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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.

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Cabrales and Beyond in Culture cheese magazine

Culture Magazine Summer 2010
Culture Magazine Summer 2010

Cabrales and Beyond (Touring the hidden valleys and farmstead
cheesemakers of northern Spain) is a good article about cheese in the Asturias area of Spain. The author, Gerry Dawes, highlights it on his blog.

We got as far as buying some cabrales (kah-BRAH-lays) from Calvert Woodley, and it was wrapped in leaves (not all are).  A creamy and earthy blue, but since a number of cheese from this area in Spain can be called cabrales,  we weren’t sure if this was one of the recommended ones or not — but we would recommend it anyway. Traditionally, it is made with a mixture of cows’, sheeps’ and goats’ milk, but now it is most often made with raw cows’ milk. They let you taste the cheese before you buy it at Calvert Woodley, so you can’t go too wrong.

This issue of Culture also includes: a 36-page beer guide.

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Happy National Cheese Day

Somehow, W got through National Cheese Day without any cheese.  I had this great salad at lunch at Jaleo’s “Ensalada de remolacha con citricos“, a salad of red beets, citrus, Picón cheese and pistachios with Sherry dressing. Picón: A three-milk blue cheese from the mountains of Picos de Europa in the Northern region of Cantabria.  Instead of cheese, we went to the Kennedy Center for  John Pizzarelli (Bucky’s son) & Jessica Molaskey — After meeting on the set of the Broadway musical Dream and falling in love, singer and guitarist Pizzarelli and songstress  Molaskey have performed together and individually on stages around the world for years. We’ve seen Pizzarelli a number of times, and he shone along with the rest of his Quartet, Larry Fuller (piano), Martin Pizzarelli (Bass) and Tony Tedesco drums). Didn’t know before: There is a show called Radio Deluxe with John Pizzareli.

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Happy Hour at Cleveland Park Bardeos

Cheese in CP

We stopped at Bardeos on the way to the National Zoo on Friday night. They have specials on their wine and beer, though it’s still not a inexpensive happy hour spot (7 Days a Week, from 5pm-7pm All wine is discounted) . But it’s a pretty bar, and the bartender couldn’t be nicer. Even though it is the most expensive way to get cheese, we couldn’t resist the cheese plate. We ordered PECORINO FORMAGGIO DI FOSSA / Italy & CONSTANT BLISS / Vermont.  It came with a big basket of bread and homemade crackers with fennel. (The crackers were great on their own, but took away from the flavor of the cheese).

And the National Zoo is open until 8:00 p.m. — the buildings aren’t open, but it’s a pretty place to walk — and there aren’t many people in the evening.