Mascarpone

I wanted to try my hand at making scones and decided that if I was exerting the time and effort to make homemade scones, then I should have clotted cream to go with them.  Having never had clotted cream, I had no idea what to expect.  A little research revealed that it doesn't travel well, so it's not really exported that much from Britain.  I found a recipe that called for mascarpone and whipping cream with a little sugar and vanilla to create an approximation of clotted cream.  I thought it turned out pretty well, but then again, I've never had the real thing.  The mascarpone was delicious alone - incredibly smooth and creamy like butter. It would be a treat in itself, simply spread on a slices of bread or apples.

Life of Parm, part 2 - grated

This may be the most obvious, uncreative use, but grating Parmesan onto pasta with nearly any type of sauce (or even no sauce, and just a little olive oil) is truly wonderful.

Life of Parm, part 1 - Welcome

A couple with whom my husband and I are friends had the good fortune to spend some time in Italy this summer, and they brought back several kilos of Parmesan.  Unfortunately, they moved cross country a couple weeks ago, but left us their remaining wedge as a temporary consolation.  Hence, we welcomed "the Parm" into our lives and home.  Isn't it lovely?

I decided to document its slow decline and eventual demise in words and photos over the coming weeks to challenge myself to optimize its use.  I will do my best to create things worth of this gift, although it is difficult to top the delicious simplicity of a chunk of Parm (honey optional for dipping), or perhaps with some prosciutto and bread as accompaniments.

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. 

have cheese, will travel

I had purchased a second Living Social deal to Corrieri's and had been planning to use it in March to sample some more new cheeses.  But a few days before it expired, I found out that I had to go to Louisville for work, and since Louisville is almost halfway, Brett and I decided to tack on an extended visit to the in-laws in Indiana, which meant I wasn't going to make it back before the voucher expired.  So, the night before we left town, the husband and I went to the shop to make some selections.  After sampling several types, we walked away with five wedges:  St. Andre, Ossau Iraty, Garroxta, Monte Enebro and Prima Donna.   The next day, the cheese came along with us in a cooler. We also packed several items to pair the cheese with - bread, apples, walnuts, dried cranberries, olives and honey.

St. Andre is a French soft-ripened cheese from the Normandy region and is produced from cow's milk.  If you think that the picture looks like butter, you'd be about right.  This triple cream cheese contains up to 70% butterfat!  It was creamy and incredibly rich, so much so that it almost required pairing with bread, walnuts or dried cranberries.  The texture in the center was similar to whipped butter, while the texture closer to the rind was silky smooth and heavier more like cream cheese.  Very decadent!


Ossau-Iraty is a hard sheep's milk cheese from the Aquitane region of France.  It is aged at least 3 months and is protected by the AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controllee).  This sharp cheese had a firm texture, and I thought it tasted like the warm grass or hay eaten by the sheep.  It had a pleasant animal smell.

Garroxta is a goat's milk cheese from Cataluña, Spain.  It's classified as a semi-soft cheese and is aged between 2 and 4 months.  Compared to many other cheeses, this artisan cheese is a relatively new, having first been produced in 1981.  Like most goat cheeses, it was tangy and bright white in color.  I enjoyed it not only alone but also with Spanish olives.  The rind was especially beautiful with it speckles in various shades of gray.

Monte Enebro is classified as a natural rind goat's milk cheese.  Made in Avila, Castilla-Leon, Spain, the curds are pressed into the shape of a mule's hoof..  The girl at Corrieri's explained that the mold covering the rind is the same kind that is injected into Roquefort cheese, but only covers the surface on Monte Enebro.  According to the World Cheese Book, it was the first modern Spanish artisan cheese to gain recognition internationally.  I found the appearance to be very unique.  I preferred the center, which was softer, creamier and milder than the part close to the rind, which definitely had a stronger, more blue flavor.  The flavor of the goat's milk, which I love, was easier for me to detect in the center, as the blue flavor near the rind was more dominant.  However, this was a nice blue cheese for me, since I tend to shy away from them.

Prima Donna is a hard Gouda-style cheese from the Netherlands.  Made from cow's milk, it's aged about a year (Corrieri's noted the one we had was aged 16 months).  This is significantly less than some Goudas, some of which are aged for several years.  There were small round holes scattered throughout.  It had a firm texture with a rich, strong flavor from start to finish that paired very well with apples.  While delicious alone, I imagine it would also be great on a sandwich.  It's a cheese that should seem familiar to Americans with a texture and sharpness similar to a medium cheddar, however it had a nuttiness similar to a Parmesan.

Éire go Brách

A belated St. Patrick's Day dinner with friends provided the perfect occasion to search out an Irish cheese.  I found a couple options at Trader Joe's, and opted for Dubliner, which is a cow's milk cheese aged around 12 months.  It was billed as a combination of elements from cheddar, Swiss and Parmesan, and it did not disappoint.  With a firm texture and sharpness like many cheddars, it was dry and a bit grainy like Parmesan and sweet and nutty like Swiss.  It was a unique and wonderful combination of textures and flavors.  While it was great alone, I also grated it on top of baked zucchini and found both options to be equally delicious.

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Only in moderation

You know dinner is going to be wonderful when your plate looks like this:

This was our first sampling of the cheeses we picked up from Corrieri's: Humboldt Fog, Lamb Chopper, Midnight Moon and Manchego.  We decided not only to taste them alone, but also to sample them with some of their recommended pairings, since we happened to have several of the items on hand.  While perhaps not the most well-balanced meal, since it consisted primarily of dairy and carbs, it was nice for one of the many meals we eat in a week.  It was a plate to be slowly savored.

Humboldt Fog is a beautiful cheese from California.  It's a soft goat's milk cheese that has been surface ripened and has a layer of vegetable ash in the center.  Hands down, it's one of the most interesting cheeses I've ever seen or tasted.  The center has the texture and flavors of what I am used to with a goat's cheese, but the edge, just under the rind, has a texture similar to brie and a stronger flavor.  The wedge is aesthetically pleasing with the gray stripe of ash in the center and the contrast in texture from the center part to the ripened edge.  It's like getting two types of cheese in one!  Delicious alone, we also paired with the recommended mandarin orange, cranberries and walnuts.


Lamb Chopper is a sheep's milk cheese from Holland (which I learned makes up two provinces within the Netherlands, so I should stop using them interchangeably for the country).  Smooth and almost buttery, with a chedder-like firmness, it was very enjoyable alone.  Since it was recommended for kids on a grilled cheese sandwich, we melted some on toasted French bread, which tasted quite good.


Midnight Moon is a goat's milk cheese from Holland.  The nutty flavor reminded me of a Parmesan, although not quite as dry or salty, and the texture occasionally seemed a bit gritty.  We paired it with apple slices and the same fruits and nuts as the Humboldt Fog.


Manchego is a Spanish sheep's milk cheese from the dry plateau south of Madrid.  A hard cheese with DOC status, it is aged anywhere between 6-18 months.  Although most Manchego is now made in factories, much of the milking is still done by hand.  The surface of the wedge was pocked with small irregular holes.  It was dry, nutty and a bit salty, and as it warmed to room temperature, the surface became slightly oily.  Delicious alone, we also grated some over pasta drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper, which was equally good.

I enjoyed all four, but if I had to pick a favorite, the Humboldt Fog might have a slight advantage.  It was delicious and incredibly unique.