- Heat oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat and add onions.
- Add salt so that onions will 'sweat.'
- Cook until onions are translucent, stirring occasionally.
- Add sausage, breaking up with the back of a spoon into very small pieces.
- When the sausage had just lost its pink color, add the apples. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are crisp-tender.
- Remove the pan from the heat.
- Stir in the honey and the goat cheese, stirring to thoroughly mix.
- Fill tart shells with mixture and serve warm.
- Melt butter in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add leek, salt and pepper and cook, covered, until very soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic and curry powder and cook for another minute.
- Add vegetable stock and pumpkin puree and mix well.
- Bring to a boil, cover and turn down the heat. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove soup from the heat and add goat cheese.
- Puree soup in a food processor, blender or with an immersion blender.
- You may need to puree the soup in batches.
- Make sure to vent the food processor or blender while processing.
- Return the soup to the pot. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Serve warm.
- Mix softened goat cheese with lavender in small bowl and set aside.
- Chop dried cherries into small pieces and combine with honey, compress and set aside.
- Retrieve goat cheese/lavender mixture and roll cheese into two equal balls.
- Slightly flatten balls and place on top of each an equally divided amount of cherry/honey mixture.
- Add lavender sprigs for garnish.
- Chill if not serving immediately. Will keep for one week in refrigerator.
This salad is a variation on the traditional Waldorf salad, but is much lighter with the sparkling tang of cranberries. Try to use local produce if you can, and make sure the apples are crisp and sweet. Good, local Red Delicious apples go very well in this salad, as do many other sweet varieties. Toast nuts by placing them on a baking sheet and heating in a 375-degree oven for 5 minutes.
These cookies are based on a recipe for Italian ricotta cookies. They are cakey and light, and made without eggs. They are also quick to make and you can get the whole family involved. They are wonderful with chocolate, orange or lemon icing, and increase the citrus flavor by adding the zest of one orange or lemon to the batter. Use your imagination!
In a large saucepan over high heat, bring water just to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in dried lavender flowers, and let steep for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, strain the mixture into a deep kettle or pot, discarding the lavender flowers. Stir in lemon juice and pectin; continue stirring until the pectin is dissolved. Over high heat, bring the mixture to a boil; add sugar. When the jelly solution returns to a hard rolling boil, let it boil for 2-4 minutes (see below), stirring occasionally.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Blend the dressing ingredients together until smooth.
Mix the goat cheese with dill until smooth.
Make balls of the cheese mixture using 2-3 teaspoons each.
Mix the pecans and breadcrumbs in a shallow pan.
Coat the cheese balls with the pecan breadcrumb mixture.
Bake the cheese on a lightly…
- Rinse the flowers and spin them very dry in a salad spinner or pillowcase.
- Place half of the sugar into a small shallow bowl with a flat bottom.
- Spread the violets over the sugar.
- Top with the remaining sugar and lightly crush the sugar into the violets using the base of a heavy drinking glass or a mortar and pestle.
- Cover the bowl with a clean, thin, dry dish towel until the flowers are completely dried out, which could be a couple of days depending on the humidity in your area.
- Sift through an open strainer. Bottle the sugar and the sugared flowers separately.
- Cap and store in a cool dark place.