Low Country Boil highlight of Eagle Island Getaway

It's officially autumn, but the Southeast is the perfect place to head when you just have to squeeze in one last getaway before the weather turns cold and recalcitrant.

If you've only experienced Hilton Head or Kiawah Island off the South Carolina coast, look a little deeper South for an experience more rustic, more authentic and definitely more relaxed - the Private Islands of Georgia's Eagle Island.

Whether you're looking to disappear with someone special or with a group of friends, this secluded 10-acre getaway is a find. Getaways can be customized.

Accessible only by boat, guests enjoy the spectacular Georgia salt marsh eco system, offshore/inshore fishing, blue crabbing, coastal cruises or full moon weekends in complete privacy. A 10-foot wraparound screened porch with hot tub and an outdoor fire pit are perfect for idling.

For those who can't leave their technology behind, there is WiFi and Direct TV. Rates start at $400 per couple per night. Round-trip boat transportation is provided with each visit.

Get owner Capt. Andy Hill to put on a low country boil for the end to a long and perfect autumn day on the coast. Wild Georgia shrimp, Andouille sausage, carrots, potatoes and corn make for some good Southern eating. Serve with deep dish corn bread and a few cold bottles of Reisling.

Low Country Boil

You don't have to be in the low country to enjoy this seasonal Southern shore specialty.

Note - outdoor gas cookers are typically used. A large pot on the range can also be used when outdoor gas cookers are not available. 

Fill a large pot with water. Leave enough room in the pot to accommodate the food in order to prevent over boiling. Bring water to a boil.

Next, prepare the Private Islands of Georgia Seasoning Blend (recipe below) and add to boiling water.

Note - Old Bay Seasoning can be substituted for the Private Islands of Georgia Seasoning Blend if desired

Private Islands of Georgia SPECIAL Seasoning Blend

Ingredients

2 sticks butter

1 cup black pepper

1/2 cup red pepper

1 cup garlic salt

1/2 cup seasoning salt

1/2 cup celery salt

10 lemons, halved and juiced

10 jalapeno peppers, seeded and thinly sliced

Melt butter in large sauce pan on low to medium heat.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir with wire whisk. Pour contents of mixing bowl into melted butter and stir with wire whisk until well blended.

Pour fresh squeezed lemon juice into pan and stir. Add jalapeno pepper slices and stir. Add mixture to boiling water.

Low Country Boil  Ingredients

Note - other ingredients that can be added to personal taste are rutabagas, sweet potatoes, crabs, crawfish or the 'kitchen sink' - whatever textures and flavors you love

4 pounds shrimp

2 packages Andouille sausage cut into 1" slices - or substitute your favorite brand

8 onions, peeled and halved

16 new potatoes

4 ears of corn, halved

small bag of baby carrots

After adding the Private Islands of Georgia Seasoning Blend to the boiling water, you are now ready to add the remaining ingredients.

The food items are added in order of longest to shortest to cook.

First, add the potatoes and boil 10 minutes. Next, add the carrots, sausage and whole onions. Return to boil. Add corn and return to boil. Then, add the shrimp last. Cook until shrimp are pink in color, approximately 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the shrimp.

Have on hand extras like cocktail sauce, lemon wedges and don't forget plenty of napkins.

Sleepy Goat Cheese Farm: Happy Goats Make Strange and Wonderful Cheese

CONTRIBUTING WRITER   Maura Alia Badji

A sunny day in the Seven Cities is a thing of beauty: water shimmering in the distance, budding trees swaying in the breeze, and a chance to slip off confining outerwear.  

The shiny Sunday I arrived at 5 Points Community Farm Market for Sleepy Goat Farm’s Cheese workshop was the first sunny day we’d had in over a week.  Virginians take fine weather seriously; only one other attendee showed.  More time with the goat people and their artisan cheeses for us, I said. 

 

The goat folk are Della Williams and Jon Dorman, both board-certified neurologists, and cheesemakers. Dorman hosted the cheese-tasting with gentle wit and infinite patience for questions, while Williams, who possesses a pleasantly sharp sense of humor, fed us samples of Pesto Goat Cheese Cake and Eggplant Goat Cheese Sandwiches with Pomegranate Molasses. 

The Pesto Goat Cheese Cake was a savory re-working of a sweet cheesecake recipe from the Joy of Cooking, substituting chevre for ricotta.  The delightful Eggplant Sandwiches were the perfect blend of savory and sweet; other recipes can be found here and in “What Do I Do With It?:  A few ideas about using goat cheese”, the Sleepy Goat Farm cookbook.

 

While she sautéed onions and coated eggplant slices with seasoned breadcrumbs, Williams shared some of Sleepy Goat Farm’s history.  

