Her history with Illinois’s first farmstead cheese-making facility is long.  Every article I read about her seems to mention her visiting the farm or using their award-winning cheeses.  As you could probably tell by the name of her restaurant, her love of goats extends beyond the cheese–her last name, Izard, is French for a “Pyrenees mountain goat–antelope with curved horns.”

I’ve not eaten her food, but everything I’ve seen tells me she’s a very creative and caring chef.  She is confident using flavors from around the globe, but still strives to support local producers (like Prairie Fruits).  Her ability to turn out high-quality, artisanal food will likely draw a following at Girl & the Goat.

Now, about this new cheese.  Leslie Cooperband, the “Goat Lady” at Prairie Fruits, writes in the recent newsletter that Stephanie came down to make an experimental batch of this cheese a couple weeks ago.  Pear Capri is a little 2 ounce bit of goat cheese, shaped like a little pear, covered with a bloom of white and blue molds.  It’s a beautiful cheese, as you can see.  It’s also amazingly delicious.  The sweet, creamy goat cheese inside, bolstered by the earthy ripeness from the rind, would be beautiful on a cheese plate (perhaps with some pear slices?).  I’m sure Stephanie has something more creative in mind.

Laurence, of This Little Piggy fame, presented at the same event, and our chocolate champion, Dan Schreiber, will be presenting at the upcoming event.

At his restaurant, Vie (French for “life”), Virant focuses heavily on inspiration from local, seasonal ingredients.  Anyone who’s visited our local farmers’ markets knows the most important reasons why: it’s fresher and it tastes better.  Some studies even suggest there’s much more nutritional value in food that’s been grown well and not shipped and stored long distances.  He also stressed the importance of knowing where his food is coming from and who is growing it.  When looking at the record of many industrial food producers, it’s not hard to appreciate the value of being able to put a face and a voice to the person that raised your food.  When dining at Vie, Virant hopes that his guests learn about what’s available here and now and leave feeling proud of the “great bounty of the Midwest.”

Virant proudly features Prairie Fruits cheeses in his dishes.  He has a good relationship with Wes and Leslie, and has been a featured chef at a previous farm dinner featuring some delicious Triple S pork (Champaign Taste did a great write-up).  He’ll be doing another farm dinner this September, so keep an eye out for when those tickets become available.  This weekend, he’ll be bringing down some chicken liver mousse and rillettes, a traditional French meat spread.  He’ll also be bringing bread baked at Vie and a few vegetable dishes to round out the menu.  Keep an eye out for the turnips, they sounded delicious.

I’m sure this event will draw a large crowd, because hey, baby goats are adorable, and free food is always welcome.  For more information about this Sunday’s open house event, see the whole invitation on Prairie Fruits Farm’s site.  Learn more about chef Paul Virant on the Vie Restaurant site.  After the event, I’ll be sharing the recipe for one of the dishes he’s bringing.  I’ll also be sharing many more things that he shared with me in our conversation.

If you need just a little extra push… here’s a little video I took last year at Prairie Fruits:

As you probably saw in the last post, I’ve really been enjoying this book.  Friendly prose, consistent and clear instructions, and excellent photography make it a very useful and easy-to-read cookbook.  There was one recipe, however, that I tried that didn’t quite turn out as well as it should have.  On the flip side, there was one so good that you will be convinced that you can stay home to have great Korean food.  I’ll be sharing that recipe here.

I think part of the problem was my relative lack of experience cooking fish.  After all, in the middle of the vast corn fields of Illinois, there aren’t a lot of good seafood options.  I’m fine with fatty fish, like salmon, and crustaceans (shrimp) and shellfish (clams, et al.) are no problem for me.  When it comes to firm-fleshed white fish, I’m much more comfortable breading and deep-frying it than anything else.  Unfortunately, I made a bad choice of fish for this recipe, which I was really looking forward to.

