A trip to Disney makes so many fabulous memories. A Disney adventure is filled by rides, song, sites, water, fireworks, and on and on, but for me…..fabulous food is an absolute must and can tie all these memories together. There is nothing better than rebuilding a Disney recipe with great Disney music as an accompaniment- that Magic can continue even at home. For me being an avid foodie and schooled chef, Disney dining holds a special place in my heart and always, and I do mean always, provides new inspiration and magical delicious surprises. I love trying something new and then learning out how to make this new delicacy. We all know that WDW has the most concentrated, world renowned food and restaurants in one place, save maybe New York City (and who needs that hassle). Think about it, the world’s eatable goodies in Epcot, Victoria and Albert’s, Narcossee’s, Jiko, Brown Derby, Artist Pointe, and The California Grille. A special entrée can’t be beat but sometimes takes a lot of time, difficult ingredients, and the TLC of the chef, to make it perfect. I’m not knocking em, I’m just saying……But if it’s a quick, mind-blowing special little trick that you can’t get enough of, can’t wait to eat and share with others, and you can’t wait till the next time you make it, a delectable appetizer is hard to beat. There are one, two, or more of these awesome intros at every Disney dining experience, easy to pass up, BUT DON’T. Here is one that will knock your socks off, simple, delicious, and perfect with a salad, nice bread, a glass of wine, and it may just turn into one of your favorites. Hint: play Bella Notte from Lady and the Tramp while enjoying this wonderful dish.
Delicious Disney…Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli
California Grill * Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Chef de Cuisine: Brian Piasecki
This dish is perfect as a gluten free or vegetarian offering.
This recipe is fabulous because your Mouseketeers can help….
1 pound soft mild goat cheese, crumbled
5 1/2 ounces aged goat cheese, crumbled (I used Cypress Grove Midnight Moon- Product of Holland from Whole Foods)
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I used Progresso Itallian Style)
2 tablespoons store-bought basil pesto (I used home made pesto)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Roasted Garlic Puree (recipe follows)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or to taste
16 egg roll wrappers (I used Won Ton wrappers)
1 large egg and 1 tablespoon water for egg wash ( I only used water no egg)
Clear Tomato Broth, optional (recipe follows)
Serves 4 to 6
1. In a large bowl, stir together the mild goat cheese, aged goat cheese, bread crumbs, pesto, olive oil, roasted garlic puree, salt, and pepper until well combined.
2. On a work surface, lay out 8 egg roll wrappers and brush each with the egg wash. With a sharp knife, mark each wrapper into 4 squares, taking care not to cut all of the way through. Place about 1 tablespoon of the goat cheese mixture in the center of each square. Cover with the 8 remaining egg roll wrappers and press the edges together. (I did not want to take this much time so I used one wrapper per ravioli and folded it over in a triangle shape)
3. With a knife, cut each double wrapper with filling into 4 squares, to yield 32 squares of filled ravioli. press the edges together. ( if you are not using the ravioli immediately, sprinkle them lightly with cornmeal and store refrigerated between layers of waxed paper.)
4. When ready to serve, cook the ravioli in a large pot of boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain completely.
5. Serve with clear tomato broth, if desired. Top with a chiffonade of basil and sun dried tomatoes as well as a grating of fresh Parmasean cheese.
Cooks’ Notes: If you don’t want to make the tomato broth, top the ravioli with chopped, seeded ripe tomatoes or a tomato juice “cocktail” also makes a suitable broth.
Clear Tomato Broth
15 whole vine-ripened tomatoes (I used tomatoes I had canned)
1 teaspoon salt
Makes 4 cups
1. In a blender, in batches, coarsely chop the tomatoes with the salt. (I used an immersion blender or stick blender because they clean up so easily)
2. Place the chopped tomatoes in a large sieve lined with a double layer of damp cheesecloth, set it over a bowl, and let the mixture drain in the refrigerator for 24 hours to collect the liquid. Discard the tomato pulp and reserve the liquid. (I have a hard time throwing away food so I reserved the pulp to use as tomato paste)
Roasted Garlic Puree
1 whole head garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
Makes 2 tablespoons
1. Preheat over to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Cut off the stem and top third of 1 whole garlic head.
