Fancy Food Show!

This morning the Store Manager gave me a nice surprise and let me play hooky to go visit the Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. So much cheese, so many sweets! What fun! Here are some pics of my adventure...it's only a fraction of what was there.

Cheese N' Sweet of the Week: Highway 1 and Athena's Silverland Desserts Sugar Free Double Chocolate Brownie

I just recently acquired a new local cheese named Highway 1, made by Valley Ford Cheese Company in Valley Ford, CA located off of...Highway 1.  My sales rep had described it as a Fontinella style cheese, but modeled after the Tomme De Savoie, and to some degree she was right.  It comes in a dusty brown six-pound wheel, so it looks like a large Tomme, but I have to say, the flavor and texture is far from a Fontinella...but consider that a good thing.  My exposure to most Fontals, Fontinas, Fontinellas, etc. has been mostly bland and uneventful, unless we're talking about the Val D'aosta, which is phenomenal...but I digress.  Highway 1 is a raw cow's milk cheese from Valley Ford's Jersey herd.  Aged for a minimum of 80 days, its paste is pale yellow dotted with small eyes.  It smells of butter and earth, with a dense, creamy mouthfeel.  The initial taste is sharp and tangy, mouthwatering with a bit of nuttiness and not too salty.  The flavor then morphs to a sort of artichoke/asparagus finish.  This is a fantastic table cheese - not only is the color contrast appealing to the eye, but the flavor is most definitely pleasing to the palate!

Highway 1 - Valley Ford Cheese Company, Valley Ford, CA

One day, Bernie, our resident Bakery Manager here at Mollie Stone's Sausalito, asked me to taste a brownie.  Now, ordinarily when asked to taste a brownie, I'm more than happy to oblige.  However, Bernie had a questionable look on her face, and when a co-worker asks me to taste something with a questionable look on their face, it's usually to confirm  that the particular foodstuff has gone the way of the Dodo.  Nonetheless, I tried the brownie...and was confused.  It tasted like a brownie - a very delicious fudgy brownie.  But the look on Bernie's face remained the same.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"It's good - it tastes like a brownie.  Why?"

"It's sugar free."

Ahhh...and now I knew.  Typically sugar free food tastes sugar free, thanks to a chemically film left behind in your mouth.  But this was not so - not with this brownie, which Bernie was glad I confirmed because she was hoping to use these brownies as a substitute for the real sugar brownies she was out of for a catering order.  Anyway, the brownie she bestowed upon me was Athena's Silverland Desserts Sugar Free Double Chocolate Brownie...whew.  It's dense and fudgy with melt in your mouth dark chocolatiness.  And the teeny tiny chocolate chips on top add a nice contrasting texture.  But the amazing element about this brownie is its freedom from sugar, yet the ability to taste full of sugar.  The secret is Maltitol, a sugar alcohol that has nearly the same sweetness and chemical properties of sucrose, but fewer calories and a lesser effect on blood glucose.  However, like most sugar substitutes, if consumed in larger quantities it will give you the runs.  But don't let that stop you from enjoying this truly decadent treat, just don't eat an entire case.

Athena's Silverland Desserts Sugar Free Double Chocolate Brownie, Forest Park, IL

Give Thanks for Cheese!

Why not add a little extra flavor to your Thanksgiving meal with some tasty cheeses!

Mashed Potatoes & Bellweather Farms Creme Fraiche

After mashing up your favorite tater recipe, mix in a few dollops of Creme Fraiche at the end.  Unlike gloopy sour cream, which can make your potatoes like a bucket of warm wallpaper paste, creme fraiche is lighter in texture and flavor.  The result will be velvety mashers with just a slight tang.

Green Beans & Emmi Cave Aged Gruyere

Instead of smothering your tender green beans in a french fried onion casserole, lightly saute them in olive oil, then toss in some shredded Cave Aged Gruyere.  It adds a nutty pop that's perfect for the cozy fall weather.  Be sure that it's aged gruyere too, otherwise you're just getting a boring ol' Swiss.  This also works for slightly caramelized brussel sprouts - yummy!

Cornbread Stuffing & Wisconsin 3-Year Aged Cheddar

Regular cornbread is pretty tasty topped with melted cheddar, so why not your stuffing?  The Wisconsin 3-Year Aged Cheddar had a nice sharp bite and melts evenly.  If you're baking in your bird, mix in the shredded cheddar with the stuffing before hand.  If your baking your stuffing in a separate dish, shred a layer of cheddar over the top.  Finish it off under the broiler for a minute or two to get a golden brown crust.

