Tropical Coquito Eggnog hold the lactose, go with Goat!

For the backstory on Coquito read about it here. All the same applies to the goats milk version, creamy coconut and rum eggnog without eggs from Puerto Rico. First, I made it the traditional way with cows milk products. Along the way I wondered if I could make a convincing recipe using goats milk. I made a few tweaks to the traditional recipe to make a safe version for the tummies of me and other lactose challenged folk!

It worked, and we may all drink to our hearts content. Beware it is as rich and strong as it is festive.

Coquito de Cabra

• 10 oz goats milk
• 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 can evaporated goats milk
• 1 can coconut milk
• 3/4 can coconut cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 375 ml white rum

Mix the goat milk and sugar in a saucepan. Heat on low, stirring occasionally, just until the sugar dissolves. No need to heat the milk further. Mix this in a blender with the remaining ingredients. It may take two batches of blending to fit all the liquid. 

Grilled Zucchini Roulades with Goat Cheese, Za'atar vs. bad back-to-school drivers

It seemed to be a tough week for people, as school started again. M and I have been carpooling in the morning to work on the very early side of the morning. I get to experience the school drop off rush, which features these real things I have seen: crazed parents waving their arms at children also on cell phones running stop signs and  a car driving on the wrong side of the road. Im sure its hard to be you. A tiny woman in a Suburban large enough to be a space shuttle tried to run over my car. I give her a look, like WHHHHAT!- You think you are bigger than me? Ill crush you! People say I communicate very well when I drive.
End of story, thankfully I survived, am still alive, to enjoy tomatoes and zucchini! I hope everybody's tension simmers down by next week. Seriously people.

Obvious to anyone from my pic of the farmers market bounty that this, currently, is the best time of the year in the northeast for fresh foods. My visits to the farm and the farmers market leave my tote bags busting seams. And it means lots of cooking to be done. Such happiness! 

I was totally inspired by a recipe in the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook, grilled zucchini rolls with za'atar. I love any excuse to use use some za'atar spice mix and the zucchini was so young and tender I thought it was the perfect size to make bite size rolls. Of course I made some changes, but I like to give credit where credit is due.  So eat up! They would be really nice as apps at a party. A little messy, I would use toothpicks if people are in nice dresses!

If you are one of those people driving like a maniac on the way to school, you might not have time to make these for your little tot's lunches. You should focus on driving. But if you are a cool and collected cucumber of a parent then this is a real cute lunchbox item.

I used a mix of kefir and goat cheese because thats what I had in my fridge. If you have greek
yogurt, thats what Sprouted Kitchen uses.

Grilled Zucchini Roulades with Goat Cheese, Za'atar, and Sumac

Keffir 1/4 cup
Goat cheese 1/4 cup
Ground sumac 1/2 teaspoon (save some to sprinkle on top)
1 1/2 tablespoons Za'atar
pinch of salt

5 zucchini, about 6"-7" long.
olive oil
sesame seeds


Mix the cheese, kefir and spices in a bowl, the goal is a spreadable sauce, the consistency of mayonnaise. Set aside till later!

Cut the tops off the zucchini. Slice them the very long way, into tongue shapes which are a 1/4" or thinner. But not paper thin, or they will tear when grilled. Put slices into a bowl. Drizzle them all with salt and a little olive oil, toss with your hands to cover.

Get a grill nice and hot (indoor, outdoor or Forman) and lay the zucchini all over it. It takes about 4 minutes for the first slide to become tender and supple, and develop nice black grill marks. The slices should be halfway or more cooked through.
Flip-em-over! Wait for the same nice grill marks on this side. The zucchini will be cooked through and quite floppy which is what we want. Remove them gently with tongs to a plate.

Let them cool before spreading with cheese mixture or you will make soup of it all! Once cool, take one tongue of zucchini, spread with some cheese mixture, not too much, you will figure it out after 1 or 2. Roll up from one end, making a spiral. Set it on one end on a pretty plate.

Once all rolled up, sprinkle the plate with sesame seeds and some sumac which is so pretty and tasty.

I do have to say, they are best the first day, the zucchini let out more juices and it was all a little less perfect as leftovers. But still good. 

Camp cooking and the best Loaded Spicy Sweet Potatoes.

Iv'e just returned from a long weekend of camping on Grand Isle in the middle of Lake Champlain. Very beautiful there, like the rest of Vermont but flatter and very rural. Lake swimming was awesome! My favorite bit about camping is (obviously?) camp cooking. Cooking in a fire is different than a oven or stove and I love making do with a very very tiny kitchen in the way of equipment.

I packed very minimally, 2 fry pans and one small pot. My dear husband said "What, you don't need to bring 3 pans!!!" To which I replied "In fact, I do." And I did and he ate his words once we got there. And anyway we were car camping so who cares!

Bare Bones Camp Cooking Equipment

•8" fry pan
•Small fry pan 4"
•Stainless steel pot (to boil water)
•Metal spatula
•Sharp useful 6" knife
•Aluminum foil (its amazing for everything.)
•Tongs (I forgot these and we made do but they are so useful for taking things out of the fire.)
•Forks and spoons for eating that can also be useful when cooking.

SNACKS
Besides the chips and salsa we had an appetizer of savory stuffed mushrooms. Made at home and packed up in the cooler. Having only to warm them over the fire. Smoky and savory stuffed with parsley, sage, red onion and garlic. It would be awesome to stuff them and cook them over the fire next time. That would take about an hour most likely.

