Tag Archives: easy recipe

Homemade Farmers Cheese

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Farmers Cheese

  • Half gallon of milk
  • ½ tablespoon salt
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
  • Cheesecloth
  • Seasoning of choice: olive oil, lemon zest, fresh herbs

Heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Add salt and stir occasionally to avoid burning the milk. As soon as the milk starts to simmer (about 180-190 degrees), pour in the lemon juice and vinegar and stir. The milk should begin to curdle – if not, add in a little more lemon juice or vinegar. Turn off the heat and let the milk rest for about 10 minutes. Line a colander with at least two layers of cheesecloth. Pour curdled milk into the cheesecloth, tie cloth and hang over a bowl for a 1/2 hour – hour to ensure all the whey has drained (be careful not to let it hang too long, as the result will be too dry).

Farmers Cheese Cheesecloth

Once drained, open cheesecloth and either refrigerate cheese immediately or transfer to a plate to serve. If serving immediately, season with your favorite items: olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper and/or favorite fresh herbs such as thyme, parsley and oregano.

Farmers Cheese

This mild cheese is great on crackers or on your favorite crostini. I recently served it up over a crostini topped by tomatoes, basil and olive oil.

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It’s Fig Season

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Fresh Creekview Figs

The California fig season is officially underway! These fragile, pear-shaped beauties are one of our favorites and between Rochelle and I, we are fortunate enough to have five beautiful fig trees to harvest from. Plump and mildly sweet, fresh figs are delicious in their natural state or can be added to an array of savory or sweet dishes. Below are a few of our favorite ways to enjoy fresh California figs:

Goat Cheese and Fig Toast

Goat Cheese Fig Toast

  • Bread of your choice, toasted (we use Beckmanns bread from our local farmers market)
  • Fresh figs, sliced
  • Fresh chèvre
  • Raw organic honey
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Fresh thyme

Drizzle toast with olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper and toast. Spread the fresh goat cheese on the warm toast, drizzle with honey, add a little pepper and top with fresh fig slices. Garnish with thyme.

Fig Salsa

Fig Salsa Aprons & Stilettos

Add this easy-to-make salsa to sliced, smoked steak for a hint of sweetness.

  • Fresh figs, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • Fresh parsley, chopped
  • Scallions, chopped
  • Pinch salt & pepper
  • Blue cheese

Mix together oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Drizzle over figs, add parsley and scallions and mix to combine. Garnish with blue cheese crumbles. Also, great on a steak crostini!

Steak Crostini Figs

Blue Cheese, Honey and Walnut Figs

Blue Cheese, Honey and Fig Appetizer

This super easy, savory appetizer bursts with some incredible flavors. The saltiness of the blue cheese complements the sweetness of the ripe homegrown figs finished with a delightful nuttiness of toasted organic walnuts. Click here for the recipe

Rosemary Infused Goat Cheese Figs

Rosemary Figs

Here’s another extremely easy, yet delicious appetizer that takes only 20 minutes to make. Click here for the recipe

Fig, Prosciutto and Blue Cheese Pizza

Fig Pizza

Add figs to your homemade pizza, trust us – it’s delicious. Click here for the recipe

Coconut Curry Cauliflower Soup

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Coconut Cauliflower Soup

 

I recently made some delicious coconut milk & blood orange popsicle from Fork, Knife, Swoon’s beautiful blog but ended up with about a cup of coconut milk leftover (I only used half of her recipe). Since it was a cold, raining day I decided to use the rest of the coconut milk in a delicious batch of (no cream) curried cauliflower soup.

  • Olive oil
  • 1 head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
  • 1 yellow onion, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 32 ounces vegetable broth
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • Garnish options: fresh parsley, olive oil, roasted nuts

Begin by heating the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Once hot, add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt and cook until soft, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes (do not let garlic burn). Add the cauliflower, broth, curry powder and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to low. Simmer until florets are tender, about 12-15 minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Return soup to the pot and stir in the coconut milk. Add additional salt and pepper to taste or any additional spices.

Garnish with a little olive oil, parsley or toasted nuts.

Coconut Cauliflower Soup

 

Adapted from The Kitchn Vegan Cauliflower Soup recipe