celebrating Bastille Day...with a Swiss cheese???

Today is Bastille Day, so we incorporated some French elements (well, European at least) into our day.  I was really tired this morning, so tired in fact that I didn't feel like wasting time (or calories) on a latte, and instead opted for a single shot of espresso.  For dinner, we had egg sandwiches on French rolls, and for dessert, I made my first attempt at crepes (I've been dying to try out the rateau I bought at the Le Creuset outlet store on our vacation in Destin.  I will not discuss how excited I was to find this $3 dowel utensil in the store).  So what did any of this have to do with cheese?  Well, a few days ago, needing a new cheese to try, I purchased Emmentaler.  My cheese book suggested that it was a perfect cheese for a Croque Monsieur.  Lacking ingredients, we improvised with a pseudo-Croque Madame, scrambling eggs with spinach and melting shredded Emmentaler on top.  

Emmentaler is a cheese familiar to many.  It dates back to 1293, though it was not mentioned by name until almost 300 years later in 1542.  It's a Swiss cow's milk cheese, classified as a hard cheese, and aged anywhere between 4-18 months.  A single hoop of this cheese, which weighs 165-200 lbs, requires 265 gallons of milk.  The one I tried claimed to have been aged over 100 days.  The flavor was lovely, like Alpine meadows of warm grass and wildflowers, butter and a hint of nuttiness.  The texture was also very interesting.  At room temperature, it was soft and elastic, and then it melted beautifully for our sandwiches, becoming more stretchy without breaking down at all.  The cheese paired nicely with a glass of Riesling. 

Sweet corn mascarpone ravioli

To commemorate the 8th anniversary of the day we met, my husband and I went to The Mad Platter for dinner.  I had been wanting to try their "Chilli Mac," but it was not on the menu that night.  Fortunately, the sweet corn mascarpone caught my eye and was available that evening.  It did not disappoint.  While I'm sure the sweet corn would have been delicious in its own right, the mascarpone made it very rich and creamy.  It also didn't hurt that it was presented beautifully with shredded parmesan and flowers on top.  When I am bold enough to attempt making my own ravioli, I will definitely need to remember mascarpone as a filling option. 

a delicious use for Parmesan

Make a spring vegetable risotto!  The Parmesan (aided in part by the butter and cream, I'm sure) makes for a wonderful, creamy, rich dish.  I should have waiting a bit longer for more liquid to absorb, but I could barely stand it.  It still tasted fantastic.  This cheese is so versatile! It is a perfect snack alone, delicious in savory dishes, and even good as part of a dessert course.