Jumpin' Good Goat Dairy & Cooking With Goat Cheese

If you want to know what the point of this blog is, please feel free to read the 'about' section.

Although I have had the idea for this for a while now, it feels like now is a great time to start. I'm sure by now everyone has heard about 'pink slime' or 'finely textured lean beef' as they like to call it. The defense has always been that they shouldn't have to label it because it's just beef and that it has been used for years and it didn't bother anyone. This just made me stop and think/wonder how many people don't know what they're eating or even think about where their food comes from beyond the grocery store, I know I haven't always. Even Wild Oats or Whole Foods, how often do people really think beyond the store shelves? So part of my little Colorado project I am working on here is cooking, specifically cooking with foods that I know where they came from.

My first little outing (because, hey you may as well start close to home) was going to the Jumpin' Good Goat Dairy, located just a couple of miles from my home sweet home.

The Jumpin' Good Country Store is located on the farm itself and if you go at the right time (which I didn't) you can tour the farm and even feed the baby goats. Even though I didn't go on the tour I still got to talk to the owner who was more than happy to let me go take pictures of the goats, pet a couple of the older ones and get bit by one of them (not hard).

I invested in some fresh eggs and a couple of different kinds of goat cheese. They also sell potatoes that they grow there and goat meat (that I was a little to scared to buy). They do have samples of most if not all of their different cheeses for you to try before you buy them.

I'll be honest, I had never cooked with goat cheese, so I played it a little bit safe with my goat cheese recipes.

The first cheese that I got was an Amuse Bouche, which I used on a Margherita Style Pizza (primarily because I am not really a fan of pizza sauce).

Ingredients:

• Pizza Crust
• 4oz Amuse Bouche Goat Cheese (or whatever cheese you like)
• 1 1/2 TBSP Olive Oil
• Medium/Large Tomato (my tomato came from the grocery store, but I did opt for a 'Colorado Proud' tomato, like I try to do with most of my produce)
• Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme
• Garlic
• Spinach
• Corn Meal

Personally I usually opt for making my own pizza crust, but if I am feeling particularly lazy I will buy pizza dough from the local pizza place (I never use store bought, but you can if you want). 

Start by rolling out your pizza crust on your pizza pan or pizza stone (I personally love my pizza stone), brush bottom side with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a little bit of corn meal. Brush the top of the pizza dough with olive oil, top with sliced tomato, thinly sliced garlic (can also use garlic powder or minced garlic), crumbled goat cheese, sprinkle with Basil, Rosemary, Oregano, Thyme (or whatever spices you like), and I also topped mine with a little bit of spinach (pre-cooked). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees (note the amount of time needed to cook depends on thickness of the crust and how crispy you like it, so keep an eye on your pizza). If you've never cooked with goat cheese, keep in mind that it softens and will brown as it cooks it doesn't melt like other cheeses do.

As an easy peasy side dish, Pasta Salad. It's my all time favorite super fast and easy meal/side dish. Even when I hardly ever cooked, this was my go-to dish for any event where I needed to bring a dish ;)

Ingredients:

• Pasta (any kind/kinds you want)
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Italian Dressing
• Goat Cheese Feta (or regular feta cheese)

Boil pasta (once cooked, rinse and set aside) in this case I used tri-color and macaroni but you really can use whatever kind you like or combinations of different pastas, dice roasted red peppers, crumble cheese (if not already crumbled). Put pasta in mixing bowl, mix in a few tablespoons of Italian dressing (to taste), diced roasted red peppers (as much as you like), and feta cheese. I also usually add chopped raw broccoli, but I forgot to buy any. Can be served immediately, but it's best served chilled for a couple of hours or longer.

Of course as we tend to love our beer in Colorado, or the best way that I have heard it put, 'Colorado is the Napa Valley of micro breweries.' Everything is best served with a Colorado micro brew. In this case (because it was what happened to be in my fridge), Colorado's favorite or at least most popular micro brew, a Fat Tire.