Cheeseballs and Cheese filled Turkish Flatbread for Cheesepalooza, plus Part 17

September 30, 2012 at 7:04 am | Posted in Appetizers, Breads, Cheesepalooza, Middle Eastern, Twelve Loaves, Vegetarian, Yeastspotting | 40 Comments
Tags: baking, Basil, Chevre, Chibes, Chili Flakes, Dough, flatbread, garlic, goat cheese, Herbs, Lemon, Parsley, Pide, recipes, Turkish Flatbread

So..I’m making cheese, goat cheese – chevre to be exact.  Valerie from A Canadian Foodie has challenged a bunch of us to start making cheese from scratch with her Cheesepalooza challenge.  I was extremely excited when she announced this challenge because I’ve always wanted to dabble a little in artisan cheese making.

No, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will not be performing, but they will be making an appearance in my cheese!

I’ve made cheese from scratch before..Ricotta and Macarpone.  I’ve also made Paneer, but I didn’t blog it..so I do have some ‘cheese’ experience.  However, all three were made with cow’s milk.  This time I’m working with goat’s milk and as mentioned above,  making chevre.  I love, love, love chevre, but the first recipe provided, from the book Artisan Cheese Making At Home by Mary Karlin  contains something called  C20G Powdered Mesophilic Starter.  Although I’m 99.9% sure it’s perfectly fine and won’t result in a tree growing out of my ear 20 years down the road, I just didn’t like the sound of it.

C20G Powdered Mesophilic Starter.  Mesophilic disease comes to mind.  Can’t they call it something like..Me So Making Yummy Cheese from Scratch Stuff?

I emailed Valerie about this and she linked me to a recipe for chevre on her blog that uses buttermilk in lieu of the bacteria/organism laden Mesophilic Disease, umm..Mesophilic stuff.

I prefer to keep my food as natural and chemical-free as possible…even in my artery-clogging desserts, SO, as long as I know exactly what’s going into the food I’m making..and it doesn’t have numbers attached to it..it’s all cool.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  This is how I cook and bake.  I eat my fair share of foods that contain ingredients with numbers attached to them.  Golden Oreo, anyone?  Yep, I take care of other people, but occasionally shove Golden Oreos down my gullet at warp speed.

Look, I love ALL cheese..so I’m sure my body is saturated with C20G Powdered Mesophilic Starter, but since I have a choice in this chevre matter..I’m choosing not to use it.

Now, rennet is a different story because I read the Little House on the Prairie series, and in Little House in the Big Woods, Ma used rennet to make cheese…and they used the rennet directly from the animal’s stomach lining back then…

Ma added the previous night’s skimmed milk to the cooled milk from the morning milking and put it on the stove to heat.  A bit of rennet inside a cloth is soaked in warm water.  Once the milk is warm, she squeezes all of the water out of the rennet in the cloth. She adds the rennet water to the milk and stirs it well.  The milk mixture is left in a warm place by the stove until it thickens to a quivering mass.  

The mass was cut with a long knife into cubes.  The cubes were allowed to sit until the curb separated from the whey.  The curds and whey were placed in a cloth and allowed to drain.  When all of the whey was drained, the curds were placed in a pan and salted.  The curds were then placed in the cheese hoop to be pressed.

Once all the whey had been pressed out, Ma trimmed the cheese, put a tight cloth around it, and buttered it.  Each day, she wiped the cheese with a wet cloth and rubbed it with butter until the cheese was ripe and had a hard rind on it. – Laura Ingalls Wilder

Well..that’s how you make cheese to this day, albeit with a lot more convenience and modern apparatus.

So I made the cheese using goat’s milk, buttermilk (which actually contains the Mesophilic stuff, a little fact alerted to me by a reader, but I just felt better using buttermilk – it’s a mind thing) and a rennet tablet crushed with some water.  It turned out fantastic.  I wanted to blow this whole post off and eat it all with a spoon.

But I didn’t.  Thankfully.

It was so fresh that it had some subtle sweet tones to it along with a slightly salty tang.  The texture was extremely creamy, as it should be.  I think everyone should make their own chevre because it’s too damn easy not to!  The rennet and buttermilk gel the goat’s milk after sitting for 12 hours..so it’s similar to the texture of yogurt.  Have you ever made yogurt cheese?  Well, essentially, once the goat’s milk has formed into a jelly like mass, you do the same thing you’d do when making yogurt cheese – wrap up the milk jelly (I cut mine into pieces) in cheesecloth, tie it up tight, and let the whey drain over a strainer into a bowl overnight.

