Angela's carrots

Thomasville Tomme was very good, from Sweet Grass Dairy in Georgia.  Raw cow’s milk cheese.

Calvert Woodley. Italian and Dutch. Fontina and Parrano.

good

Brillat savarin cave aged, a cow’s milk triple-cream brie cheese from Burgandy or Normandie.  Very good.

Ubriacone – a very nice aged cow’s milk spiked with wine

Quadrello di bufala, they say it is a stinky (washed rind) cheese, but ours was a fairly firm nice smelling cheese.

Ewe’s milk blue, which I think was a Whole Foods product, or maybe an Old Chatam Shepherding Company cheese, was very good.

The other day we got some barbeclettes, made by Boska Holland, but we probably got them from Amazon.

They’re designed to be used on an outdoor grill, but we used them on an indoor gas range, and they worked very well.  We used Raclette cheese.

We had it on potatoes, cornichons, and the pickled carrots we got for Christmas.  It was a good, quick, and easy meal.

On the way back from N.C. we had a cheese party in the club car.
It featured Crave Brothers’ Petit Frere, a washed rind soft ripened cheese.  From Wisconsin cows.

We went to Lexington, Kentucky for Pablo’s wedding, and sampled some cheese during the trip.  Drew sent us a reference about an Italian deli there, but the link said that they mostly did goat cheese.  When we got to the deli (at 11:11 on 11/11/11), the girl there said that the goats were perturbed during the season and didn’t produce much milk, so they just had sheep and cow cheeses (darn!).  We liked them both, and we had a wine/cheese party in our hotel room before the wedding.

Then we had sheep cheese from Good Shepherd and some cow cheddar from Boone Creek that we got at the farmers market.  They were both good.

We saw this on TV and had to give it a try. The chef said she had tried 100 different ways to make this, and this was the best. It sure was easy. It takes awhile to boil a big pot of water on my stove, and this recipe cuts the water in half — so the whole recipe only took about 15 minutes total, especially with the smaller pasta. Of course, we got the real romano cheese as they suggested, per Whole Foods. We didn’t grate the cheese as fine as they suggested, and but it sure didn’t seem to effect the flavor.

We used Barilla whole grain angel hair pasta (though ATC says whole wheat pasta is better for you than whole grain with only 6 grams of fiber, and the didn’t even use whole wheat in this recipe) and skipped the black pepper. We have a lot left over — and I am so glad.

From America’s Test Kitchen’s Spaghetti with Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper (Cacio e Pepe)
Serving Size  : 6
Categories    : Pasta & Pasta Sauces

Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
6             ounces  Pecorino Romano cheese — 4 ounces finely grated (about 2 cups) and 2 ounces coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
1              pound  spaghetti
2        tablespoons  heavy cream
2        tablespoons  extra-virgin olive oil
1           teaspoon  black pepper

Place finely grated Pecorino in medium bowl. Set colander in large bowl.

Bring 2 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1½ teaspoons salt; cook, stirring frequently, until al dente. Drain pasta into colander set in bowl, reserving cooking water. Pour 1½ cups cooking water into liquid measuring cup and discard remainder; return pasta to now-empty bowl.

Slowly whisk 1 cup reserved pasta cooking water into finely grated Pecorino until smooth. Whisk in cream, oil, and black pepper. Gradually pour cheese mixture over pasta, tossing to coat. Let pasta rest 1 to 2 minutes, tossing frequently, adjusting consistency with remaining ½ cup reserved pasta water. Serve, passing coarsely grated Pecorino separately.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 448 Calories; 15g Fat (30.8% calories from fat); 19g Protein; 58g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 36mg Cholesterol; 348mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 4 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 2 Fat.

NOTES : High-quality ingredients are essential in this dish, most importantly, imported Pecorino Romano—not the bland domestic cheese labeled “Romano.” Use the small holes on a box grater to grate the cheese finely and the large holes to grate it coarsely. Alternatively, a food processor may be used to grate it finely: Cut the Pecorino into 2-inch pieces and process until finely ground, about 45 seconds. For a slightly less rich dish, substitute half-and-half for the heavy cream. Do not adjust the amount of water for cooking the pasta. Stir the pasta frequently while cooking so that it doesn’t stick to the pot. Letting the dish rest briefly before serving allows the flavors to develop and the sauce to thicken.