When I was in college, I spent a summer in the Loire Valley of France. I used most of my money getting there, so I couldn't go running to all corners of Europe each weekend like some of the other students. Fortunately for me, the valley had a chateau and a winery around every bend in the road. I had some Wal Mart hiking boots and an aching desire to see the chateaux on my own instead of in the massive tour groups that roamed the countryside. My host mother thought I was kind of strange, hiking every which way in my cheap boots when I could just take a bus. She was even more taken aback by my appetite, always muttering in amazement to herself over how much walking I did and how much I ate. I definitely cost her more than the average exchange student, being home for so many meals and eating so much at each one.

I convinced a fellow student to take a weekend hiking trip to some nearby chateaux, and we decided to visit a goat farm en route that she had heard of. The enterprising farmer had dubbed it an "etape gourmande", a place for tourists with discriminating palates to stop and eat. We found it a few hours later in the day than we expected to, arriving dusty, sweaty, probably smelly, and extremely hungry. Maybe my ravenous hunger enhanced the taste, but we ate what I remember as one of the best meals I've ever had. In any case, it sparked what has become a life-long love of goat cheese.
One of the dishes I had there was some sort of grilled goat cheese with pineapple. How they grilled the soft cheese, I do not know. It even had grill marks on it, but I still had to eat it with a spoon. Maybe the grill marks were painted on. Maybe I was hallucinating from the sun and heat. Whatever the case, I have not been able to successfully replicate the grilled dish. I have crafted this dish, however, in homage to my formative experience at the farm. I would never have thought of goat cheese as a dessert ingredient if it hadn't been for that meal. The honey really cuts the sharper flavor characteristic of the cheese and brings out the sweet and creamy undertones.
Pineapple & Goat Cheese Dessert
1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced
1 8-ounce log of soft white goat cheese (usually
labeled chevre)
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons almond milk, soy milk, or water
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (optional)
2 tablespoons pistachio bits (optional)
Blend the cheese, honey, and milk in a food processor until the mixture is fluffy. (The flaxseed makes it a little fluffier and adds a bit of nutty flavor, but it is not essential to the recipe. If you do use it, blend it in the food processor with the other ingredients listed above.) Divide the pineapple slices between four plates. Put a dollop of cheese mixture on top of each serving and sprinkle it with pistachios.