The next morning I had creamy, dreamy chevre!  I got about 16 ounces of cheese..so, after eating a few spoonfuls (uhh….4 ounces).. I added crushed red-hot chili pepper flakes, herbs, garlic and lemon zest to the rest of it..rolling them into cheeseballs (I love cheeseballs as one word..because it tickles the kid inside of me) and packing them into ball jars with a light olive oil.  I used the other half of my spicy chevre as a filling for a Turkish bread called Pide.  Pide – Pizza – Pita..you know..flatbread, in any language.

The only difference is…you fold the dough on each side partially over the filling in the middle, so you kind of have an oval slipper with some of the filling showing, which you can see in the photos.

If you have a moment..head on over to Valerie’s blog to see the chevre round-up, HERE.  You’ll be amazed and inspired, and hopefully it will inspire you enough make some yourself and/or take part in some of the Cheesepalooza challenges!

Homemade Chevre Recipe Without C20G Powdered Mesophilic Starter

Spicy Garlic Herb Chevre Filled Turkish Flatbread (Pide)
Yields two flatbreads
Inspired by Fine Dining Lovers

Spicy Garlic Herb Chevre
12- ounces fresh chevre
2 garlic cloves, minced, then mashed to a paste with 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 small lemon, zested
2 tablespoons red hot pepper chili flakes (you can add more or less depending on your heat tolerance)
1 cup of chopped herbs of your choice.  I used parsley, chives and basil
freshly ground black pepper

Flatbread Dough
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon neutral oil,, such as vegetable
4 tablespoons Greek yogurt
3 1/4 to 1/2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

DIRECTIONS FOR SPICY, GARLIC, HERB GOAT CHEESE:
1.  In a medium bowl combine all the ingredients thoroughly.  Set aside, covered at room temperature, to let the flavors blend while you make the dough.  If you just want to make the goat cheese balls in olive oil, refrigerate the goat cheese mixture until firm, about an hour, then roll into balls, about 1 to 2 inches in diameter and pack into jars with olive oil. Tap sealed jars on counter to remove any air bubbles.  I used 8 ounce ball jars.  The cheese balls in olive oil will keep for a month in the refrigerator.

DIRECTIONS FOR FLATBREAD DOUGH:
1.  Dissolve the yeast with the sugar in 1/4 cup lukewarm water until foamy, then mix with the flour, salt, oil , yogurt, and remaining 1/2 cup water.  Knead to a smooth dough, adding more flour or water, if needed.  Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for one hour or until doubled.

2. Gently punch down dough by folding it over itself. On a floured board, divide the dough into two equal pieces.  Cover with a tea towel and let rest for a few minutes to relax the gluten.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F – Remove the top rack.  You will be using the rack on the middle shelf.

3. While working with one piece of dough, keep other covered.  Roll the piece nto an oval..about 14 inches by 10 inches. Place dough on a parchment lines baking sheet. Alternatively, you can use a pizza peel and baking stone, which will give you a slightly crisper bread, but either way is fine. Spread half the goat cheese mixture (6 ounces) down the center, leaving about 2 to 3 inches on each side.  Fold each side of the dough toward the middle, sealing and tapering the ends so you have a slipper looking flatbread with some of the filling showing down the center (see photos above).

4. Bake flatbread about 20 – 30 minutes, until golden brown and the cheese is bubbly and slightly brown (I drizzled a little olive oil over the top before baking which made it brown a little more than it should have). Quickly remove bread from baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes before slicing. Repeat all the above with second ball of dough and remaining 6 ounces of cheese.

I’m submitting this Turkish Pide with Goat Cheese to this month’s  #TwelveLoaves theme – cheese, hosted by Lora of Cake Duchess, Jamie of Life’s a Feast and Barbara of Creative Culinary and to Yeastspotting hosted by Susan of Wild Yeast.

Now to Bad Boy First Love Part 17.  I thought this part would be the end, but it isn’t.  Part 18 is definitely the end, I can say that with 100% assurance because I already wrote most of it.

