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Beetroot, Goat's Cheese, and Hazelnut Tart Recipe

Sunday, 17 April 2011 17:57 | Written by The Webmaster |

This recipe was posted in The Telegraph by Diana Henry

Beetroot tart

Makes eight small tarts

4 tbsp olive oil
3 large red onions, very finely sliced
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves chopped
500g (1lb 2oz) puff pastry
350g (12oz) cooked beetroot
25g (1oz) hazelnuts
250g (9oz) goat's cheese, broken into chunks
extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onions. Make sure they are coated with the fat, then add 2 tbsp water, season and cover. Turn down the heat very low and let the onions sweat for about 20 minutes. Check every so often to make sure they're not catching and burning. Add a splash of water if necessary. When they are completely soft stir in the rosemary. If the mixture is wet turn up the heat to drive off the excess.

Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a 10p piece. Using a saucer cut out eight circles about 15cm (6in) in diameter. Place on a floured baking-sheet and prick all over with a fork. Put in an oven preheated to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5 and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and, if the centres have risen, gently flatten with a wooden spoon. Turn up the heat to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Cut the beetroot into quarters. Chop the nuts very roughly so that some are just halved or quartered and others stay whole.

Top the pastry with the onions, leaving a rim of about 1.5cm (½in), then add the beetroot wedges, then the crumbled cheese. Season and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. Put the tray back in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, scattering the hazelnuts over the top three minutes before the end. The cheese should be golden in patches and the pastry cooked but not too dark. Serve immediately.

Feeding Pygmy Goats in the Summer

Sunday, 17 April 2011 17:53 | Written by The Webmaster |

What Does a Pygmy Need in the Summer?

Goats that are mature or approaching maturity can utilize roughages more effectively than young goats. In fact, when the baby goat is born, its rumen is not developed; therefore, in very early life the young goat functions as animals that have only one stomach such as dogs, people or pigs. Milk that is consumed by baby goats goes into the abomasum (that portion which corresponds to the stomach of a person). As the kid starts eating some leafy hay, the rumen begins to develop but it takes 8 - 10 weeks for the rumen to fully develop.

Goats like to graze and they make good use of forages they eat. There are three kinds of forage plants - grasses, forbs and browse. Such plants as fescue, orchard grass, bluegrass, etc., are examples of grasses. The forbs are broad leaf plants such as dandelions, clovers, wild lettuce, etc. The browse includes brushes, and vines such as oak, blackberry, rabbit brush, etc. Goats prefer the forbs and browse over the grasses. This is why some cattlemen run goats with their cattle because cattle prefer the grasses and may keep them grazed closely but allow weeds and brush to go ungrazed. The goats tend to prevent weeds and brush from crowding out the grasses.

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Click here to read the full article.

** Article is written by the National Pygmy Goat Association, not by the author of this website. For more information, view the full article.

We're on Facebook!

Friday, 23 April 2010 00:27 | Written by The Webmaster |

You can now find us on facebook! Just click on the link above to visit us there and tell us what you think. We will update club events and news on facebook as well as here to make it easier for you to keep up to date! Enjoy!