3. Place the garlic on a sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. (I cooked alot of garlic because we love roasted garlic as you can see I just cook it in a bowl covered with foil)
4. Wrap the garlic with foil, seal the edges tightly, and roast for 1 hour.
5. Remove the package from the oven, open carefully, and let the garlic cool slightly.
6. Scrape or squeeze the pulp from the garlic cloves.
What to drink: Sauvignon Blanc is a classic match with goat cheese, and Mason Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley has the structure and acidity to nicely complement this dish. (I used a wine from Cupcake Vineyards because that is what I had on hand)
Well… as suggested, easy (our 2-year old master of the pasta made it), pretty quick, and absolutely worth the effort, this Sonoma Goat Cheese Pasta, paired with some lighter fare to balance the calories and some nostalgic Disney music is a transformation back to The Kingdom, not to mention, an edible treat that will thrill your family or guests. Don’t stop at the Pasta, as Disney chefs and food imagineers, inspire with all their tasty gifts. There are super special appetizers at every Disney restaurant and I’d advise spending some time making that first choice. When you hit that enevitable diamond in the appetizer menu, don’t forget- you can take it home and relive that special, memorable occasion. Don’t let the Magic stop at the parks….keep on eating and make it Magical!
One final note- just because this Sonoma Goat Cheese Pasta is filled with unbelievable cheese tastes, don’t believe for one minute that Mickey had any influence here in my first submission. These are AWESOME on their own.
So many memorable vacation moments occur during a fabulous meal so hopefully you will be able to create your own special memories at home through Disney cuisine.
Happy cooking and bon appetit!
Categories
App Review – Trip Journal
One of the most difficult things for scrapbookers is remembering what happened and when on trips and vacations. Do you take a notebook and write stuff down as it happens? Do you wait until you get back to your room and hope you remember everything (and still have the energy to record those memories) when you get back? Do you hope you can remember everything and write it down when you get home? Do you text yourself? Do you send yourself emails? What do you do?
Trip Journal is a highly rated (#1 by Google) travel application that is available for multiple platforms. It is available for both iPhone and Android, as well as several other options. It is not a free app and the cost does vary based on platform, although I have seen it on sale for as low as $0.99. The app can even automatically integrate with Facebook, Twitter, several web-based photo sharing sites and Google Earth.
With Trip Journal you can easily document your trip in real time while still having fun. Each time you post in the app it includes a geo-tag so you can view your trip progress using Google Earth. You can easily add photos and videos, along with text about each item. Even without adding media, you can still add text to document each little detail. Once home, you can easily look at your archived trip and recall each detail, and then use it to help with your journaling in your scrapbook pages. The app allows you to store endless trips, so you can always go back to them and remember all of the fun you had.
The biggest problem I had with the app was remembering to use it. In order to get the most out of the app, every time you go someplace new (airport, plane, rental car, hotel, restaurant, ride, etc) you should add what the app refers to as a “way-point.” Then you add your media and text to record your trip and all of the details to the way-point. My husband and I would get so busy having fun that I would forget to open the app and start a new way-point. The next time we go to Disney I just need to be more disciplined about remembering to open the app and enter a new way-point. That being said, we look forward to using Trip Journal on our next vacation as we are very pleased with the app and the features it offers.
Categories
Focus on Disney – Repeat Performance
“Catching little pieces of time
making ’em yours, making ’em mine.
Great vacations and celebrations can fade away in a year,
but when we’re making memories happy days are always here.”
The Sherman Brothers
There’s nothing like a family photo to remember the good times experienced on a vacation. In Walt Disney World, you’re sure to see people taking pictures in front of Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom, the sorcerer’s hat in Hollywood Studios, Spaceship Earth in Epcot, and the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom. You may have taken these same pictures in front of these icons or you might have your own favorite photo spots there or in any of the other Disney parks. Like everyone else, our family tries to take these same photos, but you’ll never guess the obscure location our family has taken a photo from each of the eleven family trips we’ve taken. The spot is a group of stacked crates near Echo Lake in Hollywood Studios that we affectionately call “The Crates.” We just happened to sit our two kids up on these crates on our first trip back in 2001. Little did we know that it would be the only spot that we’d remember to take photos each and every trip.
Another spot we have taken photos throughout the years is by the fountain in Hollywood Studios near the information board. Once again, we took a photo or two there and now we usually try to repeat the photo each year. We have missed a few years but we have enough photos to see how much our kids have grown.
Other great places to take repeat photos are on or near attractions, like by the jeep at the end of Kilimanjaro Safaris:
If you don’t have a favorite photo spot, then go through your photos from your last trip and make a mental note to repeat the shot on your next trip. If you scrapbook and you already have photos from multiple years, consider making a scrapbook layout to show changes throughout the years. If you do, you’ll not only enjoy the layout today, but you will enjoy it for years to come. Besides, you never know when one of your favorite spots will disappear, like the chair in Minnie’s House! 🙁
