Rolling in Dough

La Fete du Fromage - gres des vosges

Having stumbled across fellow cheese and France lover Chez Loulou's wonderful La Fete du Fromage last month, I am thrilled to have found a kindred soul in my passion for cheese. I think I mentioned in the  previous La Fete du Fromage post - A Love Letter to Comte',  that I have been keeping a cheese journal, seeking out wonderful and unusual new cheeses to try. But as I wandered through LouLou's blog, I discovered that she also keeps a cheese journal and was both delighted and dismayed to find that she has recorded 110 different cheeses! Dismayed because my own book is so paltry, but delighted at the world of cheese still to be tasted.

This brings me to December's La Fete du Fromage, a wonderful excuse to make a pilgrammage to the St. Killian's Cheese Shop to drool a little over all of the wonderful choices before purchasing a ridiculously expensive little bit of cheese heaven. This week's choice was Fromi gres des vosges, a creamy soft cheese from the Alsace. It's a fun little cheese with a fern pressed into the rind, wrapped in paper and tucked into it's own oval crate. It's aged at least three weeks, and the rind is washed in Kirsch to give it a unique flavor and a nice apricoty tinge. Hugo at the cheese shop advised me to let my little treasure come to room temperature to let the flavors develop and to enjoy it with a nice Gewurtztraminer and a baguette.Well, if I must...

The gres des vosges is creamy, rich, mild and deliciously smooth. Perfect for bread or crackers. It is attired in a soft edible rind and greets you with nice, faintly musty smell that lingers well after the cheese has been devoured. This is good, because I can still smell it on my hands and each whiff of fragrant cheese reminds me that I still half a gres des vosges to enjoy at happy hour with another glass or two of spicy Gewurtz. Yummm. Is it five o'clock yet?           

 

Comte' - A Love Letter

                                 

Ahhh Comte'. No cheese is closer to my heart. I love everything about it. It's nutty, slightly tangy flavor. It's firm texture. The gentle aroma of green fields and cows. But most of all, I love where Comte' takes me.

On my first trip to France, I fell in love. What an amazing place. The food, the wine, the architechture, the people, the landscape, the coffeee, the markets, and most of all, the cheese....... Growing up in America we had cheese, but mostly of the Velveeta and later, Cheddar varities. The cheeses I discovered in France were a revelation that changed my life. My two fondest food memories of that first trip are of  Chevre Chaud salad - warm goat cheese on toasts over a salad of greens with the most perfect simple vinagrette, and Comte' on Baguette - thin slices of tangy Comte' pressed into a split thin baguette, sometimes with butter. I even had an amazing Comte' baguette at the airport. (excuse me, I think I just drooled) So, because my eyes have been opened to the huge world of cheese, I make weekly trips to the cheese shop, trying all kinds of interesting cheeses, I keep a cheese journal and my cheese drawer often boasts 6 or 7 different cheeses in it. 

Which brings me back to the Comte'. When I bring home that paper wrapped block of cheese heaven, I feel like I'm buying cheese as the French do - from a small shop owner who has dedicated their life to selling cheese.  When I open the blue paper and take that first whiff of salty cows, I'm in a green French field surrounded by hairy cows that say "Le Moo". When I have thin slices of Comte' on Baguette for lunch, I'm in France. But Comte' really shines with enjoyed with some crusty bread and a glass of red wine. Simplicity defined - to me there isn't a better combination. 

For more information about Comte'. please visit Comte.com, a wonderful resource about all things Comte', including production, recipes and great Comte' cellars to visit if you are in thier neighborhood.

My love letter to Comte' is part of La Fete du Fromage, a homage to delicious cheeses the world over hosted by LouLou over at the gorgeous Chez LouLou - A Taste of Life in the South of France.

