Here's a tip for all you cheese-lovers out there. Save the lids from the little wooden boxes that house your Brie, Camembert, and other soft-ripened cheeses. You know, the ones with pretty etchings or graphic prints. They make very cool cocktail coasters. Just peel off the band of wood around the edges.
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I’ve been all about pomegranates lately.
My fling started with a salad disguised as dessert (my favorite kind). It had ripe slices of persimmon, creamy burrata cheese, crunchy homemade sesame brittle, and pomegranate seeds over arugula, dressed with a maple-balsamic vinaigrette. It was very tasty (you can find the recipe from Food & Wine here). We've been eating the leftover pomegranate seeds ever since: just plain, with Greek yogurt, and sprinkled over the remaining burrata.
A few words about burrata. I didn’t have a full understanding of what this Italian cheese really was before I bought a container from Maplebrook Farm. I knew it was a soft, mild cheese, one that was vaguely mozzarella-like, but apparently I was confusing it with bocconcini, the little balls of fresh mozzarella. So I was surprised when I opened the container to find one large ball of mozzarella.
When I removed it from the container with a spoon, it seemed to quiver like a water balloon. I was perplexed, but I forged ahead. I placed the cheese on a board and cut right into it, which caused an explosion of cream and runny cheese curds to spray forth all over the counter, running down my kitchen cabinets. Turns out it was a water balloon! Just one made out of cheese and filled with creamy goodness. (If you’re as interested in how they make it as I was, check out the process here).
I learned three things from this experience. One, maybe ease up on the stabbiness when it comes to portioning out burrata (and do it over a shallow bowl to catch all the exploding cheese). Two, that I love burrata. And three, that I love burrata with pomegranate seeds. The tart, juicy pop of the seeds against the soft, milky curds is just wonderful. It would make a totally indulgent Valentine’s Day dessert that’s very fresh and not too sweet.
How to Seed a Pomegranate: If you look at a pomegranate, you’ll notice it has fat ridges that run from pole to pole like thick longitudinal lines. If you cut gently just through the skin down one of those long ridges, and then again down another one of the adjacent ridges, you can pull a wedge of mostly intact seeds out of the fruit. Then you can just loosen the seeds gently with your fingers, pulling out the thin white membranes that enclose them. I store the remaining fruit in a sealed plastic bag in the fridge until I need to cut another wedge. If you need a lot of seeds at once, it’s often more efficient to submerge the wedges in a bowl of water so you can move a little quicker without the seeds squirting juice all over you. Then you can drain off the water and scoop out the seeds.
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Here's an easy fall appetizer on the sweeter side:
Toast some slices of baguette brushed with olive oil. Spread each slice with goat cheese and season with black pepper. Select a pint of fresh, ripe figs. Cut each fig in half and then into thirds or quarters. Arrange the fig wedges on top of the goat cheese, three or four to a slice. Drizzle with local honey and sprinkle with fancy sea salt. I also dusted them with fennel pollen, which I realize is a totally random thing to have in your spice collection, but sometimes I get a little out of control at Formaggio Kitchen. You could also use crushed fennel seeds in small amounts or a pinch of lavender buds or nothing at all. Serve immediately.
Keep in mind that fresh figs are very perishable. Don't buy them more than a day ahead of time or they risk moldifying. Soft ones are best—gently squeeze them to assess their firmness. Wilson Farm in Lexington and Russo's in Watertown have had some nice-looking figs lately, just FYI. Dried figs won't have the same delicate flavor, so save those for something else.
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That's what this groovy cheese board is made of: Slate. Husband got it for me for Mother's Day so I can showcase my precious, precious cheeses. Want one, too? Visit Brooklyn Slate.
As for the cheese, this one is from Point Reyes Farmstead in California. I've been slowly working my way westward with the cheese-sampling, if you must know—a sort of manifest destiny of cheese. Don't hate, East Coast locavores. There's plenty of blue cheese here, too: Bayley Hazen blue from Jasper Hill Farm (VT), Ewe's Blue from Old Chatham Sheepherding Company (NY), Berkshire Blue, and Great Hill Blue (MA). But sometimes these are so popular that the local store runs out, in which case there's no reason to let perfectly good non-local cheese go to waste (she says as she tallies another mark on the underside of her cheese board with soapstone chalk. Only 923 more cheeses to go!)
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I saw this photo on Pinterest and was immediately smitten. A wedding cake? Made out of cheese? Maybe even local cheese? How utterly brilliant!!
