Cheese, Glorious Cheese!!

[big brown horse]

NO CHEESE??? Oh farmerlor, I hope you get better soon dear!

 

[big brown horse]

From a blog called "Chez Loulou"

La Fte du Fromage - Roquefort I decided this week's cheese was famous enough to warrant it's own little fte.

Voil Roquefort

Who hasn't heard of it? This very strong cheese seems to garner very strong opinions. People either love it or hate it. Personally, I'm not a huge fan, but I do love to cook with it.

A blue veined cheese from the Causse du Larzac has been enjoyed since the Roman times but it was during the Middle Ages that Charles VI granted a small village in the south of France a monopoly on aging Roquefort in the local caves. It is made from the unpasteurized milk of the Lacaune ewe and matured in the Combalou caves that surround the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the Aveyron dpartement. The blue veining develops after the rind is pierced forty times and the cheese is left to mature in the caves where the penicillium roqueforti bacteria go to work.

At least three months of aging is necessary under the AOC guidelines, but it is usually allowed to mature for four months. Roquefort is an intensely flavored, distinctively salty and complex cheese. It is crumbly and damp, yet buttery, and melts beautifully on the tongue. The interior is creamy white with blue grey veins and has no rind.
All genuine Roquefort bears a little red sheep on it's label.

Enjoy with a glass of Sauternes or Banyuls.


Caramelized Onion, Roquefort and Parmesan Tart
serves 6

For the Pte Brise


18 ounces all-purpose flour
1 cup, plus 1 tablespoon chilled butter
teaspoon salt
teaspoon cider vinegar
2 large eggs

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, add the flour, butter, and salt.

Pulse several times to form pea-sized lumps.

Add the vinegar and eggs and pulse to form a moist, crumbly mixture. Do not over process.
Turn out the dough onto a work surface and knead a few times by hand.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Will keep refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for 1 month.
For the Tart

1 recipe pte brise (or store bought puff pastry--follow instructions for pre-baking)

3 tablespoons butter
2 large yellow onions, halved and cut into julienne strips (about 7 cups)
1 cup heavy cream
cup crme frache
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
cup crumbled Roquefort cheese
teaspoon salt
teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese


Make the tart

Preheat the oven to 325F (160C).
Remove the pte brise from the refrigerator and when warm enough to be pliable, roll out to about 1/8 inch thick.

Place the brise into a 10 inch tart mold, fitting it around the bottom and the sides

Bake the shell for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly golden. Let cool.
In a saut pan over low heat, melt the butter.

When bubbly, add the onions and cook down for 45 minutes, or until the onions are very brown and sweet, stirring from time to time to prevent the onions from sticking. Let cool.
In a bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, crme frache, egg and egg yolk to make a custard.

Stir in the salt and pepper and set aside. (You may want to use less salt, depending on the saltiness of the Roquefort.)
Increase the oven temperature to 375F (190C).

Spread the cooked onions on the bottom of the tart shell.

Sprinkle crumbled Roquefort over the onions.
Pour the custard mixture over.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top of the custard

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

[Dace]

I have a few recent new favorites.....

#1 is a Vermont white cheddar from Costco. Not sure the name but it has a purple wax coating....super yummy.

#2 is by Sartori Raspberry Ale (I think)
It has a wonderful raspberry essence to it and is nice and salty!
http://www.shopsartori.com/raspberry-bellavitano--5-lb-quarter-whee5.html

#3 which I can not live without.....Cypress Valley Chevre Purple Haze

Fresh goat cheese in a three inch round chevre disk. The perfect mixture of lavender and fennel pollen gives this cheese a sweet flavor that plays off the acidity in the cheese for a delightful complement.

http://www.cypressgrovechevre.com/cheeses/PDFs/purpleHaze.pdf

 

[FarmerDenise]

Westphalien ham is a smoked ham, the german version of prosciuto (sp). It has different seasonings added. but when I can't get westphalien ham I substitute prosciuto.

I love cheeses. Grew up on them. I love limberger cheese too and the other stinky cheeses

 

[big brown horse]

Yummy you guys!!

Grilled Figs with Goat Cheese and Honey

12 fresh figs
1 small package of mild goat cheese
12 grape leaves, drained and rinsed
Honey

Remove stems from figs. Using a small sharp knife open up the fig from the top to about the middle with an X-cut. Place a small amount of goat's cheese into the opening. NOTE: Fill figs with goat cheese by squeezing a small amount of cheese into the bottom of each fig. The figs will plump up when filled.

Wrap each fig with a grape leaf and skewer 2 to 3 figs on each skewer.

Place fig skewers on hot grill and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, turning once. Remove from grill; drizzle with honey before serving.

 

[Ldychef2k]

Back in the early 1980's, Julia Child had a TV show called "Julia Child and Company" and a second, JC and MORE Company. I was so impressed that I saved for a very long time and bought the cookbooks. That was my introduction to gourmet cooking, and I dove in head first.

This talk of cheese and of Julia reminds me of two recipes that I used to make regularly.

The first is one I made every Easter for many years, a baked egg dish, with very softly scrambled eggs layered with cream sauce, sauted mushrooms and spring onions, and three white cheeses (I used greyere (sp?), Parm and havarti), then baked until brown and bubbly.

The second was a gateau of crepes. You line a straight sided casserole with overlapping crepes and then create three layers, separated by more crepes. The three layers are: sauteed chopped brocolli, mushrooms duxelles (sauteed finely chopped mushrooms with shallots) and sauteed grated carrots with dill. Each layer also has greyere cheese. Then you make a custard with eggs and milk or cream and add softened cream cheese, fill the casserole, and then the top is covered with crepes. It is baked and then turned out on a platter to serve. She made a homemade tomato sauce, but I didn't.

Those two dishes, and the Orange Bavarian Dream cake were staples in my catering business for a long time. Sometimes I miss cooking like that.

 

[big brown horse]

Parmesan Crisps

Simply sprinkle about a Tbs of grated parm (the real stuff) in a circle shape onto a non stick skillet and over med heat let the parm melt together. It is easy to remove set aside to cool. YUM, it looks like parm lace.

I have used biscuit cutters to contain the parm sprinkles so the circle shape is perfect. For valentines day I will use my heart shaped cookie cutter to make "parm hearts".

When they are cooling, you can drape them over, say an upside down (small) bowl to make "parm bowls" and fill them with some goodies.

You can even chop fresh herbs and sprinkle in while the cheese is melting in the skillet. YUM!

 

[big brown horse]

Ldy, I remember the shows. I was the only 12 year old that a. watched PBS and b. loved her cooking shows. I have always loved cooking shows. (and PBS)

Those recipes sound amazing!

I just remembered another cheese we sometimes forget about, Cottage Cheese! I loooovvvvee full fat, large curd cottage cheese with fat ripe green and/or red grapes plopped right in. Mmmmm (Full of probiotics too if you get the right kind.)

 

[Ldychef2k]

I am NUTS for cottage cheese with raisins and chopped toasted pecans. The texture with the creaminess....WOW

 

[noobiechickenlady]

On the crisps, if you don't use non-stick, you can melt a tiny little bit of butter first You can do this with just about any cheese that will harden after it melts & cools.

In college I would crisp up cheese in the microwave What was wrong with me???

Wow, Ldy the crepe dish sounds fabulous!