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 3 - Alfredo sauce

I've been reading John Mariani's How Italian Food Conquered the World in which he mentions the origins of alfredo sauce. It didn't begin as the heavy cream sauce which many are familiar with today. Oh no, the cream was not surprisingly, an American addition.  I decided some of the Parm wedge should be dedicated to authentic Italian alfredo sauce.  And if I was going to sacrifice a full half cup of Parm, I was going to do it right - no box of dried supermarket pasta would do.  I made of my first visit to Lazzaroli Pasta Shop in Nashville to purchase fresh linguine.  I followed the recipe Mariani shares in the book, and the results were fantastic!  It was still rich (likely due to the somewhat large quantity of butter), but wonderfully light.  Delicioso! 

Grilled Cheeserie

Nashville seems to have embraced the food truck craze, and I've had the pleasure of eating twice now at the Grilled Cheeserie.  Who doesn't love melted cheese on buttery grilled bread?  The Grilled Cheeserie takes the simple pleasure of a grilled cheese sandwich and improves it by offering several grown-up fillings.  The first visit, my husband had the Croque Madame, and I had a custom sandwich of Gruyere/Swiss blend and Benton's bacon on sourdough.  His sandwich trumped mine that night.  Mine was good, but I decided it needed one more flavor element (perhaps the caramelized onions). 

please excuse the missing bites - melty cheese is irresistible

My second visit, I had the Pizza Melt, and it was amazing.  This sandwich had so many wonderful flavors from the pepperoni (which was in itself unique - do not expect your typical supermarket or pizza pepperoni!) to the fresh basil, spicy marinara and of course, melted Italian blend cheese.  I can't wait to return - I've already picked out the next sandwich I want to try. 

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. 

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.