This one was made by Formaggi Ocello in Sydney, Australia, but I wondered if the cheesemongers at nearby Formaggio Kitchen or South End Formaggio ever did this. Turns out, they do. Keep this in mind, blushing brides (and grooms).
It's enough to make you want to get married all over again!
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One of my favorite chapters to write in my cookbook was the cheese chapter. This is not just because I adore cheesecake, though let's be honest, that was a large part of it. It was also because it gave me a perfectly legitimate excuse to fan out a large wad of cash at my local cheese shop and not feel guilty about it in the least. The good folks at Formaggio Kitchen steered me toward more than a dozen local cheeses I hadn't tried before. Then I coerced friends and family to help me work my way through them all. Here are some of my favorites:
Tarentaise, Spring Brook Farm, VT: I could not stop eating this cheese to save my life. This was a surprise since I'd never heard of it before. But I'm a sucker for Gruyere, and this alpine-style raw cow's milk cheese was practically a dead-ringer. Call me head over heels for its irresistible nuttiness. I'd love to try it in fondue except I keep eating it all before I can get it into a pot!
Hannahbells, Shy Brothers Farm, MA: Pictured above, these tiny thimble-sized, soft-ripened cheeses are made in the French style from cow's milk on the southern coast of Massachusetts. They taste great, creamy and bright, but the cute factor is an added bonus when putting together a special cheese plate. Even I, with my stone-cold heart, couldn't help cooing over them a little. (The farm also makes a delicious fresh tangy curd called Cloumage, similar to creme fraiche or quark, that is very worth trying.)
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Cabot and Jasper Hill Farm, VT: We buy Cabot cheddar all the time at the local Hannaford—the kind you melt in grilled cheese sandwiches and quesadillas. This is not that kind. These aged 34-pound wheels of bandaged cheddar are a special project between Cabot, a large local dairy cooperative; Kempton Farms, the small family farm specially selected to produce the milk; and the singular artisan cheesemakers at Jasper Hill Farm. The cheese is brushed with lard (vegetarians take note) and aged for at least 10 months to produce a toothsome, complex, nutty cheese that flakes and crumbles and fractures like shale under the knife. It wins awards almost every year, and this year I finally tried it for myself. It is astonishingly good. With caramelized leeks spooned on top, it was perfection. If you want to experience how amazing cheddar in this country can be, this is it.
Other cheeses I enjoyed: Pillowy fresh goat cheese from Hillman Farm in Colrain, MA was spectacular warmed in the oven, drizzled with honey, and sprinkled with chopped pistachios. Ada's Honor, a semi-firm, mold-ripened goat cheese tomme from Ruggles Hill Creamery in Hardwick, MA, was served with local blueberry preserves and made everyone at the table very happy. The brie-like Moses Sleeper and washed-rind Winnimere from Jasper Hill Farm had many fans, as did the assertive Mossend blue from Bonnieview Farm, VT.
Any of these would be a great addition to your holiday cheese plates. After all, the best way to ring in the New Year is with ample amounts of cheese.* **
*Unless you're vegan
**Or lactose-intolerant
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Yesterday, while shopping at Russo's, I found myself rubbing up against the cheese case, caressing the little pats of goat cheese, and trying with mixed success to sniff the various wedges through their wrappers. Business as usual.
That's when I came across a few bundles swaddled in cheese paper from Cowgirl Creamery. The California food bloggers are always going on and on and on about Cowgirl Creamery, so I was excited to have the chance to sample some of their curds for myself. On offer was a triple cream called Mt. Tam. I didn't even get the connection with my own name at first, but Husband insisted on driving the point home. I had to suffer through several iterations of:
Him: What's this cheese called again?
Me: Mount Tam.
Him: Don't mind if I do!
Me: ...
If only I had a sense of humor in real life!
As for the cheese, consider my mind blown. I LOVED it. So rich! So buttery! So delicately mushroomy! Be sure to let it sit out for several hours at room temperature (4 to 5 hours is ideal) so that the texture will be appropriately soft, creamy, and luscious. Heaven!
I've sampled lots of new-to-me local cheeses from Massachusetts and Vermont, too, but that's a post for another time. Right now, I'm basking in a post-cheese glow that I hope will keep my hand out of the Halloween candy for at least a little while!
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Copyright © 2006-14 Tammy Donroe
Banner art by Ximena Maier