Marinated Chevre

Why would anyone want to marinate cheese?

This is the cover recipe from Ann Willan's fantastic book Country Cooking in France.



You make these nice little round wheat toasts and put them under the broiler with cheese and place them on top of a salad!

Oooh la la!

First you have to buy a firm small log of chevre (goat cheese).
I bought an Il de France log.

Slice log into 6 rounds.



Recipe for marinade:

3 dried bay leaves
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 teaspoons of black peppercorns
a dash of hot pepper flakes
1 cup of walnut or olive oil to cover the cheese

In a 1 quart jar or container, add cheese rounds to the herb oil mixture. You can keep adding cheese to the marinade and also use it for salad dressings.



Marinate the cheese rounds at least 1 week and up to one month.

Now cut wheat bread slices into rounds and brush with a little of the oil from the marinade.

Lay a round slice of marinated chevre on top of each bread slice and place under the broiler for about 2 minutes until bubbly and golden brown (be careful and watch the toasts, they burn easily, I burned the first batch).

Make a simple salad with some nice mixed greens, like frisee and watercress and treviso.
Dress w/ a vinaigrette of red wine vinegar, some of the oil from the marinade, and an 1/8 teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

Plate your dressed salads and place a warm cheese crouton on top of each salad.

Voila!



Now don't you want to marinate some cheese?