  

Bazaar Season

We live in the part of town that used to be Italian. Most of the Italians have long since moved to the suburbs, but come July, NW Denver celebrates its Italian heritage by hosting a series of Bazaars, fund raisers for the different Catholic Churches. It's an opportunity to put on the dog and visit old friends. Ninety year old ladies with perfectly round orange coifs, dark men sporting Italian horn necklaces, middle aged people who attended Catholic school together and young girls hoping to be noticed all gather on a hot parking lot and gossip about the old days - against the backdrop of a big band offering Frank Sinatra serenades. It's a great way to spend a Saturday night. The food is nothing to write home about, but is traditional to the event - Pizza Fritas, a deep fried pizza dough covered in sugar, draft beer, occasionally red wine, and always the Sausage Sandwich. A line will form and snake around the lot with people willing to wait 45 minutes to trade five dollars for a grilled sausage patty dipped in red sauce and served on a bun, sometimes with grilled peppers. Food and Frank Sinatra aside, I attend for another reason. Like all upstanding organizations, the churchs' primary fund raising activity centers around gambling. There are Italian cheeses, salamis and the occasional pasta bowl to be won. Each week, I feverishly trade my hard earned dollars for tickets and jostle for position among the coiffed ladies, hoping that Lady Luck will smile upon me and I will return home, proudly carrying a cheese of my own. Actually, the whole thing is crazy, I could go to Costco and buy my own cheese for a fraction of what I spend at the Bazaars trying to win a cheese. Maybe it's the thrill of the game, but there is nothing like the feeling of watching the wheel slow down and stop on your number. The winner cheers like they won a car, and everybody else throws their tickets down in disgust. When the next round starts, they are there, waving their money and asking for "some good numbers this time". 

I'm telling you all of this because after nearly two years of not winning a cheese, last week I did. With the first dollar I spent. Hooray! After perusing the selection of Cotto Salami, Cappacolla, ham and jugs of Olive oil, I decided on a huge Mozzarella, like six pounds of it. So, in addition to all of the goat cheese in my fridge, I am now well stocked with Mozzarella. Cheese, anyone?

Now that I am enjoying cheese with nearly every meal, I'm trying to find some different things to do with it. Last night I made Calzones. I filled Mike's with Italian Sausage, grilled green peppers and mozzarella (of course). As the tomatoes are finally ripe in my garden, I tried something different for my own. After I roIled out the dough, I added some Mozzarella, Ricotta, Roma tomato slices, and Feta with sun-dried tomatoes to mine. I baked them for 10 minutes and they were wonderful. I decided to bake them seam side up, and the presentation beats the folded over variety hands down. A fabulous use of Mozzarella - only 4 1/2 lbs to go. There is another Bazaar tonight. I'll be there gambling with the ladies. Keep your fingers crossed - I could still find room in the fridge for a big Provolone! 

Haystack Peak Goat Cheese

"Goats are nice, they're not in a rush. Goats make cheese for everyone."

Lovie sings this on the way to Haystack Farms to meet the goats. After we arrive, it occurs to me that her song has perfectly captured the essence of the goats. Goats get a bad rap - people think they are stinky, indiscriminate eaters. But we found them to be friendly, content and truly, not in a rush. I have a whole new goat respect for them.

While we were there, I asked the lady running the place what their most unique cheese was and without a moment's hesitation, she pointed to the Haystack Peak, a small pyramid shaped cheese. She told me that it was the first cheese they had made on the farm, a fresh ripened cheese with a bloomy-rind surface that was still their favorite. I added it to my collection, brought it home and have been storing it since we visited a couple of weeks ago. Today I opened it. The scent caught me as soon as I undid the first corner of the wrapper, a whiff of pungent cheese mold. As I unwrapped it, I uncovered a beautiful soft but firm white tower of cheese with an off-white bloomy rind. I was amazed at the wonder I had been hiding in the fridge. Actually, I was surprised at everything about this cheese. As I cut into it, the knife revealed an almost fluffy interior that is snowy white. The inside smells clean and nothing like the blue moldy scent of the rind. As the creamy middle melted in my mouth, I began thinking how great this cheese would taste with fresh fruit, maybe a pear. It really does taste a little bit like a Brie, but it has a rounder and smoother flavor, reminiscent of summer fields. A piece cut a bit closer to the rind took on a sharper flavor - it was almost a little bitter, which was surprising, too. The rind is mild and tastes like soft blue cheese. To have three distinct tastes in one fabulous cheese is a marvel. Apparently, other people think so too, as this cheese has won several awards, including The American Cheese Society 2004 award and was named one of America's best artisanal cheeses by Saveur Magazine in April of 2005. This is one of the more unique cheeses I have had and simply tasting it makes a great case for seeking out fresh artisanal cheeses. What a change from the hoardes of plastic wrapped, artificially colored packages that generally pass for cheese in this country. This is in a league of it's own!   

