try the foie gras very soon!
• Probiotic Potato Salad – Does the title scare you? Seriously, I’d like to know. This potato salad was awesome, and I’d like to share the recipe tomorrow for Real Food Wednesday, but I don’t want my title to make people shy away. So what do you think? Please let me know and watch for the recipe tomorrow! Hint about the recipe: I used the herbed kefir cheese from above for the dressing. My family members were absolutely astounded to find out they’d eaten kefir in their potato salad. It was hilarious! They’re so funny. I will serve them something new and then afterward say, “Guess what you just ate?” and their mouths will drop open and they’ll say, “Was that kefir?” I love it! And just so you know, I am not into tricking my family. I’ve never believed in disguising veggies in food, etc. But kefir, I feel like they got prejudiced against it from the beginning, so that’s why I’m keeping it a secret. So far, they love it in smoothies, they love it in potato salad, and some of them are eating it with fruit in the morning, as is. Progress, I’d say!

So, that’s it for me – what’s twisting in your kitchen? I would love to hear! Share what’s going on in your kitchen by leaving a comment

And… here’s the brand-new button for a bigger and better “Tuesday Twister” at gnowfglins.com. Would you like to participate? Read the details here – Announcing the Tuesday Twister Blog Carnival! I hope you’ll join in the real food fun – and for the first week, I am going to be giving away some homemade soap to one blessed participant.