Grilled Goats Cheese And Eggplant From Chris Cox Food

GRILLED EGGPLANT AND GOAT CHEESE SALAD

Steps:

• Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill. Drizzle the olive oil over the slices of eggplant and toss to coat. Grill the eggplants until tender and grill marks appear, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Place the eggplants side-by-side on a serving platter. Sprinkle with the pine nuts, goat cheese, basil, and mint. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
• Cook's note: Plating the eggplant salad this way allowed the cheese to stay bright white. The salt and pepper showed up on it. The herbs remained green and fluffy. The grill marks on the eggplant were distinct.

GRILLED EGGPLANT STACKS WITH GOAT CHEESE, TOMATO AND BASIL SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut the eggplant into ½" thick rounds. Lightly season them with salt on both sides and let sit on a paper towel for 30 minutes to let water to come out of the eggplant.
• Brush or drizzle olive oil on top of each slice and grill them for 2 -3 minutes each side until cooked.
• Blend the basil leaves with 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor or blender until smooth.
• Cut the tomatoes crosswise to 1/4" thick rounds.
• On an oiled baking pan or using parchment paper, arrange 4 eggplant rounds side by side. Spread 1/2 tablespoon of the basil-garlic mixture on top of each one, then generously sprinkle the cheese crumbs. Top each with tomato rings. Add another layer of eggplant, basil spread, cheese and tomato rounds and top with the rest of the crumbled feta. Make as many layers as you can. Usually, 1 large eggplant will make 4, 3 layer stacks.
• Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until the tomatoes are wilted and the cheese is soft and melted.
• Enjoy!

HOMEMADE GOAT CHEESE

Steps:

• In a large nonreactive saucepan, combine the goat's milk, buttermilk, and rennet. Heat over low heat until the mixture reaches a temperature of 180 degrees F. Transfer to a nonreactive bowl and allow to sit overnight, covered, until the curds and whey separate. Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth and ladle the curds into the colander. Discard whey. Fold cheesecloth over top of curds and allow to drain overnight, refrigerated.
• Remove cheesecloth and season, to taste, with olive oil and salt and pepper, if desired.

GRILLED GOAT'S CHEESE AND EGGPLANT, FROM CHRIS COX

Steps:

• Slice the eggplant thin and sprinkle with salt. Allow to drain in a colander for an hour.
• Preheat broiler.
• Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels and brush the slices on both sides with the olive oil. Place them on a broiling pan lined with aluminum foil and broil them lightly, turning once, until the slices are golden but not overbrowned. Cool.
• Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce, or puree. Boil the tomatoes in their skins for 10 minutes. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel the skins. Squeeze out the juice and seeds and discard. Place the pulp in a food processor. Process until smooth and pour into a noncorrosive saucepan. The puree should be quite thick. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Slice the round tomatoes thin. Place two slices eggplant per person, overlapping them slightly, on a broiling pan lined with foil. (You should have eight portions.) Top each portion with a slice or two of tomato and a generous tablespoon of goat's cheese. Set aside.
• Preheat broiler. Broil the eggplant until the cheese is browned and bubbling. While it is cooking, warm the tomato sauce.
• Place the eggplant portions on individual plates, with a pool of sauce on the side. Garnish with basil and serve.

GRILLED VEGETABLE AND GOAT CHEESE NAPOLEONS

Steps:

• Brush tomatoes with 2 teaspoons oil; sprinkle with oregano, basil and 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Transfer to an ungreased 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until tender., Brush zucchini and yellow squash with 2 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Place vegetables in a grill wok or basket. Grill, uncovered, over medium heat for 8-12 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally., Remove and discard stems and gills from mushrooms. Brush mushrooms and eggplant with 1 tablespoon oil; sprinkle with remaining salt. Grill mushrooms, covered, over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until tender. Grill eggplant, covered, over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until tender., In a small bowl, combine the goat cheese, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon garlic and remaining pepper., Place mushrooms on a greased baking sheet; spread each with 2 teaspoons cheese mixture. Layer with zucchini, squash, 2 teaspoons cheese mixture, eggplant and remaining cheese mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese and tomato. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted., In a large skillet, saute remaining garlic in remaining oil for 1 minute. Add spinach; cook for 4-5 minutes or until wilted. Divide among four plates; top each with a mushroom stack. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

GRILLED GOAT'S CHEESE WITH CRANBERRY DRESSING

Steps:

• Quarter, core, then thinly slice the apple into a bowl with the lemon juice and 1 tbsp water. Toss well, as this stops the apples going brown.
• Heat grill to high, then line your grill rack with foil. Put the cheeses rind-side down on the foil, then set aside for a moment.
• Drain 2 tbsp of the juice from the apple bowl into another small bowl and discard the rest. Add the cranberry sauce, oil and honey with some seasoning, and whisk to form a dressing. Grill the cheeses for 4 mins, then scatter the nuts on and around the cheeses and return to the grill to cook for a few mins more - but take care that the nuts don't burn.
• Arrange the apple, chicory and radish sprouts or watercress on 6 plates, then carefully top with the hot melted cheese. Scatter over the nuts, spoon over the dressing and serve straight away.

GRILLED EGGPLANT/LOCAL GOAT CHEESE & ROASTED RED PEPPERS

Steps:

• ROASTED RED PEPPERS:.
• To fire roast red peppers, put both red peppers on top of gas burner and cook on each side until the skin is black and crispy, about 3 minutes per side depending on your burners.
• Put charred peppers in a paper bag and allow to cool.
• Brush the charred skin off and then deseed, derib and slice into strips. (Have those ready before you prepare the rest of the dish.).
• GOAT CHEESE FILLING:.
• Blend feta and goat cheese with mint and garlic; put aside.
• EGGPLANT:.
• Brush both sides of the eggplant slices with garlic oil and bake in a 400ºF oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly brown.
• When cooled, flip each eggplant slice over on a work surface.
• Lay one spinach leaf on each slice, followed by a red pepper slice. Roll about 2 tablespoons of the goat cheese mixture into a cigar-shaped log the width of each eggplant slice and lay on top.
• Roll the eggplant slice widthwise.
• VIETNAMESE SPICY HOT SAUCE:.
• Combine garlic, lime peel, and red pepper flakes then add lime juice, fish.
• sauce, water, and sugar.
• Increase red pepper flkes, as needed.
• Whisk until all ingredients are blended.
• and sugar is dissolved.
• Will keep short periods if refrigerated.
• ASSEMBLY:.
• Cut on a bias and serve garnished with a small amount of Vietnamese Spicy Hot Sauce.

GOAT CHEESE WITH GRILLED EGGPLANT AND ROASTED PEPPERS ON OLIVE BREAD

Steps:

• 1. Spread goat cheese on one side of bread.
• 2. Place eggplant and pepper on the other piece of bread.
• 3. Close sandwich.
• 4. Spread evenly 1/2 teaspoon of butter onto each slice of bread.
• 5. Grill over moderate heat for approximately 3-4 minutes.
• *To grill eggplant:
• Slice thinly, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and grill or broil for 4-5 minutes.
• **To roast peppers (also available in jars):
• Hold peppers over a flame until blackened, place peppers in a paper bag, peel and discard skins when cooled.