Say Cheese!

Oh how I love cheese. Once I learned that cheese could be an entire course, I longed to be European and not just of European decent. Americans, at least the ones I was raised with, did not eat cheese as a course. It was often just an ingredient, occasionally a snack or appetizer; never a course.

As a child I loved cheese, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned about all the delicious and varied cheeses of Europe. The boutique cheese makers of California didn’t really start popping up until I was well into my adulthood.

My mom would make me a cheese quesadilla with a corn tortilla and a slice of American cheese when I was a little girl. I loved that. While I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, I still make them and consider them comfort food. White trash comfort food maybe, but they are delicious none-the-less. Just don’t look too carefully at the package of Kraft American cheese slices and you might be able to ignore the fact that isn’t really cheese. Pasteurized prepared cheese product. Huh?

White Trash Quesadilla

1 home style 6” corn tortilla (if you have access to actual home made tortillas, I envy you)
1 slice Kraft American cheese slice

On a non-stick griddle, heat tortilla on one side over medium heat until hot. Turn and place cheese slice on heated side. Continue to heat until cheese is melted and slightly bubbly.

Fold into thirds and serve. Yum! Ooey, gooey and delicious. Try one with a bowl of cream of tomato soup on a rainy afternoon. I swear you will like it, especially if the soup is homemade.


If you look on Wikipedia for “List of Cheese” you will find a VERY LONG list of cheese from around the world. There are a ton of them! But, that list doesn’t even have French or Italian cheeses. There are separate pages for those. My point is: there are a zillion cheeses from around the world. I have tried a lot of them, but I know that I have barely scratched the surface.

We have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, so I am often intrigued with other things from South Africa, but I would never have thought that I should spend some time trying to find a sampling of South African cheese. Today I learned of Bokmakiri, a soft goat’s milk cheese that I’m going to have to track down now.

Back when I was a kid my parents would order Roquefort dressing when we went out to dinner. Roquefort’s tangy taste and pungent smell, not to mention the mold, is not something that would attract positive attention from a seven year old. Believe me, I was there. Ahh, but thankfully we all grow up.

For a quick, easy and delicious side dish try Mizithra with browned butter over pasta. Mizithra is a Greek cheese made from ewe’s milk. It is usually available in specialty shops and is worth looking for. There really is no substitution, although you will be able to find suggestions, they are not the same, and I say don’t bother. Making this dish is simple; it only requires three ingredients and can be made in the amount of time it takes to boil the pasta.

   Mizithra with Browned Butter

1/2 pound spaghetti
6 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter*
6 ounces Mizithra cheese, grated

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook spaghetti per package directions. Drain well. Return to pot.

While pasta is cooking, in a sauce pan, melt ghee over medium low heat and cook until slightly browned. Pour browned ghee over pasta and toss with 2/3 of the cheese. Top each serving with some of the reserved cheese.

*If you do not have ghee or clarified butter, take ½ cup unsalted butter and melt over medium low heat in a saucepan. Increase heat to medium and bring to a boil and let foam, stirring constantly so that it does not boil over and butter turns to a golden brown color. Remove from heat and skim off any foam. Let stand five minutes to settle and then pour over pasta, leaving behind any solids in the bottom of the pan.


Wait, I’m giving you a recipe for a snack and a dish with cheese as an ingredient, albeit a main ingredient, still just an ingredient. What about the cheese course?

My Belgian friend Vee often has family dinners with include us as extended family. After we finish the entrée, out comes the cheese platter that includes several different cheeses, some yummy bread, maybe some fruit and more good wine. After the cheese course, if we can fit it in, comes dessert. The cheese course is common place in France and much of Europe and is becoming more and more common in the United States. Restaurants are now offering cheese on their dessert menus. Okay, Americans don’t quite get the cheese course if they are including it as dessert, but we are making great progress and I understand the French originally included it with dessert too.

Vee’s father loves cheese and the stinkier the better. He loves Limburger. I grew up watching Looney Tunes and Pepe Le Pew. I have never had any interest in Limburger cheese, except when Charles traveled all the way from Belgium for a visit; I wanted to surprise him. There I was at the Whole Foods cheese counter asking for Limburger with a silly smirk on my face. I can’t help but envision a black cat with a painted white stripe down her back and a huge chuck of the smelly cheese. I think Charles was touched by my purchase. I have to say, Limburger does smell, but then it falls flat for me. It just doesn’t have the taste I’m looking for. It doesn’t tastes like it smells; that’s not why I don’t like it. It’s just not what I’m looking for.