These were really good, and different than usual stuffed mushrooms, so ill make them again and post the recipe.
(Check out my Modern Stuffed Mushroom recipe here!)

POTATOES
We had a battle for the best potatoes two nights in a row. Baked Potato with Fire Roasted Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese. vs Baked Sweet Potato with Goat Cheese and Spicy Blue Corn Chips

Why does food eaten outside often bring the feeling that it is the best EVER!?  That was this roasted garlic, it tasted like the best ever.  Sweet, perfectly soft and even smokey. Instead of drizzling olive oil on the garlic like usual I had spread some coconut oil on it. And left it in the coals for a while.

The sweet potato was an inspired combination. I always love sweet potato and goat cheese so I had packed them both. The real inspiration came upon seeing the bag of Red Hot Blues chips was almost gone, all little chip bits at the bottom with lots of the spicy dust. It resulted in the most silky, creamy, crunchy and spicy dish. Roast whole sweet potatoes until they are so soft and silky, split them open, shove in lots of delicious fresh chévre (preferably with herbs and garlic in it) and top off with spicy blue corn tortilla chips. I am going to make them again, like now.

DESSERT
Obviously s'mores are the best thing, it brings us all memories of being little, happy, and stuffing our bellies with hot marshmallows. Puffy molten burnt sugar and melty chocolate. How did we ever go to sleep after the sugar bombs i'm not sure. Like any reasonable person I can only eat one or two now. I did go with an unorthodox combo of super dark chocolate, vegan marshmallows (no GMOs) and vermont artisan graham crackers by Caselton Crackers. All awesome products on their own, all wicked good together. I was wishing for a bigger stomach so I could eat it all!














BREAKFAST

I have no good photos of breakfast because it is too early to be thinking of camera phones at breakfast. The importance of breakfast is in the rapid making and eating of it. And the consumption of wonderful black tea. And the feeling of "ahhh" that I get with a full belly in the morning. I panic when I get hungry.

Breakfast was mostly eggs, grilled tomatoes, and english muffins. All cooked in coconut oil in the same pan. First grill the muffins, keep them warm in tinfoil. add more oil, the tomatoes, and a piece of canadian bacon for those that feel like eating meat. And finally the eggs. Fried are easier to clean up after than scrambled.

A cool thing about eggs, if you can get them straight from the farm before they are washed or refrigerated then they don't need to be kept in a cooler. Eggs can keep at room temperature for weeks, dont take my word for it, this lady has more to say. This is just cool and also handy when camping.

Cooling Watermelon, Cucumber, Mint and Goat Feta Salad

Watermelon, Cucumber, Mint and Goat Feta Salad

It is officially summer time. Sunscreen and bug-spray perfume the air of weekends by the waters edge and long lazy evenings. It is suddenly hot all the time. The ice maker does all it can to keep up with the glasses of iced tea.

Wedding season coincides with this most glorious high point of summer evenings. This weekend I attended a beautiful farm wedding where guests were asked to bring all the side dishes. There was a grill filled with hamburgers and outdoor fryers for turkey. Three kinds of cakes were made by a friend of the bride. (This time it wasn't me! So relaxing.) The salads and veggie dishes were brought by an assortment of family and friends. 

Watermelon

Watermelon salad is the sort of thing I might order in a restaurant, but wouldn't normally think to make at home. I would just eat my watermelon straight up, for dessert. I got this recipe from my sister, instructing me over the phone while she was sitting in summer traffic. it was fun to make and not surprisingly just as fun to eat. Lime dressing pulls all the flavors together. And it presents sparkling and jewel colored on the table.

Limes have lately been unreliable due to droughts, sometimes having no juice. So good luck, you might need an extra one. 

Feta cheese holds together well in this juicy salad. Goat chevre could be used, but know it might melt melt in more than the feta does. Cow feta of course course could be substituted.

It is a matter of cubing the watermelon and cucumber in an attractive way. This gets a little juicy, if you have one of those cutting boards with a channel around the outside, use that to avoid puddles. The rest is easy as pie.  

Watermelon, rind removed and sliced

Cooling Watermelon, Cucumber, Mint and Goat Feta Summer Salad

1/2 a watermelon

1 English cucumber

Mint leaves, a big handful of fresh leaves

Lime juice from 1 to 2 limes

drizzle of olive oil

black pepper

salt

Goat feta cheese

Slice the watermelon in half, slice this in half again. From each 1/4 of melon, remove the rind in pieces with a knife, leaving a wedge of sweet watermelon.

Cubed watermelon

Slice the wedge of watermelon in even 1/2 inch slices. The slices are fanned out in the photo, but stack them up neatly to cut into cubes. Slice the long way into 1/2 inch lenghths, and then turn, slicing into 1/2 inch squares. This way, they are the same size, making perfect cubes. Very pretty!

Diced cucumber and mint

Dice the cucumber, which is easier to handle than the big melon. 

Combine cucumber and melon into a large bowl. Reserve some mint leaves to garnish the top of the finished salad. Tear the remaining leaves with your fingers into pieces. I love mint and it is a feature here, so put in a lot, I guess it was about 1 cup. 

Squeeze the limes and pour the juice over the salad. Toss and taste if more lime juice would be a good thing. 

Season with salt and pepper. A drizzle of good olive oil will bring the savory flavors together. 

When the seasoning is right, crumble goat feta into it. Toss briefly and put into a beautiful serving bowl. Garnish with mint leaves.

Watermelon, Cucumber, Mint and Goat Feta Summer Salad