Author: angela

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Veteran’s Day Cheeses

Veteran's Day Cheese
Veteran's Day Cheese

We both worked on Veteran’s Day, but we did take an evening break to celebrate with cheese. We went to the Chevy Chase Magruders — I sure miss having one right at Cleveland Park. And the deli there closes at 7:00, so our cheese options were limited to the case.

french rambol fume. Smoked, so BBQ Boy particularly liked. Had a recipe on the site for using it in Mac & Cheese. (Cow’s Milk, Semi-Soft). Forest Fume, formerly known as Smoked Rambol, is a processed Gruyere style cheese that is slowly cured over natural hickory. It’s rich, yet delicate flavor and creamy smooth texture are benchmarks for exquisite fondue cheese.

French raw milk Morbier (vegetarian ash). The ash is curious to me — gives the cheese an arty look, but since ash is well-known as an insect repellent, it’s a bit odd.

Stagnolia Blu (italian for blue foil) was from Trader Joes. It keep pretty well in a glass jar in the fridge.

Sidebar: Fun french cheese map at Ile de France Cheese.  You can see where the cheese is made, see recipes and more.

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Cucumber Agua Fresca

Refreshing Drink

Cucumber Agua Fresca

Pretty green color even without skin; recipe says “A splash of rum or vodka makes this a great before-dinner drink”  for a Cuke Cocktail. Don’t be scared for the sugar / cuke combo — fresh taste. Good way to get your veggies, or rescue a cucumber a bit past its prime.

Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
1             medium  cucumber — sliced into 1/2-inch slices; peeled / seeded optional; about 1 cup
1/4           cup  water
pinch  salt
4              whole  ice cubes
2        tablespoons  fresh mint — or basil to taste
1              whole  lime — juiced or more to taste
1         tablespoon  sugar — Agave nectar or sugar syrup*  To taste
Cucumber spears — (optional)

In a blender container combine cucumber, water and salt. Cover and puree until smooth. If you want it perfectly smooth, sieve mixture, but this is not essential. Add ice cubes and mint; blend until slushy. Stir in lime juice and sweeten with agave nectar to taste. to serve, add a cucumber spear to each glass. Makes 6 servings.

Sugar Syrup: In a small saucepan combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar; heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Cool. Pour into a jar and store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Made changes to recipe in:  Better Homes & Gardens.
Start to Finish Time: 0:15
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 64 Calories; 1g Fat (6.6% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 15mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 2 Vegetable; 1/2 Fruit.

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Good Cheese at Trader Joe’s

Camembert
Camembert
Cheese Night Oct 16
Cheese Night Oct 16

We didn’t think much about the cinnamon cheese, but it doesn’t mean that they don’t have a decent selection.

W had been reading the book Camembert (Boisard), but this is the first time we had seen some from Normandy. It came in a cute little box “Le Rustique” with red and white checked paper. Signed by Fromager Jean Verrier. Normandy is the home of Camembert. It was smooth, creamy and with great flavor.  It was hard to move on to the other cheeses it was so good.

We had Spanish manchego — just, it’s been criticized as being the only Spanish sheep Americans know, but it’s a good, salty standby.

The blue:  Stagnolia Blu (Italian for Blue Foil) was nice and creamy.  We assume it’s cow cheese.  The blue was a subtle blue.

A good cheese night.

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Cinnamon Cheese NOT

TJ Cinnamon Cheese

We’re not much for flavored or “infused” cheeses, and here is another NO to add to the list. TJ says: “Creamy Toscano Cheese Dusted with Cinnamon. This cow’s milk cheese has the nutty flavor of Parmesan and the creamy texture of English Farmstead cheddar. Each wheel is coated in cinnamon, which gently infuses the cheese with a subtle sweet-warm spice as it ages.  Only at Trader Joe’s. $7.99 a pound. ”

We say no. Wimpy flavor. What would you eat with it? Not appropriate for a cheese tray. Apple with cinnamon cheese fondue? No, buy a better cheese and add your own cinnamon — though cinnamon and cheese probably isn’t for me.