There is a mean part of me that wants to e-mail Charles some information that I found while writing this blog: there is a study that shows the Anopheles gambiae (the mosquito that causes malaria) is equally attracted to the smell of Limburger as they are to the smell of human feet.

Do not get me wrong, I am not afraid of stinky cheese. I’ve been on sort of a quest for some great ones since our dinner with Charles this past summer. We have experienced a few that we will not buy again. Here is a list of some of the winners:

Livarot – cow’s milk, France, a soft, pungent, washed rind cheese. Its earthly aroma is likened to the smell of a barnyard. I have to agree, and I know that this sounds disgusting, but this cheese is fantastic when served at room temperature. When served cold, you get all of the smell and not of the fantastic taste. A friend of mine brought some back from France for me. I’m not sure of the legality of carrying cheese on a flight from France to the United States, but I’m going to make this request of all my friends and family until I find a good local source.

Blue du Bocage – goat’s milk, France, a soft blue cheese. It is toasty, meaty with a sweet finish; extremely creamy without the bite some blue cheeses have. It is expensive and hard to find, but it is worth it.

Burnet – goat’s milk, Italy, a tangy soft cheese with a thin rind. It smells of mushroom and crème fraiche. This is one of my favorites.

For a cheese course, I recommend selecting a minimum of three cheeses, preferably made from different types of milk. I try to pick a strong cheese, a mild cheese and a unique cheese. I also vary the types of cheeses, some soft, some hard, some young, some aged, etc. Always serve cheese at room temperature, for it brings out the taste. If you plan ahead, there isn’t an issue.

A really fun cheese that is delicious is Mimolette. It is a dry bright orange cheese with a rough gray-tan rind. A slice of Mimolette is often mistaken for a slice of cantaloupe at first glace. It is a fun cheese, sure to start a conversation for those that have never seen it before. It is a hard, salty cheese that goes well with fruit.


If are interested in cheese as a course but never tried it, I direct you to Cheese Course 101 on NPR. It’s a great article.



Forget cake; let them eat cheese! Bon appétit.

Fall

Okay, I made it perfectly clear that autumn is my favorite season, so I could have called this post Autumn Part Deux or Fall. I selected the less pretentious, simple and straight forward Fall.

I also made it quite clear that I never have enough time, so today’s blog is about hearty fall foods and saving time so one can actually take a deep breath at least once during the week.


This morning I started my short ribs so that they can cook all day tomorrow in the crock pot while my husband and I work and the boys go to school, swim and what ever else teenage boys do while unsupervised.

In order to get great flavor, you really have to brown the short ribs on all sides and well. Then I made the sauce they will simmer in for 10 hours. It’s quite simple, but delicious. Tomorrow morning, I’ll throw everything into the crock pot, set it to low and go. When we all get home, we will have the most tender, saucy meat. Yum!

Did I mention that you have to brown the ribs on all side and well? Doing this takes its toll on my heavy bottomed Dutch oven. It is nothing a good soaking will not remedy, but the task of cleaning that pot looked daunting this morning.

My next step was to make some Italian meat sauce for my lasagna and a spaghetti dinner. I thought rather defeated, “that Dutch oven would be perfect, but look at the bottom.” Then I thought, “THAT Dutch oven is perfect!” It already had some yummy browned bits of meat that would flavor the sauce perfectly. All I had to do was wipe out the remaining short rib sauce, and I have to admit all I did was take a silicon spatula and scrape out the sauce. There were small amounts left, but it was tomato based and was not going to hurt my spaghetti sauce and maybe it would even add another layer of flavor.

I browned the ground beef and Italian sausage and then sautéed the onions and garlic. Then I added the tomatoes, seasonings and simmered the sauce for two hours. All this cooking took care of more than one half of the scrubbing of my pot: a real time saver!

