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...

Roasted Chicken

Last week I read that every good cook should know how to make a roasted chicken and I was clueless. Fortunately roasters were on sale at Publix so I figured I would give it a shot and hope for the best. It was a-maz-ing! Everyone knows I adore food, but I am also quite critical of the food I make. This however was nothing short of impressive.

My initial thoughts on preparation was that I wanted to gag because let's face it, the inside of a chicken is not an appealing place. After the preliminary cleaning was done and I had my mom, Christine and Beau hysterically laughing at me, I moved on to the ingredients I was comfortable with. I coated the skin with garlic and butter and stuffed it with smashed extra garlic and half a lemon. I put it on a roasting rack and baked it on 450 for about an hour (basting it 3 times). I took the drippings and cooked them until a rich golden color, then whisked in 1 tbsp of flour, more whisking, then whisked in 4 tbsp melted butter (yes, I know, unhealthy) and ultimately a little cornstarch because I grew impatient waiting for the gravy to thicken.

I was pretty impressed with the outcome. Beau was delighted (such a manly word) when combining the gravy and french bread as he was convinced it tasted just like the french dip from the PB Grill (so good).

I have decided that I probably should have gone to culinary school because even on the roughest day, I am literally thrilled when cooking something and it turns out well. I have always had a special place in my heart for restaurants, but in the midst of an economy that isn't exactly thriving, it is nice to know that I can create comparable meals at a fraction of the cost. Now I just need a deep fryer.....

my new veggie garden

Beau and I are now the proud operators of three Earthboxes. After hanging out with some friends Saturday night and seeing their amazing vegetables growing out of their earthboxes, I was totally inspired to start my own! I love the concept of 1) Going into my backyard to get my vegetables as fresh as they can possibly be, 2) Knowing what is being used to make them grow and keep pests off of them, 3) Saving money by growing it myself, 4) Being able to pick my vegetable garden up and relocate it (rather than it being planted in the ground) and 5) Having a productive project for Beau and I.

Our 'crop' for the year includes Red Leaf Lettuce (could not find romaine anywhere), Grape Tomatoes, Roma Tomatoes. Cucumber, Zucchini, Rosemary, Basil (replanted from a pot), and Italian Parsley. For the last few months I have had a Cilantro and Basil plant and loved getting fresh herbs from it rather than buying from the store and being in a rush to use them before they went bad. I'll be honest, I don't get an award for gardening as my herbs would not have placed in the top 15 at a local fair. Hopefully the vegetables will turn out better! Thanks Ben & Cara for doing the research and providing the great ideas!

the things you find on Palm Beach

Last night Beau and I went to the Palm Beach Steakhouse for dinner. We had never been before but were given a gift certificate and Beau thought it would be fun to try it out. Yes, it was Beau's idea. I expected prententiousness but instead got Greek night, complete with a packed out house which resembled the stereotypical early-bird hour. The hostess was extremely friendly which is always a nice way to start out a meal! We were given an option of two different sides of the restaurant which was great because one said was way loud as a result of the live music. Food took awhile to come out and we were anxiously awaiting Beau's Beef Wellington (which I don't have the patience to make) and my Ahi Tuna (which I am too fearful to make). The food was excellent, but his food came with a side of french fries, cold french fries with Beef Wellington - hello weirdness. I am all about the great french fry, it is one of my top five favorite foods, but there is a time and place for everything, and well, that didn't seem to be it.

So, next phase of the dinner, out come the belly dancers. Goodbye hopes of pretentiousness. Another thing about me is belly dancers in restaurants make me very uncomfortable. I am all for the great Greek culture, but not while I am trying to eat a meal and you are standing in front of me, isolated at my table and expecting me to watch you. It just feels akward. Once at a Medditeranean restaurant I couldn't take it anymore so I struck up a conversation with the girl. She was very sweet and it made it a little less bizaare for my sake, but I still don't like it. At this delightful dinner the dancers were encouraging the patrons to dance with them. Hello don't look up from your food. All I can say is it would be a great opportunity to take So You Think You Can Dance? out on the road. Yikes. What can I say, I shouldn't complain, we got dinner and a show.

Spaghetti Squash

I love spaghetti squash. I was first introduced to it during the Atkins Diet era, but I have learned to really like it a lot, especially as an alternative to the heaviness of pasta. It is relatively easy to make, and in my opinion, worth the extra effort.

Take a Spaghetti Squash and prick holes in it all over with a fork. It is going to be tough on the outside, that's okay.

Next you can do one of two things, put it in the microwave in a shallow bowl of water to soften it up enough to cut it in half or or put it whole onto a baking sheet in the oven.

Bake it at 375 degrees for about 45 - 60 minutes depending upon the size of the squash. You will start to see the skin change color in patches and what looks like syrup escaping from the fork holes.

Take it out of the oven, (cut in half if you stuck it in the oven without microwaving) and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper for seasoning.

Take a fork and scrape the insides out long-ways. It should come out looking like strands of spaghetti.

I like it with a chunky pasta sauce, fresh grated parm and glass of whatever milder red I have on hand. If you wanted it more substantial, you can toss some rosemary grilled chicken over it, though my husband has been known to fill up on the squash alone.

eating vs. the braces

I have found the trick to keep myself on the eliptical machine at the gym, though I fear it will cancel out my exercising efforts. Gourmet magazine. Wow. So I have been getting this magazine for close to a year. It was a tough transition initially as I grew up with Food & Wine regularly arriving in the mail box. I just assumed when I became a grown-up with my own kitchen, a true lover of food required a regular delivery of Food & Wine recipes to the table. Well, I had a rude awakening when I realized that was too high of a goal for me to achieve. Newly married, first house, not-so-fantastic kitchen and a job are not helpful when attempt to cook ridiculously detailed recipes, especially for someone who is not at the top of her game when it comes to being rushed. There is something about the combination of leisure activities and time management that equals 'no fun'. So anyway, back to my discovery. I love Gourmet and perusing through this magazine not only kept me exercising, but gave me some great ideas for easy dinners.

So Tuesday's recipe was a flank steak with ancho chili poder, cocoa powder, cinnamon and chopped cabbage. I know, sounds king of gross, but talk about an easy alternative to mole sauce! So I swapped out the flank steak for skirt steak. It looked fatty, but the butcher assured me it would be more tender and less stringy, and seriously, who wants stringy steak. So this recipe was fantastic. I coated the steak and cooked it on the stove over medium high heat for about 5 minutes on each side. For people with gas ranges, this is the equivalent of medium-low, but for those of you with 10 year old stoves > medium high. I sliced it up and put it on warmed flour tortillas (no they are not super healthy, but does anyone actually like packaged corn tortillas?) with the cabbage mix and a side of spiced black beans with granny smith apples.It had such a great flavor, even Beau commented on how much he enjoyed it (which honestly, the man does not get nearly as excited about food as I do).

So back to the braces (I will tie this all together - promise). I had an appointment Wednesday where they put little anchors on my teath to hold in the invisalign trays. Needless to say I was not a happy camper as it was pointed out the only way to get the trays over the anchors and out was via a crochet needle. Oh the joys of an orthodontist approved set of teeth. So strike one, fighting with these pieces of plastic (which you can't eat with in your mouth), and strike two, skirt steak isn't so 'not stringy' when you are eating it chilled for lunch the next day. What would have happen if I bought the flank steak......