While I was in Mountain View & Milpitas earlier this week I went to a wine & cheese shop and found a Marin French Brie which was from Marin county in California. It was a triple cream, which we always like.
California brie
La Petite Reine Camembert
Camembert, poetry,
Bouquet of our meals,
What would become life,
If you did not exist?
We got another Camembert when we were at Cheesetique the other day. As it says “Fabrique en Normandie”, it was made there, but since it does not say “Camembert de Normandie”, it may not be AOC. La Petite Reine may be made from “lightly pasteurized milk”, which must be why it is not AOC, but it was good anyway.
Uh oh. I can’t read French, but I think I’ve stumbled upon a cool site that has Camembert posters. This could be dangerous, as I’m running out of wall space for all of my airline posters.
Abondance cheese
Abondance is an AOC cheese from French Abondance cows, and aged. The recipe has been unchanged since the 12th century. It was a little bitter (tart?), which was fine, as the other cheese we tried later tasted sweet by comparison. Don’t eat the rind.
Prima Donna at Cheesetique
We were meeting friends at RTs in Arlandria, so we stopped at Cheesetique — in Del Ray, also on Mount Vernon Ave. before dinner.
We sat at the bar and had a mac-and-cheese with cauliflower, cheese, and bacon. The also have a large seating area in the back and a front patio.
Then the cheese trays looked so pretty, I had to order one — I chose Prima Donna, a Dutch gouda, aged a year. Nice, but not too salty. It came on a wooden cheeseboard with bread, crackers, cornichons and red grapes. The oniony crackers were a bit much with the mild cheese, but the rest worked. $8 for one cheese plate.
We had a North Carolina IPA with it (Brevard Brewing Company) — don’t know enough to know if a wine would have been better.
You get 10% off your store order if you buy at the restaurant, but I forgot to ask. I wanted to get a French and a German cheese for a friend. They had a ton of French cheeses, and only one German one — Cambozola, a blue cheese.
Grilled Halloumi
Halloumi is a fine grilling cheese. It is a Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk and goat’s milk. It doesn’t melt, but browns and turns a bit crispy. Next time we should brush the cheese with olive oil.
latest cheeses
AKT got some cheese at Whole Foods.
They were clockwise from upper left:
http://www.gourmet-food.com/italian-cheese/cacio-de-roma-cheese-1000526.aspx
gran queso sole 2.0
Murray’s Cheese – Sole Gran Queso
www.murrayscheese.com/roth-kase-sole–gran–queso.html
This hybrid comes from the heart of it all in Monroe, Wisconsin. The format, texture, and general recipe are meant to embody the ubiquitous Spanish sheep milk …
caciocavalio mitica
Caciocavallo – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caciocavallo
Caciocavallo is a type of stretched-curd cheese made out of sheep’s or cow’s milk. It is produced throughout Southern Italy, particularly in the Apennine …
New Carrot Tray Imported from Illinois
Take a good look at the left handle of these new tray Marilyn got me — a carrot, of course. The carrot bowls were a gift from W some time ago — great for holding carrots — and many other things.
The cheeses: Mitica Lou Bergier Pichin, Lamb Chopper Cypress Grove, Cordobes Mitica. From Whole Foods Tenley Town. All were good, but the Mitica Lou Bergier Pichin, a cow from the Italian Piedment region, was especially creamy and good.
The bread was from Palena’s market — one of the top restaurants in DC. Definitely worth the extra stop.
We were at Whole Foods for Brews And Bites! Fill The Grill last Thursday night.
The blue in the bowl is a favorite from Wagshall’s last week: Point Reyes Original Blue, an all-purpose cheese from California. Aged 5 months.
Cheese from Calvert Woodley Wines & Spirits
Cheese from Calvert Woodley Wines & Spirits
We visit Calvert Woodley Wines & Spirits often: it’s within walking distance, and the cheesemongers let you try it all. The prices are good, too, with great La Cheeserie specials, every Wednesday – Saturday. (They are closed on Sundays.) See the 140 cheeses listed.
The cheesemonger has even suggested the best cheese to take when I travel to Springfield, IL and Burlington, NC (you don’t want anything too stinky on the train or plane).
It’s rare to see local cheeses there, and you are more likely to get them at Cowgirl Creamery or Whole Foods.
Cheese from old receipts:
Fromager D’Affinois France; Saint Nectaire, France; Parrano, Holland; Tomme Des Pyrenees, France; Belletoile 70% Brie, France; petite Basque Cheese, France; Maytag blue cheese, USA; Caprini Robiola 2 Latti, Italy (cow and sheep milk).
Valentine’s day, 2013
The carrot dinner has been postponed until Saturday, so we had cheese tonight.
[a heart-shaped bloomy-rind cheese that I can’t find the label for]
Nancy’s cheese ball
Grana Padano, a firm cheese from Italian cows.
Danish Blue, one of our favorites.
Happy 2013!
Happy New Year!
My brother gave us some Ashe County Cheese for Christmas! You can visit their cheese store most days of the week, but check their schedule to see if they will be making cheese that day. It is in West Jefferson, about 15 miles north of Deep Gap (Deep Gap is on NC 421 between North Wilkesboro and Boone). We’ll have to go visit them sometime.
Redneck Romano is a nice, hard romano-style cheese.
Carolina Blue Marble is their soft blue-veined cheese.
We also had a gruyere which was supposed to be for the fondue set that he also gave us, but we didn’t bring the fondue set back on the train and Mom is shipping it to us. I hope we have some gruyere left by the time we get the set. Look for the fondue set in another post soon.