Goat Cheese and Pesto Pizzette

This was an opportunity to try yet another cheese that was somewhat unfamiliar to me. 

Goat cheese, or chevre (from the French for goat), is cheese made out of the milk of goats.  Goat's milk cheese has a characteristic tart, and I thought a bit gamey, flavor. Although the West has popularized the cow, goat milk and goat cheese are preferred dairy products in much of the rest of the world. Because goat cheese is often made in areas where refrigeration is limited, aged goat cheeses are often heavily treated with salt to prevent decay. As a result, salt has become associated with the flavor of goat cheese.

Provencal Pizza

This pizza highlights Emmental, one of the other unique and hard-to-find cheeses I have been eager to try.  Emmental or Emmentaler is a cheese from Switzerland. It is sometimes known as Swiss cheese in the United States,Canada, Australia and New Zealand, although Swiss cheese does not always imply Emmentaler.

Pear, Pecorino, and Taleggio Pizza-Part 2!

One of the aspects of this pizza hobby of mine that I never anticipated was the exploration of a vast variety of unusual cheeses. Some time back my darling husband did some research on the Internet and discovered that there is a cheese shop at selected Kroger stores called Murray's Cheese Shop.  They have many of the more exotic cheeses that are difficult to find; and they will even ship if there is not one close to you!  We happened to be in Atlanta last week end visiting with our daughter and discovered a Kroger store near her neighborhood that has a Murray's Cheese Shop.    I purchased some emmental and some taleggio and decided to revisit the pear, pecorino, and taleggio pizza I made several weeks ago and  see what it would be like with real taleggio rather than substituting fontina. 

Tuscan Chicken on Foccacia

I friend of mine posted a recipe for Slow-Cooked Tuscan Sandwiches on her Facebook page. It looked absolutely delicious, and I thought it would be even better made on freshly baked foccacia bread.  I made the chicken in the slow cooker following the recipe.  It was basically chicken thighs, garlic, and sliced roasted red bell peppers (from a jar) that I had going in the crock pot all day.