In 1989 they had converted an old tobacco farm in Pelham, NC into what eventually became Sleepy Goat Farm, a 164 acre home farmstead. That same year they obtained Ethel, the first goat on the farm, and a coddled pet. 

Ethel, named for Dorman’s sister (who really did not see the humor in that honor), was so much a part of the family she spent much of her time visiting in the house, and napping by the pond with Williams. 

Napping with goats?  Is that the story behind the Sleepy Goat name?  No.  Williams is a sleep doctor, as well as a neurologist; there used to be a sleep lab on the farm.  These are cheese-makers with a sense of humor. 

In 2003, after a happy 10-year practice in Dubai, UAE, the doctors returned to the States and decided they wanted a change of pace.  They began building their happy herd of Oberhasli (Obie) milk goats. 

Their certified cheese-making business began in 2004, when they obtained a farmstead cheese license from the state of NC and began selling their hand-tended cheeses at farmer’s markets in nearby Danville, VA, and Hillsborough, NC. Williams and Dorman, helped by four assistants, make several types of both raw milk and aged goat milk cheeses.

Most of the cheeses are named for Impressionist painters, rather than carrying the traditional French names of various goat cheeses. They said they really felt they could not duplicate the Tommes and Bourcherons of France here in America. 

“The cheese takes on the character of the cheese-makers, the goat herd, and of the place,” Williams explained. 

Their charming and clever labels are designed by Janel Gaddy of Danville, VA.

The first cheese I tasted at the workshop was Picasso, their chevre, a soft and wonderfully versatile cheese which can easily be mixed with different flavors.  

“I tell people to think of chevre as they would olive oil, butter, or eggs in recipes,” Williams said.  The couple ask their customers to look at Picasso cheese as their canvas for artistic culinary expression. 

The Picasso chevre comes plain, and in Herbs de Provence, Italian Herbs, Paprika & Garlic, Jalapeno, Curry-Membrillo (quince paste),  California 5-pepper mix, and Chocolate (!) flavorings.  They’ll also make Lavender and Honey by special request. 

The next cheese I sampled was one of their more popular varieties, a new cheese created because Williams wanted a cheese somewhere between the aged cheeses and the chevre. 

The Rousseau, which is only sold during the milking season, is a milder, less salty cousin of feta.   Dorman offered up bites of Marinated Rousseau (recipe in Sleepy Goat Farm cookbook) from a jar filled with oil, herbs, and hot pepper.  Rousseau is a fine salad cheese; Williams likes it on rice cakes with fresh tomato, basil leaves and a drizzle of good olive oil. 

 

Finally, I tasted the Degas, an aged, washed curd cheese originally made only in French monasteries (the Saint Paulin style); it had a rich, sharp flavor.  This was followed by the Cezanne, their version of a Tomme, an aged raw milk cheese with a firm texture and a mild, mellow flavor. 

“You should always eat Degas first," Dorman advised. “If you eat Degas after Cezanne it will taste bitter.”  When asked why, the cheesemaker replied with a smile: “Cheese is strange.”  

My verdict: strange and delicious.

The Sleepy Goat Farm Cheeses are sold at many Farmer’s Markets in VA and NC.  Retail outlets include Midtown Market and Fish Bones in Danville, VA and The Briar Patch in Winston-Salem, NC. 

Plans for an online store at www.sleepygoatfarm.com are still in the works; look for it, possibly, this summer.  Until then, phone orders are available for shipping to VA, NC, and as far as NYC, for retail prices plus shipping and handling. 

Give Jon or Della a call @ 336-388-5388 for order/pricing inquiries.  Their address is 7215 Allison Road, Pelham, NC, 27311.  The farm is open to visitors on the 2nd Sunday of each month,between April and August, from 2-5 PM.

Costa Rican agri-tour focuses on all things caffeine

Whole Travel

Consider what goes into your morning cup of joe. It's more than simply water and ground beans. 

Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn, with 30 acres of hard bean coffee which is certified organic and sustainable, provides travelers an opportunity to see for themselves.

Caffiene fiends can take part in the hands-on production and cultivation of their morning coffee (well not literally that morning). 

Guests of the inn are encouraged to participate in the picking, processing and roasting of Finca Rosa Blanca coffee as well as touring the farm and learning about the history of  coffee -- how it was discovered, traded, and consumed, while touring the stunning landscape. Inn guests do it all -- from processing coffee, including cleaning the berries and drying the coffee toy roasting their own coffee

Highlights of a visit yo Finca Rosa is a “coffee cupping” session with Barista and Tour Guide, Leo Vergnani. The walk ends with - what else -- a visit to their Inn's coffee bar, where participants learn to make cappuccino, café latte, and espresso coffee. Naturally, they get to drink their hard work.

Two-hour tours cost $25 and include the cupping session, the coffee break and pastries. The inn provides visitors with hiking sticks, and slickers in case of rain. Accommodations from $290.