I proceeded to make a lasagna with one half of the sauce, layering it with noodles, cottage cheese (we go back and forth between ricotta and non-fat cottage cheese and I think we actually prefer the non-fat cottage cheese’s taste, texture and lower fat content), spinach, shredded zucchini, quattro formaggio (parmesan, asiago, fontina and provolone cheeses) and mozzarella. I am not going to give you the recipe for lasagna because I think of it as a casserole that you can use what you have on hand, so tonight I added spinach and used the lone zucchini we had in the vegetable bin. Next time it might not have added vegetables or maybe it will be roasted red peppers and aubergines or mushrooms or shaved broccoli. You get the idea.

I wasn’t really in the kitchen all day today, even though it might seem like it. In a few hours I have four or five dinners ready:

Lasagna Sunday
Short-Ribs Monday
Spaghetti Tuesday
Short-Ribs Wednesday (if there are any left over)
Lasagna Thursday
And if everyone behaves this week, Sushi Friday at my favorite sushi restaurant:  Yuki Sushi-Santa Clara

It’s a great time investment in making what would otherwise be an insane week to one that is just slightly crazy.

Slow Cooker Barbecued Short-Ribs

4 pounds boneless short ribs, cut in 2-inch pieces
1/2 cup minced onions
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
4 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Trim any large layers of fat from the short ribs. Brown the short ribs on all sides over medium high heat in small batches to not over crowd (you may use a non-stick pan, but you want to sear the meat, not simmer it in its own juices, so you may have to increase the temperature). Remove the browned ribs and layer them in your slow cooker.

I highly recommend a programmable version that will hold your food at warm once it is done so that if you are delayed, your meal isn't overcooked.  Try the Rival 6 Quart Smart-Pot Programmable Slow Cooker.  It also has a removable crock for easy cleanup.


Reduce heat to medium, and then add the onion to the pan and sauté until softened and lightly browned. Add the ketchup, water, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and Worcestershire sauce and heat through. Pour sauce over the ribs. Cover the slower cooker and cook on low heat for 10 hours. You may stir twice throughout the cooking time to submerge the ribs, but this is not necessary.

Remove 1 ½ - 2 cups sauce. Strain off fat. Place in a sauce pan and simmer to reduce slightly. Add ketchup or tomato paste as needed for taste. Remove ribs to serving platter, pour sauce over.

Serves 6-8.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

1 pound trimmed and cleaned Brussels Sprout
1 small shallot finely chopped
2 ounces prosciutto bits (small chopped pieces of prosciutto or substitute chopped pancetta)
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425˚.

Steam Brussels sprouts until barely tender, 2-3 minutes. Let cool slightly. Cut each sprout in half. Place cut side down on a nonstick rimmed baking sheet (or line a rimmed baking sheet with a Silpat mat).

Sprinkle shallot and prosciutto bits over sprouts. Drizzle with olive oil. Generously sprinkle with salt and pepper. If sprouts are in a single layer, you do not need to stir during roasting.

Roast 15-20 minutes until Brussels sprout begin to crisp and brown. Toss before serving.

Serves 4-6.

Autumn

Fall is my favorite season, and while we didn’t really have much of a summer this year, I anxiously await cool mornings and evening and the delicious foods fall brings.

I know that you can find pretty much anything year round if you are willing to pay the price, but I am trying to prepare local, organic foods as much as I can.  I truly believe that it is better for my family and the planet, not to mention my local farmers.  As more and more families start eating this way, the cost comes down as well.

I love fall vegetables:  acorn squash, artichokes, broccoli and cauliflower are at their best, Brussels’ sprouts, kale…  I could go on and on.

I woke this morning knowing that I was going to make a pot roast for dinner.  I think the thought of it was finally what made me get out of bed.  We are a week and half into fall, and Indian summer is upon us, so no cool evening, sitting out on our patio eating roast.  Don’t get me wrong, we will be on the patio eating roast tonight, but it will be warmer than I like.  It makes me a little sad.  My youngest son’s reaction as he walked in while I was browning the roast cheered me up immediately:  “that smells so good.”  Yes, yes it does.  Just you wait.  In five hours it is going to taste so good too.

