Cheesaholics Anonymous

How can I dress up my cheese?

Cheese can look glorious all on it’s own, but there are elegant and tasty ways to dress it up a little for a special occasion. The following suggestions and photos come directly from my cousin’s wedding in Napa (Nick and Suzi, you guys rock) and in my mind were the height of elegance and simple sophistication. And believe me everyone at the wedding was scooping up seconds and thirds with the nonchalance of a thief in a bank vault.  Click on the photos below to enlarge.

Plate #1: Humboldt Fog with fresh figs and fig jam. As the wedding was in Napa this was a perfect homage to the terroir (I’m pretty sure they grow figs somewhere around there). The cheese is fresh (i.e., not aged) the fruit was fresh, and the combination could not be more visually stunning with the deep purple of the fruit contrasting with the pristine white of the cheese paste.

Plate #2: Manchego with membrillo (quince paste). If you are going to do a classic combination, do it well. They chose an excellent quality cheese and membrillo, and the rustic simplicity of the ingredients drew me back to the fields of España, with all the flavors and textural nuances that hail from the Mediterranean culture.

Plate #3: Gorgonzola dolce with raw honeycomb and hazelnuts. This is close to what my “stuck on a deserted island” meal would be. Only blue cheese packs enough punch and salt to pair with honey, and if you are going to have honey, make it the whole comb. It makes for an unforgettable visual presentation, and offers your guests an experience most have never had. Now for whom to take on that deserted island with you…

For more ideas on accompaniments, check out my posting Cheese, Accompanied, on the Restaurant Girl website.

Road trip

Sprout Creek makes great cheese. For you New Yorkers who visit the Union Square market, look for them next time you visit the square and try their three fabulous cheeses: Toussaint, Ouray and Barat. They taste so GOOD for you, and they are. Made with 100% raw and exquisitely flavorful cow's milk, they are rustic, briny and range from buttery to piquant depending on the wheel.

And now you can visit the farm! Anne Saxelby and Matthew Scott are the genius organizers behind A Cheesy Fieldtrip, taking place on Saturday October 21st. You will sample the fabulous wares, learn how to make cheese and spend the day touring the farm, picking apples, and just chillin at the coolest non-profit (and socially responsible) farm in this country.

All this for $75, all of which goes towards Sprout Creek's many educational programs. To buy tickets and for more information check out Brown Paper Tickets.

Test your fat IQ

Fat is good. It makes everything taste yummy and is a critical part of a healthy diet. Some fats are better for you than others (hydrogenated vegetable fats are bad, bad, bad). Animal fats (in moderation) are good for you and just so happen to be the tastiest of all.

Here is a little fat IQ test I nicked from Juliet Harbutt (a most accomplished and hilariously funny cheese lady I met in Portland). Place the items below in order of fat content (as % of total weight) from highest to lowest.

• Cheddar cheese
• Edam cheese
• Margarine
• Peanuts
• Potato chips
• Sour cream
• Whole milk
• Yogurt
• Butter

Answers (highest to lowest): #1 Margarine & Butter (tied), #3 Peanuts, #4 Potato chips, #5 Cheddar cheese, #6 Edam cheese, #7 Sour cream, #8 Yogurt, #9 Whole milk.

What is American cheese?

Last month I traveled to the distant land of Portland, Oregon to find out. There I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the 23rd annual American Cheese Society (ACS) Conference, a gathering of the who’s who in the cheese world and a multi-category judging of practically every artisan cheese produced in this country.

American cheese initially adopted the character and traditions of the immigrants that chose to make this country home. The Brits brought their cheddar recipes, the Dutch the Goudas, and so on. Nowadays many of the best American artisan cheesemakers retrace their recipes back to Europe, spending time with the masters there to further hone and perfect their craft.

As a result, American cheese is where American wine was 30 years ago—truly palatable, and catching up to their finest European counterparts. The record number of entries in this year’s judging is also an indication that American artisan cheesemaking is here to stay. Check out my photo album for an idea of the sheer amount of cheese we were privy to (I think I ate about 4 pounds in 3 days).

Finally, the crowning glory of ACS 2006 …(insert drum roll)… The Best Of Show ribbon was pinned on Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, made by Cabot Creamery and expertly aged by the folks at Jasper Hill Farm. Check out the ACS website for the full judging results brochure.

Le Stink

Ever wanted to smell like ripe Brie in the summertime? Well, get in line. Cutting-edge fragrance makers are predicting that people are sick of smelling like patchouli and rose petals, and are ready to make a statement with more unusual odors, like stilton cheese and sweaty latex. To read the article, click here.

For more info on the whiff of cheese, check out my posting What Makes Cheese Stinky?

Cheese in the kitchen

Cheese can make a mediocre meal memorable, revive a lifeless salad or flavor a bland soup. Does your apple pie need a little zing? Try grating some sharp cheddar into the crust dough. Your guests will never know what hit them. Cooking with curds is easy; just follow a few rules of thumb I eat by:

Best melting cheeses
Not all cheeses melt equally. Cheeses born to melt are typically made from cow’s milk. Alpine-style (think Gruyere) or cheddar cheeses are perfect for a grilled cheese sandwich or melted over potatoes. While sheep’s milk cheeses (like Manchego and Pecorino) tend to separate out when heated, with the fat permanently separating from the solids, goat’s milk cheeses don’t get gooey at all, so shy away from those when it comes to melting.

Cost-effective cooking
Cooking with real artisan cheese can burn a hole in your wallet, so look for the appropriately priced option. If you want to crumble goat’s cheese on your salad, look for a bulk chèvre, rather than the perfectly mold-encrusted and pricey artisan cheese. Great cheeses can be expensive and should saved for the cheese board.

Cheese staples for your fridge

1. Parmigiano Reggiano should be a fixture in your fridge. Not only can you grate it over pretty much anything, but it also can be stored for about a month before it begins to head south (also see my Keep the Rind kitchen tip).

2. A melting or sandwich cheese is great to have on hand for an emergency grilled cheese or the munchies (I’m partial to Comté).

3. Lastly, a fresh sheep or goat’s milk cheese, like a briny feta or marinated labneh (kefir) balls, is versatile enough for omelettes, salads, sandwiches, the possibilities are endless.

This post was developed for Restaurant Girl's Cheese 101 series. Stay tuned for more kitchen tips and recipe ideas.

Help, my cheese is hairy!

So you went ahead and splurged on a fantastic cheese and a week later you see sprigs of mold growing where you didn’t see any before. What to do? Eighty-six it, or salvage the remains? Mold has a lot to do with why some cheeses taste so great. But most molds that begin life in your fridge are not safe for consumption. Cheese can pick up mold spores from other foods in your fridge, and knowing what is safe and what is not can be the difference between getting sick and salvaging perfectly good food.

Generally speaking, if you see blue, green or white mold, slice the offending bits off, and consume the rest. If you spot any red, yellow or black mold, chances are you want to cut your losses and toss the whole thing in the bin. If you see any unusual mold on a moist, high water content cheese, you should definitely throw the whole thing out, as dangerous bacterial activity may have permeated the whole cheese. White or brown “cat hair” mold (pictured above) on high moisture cheeses is usually due to too high humidity, and can render the cheese not safe for consumption.