If you’re just tuning in, Part One is HERE, Part Two is HERE , Part Three is HERE, Part Four is HERE, Part Five is HERE, Part Six is HERE, Part Seven is HERE, Part 8 is HERE, Part 9 is HERE, Part Ten is HERE, Part 11 is HERE, Part 12 is HERE, Part 13A is HERE, Part 13B is HERE, Part 14A is HERE,  Part 14B is HERE , Part 15 is HERE, and Part 16 is HERE.

He continued to hug me…whispering in my ear something I’d dreamed of hearing from him for so long, especially during my starry-eyed teenage moments.

“Lisa, I want to spend my life with you..I want to marry you”

Talk about bad timing.  It kind of made me sick.

“You didn’t answer my questions!” I sobbed to him

His answer was quick and to the point.  “No, No, No and absolutely NOT!”

I believed he didn’t love her…but I wasn’t sure about the three ‘No’s’ before it.  Regardless, I still had to think about him with another girl.

I continued asking questions.  Is she pretty?  Where did you take her out?  Did you kis….I stopped short.  I knew what the answer would be.  I had no doubt in my mind that he kissed her and I didn’t want to hear it.

You see, kissing, to women, is the most intimate thing you can do with someone.  Some of us would rather find out our guy boinked the chick in a drunken stupor – as crazy as it sounds.

Of course he told me she was nowhere near as beautiful as me.  Whatever. They all say that, don’t they?

He said he took her to the movies.  Oh, great, he probably held her hand, rubbing her index finger with his thumb, or kept his hand on her knee or thigh throughout the movie like he always did with me.  Suddenly, I didn’t want to know anymore.  I put my hand up, which I could barely see through my tears, to signal him to stop.

The Mazda RX7 had morphed into a confessional booth and I wanted out of it – PRONTO.  I opened the car door and started to walk, breathing in the warm, night air – feeling it dry my tears.  Numbness was setting in.  He came after me and took my hand in his.  We walked in silence for a long while.  Now I really wanted to get back to school.  I needed to escape the pain desperately.

He finally spoke.  “You were never there when I called and when you did call me back, you seemed so happy there without me.  I was convinced you were seeing someone else – it hurt pretty bad.”

He waited.  I knew what he wanted, maybe to somehow absolve what he’d done.  I wasn’t going to give it to him and not because I was hiding it, but because I didn’t want him to feel the same pain he had just inflicted on me.  This was why we made the promise of not telling each other ..unless we actually fell in love with someone else, which of course would be the end of us.

SO, no hockey guy confessions from me.  “I was just having a good time with my new friends, enjoying Boston and studying my ass off well into morning – I barely slept” I responded coldly.

He took me in his arms…rubbing my back to melt the ice and rigidity in my limbs.  Once he buried his face in my neck…and I felt tears again, it worked.  I relaxed and gave it all back.  I knew he loved me..maybe now more than ever.  I stared at the Empire State Building over his shoulder – the top was lit up in blue that night.  I wondered what it stood for.  I was mesmerized, so much so that I almost had a coronary when he turned me around and hoisted me up on the ledge of the stone wall that separated the street from the long, steep hill down to the Hudson River.  I thought I was going over for a split-second.

Yeah..just kill me so you never have to see the pain in my eyes and feel the guilt.

He stood between my legs so we were face to face – his arms around my waist.

“Babe…I don’t want anyone but you..I won’t date anyone else ever again if you don’t want me to.  Just because you’re away at school doesn’t mean we have to see other people”

I froze. As crazy in love with him as I was..I couldn’t make that promise because once back in Boston, it was a whole new world he was not a part of..a new world where the ‘other’ Lisa would soon emerge..the one who was growing up – the one who had the ability to put him ‘away’ to dull the pain.  There was only one answer I could come up with..one that drives men crazy nuts..

“Whatever”

He seemed to accept that answer for the time being. I could tell he thought the ‘whatever’ was because I was still upset from his confession, and he didn’t want to push it.

The nick in our shiny apple was now a small hole..clearly visible to the eye,  He hugged me to him.. burying his face in the crook of my neck again.  As I felt his tears run down my collarbone, my love for him exploded.  I kissed his head, inhaling the sweet, familiar scent of his hair..little darts of pain shooting through my heart at the thought of another girl smelling that.