Have you ever had eel?  Usually served in a sushi restaurant, it’s usually labeled unagi (fresh-water eel) or anago (salt-water eel).  It’s grilled with a dark soy glaze called kabayaki sauce that brings out the meatiness in the eel.  It’s one of my favorite things on a Japanese menu.  The sweet umami-rich kabayaki sauce is made with  soy sauce, mirin, and sugar.  In deference to the relative unavailability of fresh eel and the questionable sustainability of it, Jaden uses it to glaze some firm-fleshed white fish.  And now you can probably tell why it didn’t work out so well.

Alright, it wasn’t really that bad, but my choice of fish (cod) was not the right one.  I should have used the catfish fillets that were suggested.  I also probably slightly over-cooked and under-charred it, which left it a little more bland than I would like.  The sauce is delicious, though, and could be used to glaze or just pour over anything.  On a side note, this was my first time eating edamame (you can see them peeking out behind the fish in the photo).  They’re basically fresh young  soybeans, available frozen in any grocery store.  You just steam them, pop them out of their pods and enjoy.  Soybeans are really good for you, and if you don’t like tofu, this is a great way to eat them.

Kabayaki Sauce

from Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair

• 1/2 c soy sauce
• 1/2 c mirin
• 3 T sugar

1. Stir ingredients together and bring to a simmer.
2. Simmer 4 to 5 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon.

One of our stand-out favorites so far from this cookbook is a spicy Korean stew.  I’ve seen the name spelled many different ways–soon tofu, soon doobu, soon tubu, soondubu.  Sometimes they add in jjigae, which Wikipedia tells me just means “Korean stew”.  If you’ve never had soon tofu, it’s usually made with a broth that is rendered deep red and spicy with the liberal addition of Korean chili paste (gochujang) or flakes (gochu garu).  It has silken tofu and a few vegetables, and usually includes seafood or beef, though it’s easily adjusted for vegetarians or vegans.  Once you have the broth and the tofu, though, you can use whatever you like and adjust the spice to your own tastes.  It is customary to serve it with white rice, as it helps to temper the heat of the spicy stew.

Instead of the beef in the recipe, we made it with a frozen seafood combo from a local Korean grocery store.  It had octopus, clam meat, shrimp, and a few other tasty bits.  Unlike the white fish, this turned out perfect.  The combination of creamy silken tofu, chewy seafood, and the bright crunch of the green onions on top make each bite a tasty new exploration into this stew.

Spicy Korean Tofu Stew

from Steamy Kitchen Cookbook by Jaden Hair

• 1 T cooking oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 pound very thinly sliced beef
• 4 c stock or broth (homemade is best, any kind will work)
• 4-8 fresh shitake mushrooms
• 2-3 T Korean chili flakes
• 1 T soy sauce
• 18-oz block or tube of silken tofu, cut into large cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 t sesame oil
• 2 green onions, sliced on the bias

1. In a pot over medium heat, add cooking oil and swirl to coat.
2. Add garlic and fry until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
3. Add beef slices and fry for 1 minute until browned.
4. Pour in stock, and add mushrooms, chili flakes, and soy sauce.
5. Bring to a boil, then add the tofu and return to a rolling boil.
6. Taste and add additional chili flakes or soy sauce as needed.
7. Crack eggs into the pot and let the eggs cook until the whites are white, but the yolk is still runny.
8. Turn off heat, drizzle with sesame oil, and finish with the green onions.
9. Serve in bowls with white rice.

Since my seafood blend was already cooked, I added it with the tofu, so it only heated through and cooked for a few minutes.  Jaden says you can substitute regular chili flakes in place of the Korean variety, but with so many ethnic groceries, I recommend going for the real thing.  The flavor is fruitier and more complex than the straight-forward hot POW of the chili flakes you put on pizza.

You can look through the table of contents of the Steamy Kitchen cookbook on Amazon (click “Look Inside”).  If there’s any dish that you’d like me to try out, just let me know.