Green Chile & Goat Cheese Souffle

Since I began the Cheese Course, my fridge is stocked to the gills with great cheeses. I generally like to just enjoy them by themselves with a glass of wine during Happy Hour, but I've been looking for some other ways to show off their wonderful attributes. Cooking with cheese can be a risky proposition. Too often, the flavors get jumbled up with everything else, and what really makes each cheese special becomes completely lost. Too many things are simply Cheese and _____ (Insert food item here). In Sandwiches, Wraps, Enchiladas, Burritos, Salads and Omelets, cheese is just a bit of extra creamy goodness and flavor, an enhancement to be sure, but not the star of the show. Which is why I love fondues and souffles - cheese is the whole deal, maybe some other flavors spice things up, but they are a great vehicle to really let their wonderful cheesiness (Is this a word?) shine through.

I had seen a recipe for Goat Cheese and Walnut Souffles in the Gourmet Cookbook, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. With all of the recent Goat Cheese abundance, I kept imagining a souffle of my own, with a few twists, of course. I pulled out what was left of the Truf, Goat Cheese Extraordinaire, and added a few shavings of Romano. Using the Gourmet recipe as inspiration, I added my cheeses and some diced green chiles to the herby souffle mix. The result was fabulous! The unusual thing was that none of the flavors overpowered the others. It wasn't too herby, too spicy, or too goaty, all of the flavors worked well together, creating a delicious, elegant tasting main course. We had it with salad picked from the garden, and crusty pieces of still-warm-from-the-oven bread. I had cut the recipe in half because there are only three of us, but I'll make the whole thing next time, using one large souffle dish. I ate the last one for breakfast the next day. It was just as good reheated, and left me wishing that I had more leftovers.    

Haystack Mountain Red Cloud Cheese

In honor of The Saturday Cheese Course, Lovie and I took a field trip to Haystack Mountain Farm, where they produce phenomenal handcrafted goat cheeses. Although the farm is located just outside Boulder, less than 45 minutes away from my house, the trip there reminded me of searching the European countryside to visit some out of the way artisanal farm. The directions to Haystack included unmarked dirt roads and that I was to turn when I saw "three mailboxes by an apple tree". As we pulled up the long, dirt driveway, I was struck by how small the whole operation was. One small building and 136 goats are churning out thousands of pounds of drool-inducing cheese each year. We parked by the "teenager" pen and were met by a throng of tiny white goats rushing up to be petted. The self-guided tour included stops at the baby goat nursery, the maternity ward, the bucks' house and the milking herd, all filled with beautiful, clean, happy goats, full of personality and fun.

Inside the milking house, we saw how they milk goats, eight at a time and looked into the cheese room, where trays of Haystack Peak sat aging on the counter. Our guide opened the door to the walk-in and the aroma of cheese filled the air. The fridge was filled with small rounds of Red Cloud and Sunlight cheese, raw-milk cheeses aged for 60 days. During the aging process, each round is scrubbed every week to remove mold blooms, produced by larger rounds of green cheese left to induce spore growth and flavor, leaving behind a beautiful reddish washed-rind finish.

In the tasting room, most of the varieties were available for snacking, YUM! We tasted the deliciously smooth and creamy Chevre, Buttercup - a mixed milk semi-hard cheese that reminded me of a Gouda, the Queso de Mano - a mild and nutty raw-milk cheese and the Red Cloud, which is what, after much deliberation, came home with me.  The Red Cloud is an amazing cheese, firm with a nice bite. The rind is a gorgeous color, light reddish-gold with tiny moldy holes. Inside the creamy white cheese is a revelation of complex, nutty and woody flavors that melt in your mouth. This is a fabulous cheese simply to enjoy with a glass of wine and chunks of crispy baguette. I also think it would be a wonderful and unusual way to finish a spicy dish, crumbled on top of guacamole, enchiladas or tostadas. I always love the way tangy goat cheeses give Mexican food a new twist, and this would be a great choice.

