Cheese Broccoli Soup
Cheesy goodness with the slicester
The newest gadget in our cheese arsenal: the Slicester™. Made by chef’n, and you can adjust the slice size. I got it at TJMax for $3.99.
Romao a different Manchego
Romao is a sheep’s milk cheese from La Mancha in Spain. Gourmet-Food.com says: “Romao is hand-rubbed with oil and fresh rosemary and aged in caves for 8 months. The oil and rosemary permeates the cheese and complements its full flavor.” It is related to Manchego, but I think I like it a bit better than Manchego – the rosemary taste is excellent. It’s a bit more expensive ($13.99 vs. $10.99 at Calvert Woodley) , but I’d pay it again. It was good to try the 2 sheep cheeses together so we could compare. It wasn’t in any of our cheese books – too new? Ignore the goat and cow head – those are both sheep cheeses in the photo.
Cowgirl Creamery Fondue
Cowgirl Creamery has assembled paper bag fondue kits for under $20. It’s easy to make your own, but it was nice to have all the rinds removed and just exactly what you need – with no preservatives.
Ingredients:
1/2 pound Cave Aged Gruyere
1/2 pound Wagon Wheel
1 clove crushed garlic
1/2 cup dry white wine
salt & pepper to taste
Dice cheese into small cubes. Heat fondue pot, add crushed garlic clove. Deglaze with white wine. Sloly add cheese until meled and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat.
Served with cubed bread or raw veggies for dipping. Nice if you have a small crockpot or fondue part to keep it warm.
It serves 4, so we split the recipe and did it a half at a time.
Cannoli Cheesecake by W
Great New Year’s Resolution: Learn to make cheesecake.
Cannoli Cheesecake Americano
Recipe By :Emmy Gold
Serving Size : 12 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Desserts & Puddings
Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
8 ounces cream cheese
15 ounces ricotta cheese
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon cointreau
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons orange zest
Heat the oven to 250 degrees. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit the bottom of a 9-inch cake pan. Coat the interior of the pan with nonstick cooking spray, then place the parchment paper circle in the pan. (or you can use a cheesecake pan.
In a medium bowl, using a mixer on low speed, combine the cream cheese and ricotta. Add the sugar and beat until smooth but not fluffy. With the mixer running, add the eggs one a time, blending after each addition, and then the orange liqueur, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Stop the mixer and add the chocolate chips, cranberries, and zest. Stir briefly to combine. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the center sets and the edges just begin to brown, about 30-35 minutes.
If the cheesecake seems to be browning and cracking around the edges (a sign that it is cooking too quickly), reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. When done, it will be lightly golden on the edges and start to pull away from the pan. A little jiggle is fine as long as the cake feels firm in the center; it will continue to set as it cools.
Cool on a rack until room temperature, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Loosen the edge of the cake by running a hot knife along the inner perimeter of the pan, then remove the cake by inverting it onto a plate. Give the pan a firm tap if the cheesecake didn’t release from the pan.
Source: “Culture magazine Winter 2010”
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 214 Calories; 15g Fat (62.2% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 109mg Cholesterol; 114mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 2 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
NOTES : Wendell 1/23/11. Cracked on top, but didn’t matter when you inverted.
Holiday Cheese in Burlington
We also had pizza this night, so we ended up having more cheese — mozzarella and romano — so it was quite a cheese night. (Ricotta for breakfast made it an 8-cheese day). A 2005 survey carried out by the British Cheese Board reported that Stilton cheese seemed to cause unusual dreams when eaten before sleep, with 75% of men and 85% of women experiencing “odd and vivid” dreams after eating a 20-gram serving of the cheese half an hour prior to sleeping.[Wikipedia] We had a white stilton with apricots from P.U.C. (Pretty Unique Cheese) in the U.K. from Coombe Castle International. Cow’s milk. The T boys described it as “cookie dough” texture. Sweet.Cordobes. “Made from Merina sheep’s milk, this semi hard cheese is made specially for Whole Foods Market” — not really much about this. Good — a bit milder than manchego. Bavaria Blue: This is a mild and creamy German blue cheese. It’s good for crumbling on salads and snacking. Though KT still isn’t sure about blue. Saint Angel: St. Angel is a triple cream specialty cheese that has the delicate taste of cream. Because the curds are never drained with ultra filtration, more calcium, phosphorus, and milk protein are retained than in regular soft ripened cheese. The result is a unique creamy texture, unctuousness and a very healthy cheese (3 times more calcium than in regular soft ripened cheese). This was a hit from the cheese tasting til spreading it on breakfast muffins. Neal Yard Harves Wensleydale: |
Cheese on a rainy night
All from Brookville grocery store: I bought these just because there were two we hadn’t had before — even though we aren’t much for flavored cheese. The manchego is just a regular – salty to balance out the white stilton with apricots from P.U.C. (Pretty Unique Cheese) in the U.K. from Coombe Castle International. The stilton was decent — more of a dessert than a dinner or cheese tray appetizer. It came in a cute, little, round 7-0z package. I had high hopes for what I thought was a sheep cheese — but it also had some goat in it, which didn’t work for the W. It was a hand-crafted sheep & goat’s milk cheese Fetiri with mint and oregano Mt Vikos. I think it would be good in a Greek salad with a few olives.
