Roasted chèvre, please

April 30, 2008 9:44 AM

Mmmm... cheese. I went to a tapas restaurant the other day and one of the things we ordered was roasted chèvre — essentially a sticky warm blob of goat's milk cheese in a dish. The edges were brown, perhaps caramelized, and it tasted deliciously sweet. How do I make it? And do I need a butane torch to do it?
posted by gentle to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

Best answer: Put it in a ramekin and bake it in a very hot oven. It is even better if you spoon a bunch of fresh tomato sauce around it while it bakes. Use old baguette toasted with garlic butter to scoop it up.
posted by charlesv at 9:59 AM on April 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

Best answer: You can just toast it in a toaster oven. I'm not sure how sweet it was so I can't say if they added anything to it or not.

You'll have better luck if you coat it in breadcrumbs (or something) first, so it doesn't melt into a puddle. Also, keep it in the fridge before you toast it.

I wonder... the topping I use for creme brulee is something along the lines of turbinado sugar, which I bet would make a nice sugar crust on goat cheese too. I use a blow torch for the creme brulee. A toaster oven might not be hot enough to crystallize it.
posted by small_ruminant at 10:04 AM on April 30, 2008

Seconding a ramekin in the oven, though I only put my oven up to about 400 for this one.

It's delicious with olives, garlic, tomatos, well... lots of things.

Dammit, you made me hungry.
posted by Project F at 10:07 AM on April 30, 2008

Best answer: I have had this, and it was served with (cooked with?) honey, which could possibly have been part of what you had (brown?). In any case, if you can't get it to be sweet by baking it by itself, try honey - it was delicious!
posted by prefpara at 10:17 AM on April 30, 2008

Best answer: Goat cheese with a flour/egg/breadcrumb wash can be deep-fried to a golden-brown and will keep its shape until you crack it open. Just letting you know...
posted by mek at 10:34 AM on April 30, 2008

Best answer: prefpara, indeed, come to think of it, I am pretty sure it was cooked with honey. Thanks, everyone, I think it's time to buy a toaster oven.
posted by gentle at 10:38 AM on April 30, 2008

Best answer: You need to get the drier goat cheeses, FYI - the wetter ones wrapped in plastic are too, er, wet for this. (This is what my mother told me - can an actual cook translate this into culinary speak?)
posted by bettafish at 10:44 AM on April 30, 2008

Best answer: You need to get the drier goat cheeses, FYI - the wetter ones wrapped in plastic are too, er, wet for this. (This is what my mother told me - can an actual cook translate this into culinary speak?)

Aged cheese = drier
Fresh(er) cheese = wetter

/former cheesemonger
posted by rtha at 11:10 AM on April 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

Goat cheese is a nuisance to work with. If I'm having people over, so that I care how it looks, I buy the goat cheeses that are already formed into little one inch patties.
posted by small_ruminant at 11:24 AM on April 30, 2008

You can do the same thing by rolling the cheese into balls.
posted by furtive at 11:31 AM on April 30, 2008

Best answer: a great, simple at home recipe: carmelize a bunch of onions and garlic in a saute pan. mix with a bunch of goat cheese, put into a small baking dish or casserole and pop it in a hot oven for 10 minutes.

i bet if you put it into the broiler you could get some carmelization around the top of the cheese as well.
posted by gnutron at 11:43 AM on April 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I can confirm bettafish's assertion: I tried a piece of chèvre with a spoonful of acacia honey using my microwave's grill function, and everything melted into a puddle. It solidified pretty quickly into something you could scoop up, though, and it tasted awesome, as good or better as in the fancy tapas restaurant where I first had it. I definitely recommend trying this out as a side dish or dessert.
posted by gentle at 12:13 PM on April 30, 2008 [1 favorite]

If you want to cut the goat cheese without squishing it, use dental floss. (Wind the ends around your fingers and pull tight)
posted by rmless at 12:21 PM on April 30, 2008

I just do this under the broiler. Goat cheese broiled on top of halves of campari tomatoes is one of my favorite lunches. Add a little salt and/or balsamic vinegar for extra flavor, but it's not really needed.
posted by jacquilynne at 1:28 PM on April 30, 2008