Goat cheese makes everything better :-)

Things I love: cheese. It's fantastically salty and yummy and makes everything better. Things I don't love: cheese product (a.k.a Velveeta. I do harbor a guilty pleasure though for Cheez Whiz and cheez in a can :-)) As a kid, I'd spend hours reading on our greenish recliner eating Ritz crackers and Land O'Lakes cheese. My grandma still gives me Land O'Lakes cheese for Christmas (at my request!) My sister recently introduced me to the goodness of the tiny little soft cheese wheels, which accompanied me on many lunches to school. And my new favorite is goat cheese. Feta cheese it good and super tangy, but goat cheese is so smooth and just a little salty. On a recent trip to Vegas (see pic below), I had a FABULOUS pizza that I'm going to try this week with just thin crust, pizza sauce, sweet onion slices, a little bit of sausage and goat cheese. It was amazing!

Recently, I discovered that goat cheese, which is generally fairly expensive is definitely cheaper at Costco in bulk. So I got some and have been enjoying it in lots of fun recipes. This last week, I attempted a Goat Cheese Souffle with Thyme, which I thought was awesome. Ben informed me that he's pretty sure he doesn't like anything with cooked eggs (souffle, quiche, egg bake, etc.) Either way, I thought it was yummy (and pretty!). It's from my favorite "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" cookbook.

Goat Cheese Souffle with Thyme

Butter/2 T. Parmesan Cheese
1 1/4 c. milk or cream
1 bay leaf, several thyme sprigs, 2 thin onion slices
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
salt and pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
4 egg yolks
1 c. crumbled goat cheese (4 oz)
6 egg whitesseveral thyme sprigs (leaves only)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter a 2 qt dish and coat with Parmesan cheese. Heat the milk with the aromatics until it boils. Set it aside to steep for 15 minutes, then strain.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan. When foamy, stir in the flour and cook over low heat for several minutes. Whisk in the milk all at once and stir for a minute or so as it thickens. Then add 3/4 t. salt, pepper, and cayenne. Remove from heat. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time until well blended, then stir in the cheese. Don't worry about getting it too smooth.
3. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form firm peaks, then stir a quarter of them into the base to lighten the mixture. Fold in the rest, transfer to the prepared dish, then put in the center of the oven and lower the heat to 375. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and just a bit wobbly in the center. Remove, scatter thyme over the top and serve immediately.