Little did he know that I forgot to preseason the roast, so there I was patting seasoning into the remaining sides that needed browning.  Am I worried?  No.  Braising is quite forgiving, lends itself to cheap cuts and once you put it in the oven, there isn’t much to do but wait [or in my case laundry, snap some photos (it’s a long story) and write a blog].

Is it wise to braise a roast for four hours when it is in the mid 70’s outside?  Maybe not, but it is AUTUMN, damn it, and my oven is only set at 250˚, so I’m going with it.

Do you think I’m weird that I am planning on pulling out my boots and sweaters and long skirts this week and am anxiously awaiting thunder showers on Wednesday?  They say isolated thunder showers which I doubt will even make it as far south as me, but a girl can hope.

I was born and raised in California and I have never liked the heat.  I dream about four seasons.  Fall actually falling: yellow, orange and red leaves gently drifting to the ground.  I love roasted foods so much, that we eat roasted cauliflower all summer long, and so that I don’t heat up the house, I’ve perfected a barbequed version.  People ask me why I don’t move back east, and I have to say, it’s the weather.  While I’m not a fan of the heat, I’m not a fan of having to dig my car out of the snow to get to work, tape my windows for impending hurricanes, ice storms or flooding.

This year there were maybe 10 days that were honestly just too hot.  I know we didn’t really have a summer and a lot of people are sad about that, but there is one happy girl over here, roasting away (in the kitchen that is).

 Roasted Cauliflower

1 medium head of cauliflower

1 Tbsp butter

Salt

Pepper

Core the stem from the cauliflower, removing the leaves but keeping the head intact.

Rinse well and let drain a few minutes.  Place on a microwave safe plate and loosely cover. Microwave on high until just tender, about 3 – 4 minutes.  You may also steam the cauliflower in a steamer.  Do not cook all the way through.

Let cool slightly and break into florets.  Toss with butter, adding salt in pepper to taste.

On a hot barbeque, place florets in a barbeque wok and stir fry until slightly charred and brown, about 6 minutes.

The first time I made this my sons said they didn’t like cauliflower.  I told them they had no idea what roasted cauliflower tasted like.  They love it and eat it up.  If your kids are picky eaters, I can’t say if this will work for you or not.  My kids eat Brussels' sprouts too.

Braised Pot Roast with Roasted Vegetables

3.5 – 4 pound boneless cross rib roast (chuck roast)

Garlic salt

Pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 small sweet yellow onions, thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, smashed

Heart of celery with leaves (or 2 stalks celery), thinly sliced

1 10 ¾ oz can mushroom soup

1 10 ¾ oz French onion soup

½ can water

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 250˚ (use oven thermometer if you are not sure of your oven’s temperature gauge accuracy).

Heat oven proof, heavy Dutch oven over medium high heat.  (I use a Le Creuset 7 ¼ quart Oval Doufeu Oven.)

Rub garlic salt and pepper over entire roast.  Add oil to hot pan and brown roast on all sides.  To ensure even browning, do not shake or move roast while a side is browning.  Turn after about three minutes per side.  I brown top, bottom and all four sides of roast, but it will depend on the shape of your roast.  You may need to hold roast up on its side with tongs to keep it in place while browning.  The more surface area you brown, the better it will taste.

Once roast is evenly and well browned remove from Dutch oven to a plate.

Add onions, garlic and celery to pan with a bit of water and scrape up any browned bits.  Sauté onions until they begin to soften and water evaporates.  Stir in mushroom and French onion soups, water and Worcestershire sauce.  Continue to stir until liquid comes to a boil.  Add roast on top of sauce.  Cover tightly.  Place in oven for 3 ½ to 4 hours without disturbing.

Remove roast from gravy and tent with foil.  If gravy is too thin, simmer, uncovered on stove for a few minutes.  If gravy is too thick, add additional water, stir and simmer briefly.

Slice meat and serve with a generous amount of gravy and roasted vegetables.

Steamed green beans make a nice side dish.

Roasted Vegetables

1 ½ pounds baby Yukon Gold potatoes

½ pound baby carrots

½ large acorn squash cut into 8 slices

1 Tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Toss vegetables with oil, salt, pepper and rosemary.  Place in 9 X 13 baking dish.  Bake in oven at 375˚until tender, about 1 hour.  Stir vegetables once or twice during cooking.