He lifted his head and stared into my eyes.  Oh, wow..that stare with those intense blue eyes always killed me.  I melted…completely held hostage by those eyes.  I felt weak. I tried to return his gaze without toppling backwards over the wall.  It never went away..the feeling was as intense as the first time he stared into my eyes the night we met.  Then, the thought of him staring into another girl’s eyes like that made my stomach churn butter into bile.

SO, that’s how it was..every little look, every little touch, every little nuance that used to belong only to us, had now been shared with someone else,  and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  There wasn’t a thing he could do without my thinking ‘ I wonder if he did that with her?’

It was all too overwhelming for me.  Leaving him was going to be harder now, but the distraction and separation was desperately needed.

Two days later..after one of the hardest goodbyes of my life with him, I drove back to school with my mother.  The first half of the drive, I had to keep wiping away tears.  The second half the excitement started to build. I couldn’t wait to see my new friends..I couldn’t wait to see our super modern dorm/apartment that we applied for winter of freshman year since there was a waiting list.

I was rooming with one of my new friends and two strangers in the other bedroom.  The other friend, the first girl I met who became my best friend freshman year, was supposed to room with us, but her Mother didn’t get the deposit in on time.  It was ok, though..since lots of other friends had got in and she’d be practically living with any of us when she wanted.

By the time we hit the border of CT/MA..I was excited to see hockey guy. What was wrong with me?

We pulled up around 10 pm.  A few friends were outside waiting.  My excitement grew as I looked up at my new digs.  We were on the 9th floor with a sparkling view of downtown Boston and the Prudential Center, glittering with lights, smack dab in the middle of our expansive living room window.

After getting all of my stuff up to our apartment, bidding adieu to Mommy dearest, who refused to stay the night…even though I offered her my bed, I ran from apartment to apartment with my roommate saying hi to other friends – marveling at each other’s newly svelte bods..the freshman 15 dead and buried – big, fat eating disorders sprouting from the earth around its tombstone.

I was giddy.  The sadness from Dreamboat’s confession and our teary goodbye was fading.  This was just what the doctor ordered.

Everyone was chattering about a huge ‘welcome back’  bash the next night at a well-known guy’s huge off-campus apartment.  I wondered if hockey guy would be there.  We were all going.

After first day class sign-up…socializing etc, it was party time.  I took extra special care in choosing an outfit without looking like I took extra special care in choosing an outfit.  Black jeans and a snug white, sweatery top to show off me minus 15 and more.

The party was in full swing when we got there..this huge apartment packed to the gills…loaded with familiar and some not so familiar faces, but I was looking for one person.  I scanned the large living room..and then I saw him, in a corner with some of the hockey players.  Damn, he looked good.

I made my way toward him slowly..weaving through bodies, but talking to people along the way so it wouldn’t seem obvious.  He finally saw me.  We exchanged glances…nibbling and lollipopping around who was going to approach who first…like two animals sniffing each other out from afar during mating season.

After about 20 minutes of this..I turned and started to walk away from the game.  What was I doing anyway?  I loved Dreamboat…there was no need to start this up again.  I ran into a girl from my freshman sociology class and she pulled me over to talk to her. After some light chat..I made my way to the bar in the living room to get a diet coke. He intercepted me, poking me in the stomach.

“Hey, you trying to avoid me?” he said with a grin

I laughed…nervous laughter.

“You look great” he said softly, not taking his eyes off of mine.  “I thought a lot about you this summer..are you married yet?” he teased with a twinkle in his eye… grabbing my left hand to check my ring finger.

My legs turned to jello and I blushed.  Woah..what the hell?

We talked for a bit, then decided to go for a walk once the cops came due to the noise.  We took a leisurely walk around the campus.  It was a beautiful night..warm but the scent of Fall was already starting to perfume the air.  We talked about our summers…we talked about his upcoming season..we talked about some new movies.  The point is, we talked, about everything and anything – and I needed that.

When we got close to my dorm/apartment, he stopped and leaned down to kiss me.  I backed away.  I wasn’t that sleazy…I loved Dreamboat and I wasn’t going to just kiss hockey guy, especially so soon, to get back at him for telling me about his little rendezvous.  I didn’t know what I wanted anymore, but Dreamboat did.

When I came home for Thanksgiving break..one night after a movie, as we sat in his car kissing, he stopped and pulled out a small, velvet black box…tickling my cheek with it playfully.

The REAL finale, part 18, coming soon.