Cheese at Flight Jacket Night Takes Off
We went to the National Air and Space Museum for the annual Flight Jacket Night. Richard C. Kirkland, pilot, author and artist was the speaker. He flew 103 combat missions in P-38 and P-47 fighters with the famed “Flying Knight” squadron in the southwest Pacific during World War II. He and his wife had nine children — and of course now have multiple grandkids and great grandkids.
We are members of the Air & Space Society, and the staff, including Elizabeth, Rachel and Christina did an excellent job of the program and the reception beforehand. The food and drinks were excellent, and the setting couldn’t have been better — right in the middle of the new exhibit, Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight.
Highlight for us: the cheese. All surprisingly delicious – not like the cubes you get at many receptions:
1. (Alpine) Pleasant Ridge Reserve Cheese. Artisanal American cheeses reminiscent of French Gruyere style cheeses. It was awarded Best of Show at the 2010 American Cheese Society conference, an accolade it won in 2001 and 2005 as well. Pleasant Ridge Reserve was named U.S. Champion at the 2003 U.S Championship cheese contest. It’s the only cheese ever to win both national competitions. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made from the non-pasteurized milk of a single herd of Wisconsin cows fed & managed using natural, “old world” practices. Dodgeville, WI, Uplands Dairy.
2. Cheddar with Carmelized Onions. MODESTO, CALIFORNIA Fiscalini Farms. This cheese has a firm, crumbly straw colored flesh; a nutty, slightly smoky, earthy taste; and a more round finish than most aged cheddars. It looks like it might have been Bandage Wrapped Cheddar, but it was hard to tell at the reception. It hand-turned daily for the first two months of its life, and it is aged for 18 months. We skipped the onions, but they say it is delicious with many types of fruit and even red / white wines.
3. Amablu® “St. Pete’s Select” blue cheese with a fig chutney. Cave aged a minimum of 100+ days in Faribault, MN at the Faribault Dairy Company. Our first cheese aged in genuine sandstone caves; Hand-made from unpasteurized cows milk from local farmers.
Veteran’s Day Cheeses
We both worked on Veteran’s Day, but we did take an evening break to celebrate with cheese. We went to the Chevy Chase Magruders — I sure miss having one right at Cleveland Park. And the deli there closes at 7:00, so our cheese options were limited to the case.
french rambol fume. Smoked, so BBQ Boy particularly liked. Had a recipe on the site for using it in Mac & Cheese. (Cow’s Milk, Semi-Soft). Forest Fume, formerly known as Smoked Rambol, is a processed Gruyere style cheese that is slowly cured over natural hickory. It’s rich, yet delicate flavor and creamy smooth texture are benchmarks for exquisite fondue cheese.
French raw milk Morbier (vegetarian ash). The ash is curious to me — gives the cheese an arty look, but since ash is well-known as an insect repellent, it’s a bit odd.
Stagnolia Blu (italian for blue foil) was from Trader Joes. It keep pretty well in a glass jar in the fridge.
Sidebar: Fun french cheese map at Ile de France Cheese. You can see where the cheese is made, see recipes and more.
Good Cheese at Trader Joe’s
We didn’t think much about the cinnamon cheese, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t have a decent selection.
W had been reading the book Camembert (Boisard), but this is the first time we had seen some from Normandy. It came in a cute little box “Le Rustique” with red and white checked paper. Signed by Fromager Jean Verrier. Normandy is the home of Camembert. It was smooth, creamy and with great flavor. It was hard to move on to the other cheeses it was so good.
We had Spanish manchego — just, it’s been criticized as being the only Spanish sheep Americans know, but it’s a good, salty standby.
The blue: Stagnolia Blu (Italian for Blue Foil) was nice and creamy. We assume it’s cow cheese. The blue was a subtle blue.
A good cheese night.