Apples or Pears with Point Reyes Blue Cheese

Here's a fantastic fall salad - crisp sliced apples or pears, toasted pecans and a sprinkling of Point Reyes Blue Cheese.  This blue crumbles well but is creamy on palate.  Plus, it doesn't have a strong acidic punch that many strong blues have.  Drizzle with a little honey and a couple squeezes of lemon juice, and you have sweet salty salad bliss!

Pumpkin Pie & BelGioiso Mascarpone

I love my pumpkin pie topped with billowy clouds of whipped cream, but if you're looking for something a bit more decadent, try a spoonful of Mascarpone on top.  Sweeten with a little sugar and cinnamon for an extra special treat.

Apple Pie & Ford Farm Coastal Cheddar

The Pelican Inn at Muir Beach serves the most delicious apple crisp with slices of sharp English cheddar, and it is fabulous!  So do yourself a favor - instead of topping that slice a warm apple pie with a blob of vanilla ice cream, serve it with small cuts of Ford Farm Coastal Cheddar.  This dry, sharp, salty cheese will cut through the sugary caramelized apple goodness.  It's truly a heavenly pair!

Cheese N' Sweet of the Week: Stracapra and La Panzanella Sweet Cinnamon Crisps

I am not a big fan of goat cheese.  I usually find it too gamey and barnyardy, but that's just me.  So when I find a goat cheese that I fall for, it must be really flipping awesome!  Stracapra, a semi-soft washed rind goat's milk cheese from Italy, has stolen my heart...for the time being.  It's made in a Tallegio style (another one of my favorites), formed in an 8-inch block, about 2 inches thick and washed in a brine while it's aged.  The result is not your typical pinky-orange rind, but a thin whitish-gray mold that encases a snow white paste.  Initially, the flavor is gamey, but it quickly turns to fresh salted butter with a hint of nuttiness at the end.  It's meaty and creamy on the palate, and the rind adds a desirable earthiness that shouldn't be ignored, even for rind haters.

This week's sweet is a package of La Panzanella Sweet Cinnamon Crisps.  Made in Washington, these crispy whole wheat flatbreads are sprinkled with a layer of cinnamon and turbinado sugar for a touch of sweetness and sparkle.  The texture is thin and crispy without being too delicate. They're perfect for breakfast or coffee in the morning, or a nice accompaniment for a creamy, mild breakfast cheese.  I like them because they're not over sugary, but satisfy that sudden sweet-tooth craving.

Cheese Abominations

A while back, a friend of mine Facebook posted one of the most vile recipes I have ever seen - Peanut Butter Cheese Fudge, courtesy of Paula Dean. After we Facebooked our disgust, I thought to myself, why does America continue to bastardize cheese? Just when things were starting to look up. Family run artisan dairies. Eclectic cheese and wine pairings. Additions of cheese courses after dessert. Sheep's milk. Then here comes Paula, dragging us back into the 1950's. And it's the 50's I blame for inhibiting America's cheese growth; this decade of cheap convenience and extended shelf lives.

We were given Velveeta, an artificially yellowed block of plasticine able to withstand a nuclear holocaust. And Cheez Whiz, it's liquified counterpart. Then there's spray cheese, for those who are too inept to handle a butter knife. Rubbery Squares of hermetically sealed Kraft Singles. Bags of shredded orangeness dusted with non-caking agents. Flavored spreads filled with guar or xanthan gum stabilizers. All of these fall under the category of Pasteurized Processed Cheese Food...if you want to call it food. And why? Because there's not enough cheese in the product for it to be technically labeled as cheese.

It is a daily battle of mine, convincing people (particularly those from older generations) to put down the "product" and pick up real cheese.  It's just better for the body.  People wonder why new food allergies have popped up, why obesity and diabetes have exploded within the population, why food borne illnesses are becoming more prevalent...it's because of our processing.  Nearly everything we eat goes through some sort of process, whether it's to keep bugs away or enhance it's edible desirability.  The result being a society raised on large amounts of fake food and accepting it as the norm.

The idea of going to your local market and simply shopping for tonight's dinner has become a novelty in America.  Farmer's Markets are events, not community staples.  It's all about how much you can get for spending as little as possible, which has made places like Target, Walmart and Costco thrive.  Don't get me wrong, Costco is great for things like socks and toilet paper, but not for food.

