Chevre with Pomegranate Compote

I am practicing for my Christmas Eve dessert.  I thought I’d share it with you because my mom and I both thought it was pretty good.

chevre with pomegranate compote

I made the container first–it is a puff pastry well.  I did not make it from scratch.  I sadly couldn’t find the actual puff pastry wells that they sell, so I bought puff pastry and turned them into wells.  I just cut a big circle and the scored a smaller circle.  They just need to bake about ten minutes in a pre-heated 400°F oven.  Then just removed the scored top and anything that is inside.  Cool it, and it’s ready to fill.

I decided to go with a chevre filling.  I always look for ways to use my goat cheese, but it could also be made with cream cheese.

Mix together:

• 1 cup chevre
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Place this in the pastry puff wells.

To make the compote, you need one cup of pomegranate arils (seeds).  I have to say, the easiest way I saw to get those seeds was to cut around the part that sticks up and then slice down where the white walls are.  Take a section off and then the seeds just easily come off.  Be sure to rinse and remove any other little bits of the white parts.

In a saucepan, place the pomegranate arils, 1 Tablespoon orange juice, and 3 Tablespoons of sugar.  I also added a dash of ginger and nutmeg.

Bring it to a boil, stirring frequently, and boil for five minutes.   I did want mine to be pretty thick, so I mixed 1/2 tsp. corn starch into a tablespoon of water, added it to the mixture and then simmered until it was thick.

Once it cooled, a put a spoon of it on the chevre.  Then I topped it with a bit of whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

Have I ever mentioned that I like to stress bake?  I might do a lot of baking before Christmas.

Cheesy Jalapeño Poppers

Well, the holidays and horrible weather means I have not had time to take any pictures, so I thought I’d share a recipe today.  Since I had an extra day home from work, I decided to play.

Instead of stuffing Jalapeño peppers, I decided to chop the peppers up and then bread the whole thing with crackers.

It was really easy to do. I was impressed with myself because I remembered to wear gloves while handling the peppers.  It did make them a bit messy when I was shaping the balls.

It important to make sure you double coat the balls in the egg/milk mixture and then the crackers.  It’s also important to remember to freeze them so that they can be deep fried.

Like my mozzarella sticks, I just flash fry them and then put them back in the freezer.  They are ready to throw in the oven to bake to serve.  It makes it really easy to prepare them ahead of time.

I can honestly say that I didn’t have a single one left when I baked them for my family on Christmas Eve.

Recipe

Mix together:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup chopped Jalapeño (2 big ones)
• 1 cup finely chopped cheddar cheese
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbsp bacon bits
• 2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese

Form into balls.  I got 20 from the batch I made.  Roll them in flour to coat the ball.  Then dip them in a mix of egg and milk (1 egg and 1 Tbsp. of milk).  Then roll them into crushed crackers.  I used roasted veggie Ritz crackers.  Place them back into the egg and milk mixture and then re-coat them with the cracker crumbs.  you want to make sure that the balls are completely coated.  Place them on a tray and freeze them for at least an hour.  After they have frozen, you can deep fry them quickly to seal the coating.  Once they are gently browned, lay them back on a tray to freeze them again.  Store them in an airtight container.  You can bake however many you want at a time.  Bake them on a tray in a 375°F oven for about 20 minutes.

Seitan and Goats

I have several seitan recipes I’m using, but the first thing I did was come up with a good powdered vegetable bouillon.  If you want, you can check out the reicpes:

• Bouillon Powder
• Chicken Seitan
• Turkey Seitan
• Roast Seitan
• Ham Seitan
• Bacon Seitan

And here’s some goats,

Moose (Casey behind him)

Coral

Caroline

Haley

just because.