Cheese Broccoli Soup
more Cornucopia cheese
I stopped by Cornucopia in Bethesda and picked up some Italian cheeses
Buffalo Mozzarella – a very nice, full-flavored mozzarella, is very nice when drizzled with maple syrup
Cantala (sp?) – an aged Italian sheep cheese, rubbed with herbs. very nice
Asiago – very nice, but not as good as the one ‘imported’ from Italy by someone we know
I picked up a load of bread, which led to a bread “crisis” (we have too much bread here).
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.
Italian cheeses from Wegman’s
We went across town to Wegman’s, a very large grocery store in/near Lanham. It’s only 12 miles away, but with no easy way to get there, it takes a good 40-50 minutes from DC. It’s in a megamall area with a Costco, Best Buy, Petco and more. They had 28 checkouts, a cafe, live music, a bakery and more — but we particularly went for cheese. We’d also read the Washington Post article, “‘Club Wegmans’ in Pr. George’s: Smooth jazz and smoother pickup lines” and seen a special on TV (and then we ended up meeting the chef, Joe Serock, there). We didn’t eat there, though, we went to the nearby Levis Restaurant for BBQ.
Anyway, while we were at the cheese counter AKT turned her back on me and I was unsupervised for a while (probably not a good idea). I found 5 very nice Italian cheese for tonight’s tasting. Wegman’s has a huge cheese selection, including some of the biggest wheels we’ve seen. They have a tasting table, but don’t seem to let you taste the cheese like the Calvert Woodley cheesemonger. However, they did cut several of the large pieces into smaller pieces for us.
We had so many cheeses, we invited neighbor L, who we discovered was also with NC Stat’s Wolfpack. L is a goat cheese fan, and she likes the goat cheese brie from Brookville that AKT likes. She isn’t as much into hard, aged cheeses–we will need to get her a triple-cream next time.
Vento d’estate, a cow’s milk cheese from Monfenera, a historical mountain in Treviso, Italy. Rolled in hay and aged in oak barrels buried in hay and herbs. The name means “summer wind”.
Pecorino Toscano oro Antico, a semi-hard pecorino (sheep’s milk) cheese brushed with olive oil during aging. From the Tuscany region of Italy. Aged one year.
Pecorino Ginepro, made from unpasteurized sheep’s milk cheese from Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Aged for 4 to 6 months and rubbed with juniper berries and basalmic vinegar during aging.
Quadrello di Buffala, a washed-rind (stinky) buffalo milk cheese from Lombardia, Italy. Said to be like tallegio. We found it wasn’t that strong. It was good with the Olive Fougasse.
Gorgonzola mountain piccante is a cow’s milk blue produced in the Piedmonte and Lombardy regions of Italy. D.O.P Mountain Gorgonzola comes in two styles, the younger sweet, creamy Dolce, and the elder, stronger Piccante with its thicker, drier rind and punchier flavor.
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.
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.
New Year’s Eve cheese
The cheeses were all from Calvert-Woodley, a very nice local cheese & wine shop. (clockwise from lower left)
Fromager d’Affinois is a double-cream cow’s milk cheese. We’ve had it before, and it was still very good. Somewhat like the Saint Angel that we had last week, but milder.
Emmentaler, an AOC alpine cheese that was on sale. It looks like traditional “Swiss cheese” with the holes. It was a bit rubbery. Good for fondue (probably), but not the best for a cheese board.
Gruyere, also on sale. Another AOC alpine cheese, but a better texture, and no holes. Good for both a cheese board and fondue.
Maytag Blue – one that we’ve had before. Very good (for a blue), and featured in this month’s Culture magazine.
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.
Thanksgiving cheese 2010
We took several cheeses to Burlington for Thanksgiving this year. I made cheese plates of all of them, which seemed to go over well.
Claudel Camembert, another camembert we found at La Fromagerie in Alexandria.
A cheese we got at Magruder’s in Chevy Chase.
Marisa, a very nice sheep’s milk cheese that we got at La Fromagerie.
Pecorino wrapped in walnut leaves, from Cheesetique, very nice. ($21.99 a lb).
Thomasville Tomme, from Sweet Grass Dairy, in Georgia. Crumbly, but very good. (Cheesetique, $24.99 lb.)
Buttermilk Blue, from Roth Kase, Wisconsin, very good. (La Fromagerie).