I have a regular customer who bought a huge chunk of Cambozola at Costco because it was cheaper there than buying it from me.  Financially understandable, but then she asked me why that Cambozola she bought was hard and chalky, while mine was smooth and creamy.  The answer is in the process.  Costco cheeses are bought in pallet deals, meaning the distributor cuts them a break for buying large amounts at a given time.  Because they're purchasing so much, the cheese is delivered before it's had a chance to ripen properly.  Sometimes it's even frozen (a big no no), which turns the aging process into the rotting process. So, you may get a great deal on a giant piece of cheese, but the quality will be severely lacking.  I told my customer to wrap the cheese in wax paper, leave it in a dry, cool part of her refrigerator, and hope that it will ripen with a little time.  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this did not work and she had to throw out the cheese.  She then told me when it comes to cheese, she will always purchase it from me.  It may cost more, but at least she'll be able to eat it!

So, there is hope.  Consumers are starting to read labels and question what ingredients are being added to their foods.  Despite the downturn of the economy, people are trying to buy fresh and local, even though it can be more costly and you may not yield as much.  But I feel this is a case where less really is more.  It has forced some manufacturers to discontinue using fillers such as hydrogenated soybean oil and high fructose corn syrup, even though it's for marketing purposes and not health reasons.  People are also falling in love with "organic", "local", "green", and "slow moving" foods, which is a great step in the right direction, but it's really just advertising for what is essentially the way food used to be.  Don't ask if it's "organic"...ask if it's real. 

Cheese & Sweet of the Week: Laguoile & Paley's Place Fruit & Nut Bar

Upon breaking open a cylinder of Laguoile (lah-YOLE), one is overcome by what I like to describe as the scent of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. If you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing (or smelling) this attraction, what I'm referring to is the odor of a heavily water-damaged basement. Or, what is probably more accurate, a dark, damp cave. This delicious raw cow's milk cheese is made in the southern part of France, just under the Cantal Mountains (home of Cantal, another tasty cheese). Named after two small towns located in the region - Laguoile and Laguoile-Aubrac - it carries similar characteristics to its neighboring Cantal: firm and a bit chalky with a sharp, tangy bite. Yet Laguoile is aged longer, developing a straw colored paste and thick, crusty brown rind that smells exactly how it looks. But do not be deceived by its appearance or pungent aroma, because the flavor is phenomenal. The texture is crumbly, but smooth and creamy on the palate. It has a cheddary sharpness with strong earthy notes of mushrooms. In fact, as you get closer to the rind, the flavor is reminiscent of a slowly simmered brown mushroom stock. Yummy!

As for my sweet of choice this week, Paley's Place Bistro & Bar in Portland, Oregon created a delectable Fruit & Nut Bar to accompany their restaurant's cheese selection. Made by hand in 5-pound slabs, this sweet treat is like a panforte, but without any flour, spices, or added sugar. The simplicity of the variety of ingredients is what makes it so desirable - dried figs, apricots, raisins, cranberries, blueberries, hazelnuts and almonds all bound together with honey. It's rich and dense without being fatty or sickly sweet. And the crunchiness from the nuts adds an extra layer of texture to the pressed combination of moist, chewy fruit. This really is the perfect addition to any cheese plate.

The Mysteries of Mold Revealed!

We've all experienced it - a piece of forgotten cheese in the fridge has somehow been colonized by a band of fuzzy whitish, greenish, bluish spores. Our first reaction to this discovery is "Eww!" followed by gingerly removing the colorful wedge from the back of the cheese drawer and chucking it into the garbage. While mold on food is certainly a sign for non-consumption, such is not the case for cheese...for the most part. The problem is you're dealing with milk that is already spoiled, albeit in a controlled environment. And you're dealing with many cheeses that come with their own mold.

Unfortunately, there are no set black and white rules for what constitutes bad moldy cheese; at least I have yet to find any. I've spoken to cheese makers and mongers, researched the world wide web and read ancient texts called "books" about the matter. In my explorations of the cheese world, this is my take on moldy cheese: It depends on the cheese. I know that doesn't help much, but like mushrooms, you have to know if that particular mold has spoiled that particular cheese in a way that will spoil your insides.

Nonetheless, here are some guidelines to follow when you encounter mold on your cheese, whether it's in your fridge or at your local cheese shop:

1) White, blue and green mold is GOOD. It's the same mold you find on brie type cheeses or blue cheese. You can can cut it off or eat it...the choice is yours. Red, pink, yellow and black mold is BAD. If any of these colors appear on your cheese, promptly discard it.

2) Fresh cheeses such as ricotta, cream cheese, quark, creme fraiche, mozzarella, etc., should never have mold of any sort. Spoiled fresh cheese will usually develop a pinkish orange film, but these cheeses will typically go sour before mold forms.

3) The nose knows. When in doubt, give it a big whiff. But it helps to know what you're smelling. Refer to my earlier post, Bad Smell vs. Bad Bad Smell. Ammonia and vinegar are BAD cheese smells. Stinky feet smell, however, may be the greeting of a truly delicious cheese!