Aged 9 months; Wisconsin, USA. Maybe if we had tried pairing it with a brawny port…

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Ripple Cheeses It Up in Cleveland Park

Ripple cheese plate
Pretty as a cheese pic

What a pleasant summer surprise — when the rest of CP goes on vacation for the month of August, Ripple, 3417 Connecticut Ave NW  (formerly Aroma) goes all out. We met W there after the Shakespeare Theatre Free for All “Twelfth Night at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and everything else was still closed. Ripple’s bar, with good wines (many by the glass, some at $6)  is bright but cozy.  Manager Danny Fisher, who comes from Cork and Cork Market, is there to guide you from drinks to cheese and dessert. The cheesemonger, Julia, served up a beautiful plate of cheese and charcuterie.  All the cheese is from Cowgirl Creamery (no cheese cave since they are so close to the source) Danny helped us choose the right cheese and the right wines:

  • Everona Piedmont – one of our local Virginia favs
  • Fiore Sardo – a pecorino from Italy that always works
  • Burrata – a soft, creamy mozzarella-like cheese from Puglia Italy that was as good as advertised
  • Jean D’Also Bleu D’Auvergne – a soft, french buttery blue that was a perfect ending to them all.
  • One the side La Quercia Americano, a proscuitto-like ham from Iowa. (the only American version I’ve ever liked).

Ripple’s homemade crackers are good, but ask for some of the good bread – doesn’t distract from the cheese.

 

3/24/13vUpdate 2012 on cheeses we would have liked to try there or somewhere else: Neva, Sheep Cheese from Spain; Cherry Grove Toma, Cow from Lawrenceville, NJ; La Peral, Cow and Sheep Cheese from Asturisa, Spain.

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Watermelon Mint Popsicles

  • Process several cups of chopped,  ripe watermelon in blender or food processor.
  • Throw in a handful (a few tablespoons) of mint.
  • 2 Tbs of lemon or lime juice.
  • Add sugar to taste . About 1 -2 tsp of sugar per pop – one recipe called for corn syrup.

I made 4 pops with about 1/4 cup of juice per sicle.

I used popsicle molds, but not really necessary – a cup would do. About 4 hours to freeze.

You may need to run hot water over the outside of the plastic popsicle molds to get it to release.

Refreshing, and it didn’t matter that the melon was overripe. Make a good cocktail, too.

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Perseid Meteor Shower Cheese Night

Perseids Cheese Night

It was cloudy in DC, so we had to have cheese instead of meteors.

W stopped at Calvert Woodley for a loaf a bread and three cheeses.

Brie Belletoile from France. Soft. Tangy. Very spreadable. Regular cheese plate addition for us.

I bought Giant grocery store cheese because of the bright green rind. New York’s artisans cheese. Bergenost, described as an artisan cheese made in Corfu, New York by Yanceys Fancy Cheese. The cheese is a buttery triple cream Norwegian style cheese, made with imported cultures, and won the 1999 Gold Medal in the New York State Fair Cheese Competition. Good. Aged, so semi-soft.

From Wisconsin: an asiago. Tastes like cheddar. Cow.

Maytag Blue. Pretty blue; well-veined. Not spectacular, but decent. On sale this week. We’ve had out, but I don’t think at home.

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Someone has to Clean the Oven…

Someone has to Clean the Oven…Even if you have a self-cleaning one.

I’d read on the greenie sites that” Self-cleaning ovens are equipped with additional insulation to hold heat in the oven, so it doesn’t leak out into your kitchen and make your home cooling system work harder.” I liked the other features on the oven, so when  got my Kitchenaid I thought the  self-cleaning feature would be handy. But when I found it took about 3 hours at 900 degrees, didn’t do the racks, was a danger to small animals, and then you still had to wipe it down — it just didn’t seem worth it. Especially because my oven didn’t seem that dirty.

A friend recommended Carbona oven cleaner – fume-free, bio-degradable in a non-aerosol can. It wasn’t foam like others I used – this was a gel, and they said you could use it in self-cleaning ovens.

Well, it didn’t work so well in mine  — seemed like I had to do a lot of scrubbing on my own. However, I didn’t not leave it on overnight.

But I took it too a friend’s so I wouldn’t waste my $4. We forgot about it for the weekend (didn’t even pre-heat) and the old oven looks like new. I was amazed. I see they also have a rack cleaner — I’m tempted to try it, too.

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Perseid Meteor Shower Kiwi Martini

melissa carrots
From Melissa’s Everyday Cooking:

Kiwi Martini -2

  • 3 oz citrus vodka
  • 2 tsp sugar syrup
  • 1 kiwi sliced and peeled
  • 2 tsp fresh lime juice

Muddle half the kiwis in a cocktail shaker. Add the liquids; ice. Shake; pour into martini glasses. Add the rest of the kiwi for garnish. Very pretty green.