Goat Cheese, Roasted Garlic Spread & Black Raspberry Vinaigrette

On occasion, I am asked to sample products for brands. I met the owner, John J. Bobbins of Golden Harvest Acres through Linked-in. He originally wanted to know some information about my photography business and we had a few phone conversations. John is a no-nonsense guy who represents himself exactly as is. His candor was refreshing to me. He was very proud and excited about his products and said that his Roasted Garlic Spread was out of this world. We agreed he would send me some samples to taste. We settled on The Roasted Garlic Spread and The Black Raspberry Vinaigrette which he said were extremely popular.

At first, I was going to make a more elaborate dish with their samples but ultimately decided to keep it simple. I combined the garlic spread with goat cheese and then used a drizzle of vinaigrette as a dressing. The result was pretty spectacular.

This was so easy to make. I simply combined 6 oz ounces of Goat Cheese with 2 tablespoons of the garlic spread. After mixing the two together with a fork, until well blended, I toasted ciabatta and applied generously while the bread was warm. The Black Raspberry dressing was used as a drizzle to enhance the flavors. The flavor combos worked really well. Blending the garlic with goat cheese mellowed the garlic spread. Finally, the dressing gave it a tart sweetness that complimented the other flavors.

The Garlic spread is strong and a little goes a long way. I would also highly recommend the spread for garlic bread, simply combine garlic spread to taste with butter and mix with a fork until blended just like we did with the goat cheese. Spread it on a loaf of Italian Bread, pre-heat oven to 350, wrap bread in tin foil heat for 10 minutes. Unwrap. open two halves and heat an additional 5 minutes top side up.  How can you miss?

Golden Harvest was originally a produce farm in the scenic Buffalo Valley of Union County Pennsylvania.  John and his wife Sara purchased 14 acres in 1998 with the primary goal of acquiring proven hard to find hard neck garlic strains to produce and distribute as seed garlic nationwide. In 2012 they experienced a bumper crop of garlic and butternut squash and needed a way to market their additional harvest. They developed 2 all-natural products, Roasted Garlic Spread ” and “Pumpkin Butter”, which would provide a springboard for their brand.  Leveraging that success they decided to experiment with unique flavor profiles and in just a short time they have developed a reputation for having high quality all natural specialty food products including a wide selection of unique all natural Jams, Spreads, and Vinaigrettes.

If you want to see check out their product line here is a link, you won’t be disappointed! I highly recommend the products I was allowed to sample. I am sure the others are equally crafted with care.

Golden Harvest Acres online store click here