Haystack Mountain Cheese is sold in gourmet grocery stores across the country and is served in many fine restaurants. You can find a location or order online at Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy. I'm thrilled to have found them in my own backyard!            

Truf -Goat Cheese Extraordinaire

                                                  

Welcome to the first Saturday Cheese Course. I am thrilled at the prospect of discovering a new cheese each week, learning a little about where it's from, how it's made and what to pair it with to make it shine. In anticipation of this big event, I took a short field trip to St. Kilian's Cheese Shop, the neighborhood cheese purveyor. Hugh O'Neill, one of the owners, and usually found behind the counter, never lets me down. He is always ready with a sample, a suggestion or a new cheese to pair with the wine you picked up next door, and has become a bit of a legend in the area. As I explained my new cheese quest, I saw a twinkle in Hugh's eyes. Before I was done talking, Hugh was already reaching into the case to lovingly retrieve a small mound of cheese heaven. "If I had a food blog", he tells me, "this is the cheese I would write about. It's creamy, smooth and wonderful by itself, but also would be nice on top of a salad, or in scrambled eggs." I could tell by the look on his face that I needed to look no further for my premiere cheese. "Truf, a specialty of Caseificio dell' Alta Langa", an Italian goat cheese from the Piedmont region, flecked with bits of black truffle.

When I returned home clutching my prized cheese, I tried to do a little research, but I could only find a couple of references to the producer, who are better known for their Robiolas, and only a few more for Truf. The few I did locate however, were prayerful testimonies to it's exquisite creaminess and flavor. I opened the package, and a deep earthy smell wafted up to me. A taste - delicious! Rich, tangy, elegant (can goats be elegant?) and by far the creamiest goat cheese I have ever had. It feels soft and light in your mouth, and is moister and smoother than the goat cheeses I typically buy. The truffles added depth and a vaguely mushroomy flavor that reminded me of goats grazing in a field. I could see why this was Hugh's first choice, and I will be enjoying it both on a salad and in scrambled eggs (if it lasts that long!). Thanks for sharing it with me - I can hardly wait to see what's in store for next week.       

Homemade Soft Cheese

I came back from Normandy with an unbelievable hunger for Mediterranean foods. After a week of eating cream, butter and cheese, I was starving for lighter fare - fruits, veggies, olive oil and herbs. So to this end, I checked out Patricia Wells' fabulous Provence Cookbook from the library. Open the book and the stories and pictures bring Provence wafting right into your kitchen. I can almost smell the lavender and rosemary, and I am right there with her, carrying my basket through the local market, collecting ingredients for the evening meal.

In St-Mere-Eglise, I bought some Gruyere and Comte cheese from a man who herds sheep in the Pyrenees. I've been enjoying a small piece with a chunk of baguette each morning while I pretend that I am still on vacation. But since I have been eating the fragrant, sheepy cheese, the cheddar cheese I bought at the grocery store just seems flat, lifeless and without taste. So when I read Patricia's recipe for Homemade Fresh Cheese, I was intrigued. She writes that making your own fresh cheese is the most clear and simple process of food creation, and swears that once you've created your own fresh cheese, you''ll never want store bought again, which is where I am already. So I got right to work. I poured the milk into the pan, added some vinegar and waited patiently as the the mixture bubbled and frothed. The kitchen filled with the clean aroma of vinegar and I was amazed to see foamy curds forming. I strained the cheese and sprinkled it with sea salt. Amazing! In a little over 30 minutes, I had created my own creamy, white cheese! It was even good! A little like mozzerella, it squeaked on my teeth as I bit into it. I sprinkled it on salads, mixed it into hot pasta, rolled it in a tortilla with some hummus, made burritos with it and smothered it with green chile. I'm hooked and will now be making my own cheese on a regular basis!

As a footnote, I tried this yesterday with balsamic vinegar, imagining that I was going to marinate the balsalmic cheese in Italian dressing and make tomato salads with it. Don't do it. The cheese came out this weird pinkish brown color, and when I added the dressing, the cheese soaked up it all up, making it purple and grainy. It tastes good, but looks terrible. I guess I will be eating all of it myself, no one else will come near it. Bon Appetit!