Goat Cheese Dip Recipe with Tomatoes and Herbs - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

Is the white cheese dip at Mexican restaurants goat cheese? ›

Many people think it contains goat cheese, but what you customarily find in restaurants is made from easy melt white american cheese, purchased thru suppliers or large supermarkets."

How Goat Cheese Is Made. Goat cheese is made using either pasteurized or raw goat's milk. After warming the milk to around 65 F, a starter culture is added to begin fermenting the milk, followed by rennet, which begins the coagulation of the milk proteins, i.e. forming curds, a process take takes a day or two.

“Chevre” means both “goat” and “goat cheese” in French and is frequently used to refer to fresh goat cheeses in particular. Fresh goat cheese, or chevre, is bright, tart, tangy, and delicious, but goat cheese comes in all shapes, sizes, and ages.

In summer, you might combine fresh goat cheese with slices of peach, apricot or nectarine, or even red berries (cherries or redcurrants). Once autumn arrives, choose apples, pears, figs or grapes as the perfect accompaniment to more aged cheeses.

The Mexican cheese dip I know about is queso fundido, which means simply melted cheese. Typically, chopped tomatoes, onions, and chiles are sautéed in a skillet, often with chorizo and sometimes with mushrooms or other vegetables.

Queso fresco

This soft white cheese is a fresh cheese made with cow's milk, goat milk, or a combination of the two. It is sold in small rectangular pieces similar in size to adobo bricks, which is why it is also known as adobera. Queso fresco comes from Jalisco, in the western part of Mexico.

Nutritional value: Goat cheese contains essential nutrients such as vitamins A, B and D, and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. Compared to regular cheese, goat cheese typically has fewer calories and fats. This makes goat cheese a healthier option for those watching their calorie intake.

Goat cheese contains more minerals and vitamins than cow cheese. It is especially rich in Vitamin D and Vitamin K, while also containing the same amount of vitamin A as cow cheese. Goat cheese is also high in B vitamins like thiamine, niacin and riboflavin.

Most goat cheeses are considered vegetarian-friendly, however, some may contain animal rennet. Hard goat cheeses like feta, asiago, and cheddar are generally safe, but check the ingredients list to be sure. Soft varieties like chevre and Boursin may contain animal rennet so it's best to confirm before consuming.

Often called by its French name, Chèvre, meaning goat, this cheese type comes in many different flavors and textures - from crumbly to creamy, young to mature, mild to tangy.

Is Boursin goat cheese? ›

No, Boursin cheese is Gournay cheese and Gournay cheese is cow's milk cheese. I get why you might have thought Boursin was goat cheese, though. It does look like a lot of soft chevre out there.

So basically any wine - white, red or rosé - that's young, fresh, unoaked and lightly chilled will go with goats cheese.

Nut flour and seed crackers bring an appealing nuttiness to your charcuterie board and they complement soft cheeses, such as brie or goat cheese, adding a crunchy element to their creaminess. They also enhance the smoky flavors of cured or smoked meats and create a lovely balance when paired with spicy dips or spreads.

Queso asadero is Mexican cheese that's great for melting. It is soft, white and creamy with a mild taste, and is often used to make pizzas, quesadillas and queso fundido. The last cheese on this list is actually a cream.

Goat Cheese's Signature Color

Fresh, unaged cheeses such as chèvre, or those made from other animal milks such as mozzarella and feta, often have a bright white appearance. As cheeses age and lose moisture content, cheeses made from cow or sheep's milk tend to take on a buttery, almost yellow hue.

Queso blanco, or white cheese, was originally made from goat's milk. However, over time, the recipe has evolved to include cow's milk. In order to make authentic queso, use Manchego cheese. Mexican Manchego Cheese is a golden-yellow, semi-firm cheese with a slightly nutty flavor.

The overwhelming majority of cheese is made with cows' milk. While a number of cheeses are made with goats' milk, they are not as popular and have gotten more difficult to find in markets.