cheese

So this morning I was responding to a request for suggestions on cheeses I enjoy. I already know food is not the safest hobby, especially when the things you enjoy most are rich, or high in fat or your craving for salt is never quite satisfied. Despite the risk, cheese would still be my favorite genre of food.

I'm pretty excited that I discovered a new cheese place to visit in NY - Murray's Cheese. Its aging caves are underneath Bleaker Street. No, this isn't a big deal, but it is kind of cool, an example of how the city can manage to find something to so with every square inch of space plus some. Two years ago I visited the Artisinal Cheese Center in Brooklyn. Though the walk was pretty cool on a Sunday afternoon, the caves themselves felt somewhat institutional - lacking the charm I was expecting. Hopefully Murray's will not let me down.

These are a few cheeses I have accumulated as favorites over the years...

Humboldt Fog – Mild goat cheese with a creamier center encased by the more familiar goat cheese texture. It has a thin layer of vegetable ash in the center that is pretty much tasteless itself, but assists in flavoring the cheese. By far my favorite cheese. Fantastic on its own or accompanied by dried apricots, rosemary flat bread crackers or a denser bread.

Roaring 40s – Stronger Australian blue cheese. It has the signature salty taste of a blue, but with a slightly nuttier flavor than the typical blue. You also get a taste or sweetness in some bites and the texture is firm, yet creamy. Often there is crystallization during aging. I can’t figure out if this makes it saltier or sweeter. Excellent with quince paste (not worth making your own, better off just buying it.)

Brie de Meaux – Very potent brie. My husband thinks it smells quite repulsive, but the flavor is fantastic if you like strong brie. I had purchased a grape-chutney in CA once before – it was French with a blend of grapes, quince, apple and spices. Had a bit of a sharper flavor (stronger). I don’t know the fancy way to say this, but this brie is flavored in a way that you can almost taste the grass that was grazed on. The grape chutney was almost like a mustard in that it toned down the strong flavor, but at the same time didn’t take away from it, rather just complimented it.

Bucherondine – Similar to Humboldt Fog. Goat’s milk cheese, very smooth but unexpectedly strong.

my oven has been on way too frequently for summer.

Yum, yum, yum. Waiting for a lemon tart to finish baking. It has been a pretty good week. Lime/honey salmon with basmati rice and broccolini, panko crusted chicken with maple, mustard pan sauce, broccoli-garlic quiche, add a bunch of stuff that was in the fridge quiche, corn tart in a polenta crust (actually not so good) and now, the lemon tart. I squeezed far more lemons than I cared to and separated too many egg yolks, but the pate sucree pastry not only can stand alone fabulously, but the filling tastes like an amazing, creamy and cool lemonade. Not I just need to figure out what to do with a dozen egg whites...